UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT  LOS  ANGELES 


UNIVET^^TTY  of  CALFOKNIA 


LUb  AWGELKS 
UBRAKY 


T  H  E 


INDUSTRIAL   RESOURCES,  ETC., 


SOUTHERN  AND  WESTERN  STATES : 


EMBRACING  A  VIEW   OK  THEIK 

COMMERCE,  AGRICULTURE,  MANUFACTURES,  INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENTS, 

SLAVE  AND  EREE  LABOR,  SLAVERY  INSTITUTIONS. 

PRODUCTS,  ETC.,  OP  THE  SOUTH, 

2rosct})cv  luitl' 


UlSTOKICAL  AM)  STATISTICAL  SKETCHES  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  STATES  AND  CITIES  OF 
THE  UNION— STATISTICS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  COMMERCE  AND  MANUFACTURES, 
FROM  THE  EARLIEST  PERIODS,  COMPARED  WITH  OTHER  LEADING  POWERS— THE 
RESULTS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  CENSUS  RETURNS  SINCE  1790,  AND  RETURNS  OF  THE 
CENSUS  OF  1850,  ON  POPULATION,  AGRICULTURE  AND  GENERAL  INDUSTRY,  ETC., 


::■:  '  'with.  a,N:  ap],^,k,tv[dix. 


IN    THREE   VOLUMES. 
VOL.     II. 

BY  J.    D.   B.   DB   BOW. 

PROFESSOR    OF    POLITICAL     ECONO.MV,    ETC.,    l.V     THE     UNIVERSITY     OF     LOUISIANA. 

6  0897 


PURLISHED  AT  'UU)  (^FPICE  OK  DE  BOW'S  REVIEW. 

MERCHANTS'  KXCIIANGE,  NEW-OHLEAN.S  ; 

107  Broauwav.  Nkw-York  ;  amj  East  Hay  and  .1j1io.i.d  Streets.  Oh.irli;sto.> 


18  5  3. 

4€29     6 


The  paper  on  the  early  histor}''  of  Mississippi,  page  21,  is  I'rom  the  pen  ot'tlie  Hon.  .1. 
M.  Chilton  ;  that  on  Maryland,  by  R.  G.  Barnwell,  Esq.;  on  Missouri  and  North  Caro- 
lina, by  Prof.  Duncan  ;  on  the  Mexican  Republic,  Hon.  Joel  R.  Poinsett ;  Mexican 
Mines,  Crantz  Mayer  ;  Manufacturing  Industry,  101,  Senator  James,  of  R.  I. ;  Ne\v- 
York.  T.  P.  Kcttell ;  Negro  Slavery,  Chancellor  Harper  and  Hon.  J.  H.  Hammond  ; 
Negro  Laws  of  the  South,  Hon.  J.  B.  O'Neal ;  Negro  Diseases,  Dr.  Cartwright ;  Negro 

W.  Ely,  M.  "0.  •  Rice.  R.  SV.  AlUton, 


Life  Insurance,  Dr.  J-  C-Nott ;« Pennsylvania,  A. 
ofS.  C,  &c.  .'".  '  c'''  '/''  ''■' 


INDEX  TO  VOL.   II. 

(f  O  H  GENERAL  INDEX  SEE  END  OK  V  O  L  U  Jf  E  II,.) 

PAGE 

Mississippi  River — Its  Sources,  Mouth  and  Valley  ;-the  Balize,  Etc 1 

"                 "           The  Great  Importance  of  Improving  it,  Etc 10 

"                 "           Deposits  and  Changes  at  the  Mouth 17 

Basin 'JO 

Mississippi — Early  History  of  the  State -Jl 

"  A  Sketch  of  the  General  Character,  Soil,  Climate,  Productions,  Emigration,  Pros' 

pects,  Etc 41 

Mississippi — Resources  of 45 

Marvland — Historical  Events,  Government,  Resources,  Improvements,  Commerce,  City  of 

Baltimore,  Etc -.  45 

Maine — Its  Early  History,  Physical  Aspect,  Agricultural  and  Mineral  Resources,    Commerce, 

Manufactures,  Government,  Finances,  Population,  Schools,   Colleges,  Etc 53 

Missouri — History,  Government,  Courts.  Boundariesand  Surface,  Natural  Productions  and 
CHmate,  Rivers,  Towns,  Mineral  Resources,  Internal  Improvements,  Population,  Educa- 
tion, Etc.,  Etc 56 

Massachusetts — Her  Productive  Energies  and  Spirit fi7 

Mobile — Commerce  of  1850-51 76 

"         Topography,  Sanitary  Condition  and  Vital  Statistics 78 

"          Statistical  History  of 79 

Molasses,  U.  S.  1851 80 

Memphis,  Tenn 80 

"        Convention  1845 81 

"                     "          '1840 82 

Minnesota 83 

Me.xican  Republic 85 

"         Mines  and  Mineral  Resources.  - - 92 

Me.XICO — Products  of  Sugar,  Cotton,  Rice  and  Indigo !)!) 

Manufacturing   Industry — Theory  of  Manufactures,  their  Progress,  Origin  and  Growth  of 

Cotton  Manufactures  in  all  Countries,  U.  S.  Manufactures,  and  Southern  Manufactures 101 

Manufactures — Inducements  for,  in  the  South  and  West 107 

''             Influence  of,  on  the  Growth  of  Cities 121 

"             Progress  of  Cctton  Manufactures  in  the  U.  S 123 

"              Extension  of  Cotton  and  Wool  Factories  at  the  South 124 

"             Relative  Cost  of  Steam  and  Water  Power 128 

Manufacture  of  Shoes  at  the  South 130 

Manufactures  of  Great  BRiTAiN^Their  Progress  in  Cotton,  Wool,  Flax  and  Linen,  Silk, 

Etc  ,  with  Productions  and  Persons  Employed 131 

New-Orleans - 135 

'         Custom-House  Revenues  since  1801 139 

"         Vital  Statistics  of 141 

" 142 

•'         Imports  from  the  Interior,  from  1840  to  1851 143 

"         Exports  of  ^lour, Pork,  Bacon,  Beef,  Lard,  "Whisky,  Corn,  Etc 144 

"     Cotton  and  Tobacco 144 

"                  "     Sugar  and  ilolasses 145 

"         Arrival  of  Ships,  Barques,  Steamers,  Etc 145 

"         Compared  with  New-York - 145 

"         Commercial  Statistics ■<. 140  &  149 

"         Vital  Statistics,  Mortality,  Etc.,   from  1785 148 

"         Prices  of  Commodities,  Etc.,  for  Different  Years 152 

"         Importance  of  Increasing  her  Foreign  Commerce — Her  Banking  Capital- 152 

New-York — Commercial  Growth  and  Greatness  of  New-York — Position  of  City;  Origin  of 
New-York,   Early  History,  Advances,  Improvements,   Population,  Resources,   Commerce, 

Prospects - 134 

New-York —  Commerce - , - 163 

"           Value  of  Real  and  Personal  Estate -  • 164 

North  Carolina — Colonial,  Revolutionary  and  Subsequent  History,  Physical  Condition,  Pro- 
duction, Industry  and  Resources,  Population,  Tovi-ns,  Education,  Sects,  Courts,  Canals,  Rail- 
Roads ; 164 

North  Carolina — Its  Resources,  Manufactures,  ice 182 

"                      Improvements - 183 

Nashville,  Tenn - 185 

Navigation — Ship-Building  in  the  U.  S.,  but  more  particularly  in  the  West 185 

"            The  Merchant  Fleets  and  Navies  of  the  World 187 

"             Vessels  Built  in  U.  S.  since  1815 194 

Tonnage  ofU.  S 195 

Negro  M.a.nia — The  Negro  and  other  Races  of  Men - --  197 

"     Slavery — Memoir  on,  by  Chancellor  Harper,  prepared  for,  and  read  before  the  Socie- 

tyforihe  Advancement  of  Learning  of  South  Carolina 205 


1/ 


IV  INDEX. 

Negro  Slaverv  AT  THE  South — (Gov.  Hammond's  Lcttei-  to  Clarkson.)  hitroduotiou  ;  the 
Slave-Trade  and  Futile  Attempts  to  Abolish  it ;  I'roscriptive  Kightof  Slavery  ;  Slavery  in  the 
Abstract;  in  its  Moral  and  Religious  Aspect,  in  its  Political  Influences  us  Afiecting  Public  Or- 
der, and  the  Safety  and  Power  of  the  State,  Abolition,  Emancipation,  Etc [Page  -38 

Negro  St..\veky— Calhoun's  Letter  to  King 2(i5 

"         Laws  OK  THE  South _. 269 

"         Population  of  the  South,  with  relereiicetoLifeInsurar.ee 29:! 

"         Slavery — Origin,  Progress  and  Prospects  of  Slavery  in  theU.  S 303 

*         Nature  and  IJestiny  of - SOH 

"        Sr.AVERV — IJecline  of  Northern  and  Growth  of  Southern 310 

"        Population" — Picmedy  Inr  its  Excess 313 

Negroes — Diseases  and  Peculiarities  of,  by  Dr.  Cartwright 315 

*'         Physical  Character  of 329 

"        Management  of,  upon  Southern  Estates 330 

""  •'  "  " 33li 

"  "  "  ••  " 33(i 

"        Houses  for 337 

"         Black  and  Mukuo  Population  of  the  South 336 

"        Employment  of,  in  Cotton  Factories 339 

"         Slave  Trade  of  the  South 339 

Neoko  Civilization  and  the.  Dominican  Kepublic 34'J 

Negroes  of  Ancient  Times - 343 

Negroes— (,bVe  Slaves.) 

Ohio — Commerce  and  llesources  of. •. 345 

Wealth,  Coal  Trade,  Etc --. 347 

Olives— Cultivation  of  the  Olive  in  the  Southern  Slates — 348 

Post-Office — History  of,  in  all  Countries,  Operations  and  Statistics  of  in  the  U.  S.,  from  the 

Earliest  Periods,  Hates  of  Postage,  Etc 3.")0 

Post  S yste.m  of  Ancient  Time? . . .". - 3(i;t 

Pennsylvania — History,  Commerce,  Manufactures,  Agriculture,  Etc ,3().> 

Philadelphia— Commerce  of  1830,  1851 374 

PlTTSliUUG— And  its  Manufacturing  Industry 375 

Pla.sk  llOADs  as  Compared  with  Kail- Roads 377 

Paper  Mauufacture  in  the  U.  S.- 3t*3 

Political  Economy,  Government,  Etc 385 

Rice — History  and  Statistics  of,  by  Col.  Allston 392 

Planting 411 

"         Analysis,  Crops,  Culture,  Etc 414 

•'         Culture  of 4U) 

"        in  Southern  States 423 

"         Estate  of  Gov.  Aiken 421 

of  the  Uplands 42(; 

-   '•         of  Louisiana 4J7 

"         Culture  in  East  Indies : 429 

Rail-Roads — Address  to  People  of  Southern  and  Western  States 434 

Rail-Road  and  Transport,  at  Home  and  Abroad 457 

"  Convention  at  Nev/- Orleans,  1852 458 

in  United   States,   1852 471-474 

"  Progress  in  U.  S 478 

"  Prospects  and  Progress 478 

"  Communication  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Oceans,  I'rogress  of  America, 

California   and  Oregon,  Panama,  Tehuantepec,  &c..   Commerce  of  the   East,   Rail-Roads 

across   Mexico,  Progress  of  Rail-Road  Enterprise,  &c 48(i 

Rail-Road  to  the  Pacific  Ocean — Address  of  the  Memphis  Convention  to  the  People  of 

the  United  States,  1850 .507 

R AiL-RoAUS  to  the  Pacific  Ocean 51(1 

"  for  Arkansas 519 

"  in  Georgia 521 

"  in  Florida 522 

"  Mississippi  Routes 523 

"  Tennessee  Roads - .'520 

"  in  Alabama 528-533 

"  in  Louisiana 536-.'541 

"  .Jackson  Road,  Miss 53(! 

ill  Texas 544-546 

"  Across  Tehuantepec 553 

''  Competition 555 

Api'ENDI.x. — Chicago,  556 — Cincinnati,  55(J — Cotton  Statistics,  556 — Commerce  und  Marine  of  the 
World,  556 — Libraries,  Popular  Vote  and  Population  of  U.  States,  558 — Provision  Trade,  JJ.  Slates, 
559 — Railway  .'-System  of  the  World,  5.59 — St.  Louis  Commerce,  559 — Population  of  American 
Cities,  539 — Statistics  of  Massachusetts,  Emigration,  &c.,  560 — Statistics  of  New- York  Trade,  560 — 
Statistics  of  Newspapers  in  United  States,  560. 


INDUSTRIAL    RESOURCES,   ETC. 


SOUTHERN  AND  WESTERN   STATES 


MISSISSIPPI  RIVER.— Its  Sources- 
Mouth  AND  Valley — The  Balize. — The 
great  central  region  of  America,  which  ex- 
tends from  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the  lakes, 
and  sweeps  away  to  the  mouth  of  the  Atcha- 
falaya,  and  along  the  shores  of  the  gulf; 
bounded  by  a  perimeter  of  two  thousand  I 
leagues ;  with  an  area  of  a  million  and  a  quar- 
ter of  square  miles,  a  population  verging! 
upon  that  of  all  the  remaining  portions  of  the 
Union,  and  a  trade  demanding  access  to  all 
the  markets  of  the  world ;  belongs  to  the 
history  of  the  generation  of  men  that  are 
now  alive,  and  in  the  creation  of  which  they 
have  been  the  moving  agents.  In  compari- 
son, all  the  marvellous  developments  of  the 
past  sink  into  nothing;  the  famed  fertility  of 
the  Nile,  the  Scandinavian  forests  prolific  of 
men,  and  earning  the  epithet  "  cradle  of  the 
human  race,"  the  overshadowing  growth  of 
Rome  and  Roman  power. 

It  is  not  for  us  now  to  dwell  upon  the  era 
of  savage  domain  over  this  empire  ;  the  first 
whisperings  of  its  existence  breathed  to  Eu- 
ropean ears ;  the  early  and  romantic  adven- 
tures to  its  midst;  the  marvellous  narrations 
of  the  early  explorers  and  travellers ;  their 
lives  of  incident  and  daring ;  their  successes 
and  reverses;  the  triumphant  progress  of 
civihzed  population  beyond  all  haunts  of  civ- 
ilized life ;  the  aboriginal  yielding  to  the  stern 
destiny  which  decreed  him  to  melt  away,  a 
tenant  at  sufferance  only,  until  the  coming  of 
the  lord  proprietors  of  the  soil. 

At  the  era  of  the  census  of  1790,  after  the 
American  revolution  had  been  won,  after 
sixteen  years  of  American  independence, 
and  the  adoption  of  a  federal  Constitution, 
nine-tenths  of  all  the  people  of  America 
were  eastward  of  the  Alleghany  mountains. 
Scattering  settlements  only  had  passed  this 
gi'eat  barrier.  "Tribes  of  fierce  savages 
stood  opposed,  but  the  destiny  of  things 
could  not  be  stayed.  During  the  decennial 
period  of  1790  to  1800  the  savages  were 
crushed  and  settlements  greatly  extended 
and  population  increased,  expanding  into  the 
central  basin." 

This   central   basin   includes   the  western 
portions  of  the  states  of  New- York,  Penn- 
sylvania, and  Virginia,  and  the  whole  of  Ken- 
VOL.  II. 


tucky,  Tennessee,  Alabama,  Mississippi, 
Louisiana,  Arkansas,  Missouri,  Illinois,  In- 
diana, Ohio,  Michigan,  Iowa,  and  "Wisconsin. 

The  population  of  these  vast  territories 
was,  in  18U0,  482,777,  having  increased  about 
one  and  a  half  per  cent,  per  annum  since 
1790.  In  1810  it  amounted  to  1,090,158, 
having  doubled  in  ten  years;  in  1820,  2,217,- 
464,  having  doubled  again;  iu  1830,  3,672,569, 
or  about  seven  to  the  square  mile;  in  1840, 
5,302,918,  or  ten  to  the  square  mile.  In  these 
items  the  western  portions  of  New- York, 
Pennsylvania,  and  Virginia  are  not  included. 
If  they  be  added  for  1840,  the  total  western 
population  may  be  set  down  at  7,948,789,  or 
fourteen  to  the  square  mile.  The  following 
table,  prepared  by  Mr.  Darby  for  the  use  of 
government,  is  computed  on  the  supposition 
that  the  decennial  increase  from  1830  to 
1840  has  since  been  preserved : 

POPULATION   OF   THE    GREAT   CENTRAL   BASIN    IN 
1847. 

Westem  New-York 50,600 

Western  Pennsylvania 564,600 

Western  Virginia 222,300 

Kentucky 834,970 

Tennessee. 857,590 

Alabama 759,500 

Mississippi 450,070 

Louisiana 434,100 

Arkansas 161,600 

Missouri 529,000 

lUinois 867,000 

Indiana 891,566 

Ohio 1,862,400 

Michigan 321,000 

*Iowa 60,000 

*Wisconsin 50,000 

Total 8,925,696 

Being  about  eighteen  to  the  square  mile, 
or  one-ninth  the   density  of  Great  Britain, 


♦  These  estimates  of  Mr.  Darby  in  relation  to 
Iowa  and  Wisconsin  are  greatly  short  of  the  reality. 
The  census  of  Wisconsin,  taken  the  present  year, 
shows  the  total  155,000.  Iowa  had  43,000  in  18-10, 
and  the  increase  since  is  estimated  at  12,000  a  year, 
making  the  present  population  120.000  at  least. 

1 


MISSISSIPPI    RIVER. ITS    SOURCES MOUTH    AND    VALLEY. 


Portugal,  Spain,  and  France.  The  ■whole 
population  of  the  United  States  at  the  same 
period  being  computed  at  21,174,557. 

To   give   any   notion   of    the   agricultural 


taken  in  18-10,  whatever  its  merits,  could  be 
of  but  little  practical  value,  since  in  the  pro- 
gress of  such  a  country  the  liistory  of  several 
years  is  as  a  century  in  older  communities. 


wealth  of  this  region  would  require  access  to  i  We  will  yet  introduce  a  few  fact.<,  if  only  to 
more  complete  iuformatiou  than  any  that  can   stimulate  further  the  reader's  iavestigations. 
be  had  by  us  now.     The  census  which  was  i 


ESTIMATKD   AGRICULTURAL   PRODUCTS   OF    THE    GREAT   WEST,   1845. 


Kentucky, 

Teiinesace, 

Alabam;t, 

Mississii)pi, 

Louisiana, 

Arkansas, 

Missouri, 

lUinuis, 

Indiaua, 

Ohio, 

MlDliigan, 

Iowa, 

Wisconsin, 

Total, 


4.769,000 

8,340,000 

980,000 

378,000 

2.427,000 

l,-v25,000 

4,503.000 

7,044,000 

13,.57->,000 

7,061,000 

793,1100 

971,000 


13,091,000 
8,625,000 
l,5ii7,i.00 
1,189,000 

430,000 

6,406,000 

12,907.010 

i:<,90J,000 

24,447.000 

4.815,000 

681,000 

1,200,000 


54.625.000 

70,26.-.,000 

16,650,000 

2,107.000 

8.300,000 

8,250,000 

15,625,000 

26,584,000 

30,625,0110 

57,600,1100 

4.945,000 

2,028.000 

072,000 


1,508,000 

2,256,000 

1,635,000 

3,040,100 

1,299,1100 

642,000 

875,000 

2,631.000 

2,680,000 

4,120,000 

4,555,(00 

510,000 

938,000 


Tobacco, 
lbs. 

63.310.000 

37,1119,000 

341,0'  0 

193,600 


13,744.000 
1,168,000 
3,520,000 
7,676.800 


1. 

48 
145. 
23 
185. 

1 


Cotton, 
lbs. 

200,000 
,0110,1100 
,0110,000 
•,000,1100 
,iUjO,000 
000,(iOO 
200,000 
270,000 


Sii^ar, 
lbs. 

2,110,000 

520,000 

12,000 


175,000,000 

5,000 

450,000 

600,000 

8,000,000 

3,900,000 

3,000,000 

150,000 

300,000 


52,423,000        88,336,000      297,396,000        26,695,000     125,962,400     631,670,000     194,047,000 


Western  New-York,  Pennsylvania,  and 
Vu'ginia  are  also  extensive  agricultural  re- 
gions, but  it  is  almost  impossible  to  give  the 
exact  amount  of  their  products.  Knowing 
■what  proportion  of  these  states  are  included 
in  the  valley,  and  also  their  gross  products, 
and  remembering  that  the  valley  is  by  far 
the  most  agricultural,  we  should  add  at  least 
four  millions  bushels  wheat,  three  millions 
bushels  oats,  eight  millions  bushels  corn,  two 
and  a  half  millions  bushels  potatoes,  and 
three  millions  pounds  tobacco,  to  the  gross 
amount  given  above. 

Mr.  Calhoun,  in  his  great  Report  on  the 
Memphis  Convention,  kindled  with  the  mag- 
nificent theme  which  was  presented  before 
him,  a  population  pressing  upon  the  limits  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  a  tonnage  augmented 
thirty  fold  iu  thirty  years,  a  trade  already 
equalling  the  whole  foreign  exports  and  im 
ports  of  the  United  States  together,  three 
hundred  millions  of  dollars,  and  tliis  but  in 
the  beginning.  "  Looking  beyond  to  a  not 
very  diiftant  future,  when  this  immense  val- 
ley, containing  within  its  limits  one  million 
two  hundred  thousand  square  miles,  lying  iu 
its  whole  extent  in  the  temperate  zone,  and 
occu]jying  a  position  midway  between  the 
Atlantic  and  the  Pacific  oceans,  unequalled  in 
fertility  and  the  diversity  of  its  production.-, 
intersected  iu  every  direction  by  the  mighty 
stream,  including  its  tributaries,  by  which  it 
is  drained,  and  which  supply  a  contiimou.- 
navigatiou  of  upwards  f)f  ten  timusand  miles, 
with  a  coast,  including  both  banks,  of  twice 
that  length,  shall  be  crowded  with  population, 
and  its  resources  fully  ik-veloped,  imagiiiatimi 
itself  is  taxed  in  the  attempt  to  realize  the 
magnitude  of  its  commerce." 

The  Missis.sippi  river,  with  its  greater  and 
less  tributaries  draiiiiug  the  whole  of  this  im 


mense  country,  and  conducting  its  products 
and  its  commerce  to  the  highway  of  nations, 
is  worthy  of  elaborate  consideration.  We 
have  designed  a  few  pages  upon  this  head, 
and  suppose  there  are  few  topics  which  could 
have  wider  interest  with  our  countrymen,  and 
few  with  which  the  world  at  large  have  less 
familiarity.  Nature  has  created  nothing  upon 
our  continent  more  stupendous  than  these 
waters,  and  they  are  as  much  characteiistic  of 
the  great  American  republic  as  the  institu- 
tions, the  policy,  the  liberty,  which  di-tinguish 
it  from  all  the  nations  of  earth.  Characteris- 
tic we  say,  for  there  is  that  in  the  physical 
aspect  of  a  country,  which,  if  it  does  not  in- 
fluence the  moral  and  political  condition,  is 
yet  discovered  to  be  in  harmony  with  them, 
Va.-tness  and  giandeur  in  nature  cannot  be 
contemplated  without  elevation  of  thought 
antl  sentiment  in  nature's  offspring.  Could 
one  be  a  craven  by  the  side  of  Niagara  ?  A 
slave's  fetters  might  not  be  riveted  on  Al- 
pine heights.  Man  sympathizes  with  nature, 
and  nature  with  man  ;  so  that  Goldsmitli  ut- 
tered but  the  sentiment  of  humanity  when  he 
exclaimed  from  wild  and  elevated  prospects, 


-Creation's  heir. 


The  world — the  world  is  mine!" 

And  first  of  the  Mi^^sissippi  proper.  la 
47°  10'  N.  lat.  and  94°  54'  \V.  long.,  at  an 
elevation  of  1,G80  feet  above  the  level  of 
the  ocean,  and  at  a  distance  of  2,896  miles, 
on  the  summit  of  the  Han/ettrn  dc  Terre,  the 
dividing  ridge  from  the  Red  river  of  the 
north,  a  little  pool,  fed  by  the  gurgliigwaters 
of  neighboring  hills,  discharges  a  liny  rivulet, 
which,  meandering  over  sand  and  pebi)le,  danc- 
ing in  shade  and  sunbeam,  winds  on  its  modest 
way.  Ill  breadth  and  dejith  scarce  measured 
by    a  span,   the  timid  water-course   mirrors 


MISSISSIPPI   RIVER. ITS    SOURCES— MOUTH    ANB   VALLEY. 


nodding  wild  flower?,  and  floats  forest  leaves, 
a  miniature  fleet  that  gentle  breezes  waft 
and  eddies  whirl.  Ever  and  anon  it  blends 
witii  kindred  streamlets,  and  forms  at  last  a 
minor  lake.  "From  tiiis  lake  issues  a  second 
rivulet,  a  cradled  Hercules,  giving  promise  of 
the  strength  of  his  maturity;  for  its  velocity 
has  increased ;  it  transports  the  smaller 
branches  of  trees ;  it  begins  to  form  sand 
bars ;  its  bends  are  more  decided,  and  it  sub- 
sides again  into  a  third  basin,  larger  than  the 
two  preceding.  Thus  attained  renewed  vigor, 
tried  its  consequence  upon  an  additKHial 
length  of  two  or  three  miles,  empties  at  last 
mto  the  Lake  Itasca." 

For  the  following  table  of  distances  and 
elevations,  we  are  indebted  to  "Bradford's 
Notes  on  the  North-west,  1846  :" 


DISTANCES   ON    THE   MISSISSIPPI. 

R  From 
Gulf  Mexico.    Altitude 

New-Orleans,  Cathedral  and  level    "'"  *^"' 

of  its  pavement 104  10  5 

Red  River,  Island  opposito  Mouth,    340  76 

Natchez,  Light-house 406  86 

Yazoo  River,  Mouth .'.'     534  _ 

New-Madrid,  Missouri 1U5  

Ohio  River,  north  side,  Moulh 1216  324 

St.  Louis,  garden  of  the  Cathedral,  1390  38i 

Illinois  River,  the  Mouth 1426  

Prairie  du  Chien,   American  Fur- 
Trader's  House 1932  642 

Upper  Iowa  River 1978  I 

St.  Peter's  River,  the  Mouth ! ! !  2192  744 

Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  U.  S.  Cottage,  2200  856 

Lake  Cass,  the  Old  Trading  House,  27.55  1402 

Itasea   Lake,  Schoolcraft's  Island,  2890  1675 
Utmost  Sources  of  the  Mississippi, 
at  the  summit  of  the  Hauteurs 

de  Terre 2986*  1680 

The  next  principal  river  of  the  West,  and 
the  main  tributary  or  branch  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, is  the  Missouri,  a  description  of  which 
we  cannot  better  give  than  in  the  language  of 
the  eminent  geographer  introduced  above  : 

"  The  springs  which  give  rise  to  the  Mis- 
souri are  not  more  than  a  mile  distant  from 
some  of  the  head  waters  of  the  Columbia, 
which  flows  west  into  the  Pacific  ocean.  At 
the  distance  of  411  miles  from  the  extreme 
point  of  the  navigation  of  its  head  branches, 
are  what  are  denominated  the  'Gates  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,'  which  present  a  view  ex- 
ceedingly grand.  For  the  distance  of  5| 
miles  the  rocks  rise  perpendicularly  from  the 
margin  of  the  river  to  the  height  of  1200 
feet.  The  river  is  compressed  to  the  width 
of  150  yards,  and  for  the  first  three  miles 
there  is  only  one  spot,  and  that  only  of  a  few 
yards,  on  which  a  man  could  stand,  between 
the  water  and  the  perpendicular  ascent  of  the 
mountain.  At  the  distance  of  110  miles  be- 
low this,  and  521  miles  Jrom  its  source,  are 


[  the  Great  Falls,  2,575   miles  above   its  en- 
trance   into   the  Mississippi.     The  river   de- 
scends, by  a  succession  of  rapids  and  falls,  35Y 
feet  m  about  16^  miles.  The  lower  and  great- 
est fall  has  a  perpendicular  pitch  of  87  feet- 
the  second  of  19  feet;  the  third  of  47  feet; 
the  fourth  of  26  feet.     Between  and  below 
these  falls  are  continual  rapids  of  from  3  to  18 
feet  descent.     These   falls,  next   to  those  of 
Niagara,  are  the  grandest  on  the  continent. 
The  course  of  the  river  above  these  falls  is 
northerly.     The  Yellowstone  river,  800  yards 
wide  at  Its  mouth,  probably  the  largest  tribu- 
tary of  the  Missouri,  enters  it  on  the  south- 
west  side,  1,216  miles   from    its    navigable 
source,  and  about  1,880  miles  from  its  mouth. 
This   river,  at   the   place   of  junction,  is   as 
large  as  the  Missouri.     Steamboats  ascend  to 
this   place,   and  could   go   farther   by   each 
branch.     Chienne  river,  400  yards  wide  at  its 
mouth,  enters  the  Missouri  on  the  south-west 
side,  1,,310  miles  from  its  mouth,  in  44°  20' 
N.   latitude.     White   river,  300   yards  wide, 
enters  it  on  the  south-west  side,  1,130  miles' 
from  its  mouth.     Big  Sioux  river,  110  yards 
wide,  enters  853  miles  from  its  mouth,  in  42° 
48'  N.  latitude,  on  the  north-east  side. '  Platte 
river,  600  yards  wide  at  its  mouth,  enters  it 
on  the  south-west  side,  600  miles   from   its 
mouth,  in   40°    50'   latitude.     Kanzas  river, 
233  yards  wide  at  its  mouth,  enters  it  on  the 
south-west  side,  in  39°  5'  N.  latitude,  at  the 
distance  of  340  miles  from  its  mouth.     Grand 
river  enters   it   on   the  north-east  side,  240 
miles  from  its  mouth,  and  is  190  yards  wide. 
La  Mine  river,  70  yards  wide,  enters  it  200 
miles  from  its  mouth.   Osage  river,  397  yards 
wide  at  its  mouth,  enters  it  on  the  south-west 
side,  in  38°  31'  N.  latitude,  133  miles  from  its 
mouth.     Gasconade   river  enters   it   on   the 
south-west  side,  in  38°  45'  N.  latitude,  100 
miles  from  its  mouth.     The  Missouri  enters 
Mississippi  river  3,096  miles  from  its  source, 
which,  added  to  1,253  miles,  the  distance  to 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  makes  its  whole  length 
4,349  miles  ;*  and  it  is  probably  the  longest 


•  This  table  on  the  authority  of  Nicollet.  Fchool- 
craft  mnkes  the  whole  length  three  thousand  one 
hundred  and  sixty  miles. 


The  navigable  portion  of  this  distance  is  from 
the  Gulf  to  the  mouth  of  tlie  Yellowstone  river 
thirty-three  hundred  miles.  We  were  under  the  im- 
pression that  this  was  the  greatest  navigable  "inland 
sea'' in  the  world,  but  if  the  Report  of  Mr  Breeze  to 
the  Senate  on  the  Railroad  to  the  Pacific  be  rehed 
upon  in  all  particulars,  we  have  presented  to  us  in 
.Asia  a  river  which  overtops  ours,  and  dwarfs  it  in 
the  comparison.  We  make  an  extract  :  "  The  Yang- 
ife-keaug  has  its  source  in  the  Peling  Mountains  of 
Thibet.  After  an  immense  distance  in  a  southerly 
direction,  it  enters  tlie  Cljinese  empire  in  north  lati- 
tude about  28°,  then  it  winds  its  way  through  the 
richest  parts  of  China  and  the  most  numerous  popu- 
lation o  any  part  of  the  globe,  crossiu;,'  the  vast  em- 
pire, and  after  having  accommodated  by  its  tributa- 
ries, its  lakes,  its  vast  and  numerous  windings,  its  in- 
tersections by  canals,  almost  tlie  entire  empire,  and 
after  drawing  together  on  the  grand  canal  at  Chiog- 
Kyang-foo  the  vast  productions,  conimeroe  and 
resources  of  the  greater  part  of  this  vast  empire, 
gently  rolls  itself  into  the  ocean  in  north  latitude 


MISSISSIPPI    RIVER. ITS    SOURCES MOUTH    AND    VALLEY. 


river  iu  the  world.  Througli  its  whole  course, 
there  is  no  substantial  obstruction  of  the  uavi- 
gatiou  before  arriving  at  the  great  falls.  Its 
principal  tributaries  are  each  navigable  from 
100  to  800  miles.  The  alluvial,  fertile  soil 
on  this  stream  and  its  tributaries  is  not  very 
broad,  and  back  of  this  are  prairies  of  vast 
extent.  Through  the  greater  part  of  its 
course  the  Missouri  is  a  rapid  and  turbid 
stream,  and  in  the  upper  part  of  its  course, 
flows  through  an  arid  and  sterile  country.  It 
ia  over  half  a  mile  wide  at  its  mouth,  and 
through  a  greater  part  of  its  course  it  is  wider. 
Notwithstanding  it  drains  such  an  extensive 
country,  aud  receives  so  many  large  tributa- 
ries, at  certain  seasons  it  is  shallow,  hardly 
affording  sufhcient  water  for  steamboat  navi- 
gation, owing  to  its  passing  through  a  dry 
and  open  country,  and  being  subject  to  exten- 
sive evaporation." 

Lastly,  let  us  exhibit  a  sketch  of  the  Ohio : 
"  The  Ohio  is  formed  by  the  coulluence  of 
Alleghany  river  from  the  north,  and  Mouon- 
gahela  from  the  south,  at  Pittsburg,  in  the 
western  part  of  Pennsylvania.  The  Alle- 
ghany river  rises  in  Porter  county,  Pennsyl- 
vania, on  the  west  side  of  the  Alleghany 
mountains,  flows  into  the  state  of  New-York, 
and  returns  into  Pennsylvania,  and  is  the  most 
important  tributary  of  the  Ohio.  It  is  navi 
gable  for  boats  of  a  hundred  tons  and  of  light 
draft  to  Olean,  Cattaraugus  county,  New- 
York,  270  miles  from  its  mouth  in  the  Ohio, 
600  feet  above  the  level  of  the  river  at  Pitts- 
burg, 1,280  feet  above  the  level  of  the  ocean, 
and  2,500  miles  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 
The  Monongahela  rises  in  Virginia,  and  where 
it  unites  with  the  Alleghany,  is  more  than 
400  yards  wide.  It  is  navigable  at  a  good 
stage  of  the  water  for  large  boats,  luO  miles 
from  its  mouth.  The  Alleghany,  though  not 
larger  than  the  Monongahela  at  the  junction, 
is  the  more  important  stream.  Inmiediately 
below  the  junction,  the  Ohio  is  over  CUO  yards 
wide,  and  is  a  placid  and  beautiful  stream. 
At  Pittsburg  it  is  G80  feet  above  tide  water  ; 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Muskingum,  541  feet ; 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Scioto,  4G4  feet ;  at  Cin- 
cinnati, 414  feet;  at  its  mouth  in  tlie  Missis- 
sippi, 300  feet.  Its  length  from  Pittsburg  to 
its  mouth,  according  to  the  Western  Pilot,  is 
959  miles  ;  but  the  distance  in  a  direct  course 
is  about  014  miles.  Its  average  descent  is 
not  quite  five  inches  in  a  mile.  The  French 
called  it  la  belle  riviere,  or  the  beautiful  river; 
but  its  name,  according  to  Heckewelder,  is 
derived  from  the  Indian  word  Ohiopekhanne, 
meaning  a  very  white  stream,  alluding  to  the 
white  caps  with  which  its  surface  is  covered  in 
a  high  wind,  omitting  all  but  the  first  part  for 


about  .31°,  Justin  front  of  tlie  great  city  of  Cliang- 
hae,  tlie  port  oi)Cii  for  foreij,'n  commerce,  being  in 
length  more  Ihnu  four  lliousiind  miles,  anJ  navigable 
eveu  into  Thibet." 


the  ease  of  pronunciation.  Tlie  Ohio,  for 
some  distance  below  Pittsburg,  is  rapid,  and 
the  navigation  interrupted  at  low  water  by 
chains  of  rock  extending  across  the  bed  of 
the  river.  The  scenery  is  exceedingly  beau- 
tiful, though  deficient  in  grandeur,  exhibiting 
great  sameness.  The  hills,  two  or  three  hun- 
dred feet  high,  approach  the  river  and  confine 
it  on  either  side.  Their  tops  have  usually  a 
rounded  and  graceful  form,  and  are  covered 
with  the  verdure  of  an  almost  unbroken 
forest.  Approaching  Cincinnati,  the  scenery 
becomes  still  more  monotonous.  The  hills 
recede  from  the  river,  aud  are  less  elevated. 
Heavy  forests  cover  the  banks  and  limit  the 
prospect,  but  exhibiting  a  beautiful  verdure, 
and  often  exuberant  with  blossoms.  The 
river  exhibits  the  same  scenery  as  we  continue 
to  descend  it,  except  that  the  hills  become 
less  bold  and  rocky.  Many  villages  aud  farm- 
houses are  passed  through  the  whole  course 
of  the  river ;  but  as  the  bottom  lands  on  its 
immediate  margin  are  liable  to  be  overflowed, 
the  inhabitants  prefer  to  settle  a  little  back 
from  the  river,  so  that  the  dwellings  in  view 
do  not  correctly  exhibit  the  population  in  the 
vicinity.  Between  Pittsburg  and  the  mouth 
of  the  Ohio  there  are  as  many  as  one  hun- 
dred considerable  islands,  besides  a  great 
number  of  sand-bars  and  tow-heads.  These 
last  are  low,  sandy  islands,  incapable  of  culti- 
vation, and  covered  with  willows.  Some  of 
the  islands  are  of  exquisite  beauty,  and  fur- 
nish desirable  situations  for  a  retired  resi- 
dence. The  principal  tributaries  of  the  Ohio 
are  the  Muskingum,  Great  Kanawha,  J3ig 
Sandy,  Scioto,  Great  Miami,  Kentucky, 
Green,  Wabash,  Cumberland,  and  Tennessee. 
The  last  three  ai'e  the  most  important,  of 
which  the  last  is  the  largest.  One  remark- 
able circumstance  respecting  the  Ohio  as  well 
as  other  western  rivers  is,  its  great  elevations 
aud  depressions.  In  the  summer  and  autum- 
nal months,  it  often  dwindles  into  a  small 
stream,  affording  limited  facilities  for  naviga- 
tion. Among  the  hills  of  Pennsylvania  and 
Virginia,  it  is  seen  rippling  over  chains  pf 
rock,  through  which  a  passage  is  barely  af- 
forded to  boats  of  the  lightest  burthen.  Far- 
ther down,  sand- bars  either  extend  across  the 
stream  or  pnjject  into  the  bed  of  the  river. 
Steamboats  are  sometimes  grounded  on  the 
bars,  where  they  are  obliged  to  wait  in  peril 
for  the  periodical  rise  of  the  river.  The  low- 
est water  is  generally  in  the  months  of  July, 
August,  and  Se|)tember.  Tiie  melting  of  the 
snows  in  the  spring,  and  heavy  rains  in  au- 
tumn or  winter,  fill  the  river  to  overflowing, 
and  many  of  its  islands  and  the  bottoms  on 
its  margin  are  covered  with  water.  These 
rises  are  generally  gradual,  and  attended  with 
no  danger.  As  the  "waters  rise,  trade  and 
navigation  are  quickened  into  activity ;  the 
largest  steamboats,  often  of  COO  tons  bur- 
then, now  float  in  security.     The  average  rise 


MISSISSIPPI   RIVER. ITS    SOURCES MOUTH    AND    VALLEY. 


of  the  water  from  low-water  mark  is  50  feet, 
but  in  the  year  1832  an  extraordinary  flood 
was  experienced.  The  river  began  to  rise 
early  in  February,  and  on  the  ISth  of  that 
month  it  was  03  feet  above  low -water  mark, 
and  the  lower  parts  of  Cincinnati  and  Cov- 
ington were  flooded.  The  river  here  is  1,006 
feet  wide,  and  the  velocity  of  the  stream  at 
its  height  6|-  miles  per  hour.  The  water  dis- 
charged by  the  rise  of  the  river  above  low 
water  alone,  would  fill  a  lake  of  one  square 
mile  in  surfoce,  107  feet  deep,  in  one  hour. 
The  surfiice  drained  by  the  Ohio  and  its  nu- 
merous tributaries  is  about  77,000  square 
miles,  and  water  four  inches  in  depth  on  this 
surface  would  be  sufficient  to  maintain  the 
river  at  the  above  height  and  velocity  for 
fourteen  days.  Such  a  flood  as  this  has 
scarcely  been  known  since  the  first  settlement 
of  the  country.  Tliere  are  no  considerable 
falls  in  the  river,  excepting  at  Louisville, 
Kentucky,  where  it  descends  22^  feet  in  the 
course  of  two  miles.  Even  over  these,  boats 
pass  in  high  water.  But  they  have  been  ob- 
viated by  a  canal  around  them,  which  admits 
of  the  passage  of  the  largest  steamboats. 
The  current  of  the  Ohio  is  very  gentle ;  at 
the  mean  height  of  the  river  the  current  is 
about  three  miles  an  hour,  at  high  water  it  is 
more,  but  at  low  water  not  more  than  two 
miles.  During  five  or  six  weeks  in  the  win- 
ter, the  navigation  is  obstructed  by  floating 
ice.  The  Ohio  and  its  tributaries  have  not 
less  than  5,000  miles  of  navigable  waters. 
The  following  distances  have  been  derived 
from  the  Western  Pilot,  and  are  doubtless 
correct :  From  Pittsburg  to  Steubenville,  0., 
is  70  miles;  to  Wheeling,  Va.,  92  miles;  to 
Marietta,  0.,  174  miles;  to  Gallipolis,  0., 
264f  miles ;  to  Portsmouth,  0.,  349  miles ;  to 
Maysville,  Ky.,  397  mifes ;  to  Cincinnati,  0., 
455i|  miles;  to  Lawrenceburg,  la.,  479.J 
miles  ;  to  Louisville,  Ky.,  587  miles  ;  to  New 
Albany,  la.,  591  miles;  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Cumberland  river,  Ky.,  900  miles;  mouth  of 
Tennessee  river,  Ky.,  911^  miles;  mouth  of 
Ohio,  959  miles." 

The  free  and  uninterrupted  navigation  of 
these  great  inland  waters  must  of  course  be  a 
matter  of  prime  interest  to  the  country.  They 
are  to  the  populous  nations  on  their  banks  as 
the  ocean  itself,  over  which  commerce  and 
not  kings  preside.  No  construction  of  state 
powers,  as  contradistinguished  from  federal, 
can  exclude  these  arteries  of  trade  from  the 
pale  of  government  regard  and  protection. 
They  are  points  of  national  concern.  No 
state  or  alliance  of  states  can  ajjply  the 
remedies  which  their  exigencies  require.  No 
narrowed  views  of  economy  and  retrench- 
ment, no  prospective  expenditure,  however 
vast,  could  be  allowed  to  deter  the  legisla- 
ture of  the  Union  from  approaching  the  sol- 
emn act  of  duty  which  is  involved  here. 


We  have  not  space  at  this  moment  to  ad- 
vert to  the  various  schemes  which  have  been 
presented  and  urged  for  the  improvement  of 
this  western  navigation,  but  shall  be  happy 
on  some  other  occasion  to  do  so.  The  remain- 
ing sheets  of  our  paper  will  be  rather  occu- 
pied with  some  reflections  upon  the  "  Passes 
of  the  Mississippi,"  which  conduct  its  great 
waters  into  the  gulf,  the  proposed  methods  of 
improving  their  depth  and  navigation,  and  of 
securing  safety  to  the  immense  shipping  seek- 
ing outlet  and  egress  here. 

The  mouths  of  the  Mississippi  have  been 
undergoing  incessant  changes  so  far  as  our 
records  extend,  and  we  might  add,  so  far  as 
the  history  of  the  river  can  be  traced.  Old 
channels  have  been  filling  up  and  new  ones 
forming ;  at  the  same  time  that  a  continued 
sedimentary  deposit  has  forced  the  delta  itself 
continually  to  encroach  upon  the  sea.  The 
depth  of  water  aflbrded  in  these  channels  has 
never  been  equal  to  the  requisitions  of  com- 
merce, and  it  is  only  by  dint  of  the  most  enor- 
mous application  of  steam  power,  and  plough- 
ing through  deep  beds  of  sand,  that  the  largest 
class  of  ships  are  enabled  to  navigate  the  chan- 
nel. Considerable  expense  is  always  incurred 
in  this  manner,  and  delays  prejudicial  to  trade. 
We  have  known  of  a  ship,  the  Coromandel,  ia 
one  instance,  grounded  in  the  Pass  thirty- 
nine  days.  Could  it  be  expected  otherwise 
than  that  these  impediments  should  be  gi'eatly 
detrimental  to  the  interests  of  the  whole  val- 
ley having  this  common  outlet  ? 

In  1720,  of  all  the  Passes,  the  scuih  one 
only  was  in  use.  A  Report  amongst  the 
French  Colonial  Records,  now  in  Paris,  of  date 
about  1730,  gives  the  depth  from  ten  to 
twelve  feet  on  the  bars,  varying  each  year 
according  to  the  violence  of  the  windo,  etc. 
Another  Report  by  M.  Paria  gives  a  depth  of 
seventeen  feet  to  one  of  the  Passes  which  had 
hitherto  been  but  twelve  feet  only,  and  argues 
that  twenty-two  feet  might  be  insured  by 
dredges.  The  employment  of  two  vessels  three 
months  in  the  year  was  tried  during  a  portion 
of  this  time  by  the  West  India  Company,  but 
it  worked  badly.  "A  flute  was  then  placed 
mside  of  the  bar  and  sunk  into  eighteen  feet 
by  means  of  wells  built  for  that  purpose,  in- 
side such  vessel,  and  filled  up  with  water. 
This  vessel  was  placed  close  to  the  bank  of 
the  bar  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  the  car- 
goes of  vessels  that  could  not  cross.  It  was 
soon  perceived  that  the  flute,  receiving  the 
whole  power  of  the  current,  was  forcing  a 
passage  of  twenty-five  feet  through  the  Pass. 
The  whole  matter  was  immediately  communi- 
cated to  government" 

The  following  sketch  represents  the  mouth 
of  the  Mississ^pi  in  May,  1852,  ivith  the  quan- 
tity of  water  at  various  points,  the  vessels 
aground,  the  amount  of  damage  done,  etc. : 


MOUTH  OP  THE  MISSISSIPPI— SOUTH-WEST  PASS. 


HOWL  AND    i'C 

REPRESENTING   THE  APPEARANCE  OF  THE  BAR,  MAY  IG,  1852. 

(Scale  600  feet  to  the  Inch.) 

Prawn  hy  DAVIT)  D.  PORTER,  Cnpt.  U.  S.  N.,  and  (■onmaniiinp  Mail  Sloamshiii  Georgia,  nnJ  published  by  ordeiof 
Committee  Chamber  of  Cunuuerce  :  Caldwell,  Stanton,  Owen,  Skipwith  and  Sumner. 

VESSELS  OS  NEW-OBLEANS  BAR. 


1 

Middlesex*... 
Deedemona.  . 
Winchester... 
Progress 

C 

ons. 
1,420 
6'26 
1,415 
1,400 

otton 
Bales. 
4,50(1 
'i,'.00 
5,,' 00 

4,:iOo 

Value. 
i>  1(0,001) 
80,00(1 
'.05,01(1 
105,000 

De- 
tained. 

40  davs 
:i6    '■' 
H    " 
45     " 

Steamer  Georgia. . . . 
Ship  (Joodwin 

'*       Mc'litreuil 

"       Liberty 

roDS. 

2,600 
600 
6(0 
740 

Ctlon 
Bales. 

FOO,  &.C. 
2,(  00 
•J.OOO 

De- 
value,   tained. 

^60,0(0  H  days 
10,0(10  7     " 
10,(00  6     " 

Add  value  ships  and  eteame 
Value  of  property  detained 

9,810    51,600 

$196,000 
106,000 

* 

1,660,000 

*  The  Middlesex  and  oargo  got  damaged  (by  collision)  on  the  bar  $30,000,  and  returned  to  repair.    Many  other  vessels 
than  those  abov*  were  aground  at  the  same  time,  awaiting  a  swell  from  southeasterly  gales. 


MISSISSIPPI    RIVER. Tin5    BAUZE. 


Examinerl  before  the  Committee  on  Com- 1 
merce  of  the  Le<);ish\tiire,  in  March,  1840, 
"William  D.  Talbot,  a  resident  of  the  Balize 
for  twenty-five  years,  used  the  following  lan- 
guage : 

"  The  bars  at  the  various  Passes  change  very  often, 
Tlie  chaniu'ls  sometinies  change  two  or  tliree  times  in 
a  season.  Ueeasionally  one  gale  of  wind  will  change 
the  channel.  The  bars  make  to  seaward  every  year. 
The  ?outh-west  Pass  is  now  the  main  outlet.  It  has 
been  so  lor  onl>  three  years,  as  at  that  time  there 
•was  as  much  waler  in  the  North-east  Pass  as  in  it. 
The  South-cast  Pass  was  tlie  main  ship  channel  twen- 
ty years  ago;  there  is  only  about  six  feet  water  in  that 
Pass  now,  and  where  it  was  deepest  then,  there  is 
only  a  few  inches  of  waler  at  this  time.  The  visible 
shores  of  the  river  have  mude  out  into  the  Gulf  two 
or  three  miles  within  his  memory.  Besides  the  depo- 
sit of  mud  and  sand,  which  form  the  bars,  there  fre- 
quently arise  bumps  or  mounds  near  the  channel, 
■which  divert  its  course  These  bumps  are  supjiosed 
to  be  the  production  of  salt  sprin^^s,  and  sometimes 
arc  formed  In  a  very  few  days.  They  sometimes  rise 
four  or  five  feet  above  the  surface  of  the  water.  He 
know  one  instance  when  some  brick  that  were  thrown 
overboard  from  a  ve.-sel  outside  the  bar,  in  three 
fathoms  water,  were  raised  above  the  surface  by  one 
of  these  banks,  and  weie  taken  to  the  Balize  and 
used  in  building  chimneys.  In  another  instance,  an 
anchor  which  was  lost  from  a  vessel,  was  lifted  out  of 
the  water,  so  that  it  was  taken  ashore.  About  twenty 
years  ago  a  sloop,  used  as  a  lighter,  was  lost  outside 
the  bar  in  a  gale  of  wind;  several  yeai-s  afterwards 
she  was  raised  bj  one  of  those  strange  formations, 
and  her  cargo  was  taken  out  of  her." 

Lieut.  Poole,  of  the  United  States  En- 
gineers, in  his  Report  of  February  8,  1847, 
remarks:  "Great  changes  have  taken  place 
in  the  last  fifteen  years  in  this  (the  South- 
east) and  the  North  east  Pass,  which  has  been 
deepening  while  this  has  been  filling  up."  It 
is  stated  where  the  i.sland,  shown  upon  sheet 
No.  3,  now  is,  there  was  at  that  period  six 
fathoms  water.  The  process  seems  to  be  still 
going  on  ;  the  space  between  this  island  and 
Antonio  being  nearly  covered  by  a  shoal,  the 
centre  of  which  is  already  above  water.  Dur- 
ing a  few  days  that  two  ships  were  lying 
aground  on  the  middle  bank  of  the  South- 
west Pass,  iu  eight  feet  water,  a  channel 
formed  between  them,  through  which  a  ship 
of  sixteen  feet  draught  passed  out  without 
obstruction ! 

The  project  of  deepening  or  improving 
these  outlets  has  been  for  a  long  time  before 
the  general  government,  and  special  reports 
upon  the  subject  prepared  by  the  engineer 
service  after  extended  surveys. 

Three  methods  have  been  principally  in- 
sisted upon,  with  different  degrees  of  merit 
and  ex])ense : 

1st.  To  deepen  by  dredging-machines  one 
or  two  of  the  Passes 

2d.  To  close  up  till  but  one  of  them  where 
they  leiive  the  river  trunk. 

3d.  To  cut  a  canal  from  the  river  to  the  gulf 

All  of  these  are  regarded  practicable.  Sup- 
posing the  first  and  second  adopted  together. 
Captain  Chase  estimates  the  expense  as  fol- 
lows, to  give  sufiicent  depth  of  water : 


Dredging  N.  E.  Pass ?1 00,000 

Do.       S.  W.  Pass 210,(100 

$370,000 

with  an  annual  subsequent   expenditure   of 
$72,000  more. 

Closing  the  Pas.ses $214,500 

Jette  at  N.  E.  Pass 100,000 

Jette  at  S.  W.     "    182,500 

Coutingenceis,  <fec 30,000 

$527,000 

The  line  of  the  ship  canal  is  proposed 
from  a  point  two  and  a  quarter  miles  below 
Fort  Jackson,  and  extending  seven  miles  to 
the  shore  of  the  Gulf,  and  thence  by  a  jette, 
1700  yards  to  SO  feet  water.  The  canal  to 
be  loo  feet  wide  at  top,  and  thirty  feet  deep. 
The  cost  of  this  magnificent  work  is  estimated 
thus : 

For  the  lock  and  guard  work.  $300,000 

For  trunk  of  the  Canal 2,009,333 

Jettes  and  Breakwater 2,403,996 

Channel  between 3,420,000 

Contingencies 1,140,671 

$10,000,000 

Whether  this  amount  be  held  too  vast  for 
an  animal  coi^-imerce  departing  or  entering 
the  river,  now  of  $100,000,000,  is  a  question 
we  shidl  not  take  time  to  solve.  Of  the  prac- 
ticability of  such  a  canal  there  can  be  no 
doubt.  If  we  are  content  to  leave  unim- 
proved the  channel  of  the  river,  private  en- 
terprise will  find  a  harbor  for  our  commerce 
at  .some  other  point  than  the  levee  of  New- 
Orleans.  Sliip  Island  may  afford  such  a  one 
for  the  heaviest  tonnage,  and  a  railroad  loco- 
motive bo  substituted  for  the  laborious  "tow." 

The  subject  of  pilotage  over  the  bars  of  the 
river  has  for  a  long  time  excited  deserved  in- 
terest in  Louisinna,  and  also  in  contiguous 
states.  A  history  of  this  question  would  not 
be  out  of  place  here,  particularly  as  from  late 
developments  it  would  hardly  seem  to  be 
settled. 

At  the  cession  of  Louisiana  to  the  United 
State.i,  a  monopoly  of  the  pilotage  was  in  the 
hands  of  one  Ronquile,  appointed  under  the 
Spanish  crown.  This  man  was  succeeded  by 
two  others,  who  bought  out  his  establishment, 
and  amassed  a  fortune  in  the  course  of  a  few 
A  ears.  The  duties  of  these  pilots  were  per- 
formed by  deputies,  comiuon  sailors  picked 
up  iu  the  city,  and  the  fees  allowed  were  two 
dollars  a  foot  with  certain  other  perquisites. 

The  law  of  18o5  empowered  the  governor 
to  appoint  two  or  more  sufllcient  persons  to 
be  branch  pilots.  Unlimited  competition  was 
the  result.  The  masters  and  wardens  of  New- 
Orleans  were  constituted  a  board  of  examina- 
tion for  pilots. 

The  Act  of  1837,  now  of  force,  introduced 


8 


MISSISSIPPI   RIVER. THE    BALIZE. 


a  revolution  in  the  systena.  The  governor 
appoints  under  it  not  exceeding  fifty  branch 
pilots,  who  are  to  be  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  and  have  resided  two  years  in  Louisi- 
ana ;  examined  by  a  board  of  examiners,  and 
recommended  by  it  to  the  master  and  wardens 
of  New-Orleans,  and  by  them  to  the  execu- 
tive. This  board  of  examiners  to  be  from 
the  pilots  themselves,  and  consist  of  three 
members.  Each  pilot  to  give  bond  in  the  sum 
of  one  thousand  dollars.  Deputy  pilots  are 
forbidden,  and  none  but  a  branch  pilot  shall 
conduct  the  business.  The  rate  of  pilotixge 
upon  all  vessels  indiscriminately  is  fixed  at 
$3.50  per  foot,  without  other  charge  whatever. 

Against  this  system  a  protest  has  been 
made  by  the  New-Orleans  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce, and  a  committee  of  the  Legislature 
charged  during  last  year  with  the  subject, 
after  severe  investigation  and  examination  of 
a  large  number  of  witnesses  selected  from  the 
pilots,  the  ship  and  tow-boat  captains,  ship 
owners,  and  merchants,  presented  a  report 
which  lies  before  us  upon  the  table. 

The  committee  support  the  present  system 
against  those  that  preceded  it  or  are  pro- 
posed in  its  stead,  and  furnish  a  beautiful  and 
graphic  sketch  of  the  country  which  has  been 
redeemed  under  its  influence,  and  of  the  do- 
mestic life  and  condition  of  those  who  are 
employed  in  the  pilot  service.  We  make  no 
apology  for  a  lengthened  extract  from  the  Re- 
port, which  will  give  no  inadequate  notion 
of  the  region  known  as  the  Balize  in  the  be- 
ginning of  the  present  century  and  now  : 

"  Your  committee  have  ascertained  to  their 
entire  satisfaction,  that  every  system  that  had 
ever  been  in  force  in  this  state,  from  the  ces- 
sion of  Louisiana  to  the  passage  of  the  act  of 
March  13th,  1837,  had  proved  a  total  lailure. 
"Whether  as  regards  the  interests  of  commerce, 
the  advancement  of  social  order,  or  the  be- 
hests of  morals  and  civilization,  they  had  one 
and  all  fallen  short  of  the  ends  and  purposes 
of  their  creation. 

"On  this  point  your  committee  have  taken 
ample  and  unbroken  testimony,  without  a  dis- 
senting voice.  The  wiiole  evidence  shows 
that,  from  the  existence  of  the  state  as  a 
portion  of  the  confederacy,  up  to  the  year 
1837,  the  pilot  service  was  negligently  per- 
formed, and  more  especially  were  the  persons 
engaged  in  it,  as  a  body,  a  desperate,  worth- 
less, reckless  class  of  men.  The  Balize,  during 
that  j)eri((d,  was  a  scene  of  barbarous  strife 
and  drunken  debauch. 

"  Your  committee  have  been  informed  by 
■witnesses  of  unblenii.shed  character,  who  have 
resided  at  the  Balize,  both  befere  and  after 
the  passage  of  the  act  of  1837,  that  anterior 
to  that  law  it  was  a  mere  mud  bank,  whose 
natural  loathsomeness  was  made  more  in- 
tolerable by  the  beastly  scenes  enacted  there. 
Riots  and  broils  were  daily  exhibitions,  and 
low  revelry  and  debauches  the  pastimes  of 


the  night  It  was  a  place  dangerous  to  visit : 
the  savageness  of  man  invested  the  desolation 
of  nature  with  appalling  attributes.  The 
Balize  is  located  upon  the  margin  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, a  short  distance  above  the  North-east 
Pass;  in  front  the  river  flows  sullenly;  all 
around  is  a  prairie  overgrown  with  the  rank 
luxuriance  of  the  tropics ;  the  waters  of  the 
gulf  in  daily  tides  cover  the  face  of  the  earth 
round  about,  many  miles ;  there  is  not  a  tree, 
nor  a  mound,  nor  a  monument  of  any  sort, 
unless  placed  there  by  the  hand  of  man,  to 
relieve  a  monotony  that  oppresses  the  be- 
holder. The  land  itself  is  but  a  recent  ac- 
quisition from  the  ocean,  wrenched  thence  by 
the  great  father  of  rivers.  This  dreary  arid 
inhospitable  vision  was  the  first  that  greeted 
the  stranger  approaching  our  shores  from  the 
seaw.ard;  and  it  is  appalling  to  reflect  that 
the  character  of  the  people  who  dwelt  there, 
and  held  appointments  from  the  state,  was 
yet  more  savage  than  the  scene  that  sur- 
rounded them,  and  impressed  the  mind  with 
ideas  of  our  national  qualities,  as  gloomy  as 
the  opinions  such  a  spectacle  might  inspire  of 
the  natural  features  of  our  country. 

"  It  was  not  surprising  that  your  predecessors 
endeavored  to  remodel  a  system,  or  systems, 
under  which  the  vestibule  of  the  state  was 
thronged  by  the  worst  description  of  men. 
Nor  is  there  wanted  a  reason  why  they,  who 
approached  our  shores  to  find  themselves 
amid  a  class  of  men  more  dangerous  than  the 
deep  they  had  escaped,  made  an  outcry  against 
the  laws  that  encouraged  or  could  uot  repress 
tlieir  outrages.  Nor  was  it  possible  for  a  ser- 
vice, requiring  sober,  discreet,  and  intelligent 
men,  to  be  conducted  properly  by  such  as  spent 
their  lives  in  daily  broila  and  midnight  was- 
sail. 

"  The  experiments  to  infuse  respectability 
and  character  into  the  pilot  service  resulted  in 
the  act  of  the  13th  March,  1837.  The  effect 
of  that  act  the  committee  w^ill  endeavor  to 
explain  in  as  brief  a  space  as  possible ;  and 
in  this  connection  they  will  also  attempt  to 
point  out  the  peculiar  provisions  of  the  law 
which  in  their  opinion  have,  more  than  others, 
brought  about  the  change  that  has  been  so 
beneficial  and  apparent. 

"  Shortly  after  the  passage  of  the  act  of  1 SST, 
the  pilots  selected  under  it  formed  themselves 
into  an  association  for  their  better  governance, 
and  the  more  prompt  and  efficient  discharge 
of  their  duties.  It  will  be  seen  that  tlie  act 
provided  that  there  should  be  no  deputy 
pilots ;  every  person  in  the  association  -was, 
therefore,  a  full  branch  pilot,  and  the  equal  of 
his  compeers.  The  immediate  effect  of  tliis 
]jrovision  was  the  elevation  of  the  character 
of  the  pilots  as  men.  There  was  no  inequal- 
ity between  them — no  superiors,  no  inferiors; 
every  man  who  had  heretofore  occupied  a 
subordiii^te  sphere  of  life  was  raised  in  his 
own  esteem.    He  was  no  longer  a  menial; 


MISSISSIPPI   RIVER. THE    BALIZE. 


9 


his  responsibilities  were  iucreaseil,  and  with 
it  his  dignity  and  self-respect. 

"  Tlic!  association  was  founded  upon  the 
broadest  principles  of  equal  rights.  The  busi- 
ness of  the  company  was  placed  under  the 
superintendence  and  control  of  a  principal 
and  board  of  directors,  or  rather  executive 
coniniittee.  The  by-laws  regulating  these 
appointments  made  them  elective  by  the  pi- 
lots in  commission,  and  so  limited  the  periods 
of  service,  and  arranged  the  terms  of  re- 
eligibility,  as  to  secure  to  each,  in  his  turn,  a 
share  in  the  administration  of  the  affairs  of 
the  association.  The  salutary  influences  of 
this  system  were  soon  manifested,  in  a  total 
change  in  the  habits,  manners,  and  morals  of 
the  Balize ;  order  succeeded  confusion  ;  sober- 
ness of  living  followed  the  scenes  of  riot  and 
debauchery  before  prevalent ;  and  the  growth 
of  social  amenities  rooted  out  the  wild  and 
poisonous  weeds  which  had  sprung  up  in  that 
hot-bed  of  vice  and  profligacy. 

"Another  change  more  remarkable,  but  per- 
haps equally  natural,  was  wrought  by  the  act, 
in  the  domestic  relations  of  the  pilots.  It 
was  a  rare  thing  to  see  a  married  woman  at 
the  Balize  during  the  existence  of  the  ancient 
systems,  which  were  overthrown  in  1837. 
Upon  the  disappearance  of  stews,  lewd  re- 
sorts, and  places  of  public  drinking,  more  se- 
date and  rational  views  of  life  supplanted  the 
savage  and  guilty  notions  that  had  so  long 
swayed  the  conduct  of  the  pilots ;  and  that 
provision  of  the  law  which  made  members  of 
their  own  body  a  board  of  examiners,  giving 
to  them  the  right  to  select  their  own  associates, 
and  in  a  good  measure  to  purge  the  Balize  of 
the  worthless  characters  who  might  otherwise 
infest  it,  emboldened  them  to  take  wives  to 
themselves,  and  perfect  the  reform  by  adding 
the  claims  of  domestic  connections  to  the  induce- 
ment to  a  well-regulated  social  organization. 

"The  change  produced  by  these  combined 
influences  upon  the  morals  of  the  Balize  is 
scarcely  credible.  It  has  been  snatched  like 
a  brand  from  the  burning — a  diviner  spirit 
has  breathed  upon  it — a  more  exalting  appre- 
ciation of  the  duties  of  citizenship  has  pos- 
sessed its  inhabitants.  Tliey  have  become 
fathers  of  families ;  children  have  grown  up 
around  them,  whose  prattle  awakens  other 
emotions  than  those  that  night  revels  and 
brawdy  songs  once  stirred  within  them.  Nor 
do  they  stop  here.  They  have  established  a 
public  school  to  educate  these  children  for  the 
duties  of  republicans.  They  have  built  up  a 
reading  room  for  the  imjirovement  of  them- 
selves as  well.  They  have  established  a  po- 
lice there,  too,  to  suppress  disorder.  The  cha- 
racteristics of  the  place  are  peace,  order, 
progress.  The  abode  of  vice,  lawlessness  and 
profligacy,  has  been  redeemed,  and  conse- 
crated to  the  humanizing  influences  of  the 
age — education,  moral  culture,  and  habits  of 
industry,  sobriety,  and  economy. 


"  The  change  in  the  physical  features  of  the 
Balize  is  not  greatly  less  obvious  than  in  it8 
moral  qualities.  A  village  of  comfortable  and 
convenient  houses  has  sprung  up  like  bright 
exhalations.  A  narrow  strip  of  ground,  front- 
ing neat  dwellings,  has  been  wrested  from 
the  returning  tides.  By  small  additions,  such 
as  could  be  made  in  the  intervals  between  the 
claims  of  duty,  they  have  formed  an  embank- 
ment for  the  purposes  of  horticulture.  The 
earth  forming  this  artificial  batture  has  been 
taken  from  the  depths  of  the  river.  It  is  the 
product  of  years  of  labor.  Each  residence 
has  a  parterre  before  it ;  and  here  the  matrons 
of  the  Balize  and  their  daughters  spend  their 
leisure  in  beautifying  the  blasted  desolation 
of  nature.  A  more  imposing  instance  of  the 
power  of  law,  when  exerted  for  the  dignity 
of  man — for  his  protection,  for  the  conserva- 
tive instincts  of  our  species — can  nowhere  be 
fouud.  That  there  should  be  now  a  well- 
ordered  society  in  this  once  sink  of  iniquity; 
that  domestic  virtues  should  hallow  the  abode 
of  profligacy;  that  children  should  be  pointed 
the  ways  of  wisdom,  whore  yet  a  little  while 
the  stern  and  formed  character  of  men  could 
not  resist  the  force  of  abasing  example  ;  that 
flowers  should  be  taught  to  grow  upon  a  waste, 
where  lately  a  vertical  sun  and  the  waters  of 
the  ocean  held  alternate  dominion ;  that  re- 
ligion, peace  and  order  should  reign  over  a 
spot  cursed  with  inhi  spitalities,  and  terrible 
from  the  depravity  of  its  inhabitants,  is  a 
triumph  which  the  law  may  boast,  which 
civilization  may  rejoice  over,  which  the  state 
may  claim  as  all  her  own. 

"  In  the  benefits  of  these  ameliorations,  com- 
merce has  also  participated,  for  a  more  in- 
telligent class  of  persons  are  brought  to  its 
assistance.  It  is  in  proof  that  the  pilot  ser- 
vice has  been  better  conducted  since  IS-S? 
than  it  ever  was  before — a  proposition  v.'hich 
scarcely  required  proof,  unless  it  were  doubt- 
ful whether  sober,  industrious,  competent  and 
resjjectable  men  are  more  capable  of  dis- 
charging responsible  duties  than  sots  and  sea- 
loafers." 

The  following  facts  were  elicited  from  wit- 
nesses in  the  course  of  examination  before 
the  committee: — There  are  forty-seven  pilots 
now  enrolled.  The  full  complement  of  fifty 
has  almost  always  been  secured.  A  pilot- 
boat  is  ever  stationed  at  the  South-west  Pass, 
and  cruises  southward  and  eastward  ;  the 
South-west  Pass  came  into  use  in  1880,  pre- 
viously the  South-east  was  the  main  channel; 
four  other  boats  cruise  from  the  North-east 
Pass.  Boats  with  five  or  six  pilots  remain  at 
sea  until  they  have  all  taken  ships.  The  gulf 
coast  is  extensive  and  complicated ;  sun  often 
seen  only  through  fogs  faintly  for  months  at 
a  time ;  pilots  guide  then  by  soundings  and 
their  knowledge  of  bottoms.  The  pojiulation 
of  the  Balize  is  300  to  350.  There  are  at  the 
South-west  Pass  60  or  70  more.    Mortality 


10 


MISSISSIPPI    RIVER THE    GREAT    IMPORTAKCE    OF    IMPROVING. 


from  various  cau?es  very  great.  In  eleven  1 
years  seventy  or  eighty  boat-keepers  or  pilots ' 
have  been  drowned,  killed,  or  have  died. 
Within  tliirty-oue  years  every  man  at  the  Ba- 
lize  has  died— every  human  being,  pilot  or  not 
pilot.  The  Association  of  Pilots  have  in  their 
employ  ten  apprentices,  receiving  each  from 
twenty-live  to  tiiirty  dolhirs  per  month.  The 
average  annual  distributable  share  of  each 
pilot,  for  the  last  six  or  seven  years,  has  been 
11,6.34  90.  The  salaries  of  tow-boat  captains 
reach  as  high  as  $2,000. 

Tlie  evidence  for  the  good  order,  faithful- 
ness, decorum,  and  entire  efficiency  of  the 
pilot  service  is  unanimous.  The  Vice  Presi- 
dent of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  W.  L. 
Hodge,  Esq.,  declared  that  he  was  not  aware 
of  any  neglect,  as  represented  in  certain  pe- 
titions, and  that  he  had  refused  such  petitions 
when  presented  to  him.  The  objections  of 
witnesses  go  to  other  matters — to  the  con- 
stitution of  the  Board  of  Examiners,  to  the 
alleged  monopoly  and  excessive  rate  of 
charges.  The  evidence  on  the  last  point  is 
various.  Some  are  for  maintaining  the  sys- 
tem as  it  is,  many  for  a  very  considerable  re- 
duction ;  nearly  all  would  advocate  a  reduc- 
tion on  vessels  drawing  less  than  ten  or  twelve 
feet.  The  pilots  themselves  admit  the  pro- 
priety of  this  last  reduction,  and  advocate  it 
as  being  more  beneficial  to  themselves  as  well 
as  to  trade.  Doubtless  the  proj^er  modifica- 
tion will  be  made. 

The  total  expense  of  pilotage  is  estimated 
by  Mr.  Hodge  as  one  tenth  of  one  per  cent,  on 
the  whole  commerce  of  the  Mississippi  with 
the  sea.* 

MISSISSIPPI  RIVER.— The  Great  Im- 
portance OF  Improving  the  Mississippi 
River. — The  Mississippi  River,  taken  in  con- 
nection with  the  Missouri,  is  the  longest 
known  river  on  the  earth,  and,  with  its  trib- 
utaries, waters  the  greatest  extent  of  ter- 
ritory.     Yet,  large  as  is  the  number  of  the 


*  Major  Stoddard,  who  toolc  possession  of  Louisi- 
ana for  tlio  Uuitod  States  in  1804,  :'nd  resided  five 
ye.irs  afterwards  in  tho  state,  malics  these  remarks 
upon  the  Halize : 

"  The  .Mississippi,  near  its  confluence  with  tlie  sea, 
is  divided  into  five  branches,  and  of  course  has  its 
emlioiichure  in  tl>e  gulf  by  mciins  of  five  mouths. 
These  are  denominated  the  North-east,  t^outh,  South- 
east, and  South-west  Passes.  Tliey  are  from  three  to 
nine  miles  in  length,  and  furnish  a  depth  of  water  for 
the  largest  ships  except  upon  the  bars.  The  JOast 
Pass,  called  the  Balize,  has  about  seventeen  feet  of 
water  on  the  bar,  and  is  the  one  usually  navigated. 
The  South  Pass  was  formerly  of  eciual  depth,  but  is 
now,  18o5or  18u6,graduallyfillin!;up.  The  South-west 
Pass  has  from  eleven  to  twelve  feet  water.  Tho 
North-east  and  South-oast  Passes  are  traversed  only 
by  small  craft.  On  the  south  side  of  tlie  Kast  I'ass, 
about  three  miles  from  tho  bar,  is  the  pilot-house,  a 
framed  look-out  house,  about  sixty  feet  high,  whcrK 
several  men  reside.  They  make  use  of  row-boats, 
and  seldom  venture  out  to  sea  except  in  good 
weather," 


towns  and  cities  at  present  upon  its  banks, 
whose  commercial  interests  are  directly  con- 
nected witli  its  waters,  it  is  not  a  hundredth 
part  of  what  it  is  one  day  destined  to  become; 
and  vast  as  is  the  amount  of  produce  from 
the  interior  which  now  descends,  and  of  im- 
ports that  a.scends  that  river,  they  are  really 
inconsiderable  when  compared  with  the  most 
moderate  estimate  of  tlie  amount  that  must 
at  some  future  day  find  a  way  to  their  re- 
spective markets  along  its  channel.   Being  the 
outlet  of  an  immense  valley,  and  the  travel- 
ling and  commercial  thoroughfare  of  a  popula- 
tion increasing  beyond  all   ordinary  calcula- 
tion, whatever  affects  the  permanency  of  its 
channel,  or  general  character  as  a  navigable 
stream,  must  excite  an  interest  in  the  minds 
of  all  who  reside  sufficiently  near  its  waters 
to  have  their  property  affected  by  its  over- 
flows, or  a  change  in  its  channel.   These  over- 
flows have  been  of  such  a  character  for  the 
last    few    years,  as  to   spread    consternation 
among  those  whose  agricultural  interests  lie 
exposed  to  their  ravages ;  while  the  changes 
evidently  taking  place  in  the  lower  channel 
of  the  river  have  begun  to  excite  alarm  in 
those  who  see  their  business  and  real  estates 
likely  to  be  endangered  by  their  continuance. 
The  agricultural  and  commercial  interests  im- 
mediately connected  with  the  lower  Missis- 
sippi, and  liable  to  be  affected  by  its  changes, 
are  too  vast  and   important  to  the   general 
prosperity  of  the  whole  country  to  permit  the 
necessity   for   its  improvement  to  be   much 
longer  overlooked,  or  the  improvement  itself 
to  be  much  longer  deferred.     People  must  be 
blind,  indeed,  to  their  interests,  and  to  the 
consequences  which  already  begin    to  stare 
them  in  the  face,  much  longer  to  stand  with 
folded  arms,  indifferent   to   the  condition  of  a 
river,  the  yearly  damages  from  which  already 
amount  to  millions  ;  and   the  time  cannot  be 
far  distant,  if  want  of  foresight  or  reckless  in- 
difference to  consequences  continue  to  char- 
acterize the  action  of  the  Legislature  of  Loui- 
siana, when   the   river,  breaking   tlirough  ita 
limits,  and  entirely  changing  its  channel,  will 
so  affect  present  interests  in  that  state  as  to 
bring  total  ruin  to  many,  and  leave  others  no 
longer  possessing  any  interests  capable  of  be- 
ing protected  by  its  improvement.    Convinced 
as  I  am  that,  when  threatened  dangers  are 
overlooked,    and    all    prevention    neglected, 
these  consequences  become  inevitable,  I  feel 
anxious   that    those  whose  interests   are   so 
deeply  involved  in  the  subject  should  be  fully 
aroused  to  a  sense  of  its  importancc-and  its 
danger,  and  induced  to  take  it  up  in  such  a 
way   as  to  insure  the  adoption   of  effective 
means  to  save  themselves  from  ruin,  and  se- 
cure the  permanent  agricultural  and  commer- 
cial prosperity  of  Louisiana.     With  this  view 
I  now  write.     I  see  great  danger  before  the 
people  of  that  state,  which  science  and  expe- 
rience tell  me,  if  not  met  by  counteracting 


MISSISSIPPI    RIVER THE    GREAT    IMPORTANCE    OF    IMPROVING. 


11 


remfdies,  is  inevitable  ;  and  I  cannot  but  feel 
astounded  at  tlie  ignorance  of  some,  tiie  blind- 
ness of  olbeis,  and  tlie  apatliy  of  ail.  If  J 
succeed  in  impressing  upon  their  minds  the 
necessity  for  action,  and  that  action  follows,  I 
shall  have  accomplished  a  great  good ;  if  I 
fail,  I  shall  at  least  have  pcrftirmeil  a  duty, 
the  neglect  of  which  I  should  hold  inexcusa- 
ble. 

Tlie  Cnnfiea  of  the  present  Coiulition  of  the 
River. — Tiie  condition  of  the  lower  Mississippi, 
its  tendency  to  overflow,  the  frequent  changes 
in  its  chaniWl,and  consequent  threatened  dan- 
gers, are  the  result  of  many  causes,  among 
wJiich  the  following  may  be  considered  the 
principal :  the  sinuosity  of  the  bed,  and  the 
want  of  uniformity  in  its  breadth.  Flowing 
through  an  alluvial  soil,  which,  no  doubt,  was 
originally  formed  from  the  materials  brought 
down  by  the  river  itself,  it  is  natural  that  its 
bed  should  be  subject  to  continual  change, 
where  change  is  so  easily  effected  and  wlitre 
80  many  causes  for  change  arc  permitted  to 
exist.  Tlie  slightest  irregularity  of  the  batiks, 
or  a  deepening  or  shoaling  of  the  bed  on  one 
side  or  tlie  other,  will  cause  the  current  to 
change  its  previous  channel,  and,  in  its  efforts 
to  continue  the  obtained  motion  in  the  same 
direction,  and  with  the  same  velocity,  it  will 
abrade  whichever  bank  interferes  with  that 
direction.  Thus  a  curve  is  commenced,  which 
by  degrees  becomes  more  extended  by  the 
continual  abrasion  of  the  concave  bank,  while 
the  opposite  convex  side  increases  at  the  same 
time  by  deposits  of  material  brought  down, 
its  advance  keeping  pace  with  the  retreat  of 
the  other.  The  curve  continues  to  progress 
until  the  river,  in  its  circuitous  sweep,  returns 
towards  the  point  where  it  commenced,  leav- 
ing only  a  narrow  isthmus  at  the  neck  of  the 
bend,  between  the  channel  above  and  the  one 
below,  through  which  the  water  during  some 
high  flood  at  last  finds  its  way,  and  opens  for 
itself  a  new  and  more  direct  bed.  This  may 
be  called  a  natural  cut  off,  being  one  of  those 
efforts  which  the  river,  urider  the  direction  of 
Nature's  laws,  makes  to  regulate  a  defect  in 
its  channel.  No  person  can  look  over  tlie 
map  of  the  Mississippi  River  without  perceiv- 
ing that  it  has  frequently  exercised  this  self- 
regulating  power,  and,  we  may  say,  always 
to  advantage. 

Different  degrees  of  density  in  the  soil  com 
posing  the  banks,  presenting  more  or  less  re- 
sistance at  different  points,  will  (all  other 
things  being  equal)  have  a  tendency  to  pro- 
duce a  similar  result;  while  the  same  cause, 
existing  in  the  soil  of  the  bed,  will  cause  such 
irregularity  in  the  breadth  and  depth  of  the 
channel  as  to  vary  materially  the  velocity  of 
the  current  in  different  parts,  and  thus  destroy 
every  tiling  like  permanency  and  uniformity 
in  the  channel.  The  irregularity  in  the  velo- 
city thus  produced  by  the  sinuosity  of  the 
bed,  and  by  the  want  of  uniformity  in   its) 


breadth,  also  increases  its  tendency  to  over- 
flow. For  wherever  the  velocity  is  dimin- 
ished, and  the  free  discharge  checked,  there 
must  be  a  greater  head  of  water  in  time  of 
flood,  and  consequently  an  increased  danger 
of  inundation. 

Such  are  the  evils  consequent  upon  the 
present  condition  of  the  river:  from  tlic  point 
where  it  enters  the  lower  valley  to  its  mouth, 
it  may  almost  be  said  to  consist  of  a  series  of 
curves.  The  channel  being  irregular,  the  ve- 
locity is  diminished,  and  its  deposits  increased ; 
so  that  while  it  apparently  retains  its  usual 
depth  in  some  parts,  in  others  the  bed  is  evi- 
dently rising,  and  the  tendency  to  oveiflow, 
from  want  of  a  regular  and  free  discharge  of 
its  waters,  is  increased.  There  is  also  a  pros- 
pect that  the  present  channel  may  be  so  tilled 
up  as  to  force  the  river  to  open  a  new  passage 
for  itself,  and  thereby  cause  the  utter  ruin  of 
the  great  commercial  interests  which  have 
grown  up  upon  its  banks. 

There  are  other  causes,  also,  operating  upon 
the  Mississippi,  which  have  more  or  le^s  con- 
tributed to  its  present  condition,  and  continue 
to  exercise  an  injurious  influence  upon  its 
channel.  Above  New-Orleans  there  are  three 
outlets :  the  Atchafalaya,  Plaquemine,  and 
La  Fourche,  through  which  no  inconsiderable 
portion  of  the  water  of  the  main  river  finds 
its  way  in  time  of  flood.  These  outlets, 
reaching  the  gulf  by  a  shorter  course,  have  a 
greater  fall  than  the  main  river;  and  their 
channels  not  being  so  deep,  the  velocity  of 
their  currents  is  greater  at  the  bottom,  conse- 
quently they  are  experiencing  a  gradual  but 
steadily  progressive  deepening  of  their  beds, 
and  enlargement  of  their  cross  sections.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  volume  of  water  in  the 
main  river,  being  diminished  by  the  discharge 
through  these  outlets,  loses  velocity  in  propor- 
tion, while  its  deposits  are  increased.  Thus 
the  bed  of  the  main  river,  below  these  outlets, 
must  experience  a  gradual  and  progressive 
elevation,  and  while  these  outlets  are  clearing 
out,  deepening  and  enlarging  their  channels, 
the  Mississippi  is  gradually  filling  up.  In- 
deed, such  is  the  effect  produced  upon  the 
channel  of  the  main  river  by  means  of  outlets, 
that,  in  the  passes,  where  they  are  numerous, 
the  depth  of  the  chaimel  decreases  regularly 
from  their  upper  entrance  to  their  mouths. 
The  reason  is  obvious.  The  volume  of  water 
which  enters  the  passes  from  above  is  dimin- 
ished, and  the  breadth  of  the  bed  being  ex- 
tended towards  the  sea,  the  velocity  is  like- 
wise diminished ;  and  the  current,  no  longer 
able  to  sweep  into  the  gulf  the  sedimentary 
matter  which  it  holds  in  suspension,  or  wliich 
it  carries  along  at  the  bottom  of  the  bed, 
nearly  chokes  up  the  mouths  of  the  passes 
with  it.  Thus  it  is,  that  while  there  is  a 
depth  of  over  a  hundred  feet  at  New-Orleans, 
there  is  only  twelve  at  the  mouths  of  the 
passes  ;  and  thus  it  is  thjit,  the  free  discharge 


12 


MISSISSIPPI    RIVER — THE    GREAT   IMPORTANCE    OF    IMPROVING. 


of  the  water  through  the  mouths  of  these  j 
passes  being  impeded,  the  surface  of  the  river 
higher  up  is  made  to  reach  a  greater  eleva- 
tion in  time  of  a  flood  than  it  would  if  the 
mouths  of  the  passes  were  deep  enough  to 
admit  of  a  free  discharge  of  water  into  the 
gulf  It  requires  a  certain  centralized  volume 
of  water  to  keep  open  the  channel  of  a  river, 
as  it  acquires  a  different  cross  section  after 
the  volume  of  water  is  diminished,  because 
the  river  will  fashion  the  size  of  its  bed  to 
the  volume  of  water  that  remains. 

The  rapid  increase  of  settlements  along  the 
tributaries  of  the  Mississippi,  the  clearing  of 
the  woods,  and  the  cultivation  and  draining  of 
the  lands,  by  affording  a  freer  and  more  rapid 
passage  for  the  waters  of  the  valley  into  the 
streams,  and  carrying  along  a  greater  quan- 
tity of  sedimentary  matter,  serve  to  increase 
still  further  the  tendency  to  overflow  in  the 
main  river.  For  though  the  quantity  of  rain 
that  falls  throughout  the  entire  valley  may 
not  be  greater  than  before,  yet  much  of  the 
impediments  in  the  way  of  its  discharge  be- 
ing removed,  and  the  absorption  and  evapora- 
tion diminished  by  the  increased  rapidity  of 
the  discharge,  the  water,  after  heavy  rains, 
makes  its  appearance  in  the  main  river  more 
speedily  and  more  simultaneously,  and  it 
consequently  rises  to  a  greater  height.  This 
evil,  however  it  may  be  provided  against  by 
an  improved  condition  of  the  bed  of  the  river, 
cannot  be  prevented.  On  the  contrary,  it 
may  be  expected  to  increase  in  proportion  as 
the  settlement  and  cultivation  of  the  lands 
throughout  the  Great  West  continue  to  pro- 
gress. 

Incident  to  the  condition  of  the  river  may 
be  considered  the  swamps,  lagoons  or  dead 
lakes  interspersed  along  the  low  grounds  that 
lie  on  both  sides  of  the  river,  throughout  much 
of  its  length  in  the  lower  valley.  These  act 
as  reservoirs  or  feeders  to  the  main  river.  In 
time  of  floods  much  of  the  surplus  water  flows 
into  them,  and,  remaining  there  until  the 
water  in  the  river  begins  to  fall,  returns  to 
the  main  channel.  In  this  way  they  tend  to 
equalize  the  volume  of  water  in  the  river, 
preventing  it  from  rising  as  high  in  time  of 
flood  as  it  otherwise  would,  and  also  from 
falling  too  rapidly.  The  effect  which  they 
have  upon  the  condition  of  the  river  is  bene- 
ficial, not  only  because  they  check,  in  some 
degree,  the  tendency  to  overflow,  and  shorten 
the  time  of  low  water ;  but  also  because  they 
serve  as  repositories  for  much  of  the  sediment- 
ary matter  In-ouglit  down  by  the  water  which 
otherwise  woulJ  remain  in  the  river  channel. 

Tlie  Remedy. — Before  proceeding  to  state 
the  remedy  for  the  present  evils  and  threat- 
ened dangers,  it  may  be  well  to  lay  down  a 
few  simple  general  principles  in  Hydrodyna- 
mics. The  velocitv  of  running  w.ater  depends 
upon  volume,  fall,  and  resistance.  When 
these  are  uniform,  the  velocity  is  always  the 


same;  but,  in  proportion  as  the  volume  and 
fall  are  lessened,  and  the  resistance  increased, 
so  is  the  velocity  diminished,  and  vice  versa. 
From  this  arises  the  fact,  that  in  a  straight 
reach  of  equal  cross  sections,  where  the  vol- 
ume, fall  and  resistance  are  uniform,  the  velo- 
city remains  the  same  ;  while  in  a  sinuous 
course  of  unequal  cross  sections,  where  the 
fall  is  diminished,  the  resistance  increased, 
and  both  constantly  varying,  though  the  vol- 
ume may  remain  the  same,  the  velocity  is  not 
only  lessened,  but  it  becomes  vari^l  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  channel.  Velocitjralso  varies 
where  uniformity  is  wanting  in  the  breadth 
of  the  bed ;  being  greater  where  the  bed  is 
narrow  and  deep  than  where  it  is  wide  and 
shallow.  Water  in  a  state  of  motion  is  ena- 
bled to  take  up  and  carry  with  it  the  sedi- 
ment from  the  bottom  of  the  bed  along  which 
it  flows ;  while  still  water  deposits  there 
whatever  body  heavier  than  itself  may  fall 
into,  or  be  contained  in  it.  The  quantity  and 
character  of  the  sedhnent  thus  taken  up,  de- 
pends upon  the  degree  of  velocity  with  which 
the  water  runs.  It  requires  less  to  take  up 
alluvial  sediment  than  sand,  sand  than  gravel, 
and  gravel  than  stones  or  boulders.  Thus  the 
velocity  of  the  current  regulates  the  depth  of 
its  bed.  Where  it  is  great,  the  channel  is 
deep,  for  the  current  is  able  to  take  up  the 
sediment  or  sand,  and  carry  it  along ;  and 
where  it  is  languid,  the  channel  is  shallow, 
because  the  current  is  not  only  unable  to 
scour  out  its  bed  and  keep  it  deep,  but  even 
to  carry  the  sediment  brought  from  those 
parts  of  the  channel  where  the  velocity  is 
greater,  but  deposits  it  along  the  bed,  thus 
elevating  the  bottom,  and  making  the  river 
more  shallow.  From  these  few  simple  prin- 
ciples, it  is  plain  that  the  course  of  a  river 
should  be  straight,  and  its  bed  of  a  uniform 
breadth,  or  cross  sections,  whereby  a  regular 
velocity  may  be  secured,  the  discharge  of 
water  be  performed  in  the  shortest  time,  and 
the  abrasion  of  the  banks  prevented. 

In  accordance  with  these  principles,  the 
remedy  for  the  evils  in  the  present  condition 
of  the  Mississippi  is  as  follows  : 

1st.  If  a  straight  course  cannot  be  given  to 
the  river,  from  its  too  great  expense  or  other 
local  difHculty,  it  can  be  made  to  approximate 
as  nearly  as  practicable  to  such  a  direction  of 
its  channel :  that  is,  to  alter  the  present 
curves,  so  that  those  of  small  radii  may  be 
replaced  by  others  of  much  larger  radii ;  and 
the  angles  of  incidence  be  considerably  en- 
larged. This  alteration  in  the  course  of  the 
river,  by  diminishing  resistance  and  increasing 
its  fall,  would  have  a  tendency  to  lessen 
abrasion,  and  by  rendering  the  velocity  mo;e 
uniform,  deepen  the  channel,  remove  present 
shoals,  prevent  their  re-formation,  and  relieve 
the  river  in  time  of  flood  by  causing  a  freer 
disehirge  of  its  water. 

2d.  Establish  a  uniform  cross  section  be- 


MlSSISSIPn    RI\TER THE    GREAT    ISlrORTANCE    OF    IMPROVING. 


13 


twcen  the  principal  tributaries  and  outlets,  so 
as  to  adapt  it  to  the  volume  both  at  high  and 
low  water  mark.  This  would  aid  in  accom- 
plishing the  result  sought  for  above. 

3d.  Regulate  the  width,  and  centralize  the 
current,  by  giving  the  channel  such  a  form 
that  the  greatest  dcptli  and  velocity  may  be 
in  tlie  middle  of  the  bed,  and  its  least  depth 
and  force  near  its  banks  and  levees.  This 
would  prevent  abrasion,  and  secure  perma- 
nency to  the  channel. 

Tlie  old  Remedies  and  their  Defects. — In  all 
attempts  to  remedy  the  evils  arising  from  the 
defective  condition  of  the  Mississippi,  the 
practice  has  been  to  erect  new  levees,  and 
raise  still  higher  those  already  in  existence, 
in  order  to  prevent  overflows,  or  assist  nature 
in  her  efforts  to  straigliteu  the  course  by  mak- 
ing cut-offs.  The  state  of  the  river  for  the 
last  few  years  shows  clearly  enough  that, 
while  the  elevation  of  the  levees.'may  have  a 
temporary  effect  in  confining  the  water  within 
the  channel,  it  affords  no  permanent  security, 
and  applies  no  remedy  whatever  to  the 
causes  which  are  evidently  rendering  over- 
flows more  frequent  and  more  destructive. 
Indeed,  the  increased  height  of  levees  helps 
to  render  the  overflows  more  destructive, 
when  the  water,  rising  still  higher,  finally 
breaks  through.  Because,  the  volume  of  water 
brought  down  by  subsequent  floods  being 
either  increased  in  quantity,  or  having  a  more 
elevated  surface  from  the  partial  filling  up  of 
the  bed,  presses  upon  the  levee  with  greater 
weight;  and  when  it  does  break  through, 
pours  from  a  greater  height,  and  makes  its 
ravages  more  sudden  and  widely  extended. 

Neitlier  has  any  attention  been  paid  to  giv 
ing  a  proper  direction  to  the  course  of  the 
river,  or  to  make  the  bed  between  the  levees 
of  such  a  form  as  would  prevent  the  injurious 
action  of  tlie  current  on  the  banks  and  levees. 
So  no  remedy  has  been  adopted  for  the  bad 
effects  of  abrupt  curves,  or  acute  angles  of 
incidence,  which  are  the  most  active  causes  of 
irregularity  in  the  bed  and  abrasion  of  the 
banks. 

The  relative  Merits  of  the  different  modes  of 
directinq  the  Bed. — A  most  important  point 
in  regulating  the  course  of  a  river  that 
abrades  its  banks,  and  frequently  changes  its 
bed,  is  the  proper  direction  of  the  channel. 
But  the  mode  of  doing  this  has  given  rise  to 
a  variety  of  opinions.  One  is  to  give  long 
reaches — long  as  the  country  will  admit — 
with  the  angles  of  meeting  rounded  off  by 
curves.  This  plan,  however,  is  defective,  and 
the  defect  is  in  proportion  to  the  fall  of  the 
water  ;  for  the  velocity  acquired  on  tlie 
straiglit  reach  exercises  a  powerful  anrl  inju- 
rious effect  on  the  curve  where  it  meets  tlie 
resistance  of  tlie  concave  bank,  particularly 
where  the  curve  is  of  small  radius,  and  the 
angle  of  incidence  acute.  It  would  render 
defensive  works  necessary  to  protect  the  con- 


cave bank,  which  must  cause  great  expense, 
but  can  prove  of  but  little  service.  Neither 
should  straight  reaches  be  rejected  altogether. 
Where  the  course  cannot  be  made  direct,  nor 
curves  avoided,  straight  reaches  may'be  ad- 
mitted, if  of  moderate  length,  with  curves  of 
as  large  radii  as  possible,  to  lessen  resistance 
in  the  curve  and  the  injurious  effect  of  the 
current  on  the  concave  bank.  Yet  even  this 
is  rejected  altogether  by  many,  because,  in 
some  rivers  so  regulated,  they  find  curves, 
angles  of  incidence,  and  abrasions.  They  af- 
firm that  irregularities  are  always  produced 
by  this  plan,  by  irregular  resistance  in  the 
river's  bed,  and  by  deposits  which  vary  with 
every  flood ;  and  that,  to  insure  it  from  all 
change,  defensive  works  are  absolutely  neces- 
sary throughout  its  entire  length,  and  on  both 
sides,  which  would  involve  heavy  expenses ; 
while  in  curves  of  small  radii  the  current 
never  abrades  the  convex  bank,  and  defensive 
works  cannot  be  needed  under  any  view,  save 
on  the  concave  side. 

But  such  opinions  are  unsound,  and  exhibit, 
on  their  part  who  hold  them,  a  great  want  of 
good  practical  judgment  and  mature  reflec- 
tion. 

Although  defensive  works  be  only  needed 
on  the  concave  banks,  yet,  in  a  river  made  up 
of  curves  of  small  radii,  there  must  necessarily 
be  far  more  of  them  needed  than  in  one  of 
straight  reaches  of  moderate  length,  connected 
by  large  curves. 

In  the  second  place,  as  resistance  must 
always  be  greatest  on  the  concave  side  of  a 
river  thus  made  up  of  curves  of  small  radii, 
because,  the  angles  of  incidence  being  more 
acute,  the  action  of  the  current  in  the  bend  is 
more  violent  and  injurious  than  in  larger 
curves ;  so,  whatever  defensive  works  be 
needed,  they  must  be  much  stronger  and 
more  expensive. 

Thirdly,  the  irregularities  found  in  rivers 
of  this  kind — namely,  of  straight  moderate 
reaches  with  large  curves  to  connect  them — 
arise  from  the  imperfect  manner  in  which 
this  system  of  improvement  has  been  carried 
out,  rather  than  in  the  system  itself.  For  in 
none  of  these  cases  has  any  attempt  been 
made  to  give  the  bed  of  the  river  a  regular 
cross  section,  and  thus  confine  the  force  of  the 
current  to  the  middle  of  the  channel ;  the  only 
method  by  which  the  banks  of  the  river  can 
be  protected  from  abrasion.  It  is  neither  just 
nor  reasonable  to  urge,  or  argue  against  any 
system,  the  imperfect  manner  of  carrying  it 
out,  the  evils  of  which  had  been  effectually 
prevented  by  its  proper  execution. 

The  advocates  of  small  curves,  with  well 
protected  concave  bank--,  seem  to  believe  that 
bends  and  angles  of  incidence  cannot  be 
avoided  ;  and  are  satisfied  with  attempting  to 
remedy  their  evils  in  wliat  they  c<iuceive  the 
best  manner,  and  at  the  least  expense.  But 
I  am  satisfied  that  they  arc  to  be  avoided  by 


14 


MISSISSIPPI   RIVER THE    GREAT    IMPORTANCE    OF    IMPROVING. 


straight  moderate  rf^aclies,  and  curves  of  larj^e 
radii,  when  the  course  of  the  river  cannot  be 
made  altogether  direct;  and  tliat  it  it"  more 
consistent  with  souiul  policy  to  remove  the 
causes  of  irregularity  in  the  bed  and  abrasions 
in  tiie  banks,  liian  to  ]>atch  up  any  remedy 
for  evils  consequent  on  their  existence.  And 
I  am  equally  satistied  such  a  policy  will  prove 
tbe  cheapest  in  tl:e  end. 

77/6  Fr'tnciples  upon  wfiich  tlte  proposed 
Sj/ifetn  of  Improvement  is  based. — Where  the 
Mississippi  runs  in  straight  lines,  or  in  curves 
of  large  radii,  and  where  the  greatest  depth 
of  water  occupies  the  middle  of  the  channel, 
forming  a  basin  from  which  the  banks  on 
either  side  rise  w'ith  a  gradual  and  uniform 
elevation,  we  find  no  abrasion  of  the  banks; 
Con-!equently,  the  princi[)le9  which  serve  as 
the  base  of  the  proposed  system  ore  neither 
innovations  nor  mere  theoretical  ideas,  but 
the  results  of  a  simple  imitation  of  the  mode 
■which  nature,  wlien  uninterrupted,  adopts  to 
regulate  the  motion  of  water.  It-is  an  estab- 
lished fact,  that  in  straight  canals,  where  the 
cross  section  is  formed  of  a  half  circle,  the 
greatest  velocity  is  always  in  the  middle, 
■whore  there  is  the  gr"atest  depth,  and  con- 
sequently the  least  resistance?  to  motinn.  It 
is  equally  true,  that  ■where  the  hanks  of  a 
river  or  a  canal  rise  from  the  bottom  of  the 
bed  progressively,  ■with  a  gradual  and  uniform 
elevation,  the  velocity  and  action  of  the  cur- 
rent are  weakest  near  the  banks,  and  there  ex- 
ists no  apprehension  of  abrasion.  These  facts 
being  indisputable,  the  ]iroblem  is  reduced  to 
finding  the  meaus  to  give,  and  preserve,  to  tin; 
bed,  a  proper  direction,  and  a  cross  section 
composed  of  a  regular  concave  form,  deepest 
in  the  middle,  witii  lateral  sides,  or  banks, 
rising  from  the  bottom  of  the  bed  with  a  grad- 
ual and  uniform  elevation. 

Reasons  in  favor  of  the  Application  of 
those  Principles. — By  the  adoption  of  this 
system  of  improving  the  cliannel  of  the  lower 
Mississippi,  two  important  effects  will  be 
secured. 

1st.  The  middle  of  the  bed  being  the  deep- 
est, the  greatest  velocity  and  action  of  the 
current  wdll  be  confined  to  that  part  where  it 
can  produce  no  injury ;  but,  on  the  contrary, 
prove  most  useful  in  deepening  the  bed,  and 
keeping  it  clear. 

2d.  The  banks  rising  from  the  bottom  of 
tbe  bed  in  the  form  of  inclined  planes,  or 
gentle  curves,  present  the  least  ]iossible  re- 
sistance, and,  the  water  rcarest  them  havii  g 
the  least  depth  and  velocity,  there  can  be  no 
abrasions  of  consequence,  and  little  probability 
of  changes  in  the  channel. 

The  only  difficulty  in  the  application  of 
this  system  of  impi-ovement  consi-ts  in  main- 
taining the  regularity  of  the  proposed  profile. 
The  di<[)lacemcnt  of  materials,  which  always 
takes  place  during  floods,  is  generally  canscid 
by  the  irregularities  of  the  present  channel, 


and  is  considerable  only  where  there  are  sud- 
den changes  in  the  fall,  or  in  the  direction  of 
the  cum  nt.  These  causes  ■would  not  exist 
were  the  channel  regulated  as  proposed  ;  and 
the  higher  parts  of  the  banks  or  batture  in 
front  of  the  levee  being  covered  with  a  sheet 
of  water  of  little  depth  and  velocity,  the  dis- 
placement of  materials  would  only  occur  in 
the  middle  of  tlie  bed  ahmg  which  they 
would  be  carried,  rendering  the  formation  of 
shoals  highly  im|irobable;  or,  if  formed  at 
ail,  they  would  be  of  l.ttle  consequence. 
And  if  slight  irregularities  still  remained, 
caused  by  abrasions  during  a  flood,  they 
would  only  acquire  a  slight  depth,  which  the 
materials  that  the  current  always  brings  down 
with  it  would  fill  up  as  soon  as  the  velocity 
diminished. 

Admitting,  even  in  opposition  to  the  advo- 
cated opinioji,  that  there  would  be  a  consid- 
erable transport  of  materials,  they  would  be 
almost  equally  deposited,  because  the  uniform 
action  of  a  current  in  a  regular  channel  could 
not  produce  irregular  effects ;  so  the  regime 
of  a  river  could  not  be  sensibly  altered.  I 
am  well  satisfied  that  the  quantity  of  matters 
carried  along  l)y  the  current  would  be  much 
less  in  the  bed  if  properly  regulated,  than  in 
its  present  state.  The  displacement  of  the 
materials  forming  the  bed,  which  now  takes 
j>liice  at  every  flood,  is  only  due  to  the  sud- 
den changes  in  the  breadth  and  direction  of 
the  current,  which  are  constantly  occurring 
in  the  present  condition  of  the  river.  The 
abrasion  of  the  steep  concave  banks  in  the 
curves  of  small  radii,  and  that  of  the  Viottom 
caused  by  the  irregularity  in  the  velocity  of 
the  stream,  provide  the  greater  part  of  the 
materials  now  carried  along  by  the  current ; 
while  the  want  of  uniformity  in  the  direction 
and  breadth  of  tlie  bed  causes  the  changes  in 
the  extent  and  height  of  deposit  at  the  con- 
vex sides.  In  an  entirely  straight  channel,  or 
in  one  consisting,  as  before  said,  of  straight 
reaches  of  mudeiate  length  connected  by 
curves  of  large  radii  of  a  unifomi  cross  sec- 
tion, and  with  gradually  inclined  banks  and 
regular  fall,  those  causes  would  not  exist. 

The  Mississippi,  in  its  lower  course,  carries 
along  in  suspension  small  particles  of  earth, 
and  at  its  bottom  fine  sand,  whicli  results 
from  the  abrasion  of  its  banks,  or  from  the 
tearing  up  and 'Wearing  away  of  its  bed; 
while  the  gravel  and  di'hris  from  the  upper 
course  of  the  river  and  its  tributaries,  which 
are  found  on  its  lower  course,  were  no  doubt 
dejiosited  there  at  the  time  of  the  great  revo- 
lutions of  the  globe.  It  follows  from  this, 
that  as  soon  as  we  avoid  the  abrasion  of  the 
banks,  and  the  causes  of  the  accumulation  of 
(h'positsin  the  chanmd,  there  wMll  be  little  dis- 
placement of  the  materials  which  compose  the 
bed  and  banks ;  then  the  accumulation  of  de- 
posits will  be  prevented,  and  the  repinieof  the 
river  be  regular  and  uniform  :  for  the  form  of 


MISSISSIPPI    RIVER — THE    GREAT    IMPORTANCE    OF    IMPROVING. 


15 


the  prnpo?e(]  bed  will  cfTpctiinlly  prevent  tlie 
reni'ival  <>f  its  material:^,  and  tlic  irregularity 
of  the  deposit  of  such  sediment  and  sand  as 
may  be  brought  down  from  the  higher  parts 
of  the  rivor,  which  I  am  justified  In  consider- 
ing the  chief  evils  of  its  present  condition. 
and  the  result  entirely  of  those  defects  which 
I  propo>'e  to  remedy. 

Character  of  the  proposed  Improvement. — 
Tlie  special  cliaracter  of  the  system  which  I 
propose  fir  the  improvement  of  the  Missis- 
sippi River,  may  be  thus  stated: 

1st.  The  bottom  of  the  bed  will  have  a  con- 
cave form,  with  the  greatest  depth  in  the 
middle,  with  lateral  sides  rising  progressively 
towards  the  top  of  the  banks,  so  that  the  cur- 
rent will  be  completely  centralized. 

2d.  That  the  action  of  the  current  will  be 
strongest  in  the  middle,  where  it  can  do  no 
injury  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  be  useful  in  re- 
moving all  materials  which  would  otherwise 
be  deposited  there,  and  miglit  tend  to  alt^^r 
the  regularity  and  uniformity  of  the  cross 
section. 

3d.  That  the  high  water  cannot  reach  the 
levee  except  over  a  gentle  plane,  or  slope, 
covered  with  grass,  which  will  have  a  ten- 
dency to  lessen  its  action,  and  thereby  pre- 
vent abrasion  ;  so  that  there  will  be  no  ap- 
prehension of  its  being  broken  through,  or 
requiring  any  important  repairs. 

4th.  That  the  borders  of  the  bed  being  thus 
protected,  and  secured  from  the  force  of  the 
current,  and  the  middle  kept  deep  and  clear, 
the  levees  will  not  require  to  be  as  high  as 
under  the  present  system,  and  may  be  made  of 
common  earth,  the  interior  slope  being  lined 
■with  grass;  thus  combining  the  least  possible 
resistance  to  the  passage  of  the  water  with 
economy  iu  construction  and  facility  of  re- 
pair. 

5th.  That  the  channel  of  the  river,  approx- 
imating as  nearly  as  practicable  to  a  straight 
course,  and  the  main  force  of  the  current 
being  confined  to  the  middle,  and  nowhere 
washing  against  the  banks,  there  will  be  no 
possibility  of  the  formation  of  shoals,  and 
scarcely  a  probability  of  the  existence  of 
snags,  or  sawyers,  to  impede  navigation  or 
render  it  dangerous  For  such  tiees  as  may 
be  brought  down  from  the  upper  course  of 
the  river,  or  its  tributaries,  will  naturally  be 
carried  by  the  force  of  the  current  into  the 
middle  of  the  channel,  where  the  depth  and 
velocity  will  be  greatest,  and  where  tliey  will 
meet  with  no  impediment  to  stop  i.r  detam 
them  in  their  onward  course  to  the  gulf. 

Advantaricsof  the  proposed  Imjirtivcvievt. — 
I  think  that  the  proposed  system  for  the  im- 
provement of  the  Mississippi  River,  on  ac- 
count of  its  special  advantages,  and  its  econ- 
omy, is  not  only  the  best,  but  the  only  prac- 
ticable one  for  permanently  icgulatmg  the 
channel  and  embanking  tliu  river;  and  that 
when  its  advantages,  and  the  facility  of  its 


execution,  are  once  confirmed  in  the  public 
mind  by  experience,  it  will  afford  a  model  for 
regulating  and  embanking  such  other  rivers 
as  may  require  improvement,  and  be  adopted 
in  jireference  to  any  other,  with  sueh  slight 
modifications  as  the  peculiar  character  of  each 
may  require.  I  am  convinced  that  this  .sys- 
tem, fully  and  properly  carried  out,  will 
entirely  prevent  the  too  frequent  disasters 
caused  by  inundation,  and  secure  to  naviga- 
tion a  mid-channel  of  uniform,  constant,  and 
sufficient  depth  everywhere,  and  at  all  sea- 
sons. 

These  advantages  appear  to  me  to  be  suf- 
ficiently important,  and  to  have  enough  claim 
upon  public  interest,  to  authorize  my  asking 
for  this  system  of  improvement,  and  the  rea- 
sons upon  which  it  is  based,  that  attention 
and  examination,  and  the  sanction  of  that  ap- 
proval, which  I  think  they  deserve  from  the 
well-informed  part  of  the  community,  who 
now  begin  to  feel  the  necessity  and  import- 
ance of  improving  the  course  of  a  river 
whose  inundations  cause  so  many  ravages, 
and  whose  frequent  changes  threaten  to  inter- 
fere with  the  navigation  of  its  channel. 

Objections  to  the  proposed  Improvement. — 
The  only  objection  that  can  be  made  to  the 
mode  of  directing  the  course  of  the  river, 
and  of  centralizing  the  current  as  proposed, 
is,  that  it  will  require  land  at  some  places 
for  a  new  channel,  and  at  others  for  extending 
the  breadth  of  the  present  bed  of  the  river. 
But  it  is  certainly  better  that  the  planters 
who  reside  along  its  banks,  and  whose  inter- 
ests are  so  deeply  involved  in  the  future  as 
well  as  the  present  condition  of  the  river, 
should  make  a  voluntary  sacrifice  of  the 
necessary  land,  by  which  a  perfect  guaranty 
may  be  secured  for  the  rest  of  the  delta,  than 
that  their  plantations  should  continue  to  be 
exposed,  as  they  are  at  present,  to  heavy 
losses  every  year  from  inundations  caused  by 
the  wearing  away  and  breaking  through  of 
the  levees. 

The  examination  of  a  system  of  improve- 
ment is  often  referred  to  persons  who  are  not 
thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  subject,  and 
who  judge  of  the  plan  before  them  according 
to  ancient  prejudices  and  opini<jns,  which  are 
not  applicable  thereto ;  and  the  proposed  im- 
provement being  unfamiliar  to  every  day's 
practice,  it  is  rejected,  and  society  deprived 
of  all  at) vantages  which  may  arise  from  it, 
or  would  contribute  to  the  advancement  of 
its  commercial  and  agricultural  prosperity. 
We  admit  that  government  ought  to  be  very 
cautious  about  adopting  a  system  of  improve- 
ment suggested  by  persons  who  have  no 
experience,  and  who  are  unable  to  give  a  de- 
tailed account  of  the  jjrinciples  upon  which 
they  base  them.  But  propositions  brought  for- 
ward by  competent  persons,  who  have  had 
long  experience  in  the  practice  of  their  pro- 
fession, ought  to  be  received  with  less  reserve 


16 


MISSISSIPPI   RIVER THE    GREAT    IMPORTANCE    OF    IMPROVING. 


and  more  confidence.  Instances  are  numer- 
ous, in  which  yearly  losses  have  been  per- 
mitted to  continue,  until  the  aggregate 
amount  has  gone  a  hundred  fold  beyond  the 
expense  that  would  have  been  sufficient,  in 
the  first  instance,  to  prevent  them,  and  in 
many  cases  the  remedy  has  come  too  late  to 
save.  The  reluctance  of  governments  to  un- 
dertake the  re'iponsibility  of  new  improve- 
ments, has  deprived  some  countries  of  oppor- 
tunities of  national  preeminence  which  time 
never  threw  in  their  way  again.  Indeed,  if 
a  fair  estimate  could  be  made,  it  would  be 
found  that  the  losses  consequent  upon  the 
refusal  to  adopt,  or  the  procrastination  of  new 
improvements  of  a  public  character,  have 
been  greater  than  the  actual  expense  of  all 
that  have  ever  been  undertaken,  successful 
or  unsuccessful. 

The  present  Defective  and  Dangerous  Con- 
dition of  the  River. — So  long  as  the  present 
condition  of  the  river  is  permitted  to  con- 
tinue, all  attempts  to  remedy  the  abrasion  of 
its  banks,  the  overflow  of  its  waters,  and  the 
damage  resulting  from  them,  by  mere  tem- 
porary, or  local,  improvements — no  matter 
how  costly  they  may  be — must  prove  utterly 
inefiacient.  The  course  of  the  river  must  under- 
go a  radical  cliange,  and  the  system  of  im- 
provement must  be  of  a  general,  uniform  and 
consistent  character,  before  any  real  perma- 
nent benefit  can  be  derived  from  the  amount 
of  expenditure  which  the  giving  way  of  the 
levees  renders  yearly  necessary.  It  is,  there- 
fore, the  duty  of  the  Legislature  of  Louisiana 
to  adopt  some  such  system,  as  by  that  means 
only  can  they  hope  to  remedy  the  evils  con- 
sequent upon  the  present  condition  of  the 
river;  or  relieve  the  agricultural  interests 
along  its  banks  from  the  heavy  losses  yearly 
recurring;  or  save  the  commercial  and  real 
estate  interests  from  the  utter  ruin  that  now 
threatens  them.  A  heavy  responsibility  must 
rest  upon  each  future  Legislature  of  that 
state,  for  every  neglect  to  perform  so  higldy 
important  a  duty.  That  the  improvements 
hitherto  attempted  have  proved  insufficent 
to  accomplish  the  end  desired,  requires  no 
argument :  the  results  speak  for  themselves. 
Till  now,  if  the  utterly  futile  efforts  to  deepen 
the  southwest  pass  by  dredging  machines  be 
excepted,  all  attempts  to  improve  the  river 
have  been  limited  to  a  few  cut  offs,  executed 
■witliout  any  regard  to  system,  and  not  even 
in  the  proper  direction  ;  and  of  levees  erected 
along  the  banks  at  random,  without  any  regu 
lar,  uniform,  or  consistent  plan.  In  fiict,  the 
river  has  been  left  in  its  natural  state,  and 
entirely  to  the  discretion  of  the  planters  along 
its  banks.  Consequently,  the  convex  banks 
have  steadily  increased,  in  some  cases  natu- 
rally, in  others  by  artificial  means  used  for 
that  purpose ;  so  that  the  whole  current  of 
the  river  has  been  thrown  with  a  yearly  in- 
creased force  against  the  concave  banks,  and 


the  tendency  to  abrasion,  change,  and  over- 
flow, has  been  yearly  increased.  This  is  aU 
that  has  been  done  for  the  river,  the  result 
of  which  has  been  to  increase  its  already  ex- 
isting defects;  while  nothing  has  been  at- 
tempted in  aiding  the  discharge  of  the  water, 
so  as  to  reduce  its  height,  or  to  relieve  the 
levees  from  its  great  pressure  in  time  of  flood, 
which  is  continually  wearing  them  away  and 
breaking  through  ;  sucli  as  straightening  the 
course  of  the  river,  where  it  could  be  done  by 
the  making  of  properly  directed  cut-offs,  or 
altering  abrupt  curves  into  those  of  large 
radii,  or  by  centralizing  the  current.  The 
very  means  used  operate  against  the  intended 
object.  To  increase  tlie  convex  banks  and 
the  levees,  also  building  new  and  raising  the 
old,  serves  but  to  increase  the  resistance  to 
the  motion  of  the  waters,  and  add  to  their  ac- 
cumulation in  time  of  flood,  thus  making  the 
damage  more  certain  and  wide-spread,  should 
a  crevasse  occur.  The  great  error  has  been, 
that  all  attempts  have  been  made  with  a 
view,  or  at  least  with  the  result,  of  raising 
the  waters  by  impeding  their  progress ;  in- 
stead of  lowering  them,  by  straightening  and 
regulating  the  bed  in  which  they  run. 

Conclusions. — In  thus  placing  my  views 
before  the  public,  my  desire  is  to  confer  a 
benefit  upon  my  fellow-citizens  of  the  state 
of  Louisiana,  by  presenting  for  their  consid- 
eration a  mode  of  improving  the  Mississippi, 
consisting  of  a  system  for  regulating  and 
leveeing  the  channel,  which  combines  that 
economy  and  security  so  iudispensablj'  neces- 
sary in  works  of  this  kind.  It  needs  no  argu- 
ment to  prove  that  the  evils  arising  from 
the  present  condition  of  the  river  are  yearly 
increasing ;  and  that  the  time  has  come 
when  some  general  and  uniform  system  for 
the  permanent  improvement  of  the  cliaunel 
throughout  the  whole  lower  valley  ought  to 
be  adopted.  For  the  heavy  losses  and  ex- 
penses entailed  upon  the  planters  by  period- 
ical inundations  already  surpass,  in  the  aggre- 
gate, the  cost  of  any  system  of  improvement 
tliat  may  be  adopted,  however  general  or 
extensive  it  may  be.  The  cost  of  constructing 
the  levees,  even  on  their  present  defective 
system,  is  a  great  obstacle  in  the  way  of  any 
general  improvement  of  the  river,  as  it  must 
cause  expense,  wliich,  with  the  uncertainty  of 
success  in  the  minds  of  some,  may  for  a  time 
prevent  the  adoption  of  my  plan.  But  I  feel 
confident  that  tlie  people  of  Louisiana,  when 
they  consider  liow  utterly  inefficient  their 
present  system  lias  proved,  notwithstanding 
its  immense  consumption  of  time,  labor,  and 
money ;  and  when  they  compare  it  with  the 
system  I  propose,  which  is  simple,  compara- 
tively cheap,  and  entirely  in  accordance  with 
tlie  laws  of  nature,  they  will  be  compelled  to 
adopt  it,  even  on  the  principle  of  economy,  as 
not  only  the  best,  but  the  only  means  by 
which  tlie  agricultural  interests  can  be  secured 


MISSISSIPPI   RIVER DEPOSITS    AND    CHANGES    AT    ITS    MOUTH. 


11 


from  heavy  and  frequent  losses,  and  their 
commercial  and  real  estate  interests  from 
total  ruin. 


Florida  and  the  West  Indies;  and  that  is  prac- 
tically even  now  the  real  moutli  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi.    But  Iiowever  this  may  he,  we  pub- 


Tf  ,1  •         ,  f  •  ,  ,        ,  ,    ■;  ■-■^•iJfi.     ^uo  liuwever  mis  may  be,  we  pub 

It  this  system  of  improvement  be  adopted    hsh  the  investigations   of  Professor  Iliddell 

by  the  Legislature,  I  have  no  hesitation   in  i  wliich  have  not  yet  appeared  in  print 

declaring  my  entire  Confidence  that  the  result  I  •'        n  i       • 

will  fully  establish  all  that  can  be  claimed 

for  it.     Overflows  will   cease ;  the  channel 

■will   become    uniform   and   permanent;    its 

navigation  will  be  secure  and  uninterrupted 

in  low  water  as  well  as  in  time  of  a  flood; 

and   the   agricultural,  commercial,  and   real 

estate  interests  along  the  river  banks  will  no 
longer  be  exposed  to  heavy  losses,  or  threat- 
ened danger. 

The  great  size  of  the  lower  Mississippi,  the 
extent  of  territory  through  which  it  flows,  and 
the  vast  and  important  iutersts  which  have 
grown  into  existence  upon  its  borders,  and 
now  lie  exposed  to  the  ravages  of  inunda- 
tions, render  it  utterly  impossible  that  its 
power  can  be  controlled,  and  its  defects 
remedied,  through  the  means  of  individual 
energy  or  individual  capital.  The  improve- 
ment of  the  river  must  be  the  work  of  that 
government  -whose  people  are  the  most 
deeply  interested  in  its  accomplishment ;  and 


devolve  the  hishlv  important  dutv  of  sfilsnt-   01  f^  a ^  ,o  ■,  o < ^-^  'r^,        "'""  irom  illay 


devolve  the  highly  important  duty  of  select 
ing  and  adopting  the  mode  in  which  it  shall 
be  carried  out.  They  can  no  longer  neglect 
this  duty  iu  justice  to  themselves,  for  many 
of  them  are  sufl'erers  by  the  present  con- 
dition of  the  river,  and  personally  interested 
in  the  matter ;  nor  in  justice  to  the  whole 
state,  whose  every  prosperity  is  involved  in 
it.  For  the  manner  in  which  they  may 
undertake  to  discharge  this  duty,  they  will 
incur  a  heavy  responsibility;  but  should 
they  neglect  or  refuse  it  altogether,  they 
will  prove  themselves  to  be  as  blind  to  the 
experience  of  the  past  as  deaf  to  the  warn- 
ings of  the  future. — Albert  Stem. 

MISSISSIPPI  river-Deposits  and 
Changes  at  its  Mouth. — We  have  been  pre- 
sented by  Professor  Riddell,  at  our  solicitation, 
■with  the  manuscripts  of  the  Report  prepared 
by  him  to  be  read  before  the  Society  of  Ame- 
rican Geologists,  and  a  letter  furnished  by 
him  to  Professor  Lyell  upon  the  subject  of 
the  sedimentary  deposits  of  the  Mississippi. 
_We  regard  the  subject  as  of  deep  interest  and 
importance,  both  as  a  matter  of  scientific  re- 
search and  of  practical  utility.  The  changes 
going  on  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  can- 
not be  unimportant  to  our  commerce.  The 
remark  has  been  made  by  some  one,  that  in  a 


To  tJie  .association  of  American  Oeolosists  and  J^at- 
uralists : 

Gentlemen  : — At  your  convention  in  1845, 
you  named  me  as  one  of  the  committee  of 
three,  to  ascertain  the  amount  of  sediment 
carried  into  the  sea  by  the  Mississippi  River  ; 
the  result  to  be  reported  to  you  in  1846.  The 
other  members  of  the  committee  residing  at  a 
distance,  I  have  been  unable  to  profit  by  such 
a  cooperation  with  them  as  would  be  desir- 
able. What  I  can  present  you,  will  be  mostly 
niy  individual  observations,  as  yet  necessarily 
incomplete,  inasmuch  as  they  extend  through 
only  a  jmrt  of  the  year.  I  am  of  the  opinion, 
however,  that  the  general  average  amount  o  f 
sediment,  the  year  through,  and  one  year  with 
another,  will  not  be  found  to  vary  essentiallv 
from  the  mean  result  which  my  observatious 
give. 

The  following  table  embraces  the  results  of 
experiments  upon  Mississippi  water,  taken  at 


remote  age  our  shipping  will  leave  the  river   ^...,.u  ....  ooun  ^uanaier,  a  ekUlul  ma 
on  entering   the   ocean  somewhere  between '  lator,  to  assist  me  in  all  these  operatio^a 
"VOL.  II.  2 


21  to  August  13, 1846.'  The  waterwas  drawn 
up  in  a  pad  from  a  wharf  near  the  mint,  where 
there  is  considerable  current.  Its  tempera- 
ture was  observed  at  the  time,  and  the  height 
of  the  river  determined.  Some  minutes  after- 
ward, the  pail  of  water  was  agitated,  and  two 
samples  of  one  pint  each  measured  out.  The 
glass  pint  measure  was  graduated  by  weio-h- 
ing  into  it  at  60°  Fahr.  7295.581  grains  of  dis- 
tilled water,  and  marking  the  height  with  a 
diamond. 

From  the  pint  samples  of  water,  after  stand- 
ing a  day  or  two,  most  of  the  matter  mechan- 
ically suspended  would  subside  to  the  bottom 
of  the  containing  vessels.  Near  two  thirds  of 
the  clear  supernatant  liquid  was  next  decant- 
ed, while  the  remaining  water,  along  with  the 
sediment,  was  in  each  instance  poured  upon  a 
double  filter,  the  two  parts  of  which  had  pre- 
viously been  adjusted  to  be  of  equal  weia^ht 
The  filters  were  numbered  and  laid  aside  and 
ultimately  dried  in  the  sunshine  under 'like 
circumstances,  in  two  parcels,  one  embracing 
the  experiments  from  May  21st  to  July  15th 
the  other  from  July  17th  to  August  13th" 
The  difference  in  weight  between  the  two 
parts  of  each  double  filter  was  then  carefully 
ascertained,  and  as  to  the  inner  filter  alone 
the  sediment  was  attached,  its  excess  of  weight 
indicated  the  amount  of  sediment.  I  em- 
ployed Mr.  John  Chandler,  a  skilful  manipu- 


IS 


MISSISSIPPI    RIVER DEPOSITS    AKD    CHAXGES    AT    ITS    MOUTH. 


i 
Date  of 
Experiment.  ' 

t 

a  3 
5  *^ 

1    I 

a     ■" 
'3      c 

1840. 

May  21..., 

ft.   in. 
10    11 

72° 

A. 

6.66 

B. 

7.00 

"      25... 

10   11 

73 

9.08 

9.12 

"      27... 

10   10 

73 

7.80 

9.00 

"      29... 

11      0 

74 

7.30 

8.10 

June     2 . . . 

4... 

11      1 

11      1 

75 
75 

4  80 
7.87 

5.45 
6.10 

6... 

11     4 

75 

4.60 

4.90 

8... 

11     4 

75.5 

5.48 

5.60 

"      10... 

10     4 

76 

6.70 

6.80 

«      12... 

10     8 

76 

6.50 

6.30 

«      14. . . 

10     5 

76.5 

6.00 

6.00 

«      16... 

10     4 

76.5 

6.47 

6.15 

«      20... 

10     4 

77 

7.08 

7.40 

"      22 . . . 

10     2 

77 

9.88 

9.00 

«       24... 

9     8 

77 

8  40 

8.48 

"       26... 

8     9 

77.5 

8.25 

8.78 

"      28 .  . . 

8     0 

79 

9.10 

9.58 

July     1 . . . 
3... 

7     2 

79-5 

9.15 

9.25 

7     2 

79.5 

9.63 

10.00 

"        6 . . . 

6     2 

81 

8.20 

7.57 

8... 

6     0 

81 

7.30 

6.96 

«      10... 

6     1 

81 

6.12 

6.28 

«      13... 

5     9 

82 

7.72 

7.30 

«      15 . . . 

5  10 

82 

6.67 

6.80 

"      17... 

5  10 

82 

4.65 

4.67 

«      20... 

5     4 

82 

G.07 

5.75 

«      24... 

3  10 

84 

5.7  G 

5.72 

«      27 . . . 

3     1 

84 

4.77 

4.60 

"      29... 

3  11 

84.5 

4.28 

4.13 

Aug.     1... 

2     6 

85 

4.40 

4.44 

3... 

2     0 

84 

3.18 

3.34 

5... 

1     9 

83 

3.56 

3.40 

7... 

1     5 

83 

2.85 

2.85 

«      10... 

1    e 

83 

3.03 

2.92 

"      18... 

2     3 

84 

2.97 

'      3.00 

The  mean  av 
it        « 

jrage  o: 
It 

■  columi 

1  A  is. . 
Bis. 

.6.32  grs 
.6.30    " 

By  repeated  trials  in  the  first  week  in  July, 
\)j  direct  and  careful  comparison  with  dis- 
tilled water,  the  specific  gravity  of  the  filtered 
river  water  was  fouud  to  be  1.(hj025  ;  conse- 
quently a  piut  of  such  water  at  60°  weighs 
7297.404  grains.    Thence  by  weight,  the  ratio 


heard  of  extended  200  feet  below  the  level 
of  the  sea.  M.  W.  Hoffman,  Esq.,  an  intelli- 
gent lawyer  of  this  city,  informs  me  that  in 
May  and  June,  1828,  he  daily  witnessed  the 
progress  of  this  boring  at  the  old  fort,  near 
the  mouth  of  the  bayou  St.  John,  on  the  shore 
of  Lake  Pontchartrain,  a  few  miles  north  of 
the  city.  Harvey  Elkius,  then  proprietor  of 
the  hotel,  bored  to  the  depth  of  207  feet,  in 
search  of  pure  water.  He  desisted  because 
the  auger  broke.  A  copious  supply  of  water 
arose,  with  occasional  evolutions  of  gas ;  the 
quality  of  the  water  being  brackish,  like  that 
of  the  wells  in  the  city.  Some  few  recent  fos- 
sils were  occasionally  brought  up,  such  as 
shells,  Crustacea,  bones,  and  part  of  a  deer's 
horn.  Indian  pottery  was  found  at  the  depth 
of  30  feet.  The  strata  perforated  were  all  of 
the  delta  formation,  the  lowest  being  a  hard 
blue,  silicious  clay,  like  that  now  found  at  the 
bottom  of  the  Mississippi  river. 

As  to  the  quality  of  New-Orleans  well 
water,  alluded  to  above,  it  will  be  proper  to 
quote  some  observations  thereon,  made  by 
me  in  1837.  (Gibson's  New-Orleans  Direct- 
ory, 1838,  p.  292.)  "The  proportion  of  min- 
eral matter  dissolved  in  the  water  varies  in 
different  seasons  of  the  year,  it  being  the  great- 
est after  long-continued  dry  weather,  when 
the  wells  are  lowest.  A  well  at  No.  328 
Camp  street,  ten  feet  in  depth,  on  the  22d  of 
September,  yielded  by  evaporation  one  part 
of  solid  residue  to  12(10  by  weight  of  water. 
On  the  20th  of  December,  1  to  1094.  This 
residue  is  an  olive-colored  powder,  with  a 
sharp  taste.  Nearly  one  fourth  of  it  appears 
to  be  organic  and  organized  matters,  such  as 
the  sporules  of  algaj,  microscopic  animalcul«8 
and  their  ova.  One  half  only  of  the  whole 
residue  can  be  re-dissolved  in  water ;  oxide  of 
iron,  carbonate  of  lime,  and  the  organized  mat- 
ters still  retaining  the  solid  condition. 

"  By  chemical  reagents  I  determined  the 
presence  of  the  folio  sving  substances,  which 
may  be  regarded  as  the  mineral  impurities  of 
the  water,  viz. :  carbonic  acid,  chlorine,  lime, 
oxide  of  iron,  magnesia,  and  soda." 

The  saline  and  other  dissolved  impurities, 
contained  in  the  Mississippi  river  water, 
doubtless  vary  very  much  at  different  sea- 
sons of  the  year ;  dependent  upon  the  parti- 
cular tributary  river  which  happens  to  have 


of  the  sediment  to  the  water  is  as  1  to  1158.3    ti^e'^scc.ulency.    On  the  20th  of  August,  1846, 


In  the  mouths  of  June  and  July,  1843,  I 
made  several  experiments  after  a  different 
manner,  and  obtained  an  average  of  j^^  for 
the  proportion  of  sediment,  being  less  than 
the  above  by  nearly  one  fourteenth  part  of 
the  whole.  The  proportion  1  to  1155  is  prob- 
ably nearest  the  truth,  as  it  is  based  upon 
experiments  embracing  the  most  usual  aver- 
age variation  of  10  feet  in  the  stage  of  water. 

Wc  have  no  direct  information  as  to  the 
full  depth  of  the  delta  formation  about  New- 
Orleans.     The   deepest  boring  that   I  have 


the  solid  residue  from  the  evaporation  of  care- 
fully filtered  water  was  by  weight  1  to  nearly 
10,(J00  of  the  water.  But  I  presume  the  mean 
proportion  the  year  through  would  be  found 
onsiderably  less.  Besides  organic  matter, 
this  residue  was  found  to  contain  chrome, 
lime,  magnesia,  soda,  carbonic  acid,  sulphuric 
acid  a  trace,  oxide  of  iron  a  trace.  At  the 
ratio  of  1  to  10,000,  suppose  one  half  to  con- 
tribute permanently  to  the  saline  matters  of 
the  ocean,  one  cubic  foot  of  sea  water  is  de- 
rived from  every  sum  of  727  cubic  feet  of 


MISSISSIPPI   RIVER — DEPOSITS   AND    CHANGES   AT   ITS   MOUTH. 


19 


Mississippi  water  that  runs  into  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico.  This  is  equivaler^t  to  the  production 
of  0.043  of  a  cubic  mile  of  sea  water  of  pre- 
sent density  every  year,  or  to  a  cubic  mile 
of  sea  water  produced  in  about  23^  years. 

With  a  view  to  learn  the  main  composition 
of  the  Mississippi  sediment,  Mr.  Chandler  and 
myself  submitted  to  careful  analysis  lOo  grains 
taken  the  20th  of  May,  from  the  river  mar- 
gin, and  dried  at  about  212°  Fahr.  before 
■weighing.    We  found 

Grains. 

Silica 74.15 

Alumina 9.14 

Oxide  of  iron 4.56 

Lime 2.08 

Magnesia 1.52 

Manganese 0.04: 

Soda  ^  '  f  °°*  determined. 

Phosphoric  acid 0.44 

Sulphuric  acid , 0.07 

Carbonic  acid 0.74 

Chlorine 0.01 

Water 3.12 

Organic  matter 3.10 

Total 98.97 

Branch  Mint,  New-Orleans,  ) 
March  5th,  1846.  \ 

Peof.  Ltell:  Sir: — In  accordance  with 
your  request,  I  proceed  to  make  estimates 
fi-om  the  best  data  in  my  possession,  respect- 
ing the  deposition  of  sediment  from  the 
waters  of  the  Mississippi,  and  the  probable 
length  of  time  heretofore  occupied  in  the  delta 
formation. 

_  On  the  17th  of  August,  1841,  when  the  Mis- 
sissippi was  about  five  feet  below  its  average 
height,  I  made  careful  soundings  directly 
across  from  the  mint,  where  the  width  is  very 
near  one  third  of  a  mile.  The  soundings  were 
made  at  nearly  equal  intervals,  beginning 
twelve  rods  from  the  wharf,  and  ending 
eight  rods  from  the  opposite  shore,  showing 
the  following  depths  in  fathoms,  viz. :  11,  13, 
13iJ,  15,  23,  23,  22i,  22|,  19,  13+,  10^,  8+. 

In  July,  1843,  I  made  some  careful  experi- 
ments to  determine  the  amount  of  sediment- 
ary matter  in  the  Mississippi  water,  which 
then  possessed  about  an  average  degree  of 
turbidness.  For  each  experiment  I  used  near 
a  pint  of  water,  475.85  grammes  Fr.  actual 
weight.  The  sediment  was  allowed  near  ten 
days  for  natural  subsidence  ;  it  was  then  care- 
fully collected,  allowed  to  dry  spontaneously, 
and  when  effectually  dry,  was  carefully 
weighed. 

Sediment  in    Ratio  by  wt. 
grammes,     to  the  wtiole. 
No.  1 — Procured  from  op- 
posite Randolph,  by  Dr. 
Drake,  in  June,  1843.. .  0.40 1-1190 


Sediment  in    Ratio  by  wt. 
grammes.      to  the  whole. 
No.  2 — Opposite  Carthage, 

June,  Dr.  Drake 0.38 1-1250 

No.  3 — Opposite  New-Or- 
leans,. I  une,  Dr.  Drake.   0.35 1-1350 

No.  4 — Opposite  New-Or- 
leans, July  6th,  1843...   0.40 1-1190 

Average  ratio  of  dry  sedimentary  matter 
in  numbers  1,  2,  3,  4,  to  the  weight  of  water 
and  sediment,  =  near  1-1245. 

From  the  best  information  which  I  have  ob- 
tained, derived  principally  from  C.  G.  Forshey, 
Esq.,  of  Vidalia,  Engineer,  I  think  the  super- 
ficial area  of  the  true  delta  formation  of  the 
Mississippi,  or  below  Baton  Rouge,  where  the 
last  bluffs  show  themselves,  may  be  taken  aa 
15,000  square  miles  ;  constituting  a  region  of 
mean  width  75  miles,  and  mean  length  290 
miles. 

Probably  the  depth  of  the  alluvion  may  be 
set  down  at  one  fifth  of  a  mile,  by  infef  eooe 
from  the  depth  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

I  will  now  proceed  to  make  some  mamer- 
ical  approximations  relevant  to  the  subject. 

Width  of  the  river  opposite  the  mint  J 

mile  =  1,760  feet •  •  (1) 

Mean  depth,  100  feet (2) 

Mean  variety  of  the  current  per  secopd, 
say  2  feet (3) 

Mean  amount  of  sedimentary  matter  by 
weight  1-1245, by  volume  near  1-3000.   (4) 

(1)X(2)X(3)=  1760X106X2=  352,000 
cubic  feet  of  water  passing  per  second .  (5) 

(4)X(5)  =  1-3000X352,000  =117i  cubic 
feet  of  earth  per  second (6) 

(6)Xsec.  in  1  year  =117|X 31,557,600= 
370,275  and  400  cubic  feet  of  earth 
borne  down  by  the  current  in  1  year. .   (7) 

(7)-^cubic  feet  of  a  cubic  mile=025.1 55  of 
a  cubic  mile  of  earth  brought  past  New- 
Orleans  in  1  year (8) 

One  fifth  of  a  mile— (8)=7.95  years  occu- 
pied in  depositing  the  equivalent  of  one 
square  mile  of  delta,  as  at  present  rates  (9) 

(9)  X  15,000  square  miles  of  delta  below 
Baton  Rouge=7.95X  15,000=119,250 
years  occupied  in  its  deposition. 

Thus,  giving  a  broad  margin  for  inexact 
data,  the  latest  formed  considerable  sum  of 
the  earth's  dry  land  surface  must  have  en- 
grossed in  its  continuous  matter  and  enlarge- 
ment up  to  the  present  time,  the  round  period 
of  one  hundred  thousand  years. 

Respectfully,  yom-  obedient  servant, 

J.  L.   RiDDELL. 

Note  by  the  EnrroK. — Professor  Lyell  hav- 
ing been  referred  to  in  the  article  above,  we 
may  remark  that  there  is  before  us  a  letter 
written  by  him  to  Professor  Riddell,  in  which 
he  remarks: 

"  On  reading  your  valuable  paper  I  perceive 
that  you  state  that  the  water,  when  taken  for 


20 


MISSISSIPPI   BASIN. 


the  experiment,  possessed  an  average  degree 
of  turbidiiess.  This  may  be  sufficient  if  you  are 
equally  satisfied  that  the  averiige  quantity  of 
"water  discharged  may  be  measured  by  the 
month  you  assign  for  your  experiment. 

"Perhaps  you  may  fairly  say,  that  in  as- 
signing two  feet  per  second,  we  underrate  the 
average  velocity,  which  may  more  than  coun- 
terbahmce  any  excess,  on  the  score  of  volume 
of  water. 

"  Next,  as  to  one  fifth  of  a  mile  for  average 
depth  of  the  filled-up  space,  if  this  be  said  by 
any  to  be  a  probable  exaggeration,  we  may 
remark  on  the  other  side,  how  vast  a  discharge 
of  mud  we  have  lost  by  its  being  carried  far 
beyond  the  delta  into  the  gulf. 

"  The  bulk  of  drift  wood  also  ought,  perhaps, 
to  be  considered." 

The  late  imposing  assemblage  of  the  British 
Scientific  Association,  over  which  Sir  R.  Mur- 
chison  presides,  and  to  which  delegates  were 
accredited  from  the  Emperor  of  Russia,  the 
Kings  of  Denmark,  Sweden,  and  Prussia,  etc., 
•was  the  occasion  of  an  address  from  Professor 
Lvell,  on  the  Valley  and  Delta  of  the  Missis- 
sippi : 

"  For  nearly  fifty  miles  of  its  extent,  that  of 
the  Mississippi  presents  a  vast  river  running 
nearly  parallel  with  the  sea,  from  which  it  is 
separated  at  particular  places  by  an  embank- 
ment only  half  a  mile  across.  The  valley  is 
nearly  level,  there  being  only  a  rise  of  nine 
feet  between  the  mouth  of  the  river  and  New- 
Orleans,  a  distance  of  150  miles ;  and  the  incli- 
nation is  equally  trifling  still  further  inland, 
being  never  more  than  six  inches  in  a  mile. 
This  uniformity  is  explained  by  the  fact,  that 
the  moment  the  river  reaches  its  banks  it 
overflows,  and  so  the  velocity,  which  is  only 
four  miles  an  hour,  is  instanlly  checked.  The 
debris  carried  along  with  the  flood  is  deposited 
over  the  surrounding  plains,  the  principal  part 
being  left  near  the  bed  of  the  river ;  the  ne- 
cessary result  being,  that  the  banks  have  been 
gradually  raised  to  a  higher  level  than  the 
lands  adjoining  them.  This  slope,  from  the 
river  to  the  interior,  is  as  much  as  18  feet  in 
a  distance  of  a  few  miles.  The  interior  con- 
sists of  vast  swamps  covered  with  trees,  the 
tops  alone  are  visible  in  the  time  of  floods. 
Sometimes  the  inhabitants  on  the  bank  of  the 
Ohio  or  Red  River,  after  making  a  large  raft, 
on  which  they  prepare  to  bring  all  the  produce 
of  the  year,  for  1,800  or  2,000  miles,  to  tlie 
market  of  New-Orleans,  find  themselves,  near 
the  termination  of  a  journey  of  some  two 
months,  entire  weeks  of  which  may  have  been 
pa.saed  by  them  aground,  wniting  for  a  flood 
to  float  them  oft'  again,  suddenly  hurried 
through  one  of  the  openings  whicli  the  riv(>r 
makes  in  its  banks,  at  the  rate  of  10  or  12 
miles  an  hour,  and  left  aground  in  the  midst 
of  a  vast  morass ;  where  they  are  obliged  to 
elimb  a  tree  for  safety,  and  await  the  chance 
of  a  boat  coming  to  then-  rescue.    Neverthe- 


less, the  course  of  the  river  cannot  be  perma- 
nently altered  by  these  violent  torrents,  on  ac- 
count of  the  great  depth  of  the  main  stream. 
Respecting  the  age  of  this  vast  formation, 
some  curious  points  were  stated.  It  appears 
that  the  Delta  has  not,  in  point  of  fact,  ad- 
vanced into  the  sea — notwithstanding  all  the 
assertions  to  the  contraiy — more  than  one 
mile  in  one  hundred  or  one  hundred  and  twen- 
ty years  past ;  the  sediment  of  the  water  is 
only  1  in  1,800  by  weight,  or  1  in  3,000  by 
volume.  The  time  required  for  tlie  accumu- 
lation of  matter  found  iu  the  Delta  and  Valley 
of  the  Mississippi,  must  have  been  07,000 
years;  and  another  33,000  years  must  have 
been  required  for  bringing  down  to  its  present 
position  the  great  deposit  above.  The  larger 
fossil  animals  found  in  the  soil  of  the  Valley 
of  the  Mississippi  are  the  mastodon,  the  me- 
gatherium, an  extinct  elephant,  an  extinct  spe- 
cies of  horse,  some  bovine  animals,  and  a  kind 
of  tapir.  Taking  the  period  which  he  assign- 
ed for  the  formation  of  the  Delta  as  a  unit,  it 
would  be  necessary  to  conceive  as  many  of 
these  units  as  the  unit  itself  contained  years, 
in  order  to  arrive  at  the  vast  antiquity  of  evea 
the  comparatively  modern  formations  beneath 
it." 

MISSISSIPPI  BASIN.— For  the  follow- 
ing, we  are  indebted  to  Wm.  Darby,  Esq.,  in  a 
communication  addressed  to  the  Hon.  J.  0. 
Calhoun : 

The  outlines  of  the  Mississippi  Basin  can 
only  be  determined  approximately,  but,  how- 
ever, with  adequate  accuracy  for  all  general 
purposes.  Commencing  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
and  at  the  mouth  of  the  Atchafalaya,  the 
subjoined  tabular  view,  taken  from  the  best 
maps,  will  serve  to  show  the  several  pai'ts 
and  perimeter  of  this  great  Basm  : 

Miles. 

Mouth  of  Atchafalaya,  between  the  sour- 
ces of  streams  confluents  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi Basin,  and  those  of  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico,  to  latitude  forty  degrees  in 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  from  whence 
issue  the  sources  of  Platte,  Rio  Grande, 
and  Colorado  rivers 1,400 

Along  Rocky  Mountains  to  sources  of 
Marias  river VOO 

Around  northern  sources  of  Missouri 
river,  to  the  head  of  Red  river  brauch 
of  Assiniboin 800 

Around  the  sources  of  Mississippi  proper, 
to  the  head  of  Kankakee  branch  of 
Illinois  river 1,100 

Between  the  confluents  of  the  Canadian 
sea  and  those  of  Ohio,  to  the  extreme 
source  of  Alleghany  river 500 

Along  the  dividing  line  of  water  source 
between  the  sources  of  streams  flow- 
ing towards  the  Atlantic  ocean  and 
those  into  Ohio  river. '700 


MISSISSIPPI — EARLY    HISTORY. 


it 


Miles. 

Between  confluents  of  Mobile  and  Ten- 
nessee rivers 800 

Between  sources  discharged  into  Mis- 
sissippi and  those  of  Mobile  and  Pearl 
riviTs,  to  the  mouth  of  Mississippi  river,  400 

Outlet  of  Atxhafalaya 200 

Entire  outline  of  Mississippi  Basin 6,100 

To  estimate,  to  any  very  near  approach  to 
accuracy,  tlie  actual  area  comprised  within 
this  great  perimeter,  exceeding  six  thousand 
miles,  is  no  easy  task ;  but  the  following  care, 
fully  measured  sections,  geographically  and 
by  the  river  valleys,  will  exhibit  the  parts 
comparatively  with  each  other: 
Table  of  the  extent  of  the  Mississippi  Basin 
by  lines  of  latitude. 

Square  Miles. 

From  lat.  45  deg.  to  49  deg.  N.,  150,000 

"        40  deg.  to  45  deg.  N.,  410,000 

"        35  deg.  to  40  deg.  jS^.,  520,000 

South  of  latitude  35,  170,000 

Entire  surface,  by  rhombs  of  lat.,;  .1,250,000 
The  following,  from  a  careful  measurement 
of  it«  great  valleys,  is  the  aggregate  area  of 
the  Mississippi  Basin,  as  given  in  the  third 
edition  of  Darby's  Geographical  Dictiouary  : 

Square  Miles. 

Valley  of  Ohio 200,000 

Valley  of  Mississippi  proper 180,000 

Valley  of  Missouri 500,000 

Valley  of  the  Lower  Mississippi 330,000 

I  area 1,210,000 


MISSISSIPPI.— Early  HisxoRT.-Of  the 
early  discovery  of  tliis  country,  there  is  no 
history  which,  in  all  its  details,  can  be  called 
authentic.  Though  not  quite  so  apocryphal 
as  that  which  narrates  the  adventures  of  Ja- 
son in  search  of  the  golden  fleece,  or  Hercules 
strangling  lions  and  other  monsters,  with  which 
Grecian  and  Roman  traditions  have  entertained 
mankind,  the  story  of  the  adventures  of  De  Soto 
and  his  companions  is,  at  best,  believed  only 
because  no  more  jirobable  or  authentic  account 
exists. 

The  territory  now  embraced  within  the  lim- 
its of  the  state  of  Mississippi  was  a  "vast,  un- 
broken, untrodden,  niagniflcent  wilderness," 
save  the  almost  imperceptible  traces  by  wiiich 
the  untutored  savages  glided  from  <  ne  of  tlieir 
hunting  grounds  to  another,  and  the  few  sparse 
villages  which  they  inhabited,  until  the  year 
1540,  (310  years  ago,)  when  De  Soto,  with  his 
followers,  numbering  about  1,000  mounted  men, 
led  on  by  thirst  of  conquest  and  gold,  pene- 
trated across  the  eastern  boundary  <i(  the  state, 
to  that  portion  of  it  now  called  Yallobusha 
county.  They  there  took  possession  of  sev(  ral 
hundred  wigwams,  which  the  affiighted  In- 
dians abandoned  at  the  approach  of  this  war- 
like and  formidable  train.  Here  they  found  an 
abundance  of  corn,  which  afforded  subsistence 


to  themselves  and  their  horses  during  a  winter 
of  unusual  severity,  and  fortified  themselves 
against  attack  from  the  only  quarter  which 
threatened  them,  as  well  as  the  nature  of  their 
situation  allowed.  Well  it  was  for  them  that 
they  did  so :  for  the  Spaniard  of  that  day,  with 
all  Ills  chivalry  and  pride,  was  but  a  barbarian 
and  liis  cruelty  and  injustice  to  the  native 
tribes,  whom  they  had  driven  from  their  rude 
but  happy  homes,  soon  provoked  retaliatory 
measures  from  the  latter.  The  Indians  at 
tacked  their  fortifications  with  such  courage 
and  success,  that  every  habitation  was  burnt, 
about  forty  of  the  Spaniards  and  their  liorses 
killed,  their  arms  and  clothing  consumed,  and  in- 
deed almost  everything  essential  to  the  comfort, 
subsistence  and  protection  of  adventurers,  far 
from  their  native  land,  and  in  the  midst  of  im- 
placable enemies,  was  destroyed. 

The  Spaniards  were  thus  forced,  tempo- 
rarily, to  adopt  another  position,  which  having 
done,  and  having  repaired  their  losses  so  far  as 
ingenuity  and  labor  could  accomplish  it,  they 
recommenced  their  march  westwardly,  and  in 
a  few  days  struck  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi river.  Having  here  consumed  a  month 
in  constructing  boats,  they  finally  succeeded 
in  landing  on  the  western  bank  of  the  river,  at 
a  point  (as  it  is  supposed)  a  short  distance  be- 
low Helena,  Arkansas.  They  then  penetrated 
Arkansas,  in  search  of  gold,  as  far  as  the  Ar- 
kansas river;  and  at  this  point,  De  Soto,  hav- 
ing lost  about  half  of  his  gallant  band,  and 
their  horses,  and  being  without  sufficient  pro 
visions  for  the  residue,  despairing  of  the  ob- 
ject which  had  hitherto  animated  his  bosom — 
the  discovery  of  gold — and  dejected  and  dis- 
pirited by  all  these  causes,  resolved  to  return 
to  the  bank  of  the  Mississippi  river,  and  there 
establish  a  colony,  until  he  could  send  to  Cuba 
(then  occupied  by  Spain)  for  ships  and  a  rein- 
forcement of  men  and  arms,  with  which  to  take 
permanent  and  secure  possession  of  his  newly- 
discovered  country,  doubtless  with  the  view  of 
founding  a  mighty  and  populous  empire,  with 
which  his  memory  would  for  ever  be  associated. 
But  alas,  for  ambition — that  aspiring  quality,  ■ 
"  for  man's  illusion  given !"  No  sooner  had  De 
Soto  reached  the  Mississippi  river,  than  he  was 
seized  with  a  fiital  disorcier,  which  terminated 
his  life.  Before  h's  death,  he  appointed  Luis 
de  Muscoso  his  successor  in  command.  To  pre- 
vent the  Indians  from  mutilating  his  body,  his 
followers  excavated  a  green  oak,  in  which  they 
laid  his  body.  They  then  nailed  a  plank  over 
it,  and  threw  it  into  the  river,  where  it  sunk.* 
This  occurred  in  the  year  1542. 

It  would  be  naturally  supposed  that  the 
remnant  of  his  band  would  uow  desire  to  re- 
turu  to  Cuba;  but,  although  .dispirited,  they 
were  undismayed,  and,  under  the  command  of 


*  De  Soto  wa.s  42  years  of  age  when  he  died,  and  bad 
expended  1 00.000  ducats  in  tliis  expedition. — Hoivics'a 
.Annals  of  America,  vol,  1,  p.  74, 


22 


MISSISSIPPI EARLY    lixozv... 


Muscoso,  they  wandered  for  many  months] 
among  the  western  wilds,  suffering  all  the 
misery  which  want,  exposure  and  danger  could 
inflict,  till  the  year  1543,  when  the  survivors 
returned  again  to  the  Mississippi  river,  and 
prepared  to  leave  the  country,  and  by  descend- 
ing the  river  to  the  sea,  seek  a  more  hospit- 
able land.  Having,  after  several  months,  con- 
structed a  number  of  large  open  barks,  the 
sides  of  which  were  defended  by  hides  against 
the  Indian  arrows,  they  embarked. 

They  now  numbered  about  350  men.  They 
found  their  way  beset  by  hostile  Indians,  who, 
in  their  light  canoes,  would  pass  or  run  around 
them,  and  discharge  showers  of  arrows  among 
them,  during  several  days  and  nights.  At 
length,  weary  of  submission  to  this  harassing 
species  of  warfare,  about  fifty  of  the  Spaniards 
manned  a  pirogue,  and  boldly  sallied  out  to 
attack  the  savages.  But  all  were  cut  off — 
not  one  returned.  The  remainder,  at  the  end 
of  twenty  days,  reached  the  sea,  and  shortly 
afterwards  arrived  at  a  Spanish  town  on  the 
coast  of  Mexico,  where  they  were  kindly  treat- 
ed. But  adventurers  like  these  are  always 
unfitted,  by  their  peculiar  habits  of  life,  for 
any  permanent  occupation  or  home;  and  from 
this  point  they  soon  dispersed,  and  wandered 
whitherpoever  accident  or  fortune  might  lead 
them.  Thus  ended  the  romantic  expedition 
of  Fernando  de  Soto.f 

In  1682,  (140  years  after  De  Soto's  invasion 
of  American  territory,)  La  Salle  descended  the 
Mississippi  river  to  the  point  of  its  confluence 
with  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  there  took  for- 
mal possession  of  the  adjacent  country,  in  the 
name  of  the  King  of  France,  and  called  it 
Louisiana. 

Ascending  the  river  again,  he  tarried  among 
the  Natchez  and  Tensas  tribes  of  Indians,  and 
then  went  to  Chickasaw  Fort.  A  short  time 
afterwards  he  went  to  France,  and  in  1684 
returned  with  a  colony,  bound  for  the  mouth 
of  the  Mississippi  river;  but  unfortunately 
missing  the  lont;citude,  he  landed  on  the  coast 
of  Texas,  where,  for  several  years,  the  unhappy 
'  colonists,  assailed  by  various  hardship*,  wasted 
away,  and  La  Salle  himself,  not  long  after- 
wards, was  murdered  by  some  of  the  discon- 
tented and  factious  survivors. 

In  1698,  M.  dlberville  was  authorized  by 
the  P'rench  king  again  to  colonize  the  regions 
bordering  on  the  lower  Mississippi.  He  lauded 
at  Ship  Island,  off  the  mouth  of  Pascagoula 
river,  and  erected  huts  for  his  colonists.  Here 
he  discovered  the  Biloxi  tribe.  From  this 
point,  setting  out  in  two  large  barges,  he  ex 

Klored   the  coast,  and  on  the  second  day  of 
[arch  discovered  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi 

fin  1673,  Father  Marquette,  and  Joliet,  a  citizen  of 
Quebec,  employed  by  M.  Talon  for  the  Mississijiiii, 
entered  that  noble  river  on  the  17ih  June,  and  after 
descending  it  until  they  oauie  witliin  three  d.iys' jour- 
ney of  tlie  Gulf  of  Me.tieo,  they  returned 'towards 
Canada.— i/ci/™cj('«  jiniiais  of  America,  vol.  1,  p.  71. 


river.  All  doubt  of  the  identity  of  this  river 
with  that  descended  by  La  Salle  was  dis- 
persed by  discovering,  when  they  reached  Ba- 
you Goula,  articles  left  there  by  the  latter  in 
1682,  and  also  a  letter  left  by  De  Tonti  for 
La  Salle,  in  1685.  Having  visited  the  mouth 
of  Red  river  and  Manchac,  Iberville  returned 
to  Ship  Island,  and  erected  a  fort  at  the  bay 
of  Biloxi,  about  eighty  miles  east  of  New-Or- 
leans. He  then  embarked  for  France,  leaving 
the  fort  in  command  of  his  brother,  Bienville. 
In  December,  1699,  Iberville  returned  from 
France,  and  built  a  fort  soon  aflerwai'ds  on  the 
banks  of  the  Mississippi  river. 

In  1700,  De  Tonti,  having  descended  the 
Mississippi  river,  arrived  at  Iberville's  fort 
with  a  party  of  Canadian  French,  from  the 
Illinois.  Iberville  availed  himself  of  De  Ton- 
ti's  experience  and  knowledge  of  the  country, 
to  ascend  the  river  and  explore  its  banks,  form 
alliances,  <tc.  He  accordingly  detailed  a  party, 
with  De  Tonti  and  Bienville,  to  ascend  in 
barges  and  canoes.  They  ascended  as  high 
up  as  the  Natchez  country,  four  hundred  miles 
above  the  French  fort.  Here  he  selected  a  site 
for  a  fort,  which,  however,  was  not  erected  till 
sixteen  years  afterwards,  and  called  it  Rosalie. 
A  settlement  was  also  made  in  1703  on  the 
Yazoo  river,  which  w.as  called  St.  Peter's.* 

In  1704,  Iberville  died  at  Havana,  leaving 
the  colonists  dependent  for  subsistence  on  hunt- 
ing and  fishing,  and  the  precarious  bounty  of 
the  Indians.  They  did  not  resort  for  some 
years  to  agriculture,  and  it  may  well  be  sup- 
posed how  difficult  it  was  to  induce  men  ac- 
customed to  this  idle  but  seductive  life,  to 
exchange  it  for  agriculture  or  other  regular 
labor.  In  1713,  they  cultivated  small  gardens 
at  Biloxi. 

In  1716,  Bienville  built  a  fort  at  Natchez— 
the  site  which  Iberville  had  selected  and  called 
Rosalie,  sixteen  years  before — and  left  in  it  a 
garrison  of  eighteen  men,  under  M.  I'aillaux. 

The  colonies,  thus  established,  grew  but 
slowly.  New-Orleans  having  been  soon  after- 
wards founded,  and  the  coast  above  that  city 
being  exceedingly  fertile,  numerous  emigrants 
were  attracted  thither,  and  in  1728,  rice,  to- 
bacco, and  indigo  had  been  produced  and  ex- 
ported in  considerable  quantities. 

Unfortunately,  at  this  time,  reciprocal  ill- 
will  had  grown  up  between  the  frontier  set- 
tlements and  the  neighboring  Indians.  The 
consequence  was,  a  conspiracy  of  several  tribes 
for  .the  purpose  of  exterminating  the  whites. 
The  Natchez  dispatched  runners  to  the  various 
towns  and  settlements  of  the  Indians,  who  dis- 
tributed quivers  full  of  reeds,  each  of  which 
contained  the  same  immber.  It  was  agreed, 
that  after  a  certain  moon,  a  reed  should  be 
drawn  every  day  from  each  quiver,  and  that 
tiie  day  when  the  last  reed  was  drawn  should 


*  The  site  of  ?^t.  Peter's  is  now  owned  by  J.  U  Payne, 
Esq.,  of  Now-Orleaus,  being  part  of  bis  plautacioa. 


MISSISSIPPI — EARLY   niSTORT. 


23 


be  that  of  the  intended  massacre.  It  is  said  I 
that  an  Iiuiian  girl,  anxious  to  prevent  the  de- 
struction of  tiie  whites,  and  espt-eially  to  save 
the  hfe  of  one  of  them,  secretly  drew  several 
reeds  from  the  quiver  which  the  Natchez  tribe 
possessed,  with  the  view  of  thus  defeating  the 
union  of  the  different  tribes  on  the  same  day, 
without  which,  it  was  believed  by  her  that 
no  siugle  tribe  would  make  the  attack. 

But  her  stratagem  only  precipitated  the 
catastrophe.  On  the  appointed  day,  the  Nat- 
chez, thinking  that  their  allies  had  faltered, 
resolved  to  execute  alone  the  original  design 
contemplated  by  all.  Accordingly,  while  the 
whites  (though  forewarned)  were  in  their  houses 
or  fields,  dispersed  and  engaged  in  their  various 
pursuits,  th«f  Indians  entered  the  settlement, 
and,  under  the  pretense  of  trading  for  pro- 
visions and  ammunition  for  a  great  hunt,  ob- 
tained access  to  their  counting-houses  and 
dwellings,  and  in  an  evil  hour  fell  upon  them, 
and  massacred  them  in  detail.  Every  whiti^ 
man  in  the  settlement  was  murdered,  except 
a  carpenti^r  and  a  tailor,  both  of  whom  were 
spared  by  the  Indians,  with  the  view,  on  their 
part,  of  building  houses  and  making  garments 
for  themselves ;  and  also  with  the  exception 
of  two  soldiers,  who,  having  been  absent  on 
that  day  hunting,  were  on  their  way  back  to 
the  fort,  but  perceiving  the  smoke  and  flames 
issuing  from  the  houses,  and  hearing  the  yells 
of  the  savages,  instantly  fled,  and  by  various 
means  found  their  way  to  New-Orleans,  where 
they  announced  the  terrible  calamity  which 
had  befallen  the  garrison  at  Fort  Rosalie. 

The  women  and  slaves  were  preserved 
as  prisoners.  The  governor,  Chapart' — who, 
though  frequently  admonislied  of  liis  danger 
before  this  massacre,  had  turned  a  deaf  oar  to 
tlie  advice  of  his  counsellors,  and,  being  of  an 
audacious  and  reckless  character,  had  even 
threatened  every  one  with  punishment  who 
should  communicate  any  similar  intelligence — 
was  the  first  to  pay  the  forfeit  of  his  temerity. 
At  the  same  time,  the  little  colony  at  St.  Pe- 
ter's, on  the  Yazoo  river,  and  the  one  at  Sicily 
Island,  and  a  third,  near  the  town  of  Monroe, 
shared  the  same  disastrous  fate.*  For,  al- 
though the  neighboring  tribes  had  been  pre- 
vented by  the  stratagem  of  the  Natchez  girl 
from  uniting  in  the  massacre  at  Fort  Rosalie, 
they  yet  proceeded,  on  the  day  which,  but  for 
the  precipitancy  of  the  Natchez  tribe,  would 
have  been  the  time  for  general  cooperation, 
to  massacre  all  the  whites  within  their  reach. 

Thus,  in  the  year  1128,  in  one  day,  were 
swept  away  every  vestige  of  civilization  by 
tlie  Indians,  withm  the  limits  which  now  con- 
stitute the  boundaries  of  the  state  of  Missis- 


*  Thfi  immfdinte  cauBO  of  this  miiflsaero  was  the 
wresting  from  tho  Indians,  by  tin-  Kn-,iTiior,  of  a 
fertile  tract  of  land,  about  six  railes  below  Natcbez, 

for  the  purpose  of  bestowing  it  tm Hutchiiis, 

whose  venerable  descendant  now  rosides  on  it,  and 
is  nearly  80  years  of  age. 


sippi.  Not  less  than  two  hundred  persons, 
who  had  encomitered  and  survived  all  the  per- 
ils and  hardships  of  emigration  and  a  sickly 
climate,  perished  in  an  hour  beneath  the 
seal  ping-knife  of  the  .savage.* 

The  Indians,  inflated  with  success,  and  glut- 
ted with  spoil,  abandoned  themselves,  over  the 
collected  bones  of  their  victims,  to  the  most 
intemperate  orgies;  but  in  the  midst  of  their 
j)rolonged  carousing,  Lesueur,  having  obtained 
the  aid  of  six  hundred  Choctaw  wairiors,  on 
the  Tombigbee,  advanced  suddenly  upon  them, 
and  took  sixty  scalps,  .and  rescued  fifty  women 
and  children,  and  the  carpenter  and  tiiilor  be- 
fore mentioned,  from  captivity,  besides  one 
hundred  and  six  negro  slaves.  Alter  this  ex- 
ploit, these  Choctaw  warriors  dispersed  with- 
out further  action.  But,  in  the  mean  time,  Lou- 
bois  was  advancing  with  a  large  force  from 
New-Orleans,  and  the  Natcliez  Indians,  learn- 
ing their  approach,  ceased  from  their  carou- 
sals, and  fortified  themselves  for  defense. 
After  a  skirmish  of  seven  days,  duiing  which 
the  Indians  fought  desperately,  they  sent  a 
flag  to  Loubois,  proposing  to  surrender  the 
remaining  French  prisoners,  numbeiing  two 
hundred  souls,  provided  the  French  artillery 
should  be  removed,  and  the  siege  abandoned  ; 
but  declaring  that  a  refusal  of  these  terms 
would  be  followed  by  the  inmiediate  destruc- 
tion of  all  the  French  prisoners  by  fire.  In 
oder  to  preserve  life,  Loubois  consented,  and 
negotiations  commenced,  for  which  purpose 
liostilities  had  been  previously  suspended  for 
ten  days.  At  length  it  was  agreed  that  the 
prisoners  should,  on  the  following  day,  be 
surrendered,  opposite  to  the  fort.  But  during 
the  night,  the  Indians,  Justly  snapeclivc/  trea- 
chery on  the  part  of  the  French,  retired  from 
their  strcnghold  with  their  women  and  chil- 
dren, and  personal  effects,  iind  crossed  the 
river.  On  the  next  morning  the  French  found 
the  prisoners,  but  the  Indians  were  beyond 
their  pursuit. 


*  I  have  taken  the  foresoing  narrative  from  Mo- 
nette's  Ilistiry  of  the  Val  ey  of  the  Wi.-si^sijjpi.  In 
Holmes's  Annals  of  Anieiica,  vol.  1,  p.  545.  A.T>. 
17  9,  I  find  the  following  account  of  the  Natchez 
magaacre : 

"The  Natchez, an  Indian  nation,  formed  a  general 
consi  inicy  to  massacre  the  1  repch  colonists  of 
Louisiana."  (Louisiana  then  conipicheiided  Nat- 
chez.1  "M.  de  Chepart,  who  coniman<i('U  ti.e  post 
ai  Natchez,  h  d  been  ejiibroiU'd  wilh  the  natives, 
but  they  so  far  dissonjbUd  as  to  eNcile  the  belief 
thai  the  French  had  no  allies  nioie  tHithlul  than 
Ihey.  The  plot  having  been  deei  ly  laid,  ihey  ap- 
peared in  ereat  numbers  about  the  Frencli  houses, 
on  the  '■Mh  November,  teUing  the  people  they  were 
going  to  hunf'.  They  suna,  alter  the  calumet,  in 
honor  of  the  French  commandant  and  his  company. 
Each  havini?  returned  to  his  post,  a  sifrnnl  was  given, 
and  instantly  the  generHl  niasiiacre  began.  Nearly 
two  hundred  ficrsons  were  killed.  Of  all,  not  more 
than  twenty  French  a)id  five  or  six  negiois  escaped. 
One  hundred  and  fifty  children,  eighty  women,  and 
almost  as  nniny  negroes,  weri^  made  prisoners," 
The  authority  quoted  for  this  is  (J/iarlevuiX,  jYquv, 
France,  ii.  466, 


24 


MISSISSIPPI EARLT   HISTORr. 


Savages  though  they  vrcre,  there  is  no 
doubt  that  the  Natchez  tribe  felt  all  the  sor- 
row of  exiles,  in  being  driven  from  their  de- 
lightful home.  No  one  can  now  ride  among 
the  romantic  hills  of  Adams  county,  or  the 
beautiful  valley  opposite  to  Natchez,  which 
constituted  the  home  and  hunting  ground  of 
the  Indians — and  which,  in  their  day  and 
generation,  abounded  with  fish  and  game,  as 
well  as  the  spontaneous  growth  of  many 
articles  e-sential  to  their  comfort, — without 
sympathizing  with  them  in  the  sad  destiny  by 
which  they  were  driven  from  this  fair  in- 
heritance. 

A  few  days  after  the  expulsion  of  the 
Indians  from  Natchez,  M.  Loubois  erected  a 
terraced  fort,  of  which  the  high  bluff  easily 
admitted,  on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi,  and 
supplied  it  with  cannon  and  other  munitions 
of  war,  and  a  garrison  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  men.  The  remains  of  this  fort  are 
still  vi.-ible,  though  all!  traces  of  the  race 
which  founded  it,  as  well  as  of  their  language, 
have  been  obliterated.  But  their  habits  are 
still  exmplified  in  the  lives  of  some  of  their 
descendants,  improved  by  association  and 
amalgamation  with  a  more  energetic  race ; 
and  few  towns  or  neighborhoods  exhibit  more 
evidences  of  the  virtues  of  all  races  and 
nations,  without  the  vices  of  either,  than 
Natchez  and  the  adjacent  settlements. 

My  next  number  will  contain  the  history 
of  the  Natchez  tribe,  and  their  allies,  after 
the  massacre  at  Fort  Rosalie,  and  of  the  ter- 
ritory now  composing  the  state  of  Missis- 
sippi, up  to  the  period  when  the  American 
flag  first  floated  over  it,  and  converted  it 
from  a  refuge  of  the  European  to  the  "  land 
of  tlie  free  and  the  home  of  the  brave." 

War  of  the  Natchez — Chickasaw  Wars 
— Defeat  of  Bienville- — Early  History. — 
In  the  first  number  of  tliis  couipendious  histo- 
ry, we  reached  the  jieriod  when  Loubois,  hav- 
ing driven  the  Natchez  tribe  from  the  eastern 
shores  of  the  Mississippi  river,  and  having 
also  erected  and  garrisoned  a  new  fort  at 
Natchez,  returned  to  New-Orleans  with  the 
rescued  captives,  to  make  fresh  preparations 
for  the  pursuit  and  extermination  of  the  fu- 
gitive savages.  The  further  prosecution  of 
the  war  was  delayed  till  the  airival  of  rein- 
forcements from  France.  In  the  mean  time  the 
French  succeeded  in  forming  alliances  with 
several  powerful  tribes  of  Intliaus  inhabiting 
the  south,  as  well  as  the  Illinois  and  Wabash 
regions. 

The  Natchez,  expecting  an  invasion,  fortified 
themselves,  with  great  skill,  at  a  point  on 
Black  river,  below  the  confluence  of  the 
Ouachita  and  Little  rivers,  near  the  spot 
where  the  town  of  Trinity  now  stands. 

M.  Perrier,  by  whom  the  war  was  to  be 
conducted,  having  orgnnized  all  the  eflective 
force  of  tlie  colony — wjiicb  (inclusive  of  a  re- 
inforcement of  180  soldiers  from  France)  did 


not  exceed  one  thousand  men — commenced 
his  campaign.  Leaving  about  200  men  to 
defend  the  colony  at  home,  he  embarked  at 
New-Orleans,  and  ascended  to  Black  River, 
with  an  army  numbering  little  over  TOO  men. 
On  the  20th  of  January  he  came  in  sight  of 
the  stronghold  of  the  enemy,  where  the  "Suns" 
had  resolved  on  a  desperate  defense.  On  his 
way  to  the  fort,  the  French  general  had  been 
reinforced  by  about  350  Indian  allies,  who 
proved  to  be  of  invaluable  service  ip  the  bat- 
tle which  ensued. 

The  besieged  made  valorous  resistance  for 
the  space  of  three  days,  when,  M.  Perrier 
having  brought  up  his  artillery,  they  hoisted 
a  flag  of  truce.  After  fruitless  negotiations, 
which  consumed  many  hours,  the  French  com- 
menced and  kept  up  a  furious  cannonade  on 
the  fort,  until  a  sudden  tempest  interrupted 
their  fire.  The  Natchez  availed  themselves 
of  the  storm  and  darkness,  to  retreat  into  the 
neighboring  swamps,  but  the  Indian  allies 
were  sent  in  pursuit  of  them,  while  the  French 
stormed  the  intrenchments.  The  former  suc- 
ceeded in  capturing  427  of  the  Natchez;  and 
with  these  prisoners,  the  French  general, hav- 
ing razed  the  outworks  of  the  fort,  and  dis- 
missed his  allies,  returned  in  triumph  to  New- 
Orleans.  The  prisoners,  among  whom  were 
the  "Great  Sun,"  and  other  chiefs,  were  soon 
afterwards  sent  to  St.  Domingo,  and  sold  as 
slaves. 

But  this  formidable  tribe,  though  routed, 
were  not  yet  conquered.  One  half  of  their  ori- 
ginal number  yet  remained  free  and  dispersed 
in  various  quarters.  Two  hundred  of  them, 
having  united  near  Nachitoches,  then  com- 
manded by  St.  Denys,  an  officer  of  talent  and 
experience,  resolved  on  attacking  and  exter- 
minating the  whites  at  this  post.  But  St. 
Denys  adopted  timely  measures  of  defense, 
and  having  secured  the  aid  of  several  friendly 
tribes,  succeeded,  after  a  hard-fought  battle, 
in  repulsing  thcuL  Following  up  tins  advan- 
tage, he  pursued  them  to  a  neighboring  fort, 
to  which  they  had  retreated,  and  gallantly  as- 
saulted them,  killed  92  braves,  and  routed  and 
dispersed  the  remainder.  This  M'as  the  closing 
scene  of  the  "  Natchez  War ;"  and  the  scatter- 
ed remnant  of  this  once  powerful  and  warlike 
tribe  incorporated  themselves  with  the  Chick- 
asaw and  other  tribes  hostile  to  the  French. 
Into  those  tribes  they  infused  tiieir  own  fero- 
city and  hatrid,  as  will  be  perceived  hereafter, 
and  succeeded  in  rekindling  the  fires  which 
the  French  vainly  supjioscd  had  been  quench- 
ed in  the  blood  of  the  Natchez.* 

The  colony  of  Louisiana,  though  victorious, 
was  much  enfeebled  by  the  frequent  drafts 
which  the  war  had  created  on  their  wealth 
and  population,  and  rejoiced  in  the  return  of 


•  Some  of  the  Nalchez  were  seen  at  the  city  of 
Nntcliei;  m  1782— fifty  years  after  Iho  Nalchez  massa» 
ere. 


Mississirn — early  history. 


25 


peace.  The  war  bad  diminished  their  inter- 
course antl  trade  with  the  Indian  posts,  and 
thus  withdrawn  one  main  source  of  their  pros- 
perity. But  one  permanent  benefit  resulted 
from  this,  inasmuch  as  it  induced  the  "West- 
ern Company,"  which  had  hitherto  monopo- 
lized this  profitable  trade,  to  surrender  their 
charter— and  gave  the  King  of  France  an  op- 
portunity, of  which  he  innnediately  availed 
himself,  of  conferring  on  all  his  subjects  equal 
privileges,  as  to  commerce,  within  the  province 
of  Louisiana. 

Under  the  new  organization  of  the  govern- 
ment, M.  Perrier  was  commandant-general ; 
Loubois,  who  distmguished  himself  at  Fort 
Rosalie,  w:vs  made  lieutenant  for  Louisiana ; 
and  D'Artaguette,  who  had  acquired  reputa- 
tion in  the  Black  River  expedition,  was  made 
lieutenant  for  the  Illinois  country. 

The  population  of  the  whole  colony  now 
exceeded  5,0U0  souls,  of  which  2,000  were 
slaves.  The  settlements  were  rapidly  ex- 
tending along  the  fertile  shores  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, Red,  Arkansas,  Ouachita,  Illinois  and 
Wabash  rivers.  Above  New  Orleans  the 
coast  was  lined  with  cottnges,  and  large  plan- 
tations had  been  established  at  Mauchac,  Ba- 
ton Rtiuge,  Point  Coupee,  and  other  remote 
points ;  and  at  Natchez,  settlements  had  ex- 
tended along  St.  Catharine's  and  Second  Creek. 

Thus  situated,  in  1733  the  colony  of  Loui- 
siana was  ready  for  a  new  career  of  prosperity 
— free  from  the  restrictions  of  commerce, 
which  had  hitherto  retarded  their  advance- 
ment— with  a  civil  government  well  organ- 
ized, and  religious  instruction  amply  supplied 
by  the  Yicar  of  New-Orleans,  which  then  be- 
longed to  the  diocese  of  Quebec. 

But  these  gleams  of  prosperity  were  soon 
obscured  by  the  "  Chickasaw  War."  After 
having  read  the  foregoing  pages,  it  would  na- 
turally be  concluded  that  the  colonists  would 
not  again  engage  in  war,  without  urgent  ne- 
cessity ;  but  let  it  be  remembered,  that  all 
wars  between  European  emigrants  and  the 
aborigines  of  America  have  resulted  from  the 
perfidy,  violence  and  oppression  of  tlie  former, 
•who  seem  to  have  adopted  the  decision  of  Cy- 
rus, as  related  by  Xeni>phon,  that  the  big  boy, 
who  had  a  very  small  coat,  had  a  right  to 
compel  the  little  boy,  who  had  a  very  large 
one,  to  exchange  with  him. 

The  Indians  very  naturally  considered  this 
regard  to  the  mere  ''  fitness  of  things  "  as  being 
by  no  means  a  correct  rule  of  justice.  If  the 
numbers  of  the  white  men  in  the  old  world 
required  additional  domain,  the  red  man's  oc- 
cupation as  a  hunter  required  extensive  wilds 
remote  from  civilization.  The  interests,  as 
well  as  the  habits,  of  the  two  races,  were 
therefore  equally  antagonistic.  Every  addi 
tional  mile  settled  by  the  white  man,  was 
equivalent  to  a  spoliation  of  ten  miles  of  the 
Indian's  hunting  grounds. 

For  a  long  time  the  Chickasaw  tribe  had 


been  hostile  to  the  French,  and.  as  lias  been 
already  related,  had  incorporated  with  their 
nation  the  refugees  of  the  Natchez  tribe,  which 
act  was  itself  a  defiance  of  the  Frencli.  They 
had  frequently,  at  former  periods,  instigated 
small  tribes  to  incursions  upon  the  white  set- 
tlements ;  and.  influenced  by  English  emissa- 
ries, had  entirely  excluded  French  traders 
from  their  borders.  They  also  committed  fre- 
quent hostilities  upon  the  voyageurs  between 
Mobile  and  the  Illinois  settlements,  untd  the 
year  1729.  About  this  time,  they  commenced 
urging  the  league  and  conspiracy,  which  event- 
uated in  tlie  Natchez  massacre.  After  the 
defeat  of  the  Natcliez  tribe,  the  refugees,  who 
joined  tlie  Chickasaws,  succeeded  in  persuad- 
ing the  latter  to  open  hostilities  against  the 
French,  and  renewed  the  depredations,  which, 
for  a  time,  had  been  suspended,  upon  the 
French  commerce.  In  consequence  of  these 
acts,  the  river  trade  was  virtually  suspended, 
and  the  colonies  kept  in  continual  alarm. 

Under  these  circumstances,  in  17  3i,  Bien- 
ville returned  from  France,  bearing  a  fresh 
commission  from  the  King,  as  Governor  and 
Commandant-General  of  Louisiana.  His  name 
had  once  been  terrible  to  the  savages,  and  he 
doubted  not  it  would  now  frighten  them  into 
subjection.  But,  on  demanding  the  surrender 
of  the  Natchez  refugees,  he  received  only  a 
bold  refusal.  He  instantly  determined  to 
chastise  the  insolence  of  the  savages.  With 
this  view,  he  commenced  levying  troops  upon 
the  upper  and  lower  Misssissippi,  and  at  Mo- 
bile, and  formed  an  alliance  with  the  Choc- 
taws,  ^vho  agreed  to  meet  him  with  a  large 
body  of  warriors,  at  Fort  Tombigbee,  on  the 
river  of  that  name.  D'Artaguette,  command- 
ant at  Fort  Chartres,  was  ordered  to  march 
his  whole  disposable  force  to  the  Chickasaw 
nation,  across  the  country,  from  Chickasaw 
Bluff,  to  which  point  he  was  to  descend  the 
Mississippi  from  Illinois,  and  to  join  tlte  grand 
army  under  Bienville,  who  had  resolved  to  as- 
cend the  Tombigbee  river  to  its  upper  fork, 
with  stores  of  artillery,  and  thence  to  march 
to  the  head  waters  of  the  Tallaiiatchie,  at 
which  point  he  expected  to  find  D'Artagm^tte. 
The  10th  of  May,  1736, was  the  day  fixed  for 
the  meeting  of  the  two  divisions  of  the  army. 

Bienville  reached  Fort  Tombigbee  on  the 
14th  of  April,  1736,  and  was  there  immediate 
ly  joined  by  600  Choctaw  warriors,  and  six 
days  afterwards  by  600  more ;  making  1,200 
auxiliaries. 

UnavoidaVile  delays  prevented  Bienville 
from  leaving  Fort  Tombigbee  till  the  4th  day 
of  May,  only  six  days  before  that  fixed  for 
the  junction  of  the  grand  army  with  D'Arta- 
guette's  division.  To  reach  the  designated 
point  of  junction  required  twenty  days — thus 
making  thi;  arrival  of  one  of  the  divisions  with- 
out the  other  almost  certain,  and  exposing 
each  to  the  danger  of  being  cut  off  fiom  the 
other,  and  destroyed  separately. 


26 


oAKl.l'    BISTORT. 


Tliey  at  length  reacbed  the  point  of  the 
river,  about  twenty-seven  miles  from  the  near- 
est Cliickasaw  town,  and  debarking,  erected  a 
Btockade  for  the  protection  of  tbe  sick,  and  of 
the  stores  and  artillery.  This  done,  Bienville 
marched  in  quest  of  the  enemy,  and  on  the 
2oth  of  May  encamped  in  view  of  their  strong- 
hold. The  next  day  the  Choctaws  attempted 
to  surprise  the  enemy,  but  were  repulsed. 
At  noon  the  French  advanced,  and  in  two  des- 
perate assaults,  were  repulsed  by  the  deadly 
fire  from  the  fort.  The  battle  raged  for  four 
hours,  during  which  many  of  the  French  were 
billed  and  wounded.  Bienville,  seeing  the 
British  flag  waving  over  the  ramparts,  a'}d 
despairing  of  success  without  artillery,  drew 
off  his  forces  in  excellent  order,  leaving  four 
officers  and  thirty-two  men  dead,  and  sixty 
wounded,  on  the  spot  were  they  fell. 

Next  morning  the  bodies  of  the  French, 
killed  and  wounded,  were  discovered  already 
quartered  and  impaled  on  the  stockades  of 
the  fort. 

At  a  league's  distance  from  the  enemy, 
Bienville  now  intrenched  himself,  overwhelm- 
ed with  chagrin ;  and  having  received  no 
tidings  respectuig  DArtaguette's  division,  he 
resolved  to  abandon  his  enterprise,  and  return 
to  New-Orleans.  On  the  29th  May,  he  broke 
up  his  camp,  and  next  day  reached  the  point, 
at  the  head  of  the  Tombigbee,  where  he  had 
deposited  his  stores;  and  on  the  .31st,  having 
dismissed  his  Choctaw  warriors,  he  threw  his 
cannon  into  the  river,*  and,  floating  down  the 
river  with  his  army,  reached  Forte  Conde  in 
safety.  About  the  last  of  June  he  returned 
to  New-Orleans,  shorn  of  his  glory,  and  covered 
with  shame. 

Alas!  were  this  but  all!  But  unhappily 
the  brave  DArtaguette,  accompanied  by  the 
red  warriors  of  the  north,  from  the  shores  of 
Lake  Micliigan  and  the  Wabash,  had  descend- 
ed the  Mississippi  to  the  Chickasaw  bluff;  and 
traversing  the  country  east,  had  reached  un- 
observed the  Chickasaw  country,  and  on  the 
evening  before  the  10th  of  May  encamped 
near  the  place  of  rendezvous.  Here,  in  sight  of 
the  eni;my,  with  his  lieutenants,  Vincennes 
and  Voisin,  and  the  Jesuit,  Senat,  he  sought 
for  intelligence  respecting  Bienville.  But  on 
the  2Uth  of  May,  his  Indian  allies,  eager  for 
the  fray,  and  impatient  of  restraint,  forced 
him  to  lead  them  on  to  the  attack. 

The  Chickasaws  retreated  before  his  well- 
conducted  assault  from  the  first  fort  and  town, 
to  a  second  town,  from  which  they  also  re- 
treated to  a  third  town,  in  assaulting  which 


•  Several  years  since,  an  Indian  tradition  was  veri- 
fied by  the  discovery,  at  th«  very  spot  of  Bienville's 
debarkation,  of  the  cannon  and  Inad,  which  were? 
thrown  overhoiird  by  the  unfortunate  commander. 
An  old  man,  named  M'Gilvery,  Iiad  frequently  slated 
that  ihoso  silent  witnesses  of  ancient  tradition  lay 
buried  there,  but  without  credence,  till  accident  led 
jO  their  discovery. 


DArtaguette  received  two  wounds  which  dis- 
abled him,  and  he  fell.  Dismayed  by  this 
misfortune,  the  red  men  of  Illinois  precipitate- 
ly fled.  Voisin,  though  only  sixteen  years 
old,  conducted  the  retreat,  forcing  his  men  to 
carry  with  them  such  of  the  wounded  as  could 
bear  removal.  DArtaguette  remained  where 
he  fell,  weltering  m  his  blood,  and  bis  faithful 
friend  Senat,  and  his  lieutenant  Vincennes, 
voluntarily  remained  to  receive  the  last  sigh 
of  the  wounded,  or  share  their  captivity. 

DArtaguette  and  his  companions  were 
treated  kindly  by  the  Indians.  Their  wounds 
were  dressed,  and  they  were  assiduously 
nursed  by  their  captors,  who  were  influenced 
by  the  hope  of  obtaining  a  great  ransom  from 
Bienville,  who  was  known  to  be  then  advanc- 
ing to  their  country.  But  the  retreat  of  Bien- 
ville having  destroyed  this  hope,  the  Chicka- 
saws resolved  to  sacrifice  their  hapless  cap- 
tives to  their  savage  revenge.  They  were 
taken  to  a  neighboring  field,  and  there,  with 
the  exception  of  one,  who  was  left  to  relate 
the  tragedy  to  his  countrymen,  the  prisoners 
were  tortured  before  slow  fires  tid  death 
ended  their  agonies.  At  this  time,  Bienville, 
ignorant  of  DArtaguette's  unhappy  fate,  and 
doubtless  chiding  him  for  delay,  was  inglori- 
ously  flying  from  the  strife,  for  which  he  had 
been  so  impatient. 

Not  till  his  arrival  at  New-Orleans  did 
Bienville  learn  the  fate  of  DArtaguette  and 
his  comrades.  Must  not  his  suspicions  of 
DArtaguette's  fidelity,  if  he  entertained  any, 
have  been  converted  into  self-reproaches,  for 
having,  by  his  own  want  of  energy,  been  in- 
strumental in  bringing  about  such  a  deplora- 
ble catastrophe  ? 

To  retrieve  liis  late  disgrace,  Bienville  de- 
termined on  an  expedition  from  the  north,  with 
a  grand  army,  by  the  route  which  D'Arta- 
guette  had  pursued  against  the  Chickasaws, 
which,  on  being  submitted  to  the  minister,  was 
approved.  The  spring  of  1739  was  the  time 
appointed  for  this  invasion,  and  directions 
were  given,  and  preparations  made  according- 
ly. In  the  mean  time,  the  Chickasaws  bad 
sent  runners  to  their  English  friends,  with  nu- 
merous presents,  consisting  of  the  spoils  of 
victory,  to  inform  them  of  their  triumph,  and 
solicit  an  alliance  with  them. 

About  the  last  of  May,  1789,  Bienville,  with 
his  army  drawn  from  Mobile  and  the  settle- 
ments contiguous  to  the  lower  Mississippi,  em- 
barked in  boats  and  barges  at  New-Orleans, 
and  slowly  ascended  the  Mississippi  river  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Ijt.  Francis,  at  which  point 
he  was  joined  by  La  Bui-:soniore  witli  the  Illi- 
nois division,  Bienville's  whole  army  now 
amounted  to  1  200  whites,  and  nearly  2,600 
Indians,  making  .3,700  fighting  men.  Crossing 
the  river,  the  army  erected  a  fort  (called  As- 
sumption) as  a  depot.  It  was  now  the  middle 
of  August,  and  sicKness  began  to  ravage  the 
army  fearfully.     Winter  came,  and  disease 


MISSISSIPPI EARLY   BISTORT. 


m 


disappeared  only  to  make  room  for  famine. 
The  invasion,  tlierefore,  was  delayed  till  the 
arrival  of  supplies  from  New-Orleans.  Thus 
the  march  was  delayed  till  March,  1740,  when 
not  more  than  two  hundred  efft-ctive  men 
could  be  mustered  into  line  besides  the  Indians. 
With  these  M.  Celeron  was  sent  against  the 
enemy,  with  instructions  to  treat  for  peace. 
The  Chickasaws,  supposing  them  to  be  the 
whole  French  army,  upon  their  approach  sued 
for  peace,  and  M.  Celeron  immediately  entered 
into  a  treaty  of  amity  and  peace  with  them. 
A  deputation  of  Chickasaw  chiefs  and  war- 
riors accompanied  him  to  "Assumption,"  where 
Bienville  ratified  the  treaty  which  M.  Celeron 
had  stipulated.  The  fort  was  dismantled  ;  the 
French  army  re-crossed  the  river;  and  Bien- 
rille,  having  there  discharged  his  northern 
allies,  again  floated  ingloriously  back  to  New- 
Orleans,  sunk  lower  than  before  in  military 
reputation.  Here  closed  his  career.  He  had 
been  an  able  commander,  and  had  gained  lau- 
rels, but  age  had  disqualified  him  for  the  ar- 
duous task  of  tracking  and  conquering  in  their 
native  forests  the  warlike  savages,  who  had, 
several  centuries  before,  boldly  resisted  the 
mail-clad  warriors  of  old  Spain  under  the 
chivalrou.'?  De  Soto,  and  who  were  now  aided 
by  the  wealth  and  the  counsel  of  their  English 
allies. 

In  the  following  spring  Bienville  was  super- 
seded by  the  Marquis  de  Vaudreuil,  who  was 
appointed  Governor  and  Commandant-Gen- 
eral of  Louisiana.  Bienville  had  for  nearly 
forty  years  controlled  the  affairs  of  the  colony, 
but  now  retired  under  a  cloud  of  censure,  and 
the  disajiprobation  of  hia  hitherto  confiding 
sovereign. 

About  this  time  cotton  was  introduced  into 
Louisiana,  but  was  cultivated  in  small  quan- 
tities. 

Notwithstanding  the  military  reverses  of 
Louisiana,  the  settlements  had  extended  along 
the  lower  Mississippi,  and  population  and 
wealth  increased.  The  tropical  fruits,  and 
varieties  of  the  potato,  had  been  introduced — 
the  last  affording  sustenance  to  the  colonists, 
and  the  former  supplying  them  with  luxuries, 
while  thuy  also  adorned  their  homes  with 
perennial  verdure,  unknown  in  less  genial 
climes. 

For  ten  years  Louisiana  remained  free  from 
Indian  hostilities;  but  in  1752,  the  English 
bad  introduced  vast  quantities  of  British  goods 
and  commodities  of  English  trade  among  the 
Choctaws  and  Chickasaws,  within  the  terri- 
tory churned  by  France,  and  had  established 
trading  posts,  and  protected  them  by  regular 
fortifications,  built  by  the  Indians  under  the 
histructions  of  the  British  traders.  These 
traders  imiitted  no  opportunity  of  rendering 
the  Indians  hostile  to  th8»French,  and  endeav- 
oring to  unite  all  the  tribes  against  the  latter. 
To  protect  the  south  against  the  Chickasaws, 
Vaudreuil  determined  to  invade  the  heart  of 


the  country  with  a  large  force,  amounting  to 
700  regulars  and  militia,  and  a  large  body  of 
Choctaws,  and  other  Indian  allies,  from  the 
borders  of  the  Tombigbeeaud  Alabama  rivers. 
With  this  army,  having  repaired  Fort  Tom- 
bigbee,  the  governor  proceeded  by  the  same 
route  which  Bienville  had  pursued  in  his  first 
exjiedition,  in  1736,  into  the  Chickasaw  coun- 
try. 

Having  no  artillery,  and  not  being  able  to 
draw  the  Chickasaws  out  of  their  fortifications, 
Vaudreuil  contented  himself  with  ravaging 
their  fields,  and  burning  their  corn  and  desert- 
ed villages.  This  done,  he  established  a  strong 
garrison  at  Fort  Tombigbee,  and  returned  to 
New  Orleans.  About  this  period  the  popu- 
lation of  the  French  colony  received  a  fresh  ac- 
cession in  a  large  number  of  poor,  but  virtuous 
girls,  transported  from  France  at  the  royal  ex- 
pense, and  endowed  by  royal  bounty  with  q 
small  tract  of  land — a  cow  and  calf — a  cock 
and  five  hens — a  gun  and  ammunition — 
an  axe  and  a  hoe,  and  a  supply  of  garden 
seeds.  Each  of  these  girls,  with  her  dower, 
was  given  by  Vaudreuil  in  marriage  to  some 
one  of  the  sodliers,  who  had  received  an  hon- 
orable discharge.  This  importation  continued 
annually  till  the  year  1751 ;  and  from  this 
source  have  sprung  many  worthy  families  in 
Louisiana,  and,  doubtless,  in  Mississippi  too.* 

In  1755,  the  war  between  France  and  Eng- 
land had  reduced  the  French  king  to  the 
necessity  of  forming  a  treaty,  by  which  the 
latter  ceded  to  England  all  that  portion  of 
Louisiana  lying  east  of  the  Mississippi  river, 
except  the  island  of  New-Orleans.  In  17G3, 
France,  bya  secret  treaty,  ceded  to  Spain  all 
that  portion  of  Louisiana  lying  west  of  the 
Mississippi  river,  and  the  island  of  New-Or- 
lenns,  lying  east  of  that  river,  south  of  bayou 
Mauchac,  and  the  port  and  river  Mobile.  The 
established  boundary  between  Great  Britain's 
and  France's  possessions  acquired  by  Spain, 
was  the  middle  line  of  the  Mississippi  river 
down  to  the  Manchac;  thence  along  said  bayou 
and  Amite  river  to  Lake  Maurepas;  thence 
through  Maurepas,  Pontchartrain  and  Borgue, 
to  the  sea. 

In  the  mean  time  Spain  had  ceded  to  Eng- 
land all  Florida,  then  embracing  all  the  coast 
east  of  Perdido  river  and  bay,  to  the  St. 
Mary's  river  on  the  Atlantic  coast. 

In  1763,  Florida  was  divided  by  the  English 
king's  decree  into  East  and  West  Florida. 
By  this  decree,  West  Florida  embraced  the 
country  east  of  the  Mississippi  river,  and 
north  of  bayou  Iberville,  vp  to  I  he  31.s<  paral- 
lel of  north  latitude,  and  eastwardly  to  the 
Chattahoochee  river. 

But  in  1732,  in  order  to  obtain  a  footing 


•A  similar  importation  was  made  into  Virginia, 
while  a  colony,  and  tlie  girls  wore  sold  nt  miction  for 
tobacco,  wliiiii  seems  at  that  early  period  to  have 
been  considered  a  quid  pro  guo. 


28 


MISSISSIPPI EARLY    HTSTORT. 


\restward  of  tbe  Mississippi,  and  north  from 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  George  II.  had  phuiiied  a 
colony,  under  Gen.  James  Oglethorpe,  to  be 
called  the  Province  of  Georgia — to  embrace 
tlie  unoccupied  country  south  and  west  of  the 
Atlantic,  to  the  Mississippi  river.  In  1733, 
an  English  colony  was  planted  at  Savannah, 
with  the  view  of  carrying  out  this  design. 
This  was  the  origin  of  the  present  state  of 
Georgia. 

As  by  the  decree  of  the  king,  the  31st  de- 
gi-ee  of  north  Latitude  had  been  established  as 
the  boundary  of  West  Florida,  of  course  all  of 
the  country  north  of  that  line  and  east  of  the 
Mississippi  would,  under  Oglethorpe's  charter, 
belong  to  the  colony  of  Georgia. 

It  is  stated  by  Monette,  that  the  Court  of 
St  James,  having  learned  that  by  fixing  the 
31st  degree  of  north  latitude  as  the  boundary 
of  Florida,  they  had  left  out  important  settle- 
ments on  the  east  side  of  the  Mississippi  river, 
and  north  of  that  line,  issued  a  second  decree, 
extending  the  northern  boundary  of  West 
Florida  as  far  as  the  mouth  of  the  Yazoo 
river.  But  it  appears  from  better  authority,* 
that  there  was  only  a  commission  issued,  au- 
thorizing the  Governor  of  West  Florida  to 
make  this  extension,  without  any  evidence 
that  it  was  ever  done  by  any  formal  declara- 
tion. 

As  long  as  both  Florida  and  Georgia  be- 
longed to  Great  Britain,  this  uncertainty  of 
boundary  could  not  be  of  any  practical  impor- 
tance, or  give  rise  to  any  conflict  of  jurisdic- 
tion ;  but  after  the  revolt  of  the  American 
colonies,  including  Georgia,  the  actual  bound- 
ary of  West  Florida  on  the  north  became  of 
great  importance  to  individuals,  who  had  re- 
ceived grants  of  land  north  of  the  31st  degree, 
from  the  Governor  of  West  Florida,  who  had 
no  right  to  make  such  grants  beyond  the  lim 
its  of  West  Flurida.  By  the  articles  of  cession 
from  Georgia  to  the  United  States,  and  by  the 
action  of  a  Board  of  Commissioners  establish- 
ed by  Congress,  many  of  these  grants  have 
been  saved,  or  confirmed ;  but  ou  the  other 
hand,  many  have  been  lost  for  want  of  such 
confirmation  by  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  and  for  other  reasons. f 

This  uncertainty  of  boundary  also  led,  at  a 
future  period,  to  misunderstandings  between 
the  United  States  and  Spain,  as  will  be  here- 
after explained  in  this  narrative. 

TiiEATY  OF  1783  —  The  Acadians  — 
ScuEMES  OF  Disunion  in  the  West. — After 
tlie  cession  by  France  to  Great  Britain,  the 
inhumanity  of  the  English  government  to  the 
Frencli  inhabitants  of  a  portion  of  the  terri- 
tory ceded  to  her  by  France  drove  them  des- 
titute from  their  homes,  and  many  of  them 
found  their  way  down  the  Mississippi  to  New- 


•Spb  12  Wheaton,  S27. 

i-Sei!  9  Wheiilon,  G7C;  12  Wheaton,  527  ;  and  13 
Bmedus  &  Marshall's  (Jlississippi)  Koports,  168. 


Orleans,  where  they  were  kindly  provided 
with  the  means  of  settlmg  upon  the  coast 
west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  they  still  consti- 
tute a  distinct  class  of  the  population.  Many 
of  them,  doubtless,  settled  at  and  near  Nat- 
chez. Their  expulsion  from  their  homes  was 
one  of  the  causes  by  which  the  population 
and  wealth  of  the  French  colony  were  aug- 
mented. 

In  the  year  1170,  a  spirit  of  adventure  pre- 
vailed in  the  English  colonies,  which  led  nu- 
merous emigrants  to  the  West,  The  Missis- 
sippi river  did  not  limit  their  explorations. 
The  King  of  England  had  held  out  induce- 
ments for  emigration  to  Florida,  and  a  water 
communication  of  2,000  miles  afforded  a 
comparatively  easy  access  to  it,  from  Virginia 
and  North  Carolina.  The  point  of  destination 
was  the  Walnut  Hills,  (now  Vicksburg,)  Nat- 
chez, Bayou  Sara,  and  I3aton  Rouge.  Before 
the  summer  of  1773  had  ended,  four  hundred 
families  from  the  Atlantic  sea-board  had  ad- 
vanced to  the  Monongahela  and  Ohio  rivers, 
and  descended  in  boats  to  the  Natchez  coun- 
try. 

Early  in  February,  1764,  the  old  French 
posts,  including  Natchez,  had  been  garrisoned 
with  British  troops.  It  WdS  now  presumable 
that  the  whites  would  be  safe  from  the  In- 
dians, But,  at  a  bend  of  the  river  at  Fort 
Adams,  four  hundred  men,  under  Major 
Loftus,  in  keel-boats,  ascending  to  the  Illinois 
posts,  of  which  he  had  been  appointed  com- 
mandant, received  a  destructive  discharge  of 
fire-arms  and  arrows  from  the  Tunica  Indians, 
who  were  concealed  on  both  sides  of  the 
river.  The  whole  flotilla,  after  feeble  resist- 
ance, suffered  themselves  to  be  borne  back  by 
the  current,  oeyond  the  reach  of  the  enemy. 
Many  were  killed,  including  Major  Loftus, 
and  many  wounded.  A  village  now  stands 
where  Fort  Adams  stood,  and  bears  the  same 
name.  It  was  formerly  known  as  Loftus's 
Heights,  in  commemoration  of  this  tragical 
event. 

When  it  was  ascertained  that  the  English 
jurisdiction  had  been  extended  over  all  the 
settlements  east  of  the  Mississippi  up  to  the 
Walnut  Hills,  the  French,  then  numerous,  ex- 
pressed great  dissatisfaction,  and  some  even 
removed  to  the  west  side  of  the  river,  south 
of  Manchac,  in  order  that  they  might  again 
be  within  French  jurisdiction.  But  on  receiv- 
ing assurances  that  their  religion,  lives  and 
property  would  be  protected,  the  greater  part 
remained. 

After  the  extension  of  the  British  authority 
in  1765,  and  until  the  revolt  of  the  American 
colonies,  England  encouraged  emigration  to 
the  upland  region,  extendir)g  from  the  Yazoo 
river  to  Baton  Rouge,  by  liberal  grants  of 
land.  In  1768,  numerous  emigrants  from 
Georgia,  the  Carolinas,  and  New-Jersey,  set- 
tled in  the  regions  drained  by  the  Homochitto 
and  the  Bayou  Pierre,  within  fifteen  milea 


MISSISSIPPI — EARLY   HISTORT. 


29 


from  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi  river.  Not 
loug  aftiTwartis  a  body  of  Scotcli  llighlanderi? 
arrived,  aod  colonized  the  braucbea  of  the 
Hoiuocliitto,  about  tbirty  miles  east  of  Nat- 
chez. This  colouy  was  subsequently  augment- 
ed by  new  emigrants,  and  bore  the  name  of 
New-Scotland. 

In  1773,  the  greatest  number  of  emigrants 
airived ;  after  this  period,  the  revolutionary 
war  checked  emigration  till  the  year  1777, 
except  that,  after  the  declaration  of  indepen- 
dence, many  of  the  loyal  subjects  of  Great 
Britain,  disliking  the  appellation  of  "  British 
tories,"  are  said  to  have  retired  from  the  new 
states,  and  to  have  emigrated  to  the  region 
between  the  Yazoo  and  Baton  Rouge ;  the 
inhabitants  of  which  took  no  part  in  the  bos- 
tlhties  against  England,  but  remained  faithful 
subjects  to  the  crown. 

During  this  period,  England  encouraged 
monopolies  of  trade  by  her  subjects,  and  the 
introduction  of  African  slaves,  in  large  num- 
bers. From  P'ort  Bute,  (built  in  1764,  on  the 
north  bank  of  Bayou  Manchac,  near  its  junc- 
tion with  the  Mississippi,)  she  supplied  the 
settlements  of  Louisiana  with  many  Eugliish 
commodities,  and  with  slaves — the  introduc- 
tion of  which  had  been  prohibited  by  Spain. 
To  prevent  this  illicit  trade  with  Spanish 
subjects,  the  Spanish  governor  had  a  fort  con- 
structed on  the  south  bank  of  the  Manchac, 
opposite  to  Fort  Bute. 

But  the  period  was  close  at  hand  when 
Great  Britain  was  destined  to  lose  all  the  pos- 
sessions which  she  bad  for  so  many  years  been 
contending  for.  During  the  revolutionary  war 
troops  were  sent  from  Virginia  to  the  Illinois 
posts,  and  a  bloody  and  protracted  frontier 
■war  resulted  in  the  loss  ot  her  north-western 
possessions,  including  the  post  of  Kaskaskia. 
During  this  frontier  war,  the  federal  govern- 
ment was  supplied  frequently  from  New- 
Orleans  with  provisions  and  munitions  of  war, 
transported  in  barges  up  the  Mississippi  as 
far  as  Fort  Pitt,  under  the  command  of  Amer- 
ican ofHcers.  The  friendly  disposition  of  the 
Spanish  authorities  in  possession  of  the  west 
side  of  the  Mis!sissij)pi  river  greatly  facilitated 
this  mode  of  transportation.  Thus,  during 
the  years  1777,  1778,  and  1779,  the  Amer- 
ican posts  on  the  Ohio  and  upper  Mississippi 
rivers  were  supplied  regularly  with  military 
stores,  and  even  artillery.  It  was,  however, 
a  hazardous  enterprise  ;  and  although  the 
inhabitants  of  the  British  possessions  east  of 
the  Mississippi  river  bad  not  participated  in  the 
war,  yet  it  was  deemed  necessary  by  Captain 
Willing,  under  whose  command  these  enter 
prises  were  conducted,  to  ascertain  whether 
the  Natchez  settlers  would  contiime  neutrals, 
so  far  as  not  to  interrupt  the  transportation 
of  supplies  from  New-Orleans  to  the  Ohio 
posts.  He  accordingly  landed  with  fifty  men, 
m  1778,  at  Natchez,  and  took  the  sense  of  a 
public  meeting,  convened  for  the  occasion,  and 


entered  into  a  convention  of  neutrality  with 
thom.  He  was  informed,  however,  that  seve- 
ral individuals  would  not  be  governed  by  this 
convention.  These  he  resolved  to  j>]ace  in 
military  custody.  He  theref(ire  had  them 
conveyed,  by  night,  from  their  houses,  with 
their  slaves  and  other  personalty,  to  his  vessel, 
and  detained  them  till  they  gave  a  pledge 
not  to  violate  the  convention  of  neutrality. 
They  were  then  set  at  liberty,  with  their  prop- 
erty, except  one  individual,  a  pensioner  of 
the  British  king,  whom,  on  account  of  his 
energy  and  attachment  to  the  interests  of  the 
British  crown,  he  conveyed  to  the  city  of 
New  Orleans.  There  he  gave  him  the  liberty 
of  the  city,  upon  his  parole,  till  his  return  to 
Natchez.  Disregarding  his  parole,  he  returned 
to  Natchez,  resolved  on  vengeance.  Not 
many  weeks  afterwards,  on  the  return  of  one 
of  Captain  Willing's  boats  from  New-Orleans, 
it  was  decoyed  to  the  shore,  at  El]i.s"s  Cliffs, 
and  was  there  attacked  by  twenty-five  am- 
bushed men,  who  fired  a  sudden  volley  upon 
his  crew,  which  killed  five  men  and  wounded 
several  others.  The  boat  immediately  made 
for  the  shore,  and  the  crew  surrendered.  The 
boat  was  commanded  by  Captain  Reuben 
Harrison,  and  the  concealed  party  by  Colonel 
Hutchins,  aided  by  Captains  Hooper  and 
Bingaman.  This  occurred  in  1773.  On  his 
return  from  New-Orleans,  Captain  Willing 
landed  at  Natchez,  and  levied  a  heavy  contri- 
bution upon  his  vindictive  enemy,  for  the 
benefit  of  the  American  army. 

This  outrage  on  the  Americans  accelerated 
a  determination  of  the  Spanish  autlioiities, 
previously  formed,  in  view  of  an  expected 
rupture  between  Great  Britain  and  Spain,  to 
subjugate  that  part  of  Louisiana  east  of  the 
Mississippi  river,  which  had  been  ceded  by 
France  to  Great  Britain ;  and  the  Spanish 
governor  planned  a  vigorous  campaign,  to 
commence  as  soon  as  war  between  England 
and  Spain  should  be  declared.  All  those 
within  this  region  who  had  emigratetl  from 
the  eastern  colonies  prior  to  the  revolution 
were  anxious  to  see  the  British  authorities 
excluded  from  the  country,  and  many  of  these 
were  willing  to  aid  personally,  and  by  their 
influence,  the  Spanish  governor,  in  reducing 
the  British  posts  in  the  south,  east  of  thn  Mis- 
sissippi. Tlie  governor  did  not  long  want  an 
opportunity  of  executing  his  plan. 

In  1779,  Spain,  as  an  ally  of  France,  de- 
clared war  against  England,  and  Don  Bernard 
de  Galvez,  colonel  of  the  Spanish  armies,  and 
governor  of  Louisiana,  a  man  of  genius  and 
ambition,  having  received  early  intimation  of 
the  fact,  immediately  concerted  measures  with 
such  eiierg3%  that  on  the  first  of  September 
he  was  before  Fort  Bute  with  1,400  men. 
After  a  brave  resistance,  for  five  days,  the 
fort  was  carried  by  storm,  and  demolished. 

Reinforced  by  several  hundred  militia,  in- 
cbidiug  many  Americans,  he  marched  to  Baton 


90 


MISSISSIPPI EARLY   HISTORY, 


Rouge,  then  garrisoned  with  400  regular  troops 
aud  100  railitia,  and  abundantly  supplied  with 
arms,  ordnance,  and  all  kinds  of  military 
stores.  On  the  21st  of  September,  after  a 
brisk  cannonade  of  several  hours,  the  com- 
mandant capitulated,  by  surrendering  to  the 
King  of  Spain  not  only  the  post  of  Baton 
Rouge,  but  all  that  portion  of  the  region  then 
known  as  West  Florida,  including  the  forts  at 
Natchez,  Amite,  and  Thompson's  Creek.  Thus 
Great  Britain  lost  the  remnant  of  her  posses- 
Bions  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi. 

Gal  vez,  pushing  on  his  conquests,  succeeded, 
during  the  year  1780,  in  subjugating  the 
'wholt'  province  of  West  Florida. 

Subsequently,  East  Florida  yielded  to  the 
arms  of  Spain;  and  by  the  treaty  of  1783, 
England  coufirmed  to  his  Catholic  Majesty 
the  possession  of  both  East  and  West  Florida. 

During  the  operations  of  Galvez  against 
Pensacola,  the  English  colonists  in  the  Nat- 
chez district,  having  learned  that  a  powerful 
British  armament  was  off  the  coast  of  Florida, 
for  the  recovery  of  his  Majesty's  possessions, 
attempted  to  overpower  the  Spanish  garrison 
at  Fort  Panmure,  at  Natchez,  and  reinstate 
British  authority  over  that  portion  of  the 
province. 

Having  secured  the  aid  of  a  large  number 
of  Choctaw  warriors,  they  raised  the  British 
flag  on  an  eminence  above  the  town  of  Nat- 
chez, in  full  view  of  the  fort,  and  commenced 
their  operations  for  its  capture.  During  the 
night  they  planted  their  cannon  near  the  fort, 
but  a  heavy  fire,  the  next  morning,  compelled 
them  to  retire.  During  a  day  and  night,  a 
moderate  cannonade  was  kept  up  between 
the  besiegers  and  the  fort;  at  length  the  gar- 
rison, having  been  persuaded  that  the  fort  had 
been  undermined  with  a  train,  which  was  to 
be  ignited  on  the  following  day,  capitulated, 
on  condition  of  being  permitted  peaceably  to 
retire,  and  march  to  Baton  Rouge.  But  in  a 
short  time  intelligence  was  received  that  a 
Spanish,  instead  of  a  British  fleet,  had  arrived 
witli  a  reinforcement  for  Galvez.  This  filled 
the  insurgents  with  consternation ;  and  mind- 
ful of  the  fate  of  O'Reilly's  victims  ten  years 
before,  they  sought  safety  in  flight.  Many 
perished  with  fatigue  and  exposure,  and  others 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Spanish  authorities, 
and  were  treated  as  rebels. 

On  the  29th  of  July,  1781,  the  civil  and 
military  commandant  of  the  fort  at  Natchez 
commenced  measures  for  the  punishment  of 
insurgents.  Arrests  and  connscalions  com- 
menced. During  September  and  October,  the 
wealth  of  twenty  fugitive  rebels  had  been 
Beizud  for  confiscation.  Before  the  middle  of 
November,  seven  of  the  leaders,  who  were 
prisoners  at  New-Orleans,  were  convicted  and 
sentenced  to  death,  but  were  afterwards  re- 
prieved by  the  governor-general. 

Thus  ended  the  first  revolt  of  the  Anglo 
Americaua  against  the  Spanish  authorities. 


The  second  one,  thirty  years  afterwards,  waa 
more  fortunate,  as  will  be  hereafter  related. 

In  1783,  by  a  treaty  of  peace  between 
Great  Britain  and  the  United  States,  the 
southern  boundary  of  the  latter  was  estab- 
lished at  the  31st  parallel  of  north  latitude. 

B}'  the  same  treaty.  Great  Britain  confirmed 
to  Spain  all  the  Floridas,  south  of  the  Slst 
degree  of  north  latitude. 

Peace  having  been  thus  concluded  between 
the  belligerent  powers  contending  for  posses- 
sion of  the  Mississippi  valley,  emigrants  from 
France,  (he  Mexico- Spanish  Colonies,  the 
West  Indies,  and  the  United  States,  com- 
menced pouring  into  Louisiana. 

At  the  same  time  the  King  of  France 
caused  a  large  number  of  exiled  Acadians  to 
be  brought  into  the  colony,  to  join  their  coun- 
trymen, who,  thirty  yeai'S  before,  had  fled 
from  Acadia,  to  escape  British  persecution, 
and  settled  in  Louisiana.  Agriculture  and 
commerce,  which  war  had  so  long  suspended, 
once  more  roused  the  colonists  to  that  peace- 
ful emulation  which  alone  confers  true  and 
permanent  prosperity  and  happiness  on  the 
human  race. 

In  1785,  the  official  census  showed  a  popu- 
lation exceeding  33,000  in  Louisiana,  includ- 
ing the  Natchez  settlements ;  of  this  number 
lower  Louisiana  contained  28,000,  of  which 
5,000  belonged  to  New-Orleans. 

In  1785,  Galvez  removed  his  head-quarters 
to  Cuba,  of  which  he  had  been  appointed 
Captain  General,  and  to  the  government  of 
which  Louisiana  had  been  attached,  until  the 
regular  appointment  of  Galvez's  successor. 

About  this  period,  the  Catholic  clergy,  jeal- 
ous of  the  influence  of  the  western  people  of 
the  United  States,  attempted  to  introduce  the 
Inquisition  into  Louisiana.  But  Miro,  judge 
of  residence,  caused  the  zealous  ecclesiastic, 
who  had  been  intrusted  with  this  enterprise, 
to  be  seized  while  asleep,  and  safoly  conveyed 
on  board  a  vessel,  in  which  he  was  transported 
to  Spain. 

The  King  of  Spain  now  signified  his  desire 
that  the  British  settlers  (who,  by  the  treaty 
of  1783,  were  required  within  eighteen  months 
to  quit  the  territory)  should  be  permitted  to 
remain,  and  enjoy  all  the  privileges  of  Spanish 
subjects ;  and,  to  induce  the  Irish  to  remain, 
the  judge  of  residence  caused  the  Natchez 
district  to  be  supplied  with  Irish  Catholic 
priests,  who  arrived  early  in  the  year  1786, 

In  1786,  Miro  received  his  commission  as 
successor  of  Galvez.  He  must  have  found 
the  colony  full  of  turbulent  spirits,  inasmuch 
as  his  first  edicts  prohibited  gambling,  duel- 
ling, and  the  wearing  of  concealed  weapons. 
Untier  his  administration  the  colony  flourished. 
Population  multiplied,  commerce  increased, 
and  the  trade  with  the  settlements  on  the 
Ohio  and  its  tributaries  had  become  extensive 
and  valuable. 

It  has  been  already  observed,  that  owing 


MISSISSIPPI — EARLY   HISTORY. 


31 


to  some  doubts  respecting  the  boundaries  be-  < 
tween  the  Spanish  domain  and  Georgia,  diffi- 
culties had  arisen.  Georgia  had  now  extended 
her  settlements  west,  and  come  into  contact 
with  the  Spanish  settlements  north  of  the  31° 
of  north  latitude;  Georgia  claimed  all  north 
of  that  degree  to  the  mouth  of  the  Yazoo 
river,  under  Oglethorpe's  charter,  and  Spain 
claimed  all  which  had  been,  at  any  time, 
actually  subject  to  French  dominion.*  This 
whole  region,  containing  a  ])opulation  of 
10,000  souls,  was  now  in  possession  of  Spain. 
Commissioners  had  gone  from  Georgia  to 
New-Orleans  in  1785,  to  demand  a  surrender 
of  this  territory,  and  an  acknowledgment  of 
the  line  of  division  as  fixed  by  the  treaty  of 
I'ISS.  But  the  subject  had  been  referred  to 
the  general  government.  Georgia  had,  by  a 
legislative  act,  on  the  7th  of  February,  1785, 
erected  the  county  of  Bourbon,  near  the  Mis- 
Bissippi  river,  giving  to  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  residing  there,  preference  over  any 
foreigner  to  lands  within  this  territory.  This 
act,  after  the  whole  subject  had  been  referred 
to  the  federal  government,  was  repealed. 

A  new  source  of  controversy  was  now  aris- 
ing, which  was  destined  to  deprive  Spain  of 
all  the  possessions  which  she  had  wrested 
from  England.  This  was  the  natural  right 
claimed  by  the  people  of  the  North-western 
Territoiy  to  navigate  the  Mississippi  river  to 
New-Orleans  and  the  Balize,  free  from  any 
tax  or  other  molestation  or  hindrance.  The 
trade  between  the  inhabitants  of  the  North- 
western Territory  and  Louisiana  had  become 
very  important ;  and  Spain,  desirous  of  mak- 
ing it  a  source  of  revenue  to  herself,  estab- 
lished ports,  and  exacted  harbor  duties  and 
other  charges  incidental  to  commerce.  The 
western  traders  considered  these  charges  un- 


*  The  curious  reader  will  find  the  opinion  of  the 
court,  delivered  by  Judge  Clayton,  in  the  case  of 
Mon'gonicry  and  others  vs.  Ives  and  others,  reported 
in  13th  vol.  of  S.  &  M.'s  Miss.  Reports,  full  of  inter- 
esting information  on  this  subject,  which  vrill  fully 
repay  the  labor  of  its  perusal.  Judge  SharJiey,  who, 
though  he  concurred  in  the  opinion  of  the  court, 
thought  "there  never  had  been  an  extension  of  the 
norlliern  boundary  of  West  Florida  above  the  31st 
deg.  of  north  latitude,"  supported  this  position  by 
the  following  very  concise  and  forcible  argument: 
"The  colonies  became  then  indei)endeiit,  with  de- 
fined boundaries,  If  that  memorable  event  put  an 
end  to  the  authority  of  (Ireat  Britain  over  the  terri- 
tory above  the  31st  deg.  of  north  lat.,  it  must  have 
done  fo  because  that  territory)  was  within  tkc  limits 
of  some  one  of  the  revnltivg  colonies.  The  declara- 
tion of  independence  did  not  extend  over  any  terri- 
tory not  within  some  one  of  the  colonies',  nor  was 
there  any  acriuisition  of  territory  by  comiuest,  not 
lying  within  their  boundaries.  If  the  territory  above 
the  3l8t  deg.  of  north  latitude  was  part  of  the  colony 
of  Ge()r-,ia,  the  authority  of  Great  Britain  over  it 
ceased  when  Georgia  becjme  independent.  If,  on 
the  other  hand,  it  was  part  of  West  Florida,  the 
authority  of  Great  Britain  did  not  cease,  as  Florida 
was  not  one  of  the  revolting  colonics.  The  treaty  did 
not  cede  territory  to  the  colonies,  but  only  acknow- 
ledged their  independence  as  states,  with  known 
boundaries." 


just  and  oppressive,  and  only  paid  them  be- 
cause compelled  by  military  force.  Many  even 
resisted  every  attempt  made  to  enforce  pay- 
ment, and  were,  consequently,  seized,  fined, 
and  imprisoned,  and  subjected  to  great  ex- 
pense, loss,  and  delay.  In  some  cases,  cargoes 
were  confiscated,  and  the  owners  driven  des- 
titute back  to  their  homes.  During  the  years 
1785  and  1787,  these  occurrences  roused  such 
a  feeling  of  animosity  and  thirst  of  vengeance 
among  all  the  western  people,  from  the  Vjanks 
of  the  Monongahela  to  those  of  the  Cumber- 
land and  Tennessee,  that  there  was  needed 
only  some  daring  military  spirit  to  bring 
.about  an  invasion  of  New-Orleans,  in  the 
event  of  the  general  government  failing  to 
obtain  by  negotiation  the  privileges  indispen- 
sable to  the  prosperity  of  the  western  country. 

In  1787,  a  separation  from  the  Atlantic 
states,  and  the  erection  of  an  independent 
government,  with  the  view  of  wresting  Lou- 
isiana from  Spain,  was  seriously  contemplated, 
if  not  actually  planned.  Under  these  circum- 
stances. General  James  Wilkinson,  a  merchant 
of  Kentucky,  obtained  from  the  Spanish  au- 
thorities a  license  to  introduce  western  pro- 
duce into  New-Orleans,  free  of  duty,  on  the 
condition  that  he  would  use  his  influence  in 
conciliating  the  western  people,  and  encourage 
their  immigration  to  the  Spanish  colonies,  by 
relaxing  the  system  of  imposts,  as  to  all  who 
should  settle  within  their  limits,  east  of  the 
Mississippi  river.  For  a  time  the  Spanish 
minister,  hoping  to  derive  some  profit  to  him- 
self, connived  at  this  plan ;  but  being  foiled 
in  his  expectations,  suddenly  ordered  a  strict 
enforcement  of  the  impost  law3. 

At  the  request  of  Governor  Miro,  Wilkin- 
son prepared  a  memorial  to  the  crown,  re- 
specting the  relations  of  Spain  with  the  in- 
habitants of  the  North  western  Territory, 
which  was  transmitted  to  Madrid.  This  docu- 
ment was  composed  with  much  address.* 
The  views  set  forth  in  it  were  adopted  by  his 
Majesty  as  the  basis  of  the  future  administra- 
tion of  affairs  in  Louisiana. 

It  is  probable  that  his  Majesty  was  in- 
fluenced by  the  intimation  contained  in  this 
memorial,  that  an  alliance  might  possibly  be 
formed  between  his  Spanish  subjects,  in  the 
valley  of  the  Mississippi,  and  the  republican 
settlements  of  the  West. 

There  was  at  this  period  great  danger, 
either  of  an  invasion  of  Louisiana  by  the 
people  of  the  North-west,  or  of  an  alliance 
between  the  two,  and  the  formation  of  a 
separate  government.  The  apparent  tardi- 
ness of  the  general  government  in  negotiating 
with  Spain  respecting  a  privilege,  so  indis- 
pensable to  the  western  people,  as  the  right 
of  navigating  the  Mississippi,  had  alienated 
the  attachment  of  the  latter;  and  a  rumor 
that  the  American  minister  had  consented  to 


)     •  See  1st  Monetle's  Valley  of  Mississippi,  p.  473. 


32 


MISSISSIPPI EARLY   HISTORr. 


postpone  the  assertion  of  this  right  for  twenty 
years,  produced  an  indignation  among  them, 
which  the  Spanish  king  liastened  to  avail 
himself  of,  by  sending  emissaries  to  Kentucky, 
to  enlist  the  prominent  men  of  that  and  the 
adjoining  states  in  the  treasonable  scheme  of 
throwing  off  the  federal  authority,  and  form- 
ing an  alliance  with  Spain. 

But  these  machinations  were  happily  frus- 
trated, as  well  by  the  change  of  policy  in  the 
administration  of  Spanish  affairs  at  New- 
Orleans,  as  by  the  declaration  of  the  general 
government  of  its  intention  to  insist  upon  the 
free  navigation  of  the  Mississippi,  according 
to  the  treaties  of  1763  and  1783,  to  both  of 
which  Spain  had  been  a  party. 

Movements  of  Ellicott,  Wilkinson,  and 
Gatoso — Organization  of  Mississippi  Teh- 
EiTORT. — The  Spanish  king  ordered  liberal 
grants  of  land  to  be  offered  to  all  emigrants 
from  the  territories  now  comprising  Kentucky 
and  Tennessee,  to  the  Spanish  provinces.  Un- 
der this  liberal  system,  numerous  settlements 
were  made  by  Americans  in  Upper  Louisi- 
ana, as  well  as  in  the  province  east  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi river,  and  below  the  mouth  of  the 
Tazoo.  The  Spanish  governor,  in  the  mean 
time,  was  instructed  to  use  all  means  of  effect- 
ing a  political  union  between  the  Spanish 
provinces  and  the  western  people  of  the  Uni- 
ted States.  Tins  policy  continued  two  years, 
and  thus  delayed  all  danger,  during  that  pe- 
riod, of  an  invasion  of  Louisiana  by  the  north- 
western settlers  ;  but,  at  the  expiration  of 
that  time,  Guanloquoi,  the  Spanish  minister, 
suddenly  reiinacted  the  revenue  laws,  and 
seizures  and  confiscations,  fines  and  imprison- 
ment, were  recommenced  with  such  rigor,  as 
again  to  rouse  the  resentment  of  the  western 
people,  and  render  an  immediate  invasion  of 
the  Spanish  provinces  a  popular  measure. 

An  e.Ktensive  couilagration  occurred  at  this 
moment  at  New-Orleans,  and  the  distress  and 
want  consequent  upon  it  compelled  the  gov- 
ernor to  release  all  prisoners,  restore  their 
property,  and  rescind  all  commercial  restric- 
tions, in  order  to  induce  the  western  traders 
to  supply  the  city  with  provisions.  At  the 
same  time  donations  of  land  were  made  to  all 
emigrants;  and  many  Americans,  lured  by 
this  generosity,  settled  in  the  Natchez  district 
and  elsewhere  within  the  Spanish  territory. 

The  census  of  1788  showed  an  aggregate 
population,  in  Louisiana  and  West  Floriila,  of 
42,611  souls,  being  an  increase  of  10,000  in 
three  years.  This  included  the  importation  of 
Acadians  and  Spaniards,  before  mentioned  ; 
the  remainder  were  Americans.  Of  the  wliole 
population  there  were — free  whites,  19,415; 
free  colored  persons,  1,701 ;  slaves,  21,465. 

In  September,  1788,  it  became  absolutely 
necessary  for  the  federal  government  to  re- 
quire from  Spain  a  full  concession  of  the  right, 
claimed  by  the  we.stern  people,  to  the  tree 
navigation  of  the  Mississippi.     Accordingly, 


Congress  resolved  that  "  the  free  navigation 
of  the  Mississippi  is  a  clear  and  essential  right 
of  the  United  States,  and  that  the  same  ought 
to  be  considered  and  supported  as  such."  The 
American  ministers  were  charged  specially 
to  negotiate  for  the  surrender  of  West  Flo- 
rida, near  the  Mississippi,  and  the  whole 
eastern  bank  of  the  river  to  the  sea,  provided 
tlie  free  use  of  the  river  through  Louisiana 
could  not  be  otherwise  obtained.  But  the 
Spanish  ministers  showed  little  inclination  to 
relinquish  any  portion  of  this  territory,  and 
not  only  delayed  all  negotiation,  but  instiga- 
ted the  Creek  and  other  Indian  tribes  to  a 
violation  of  their  treaties  with  the  United 
States,  and  to  acts  of  violence,  with  the  view 
of  preventing  any  future  settlements  within 
the  South-western  Territory.  Spanish  posts 
and  garrisons  occupied  the  country  east  of  the 
Mississippi,  as  high  up  as  Memphis,  and  the 
Spanish  authorities  had  orgai.ized  the  militia 
of  Louisiana,  with  the  view  of  defending  every 
position  assumed  by  Spain  against  the  United 
States.  At  the  same  time,  large  American 
forces  were  concentrated  on  the  Ohio,  and  the 
Spanish  governor  had  every  reason  to  fear 
that  an  army,  flushed  with  victory  in  the 
north-west,  would  descend  upon  the  first 
spring  flood  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  riv- 
ers, and  invade  Louisiana.  The  President  of 
the  United  States  had  himself  authorized  and 
encouraged  preparations  for  such  a  conflict. 
At  this  juncture,  Spain  became  embarrassed 
by  her  European  wars,  and  dreading  hostili- 
ties against  Louisiana,  intimated  a  disposition 
to  settle  the  points  in  controversy.  General 
Washington  immediately  dispatched  Thomas 
Pinckney,  as  minister  plenipotentiary  to  Ma- 
drid, and  on  the  20th  day  of  October,  1795,  a 
tieaty  was  signed,  adjusting  all  subjects  of 
dispute.  By  this  treaty,  the  31st  parallel  of 
north  latitude  was  recognized  as  the  northern 
boundary  of  the  Spanish  possessions,  and 
Spain  agreed,  within  six  months,  to  withdraw 
her  troops  and  garrisons  from  the  territory 
north  of  that  boundary.  It  was  further  stipu- 
lated, that  the  people  of  the  United  States 
should  use  the  port  of  New  Orleans  as  a  place 
of  deposit  for  produce  and  merchandise,  for 
the  space  of  tfirce  years,  and  export  the  same 
free  of  all  duty.  This  treaty  was  duly  rati- 
fied by  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  and 
the  President  commenced  preparations  to  car- 
ry its  .stipulations  into  effect,  such  as  survey- 
ing the  boundary  line,  enforcing  neutrality 
among  the  Indians,  &c. 

This  treaty  had  the  effect  of  arresting  a 
.'■cheme  which  the  citizens  of  Georgia  had  con- 
ceived, of  expelling  all  tlie  Spaniards  from  the 
territory  east  of  the  Mi>-sissippi  river,  and 
north  of  the  31st  parallel  of  latitude,  and  also 
led  to  the  repeal  of  an  ai  t  of  tlie  Legislature 
of  Georgia,  incorporating  the  Mississippi  Com- 
pany, and  granting  millions  of  acres  of  land 
witliin  the  disputed  territory.    It  will  be  here- 


MISSISSIPPI — EARLY   HISTORY. 


33 


after  perceived  that  this  -whole  territory  was 
afterwards  ceded  by  Georgia  to  the  United 
States,  April  24(h,  1802. 

The  treaty  of  JIadrid  provided  for  the  ap- 
pointment by  Spain  of  a  commissioner  to  meet 
one  to  be  appointed  by  the  United  States, 
■within  six  months  after  the  ratification  of  the 
treaty,  to  ascertain  and  fix  the  northern  boun- 
dary of  the  Spanish  province,  that  is,  the  31st 
parallel  of  latitude.  The  President  of  the 
United  States,  in  due  time,  appointed  Col. 
Andrew  Ellicott  as  the  American  commission- 
er, and  Don  Manuel  Gayoso  de  Sernos  was 
also  appointed  commissioner  of  Spain,  under 
the  orders  of  Bai'ou  de  Carondelet,  governor- 
general  of  Louisiana.  Gayoso  was  then  gov- 
ernor of  the  Natchez  district. 

In  September,  1*796,  Col.  Ellicott  left  Phil- 
adelphia for  Natchez,  and  obtaining  at  Pitts- 
burg thirty  woodsmen  armed  with  rifles,  de- 
scended the  Ohio  in  a  barge ;  but  owing  to 
low  water  and  ice,  he  did  not  reach  Natchez 
till  the  2-lth  day  of  February,  1191.  Before 
this  time  he  had  been  overtaken  by  au  addi- 
tional military  escort  of  thirty  men,  but  at  the 
request  of  Gayoso,  left  the  whole  escort  of 
sixty  men  at  the  Bayou  Pierre.  After  an  in- 
terview between  Col.  Ellicott  and  Gayoso,  the 
latter  reluctantly  consented  to  fix  the  19th 
day  of  March  as  the  day  on  which  both  com- 
missioners should  repair  to  Bayou  Tunica, 
with  the  view  of  ascertaining  and  defining  the 
boundary. 

Col.  Ellicott  hoisted  the  American  flag  on 
an  eminence,  near  Fort  Panmure,  within  the 
present  limits  of  the  city  of  Natchez,  and  as- 
certained by  observation  that  his  position  was 
about  39  miles  north  of  the  31st  deg.  of  north 
latitude.  The  governor-general,  Carondelet, 
was,  in  the  mean  time,  duly  notified  of  his 
arrival,  as,  by  the  terms  of  Gayoso's  appoint- 
ment, Carondelet  was  to  be  present,  and  di- 
rect the  Spanish  commissioners  in  ascertaining 
and  defining  the  boundary.  But  Carondelet 
evaded  the  appointment  on  the  plea  of  impor- 
tant business  at  New-Orleans,  and  tried  to 
induce  Col.  Ellicott  to  visit  that  city.  The 
American  commi.^sioner  declined  the  invita- 
tion, and  ordered  his  miUtary  escort,  under 
Lieutenant  M'Leary,  from  the  Bayou  Pierre 
to  Natchez,  at  which  point  they  arrived  on 
the  15th  March,  1797.  Having  encamped 
near  Col.  EUicott's  flag,  the  commandant 
soon  after  formally  demanded  the  surrender 
of  Fort  Panmure  to  the  American  troops. 
Gayoso,  who  had  hitherto  feigned  prepara- 
tions to  abandon  the  fort,  now  suddenly 
returned  all  the  stores  and  artillery  into  it 
by  night,  and  placed  it  in  a  state  of  defense ; 
he  also,  soon  after,  proceeded  to  strengthen 
the  forts  at  Natchez  and  Walnut  Hills,  by 
reinforcements  from  New-Orleans.  Upon  a 
protest  against  these  perfidious  measures, 
by  the  American  commissioner,  Gayoso  de- 
clared that  they  were  prompted  by  appreben- 
VOL.  II. 


sions  of  Indian  hostilities,  and  of  an  invasion 
of  Louisiana  by  the  British  troops  from  Cana- 
da. In  order  to  convince  CoL  Ellicott  of  the 
truth  of  the  first  pretext,  Gayoso  caused 
swarms  of  drunken  Indians  to  parade  with 
drawn  knives  and  threatening  gestures  before 
the  American  camp;  and  in  order  to  conciliate 
them.  Colonel  E.  was  compelled  to  distribute 
rations  and  presents  among  them.  For  the 
last  pretext,  tliere  seemed  afterwards  to  have 
been  some  foundation,  as  there  is  no  doubt  an 
invasion  of  Louisiana  was  contemplated  by 
Canadians,  and  influential  men  in  the  United 
States,  among  whom  was  a  United  States 
senator  from  Tennessee.  But  Col.  Ellicott 
saw  iu  these  measures  only  a  determination 
to  postpone  the  surrender  of  the  territory,  un- 
der the  hope  that  some  circumstance  might 
happen  which  would  restore  this  valuable 
region  to  Spain.  All  hopes  of  inducing  the 
western  people  to  throw  off  their  allegiance 
to  the  general  government  and  unite  with 
Spain,  had  not  been  abandoned.  A  Spanish 
agent  was  again  sent  to  Kentucky  to  sound 
public  men  on  this  subject,  and  stir  up  disaf- 
fection to  the  United  States  in  the  West ;  and 
the  death  of  General  Wayne,  by  which  Gene- 
ral Wilkinson,  who  was  supposed  to  be  favor- 
able to  this  design,  had  been  advanced  to  the 
command  of  the  Northwestern  Territory, gave 
fresh  encouragement  to  these  hopes. 

The  American  commisjioner  became  much 
incensed,  and  an  angry  correspondence  com- 
menced between  him  and  Gayoso.  The  peo- 
ple of  the  district,  fearing  tliat  the  Spaniards 
would  not  surrender  the  territory,  sliared  in 
the  excitement  and  indignation  of  the  Ameri- 
can commissioner.  The  latter  maintained  his 
position,  anxiously  expecting  an  advanced 
guard  of  American  troops  from  Fort  Massac ; 
a  detachment  of  forty  men,  descending  from 
this  point,  under  Lieutenant  Percy  Smith 
Pope,  arrived  at  Walnut  Hills  early  in  April, 
1797,  and  encamped  near  the  Spanish  fort  at 
that  point.  On  the  l7th  April,  Col.  Ellicott 
having  learned  his  arrival,  required  him  to 
advance  to  his  relief  without  delay ;  and  on 
the  24th  April,  Lieutenant  Pope,  with  his 
detachment,  arrived  at  Natchez,  and  was  es- 
corted to  the  American  camp  by  Lieutenant 
M'Leary's  company. 

Gayoso  strongly  remonstrated  against  the 
presence  of  the  American  troops,  and  urged 
their  removal  to  several  points  ;  but  the 
American  commissioner  resolved  to  maintain 
his  position,  and  Lieutenant  Pope  proceeded 
to  the  completion  of  the  intrenchments  of  his 
camp.  He  also  strengthened  himself  by  vol- 
untary enlistments,  and  by  the  apprehension 
of  some  deserters  from  the  north-western 
army,  who  were  found  among  the  Spaniards. 

In  a  few  weeks  it  was  ascertained  that  the 
Spaniards  had  sent  emissaries  to  the  neigh- 
boring tribes  of  Indians,  with  instructions  to 
excite  their  resentment  against  the  American 


34 


MISSISSIPPI EARLY    HISTORY. 


forces.  Tliis  cause,  together  -with  the  perfidy' 
of  the  Spuniards  in  deferring  the  fulfihutiit  of 
the  treaty,  greatly  excited  the  people.  There 
were  now  four  thousand  Americans  residing 
north  of  the  stipulated  boundary,  impatient 
for  the  departure  of  the  Spanish  authorities, 
and  the  est;djlishment  of  the  federal  authority. 
Many  were  ready  to  capture  Fort  Panmure, 
and  drive  out  the  Spanish  authorities  by  force. 
These  citizens  inhabited  the  region  extending 
north  from  the  boundary  to  Bayou  Pierre,  and 
thence  east  to  the  sources  of  this  stream,  and 
of  Cole's  Creek,  St.  Catharine,  Homochitto, 
and  Buffalo. 

The  governor-general  endeavored  to  allay 
this  excitement,  by  issuing  a  proclamation  on 
the  24th  of  May,  declaring  that  the  country 
would  be  surrendered  after  the  danger  of  Brit- 
ish invasion  had  passed  away.  But  this,  in- 
stead of  calming,  inflamed  the  public  mind  to 
a  still  higher  degree  of  excitement. 

At  length,  Gayoso  declared  that  he  had  re- 
ceived instructions  from  Carondelet  to  remove 
the  artillery  and  military  stores  from  all  the 
forts  north  of  the  stipulated  boundary.  Thus 
open  violence  was  prevented  until  the  9th  day 
of  June,  when  an  American  citizen,  a  Baptist 
preacher,  was  seized  by  the  Spanish  autliori- 
ties,  and  placed  in  the  stocks,  within  the  fort. 
The  people  flew  to  arms,  and  compelled  the 
Spanish  commandant,  and  his  principal  offi- 
cers and  their  families,  to  take  refuge  within 
the  walls  of  the  fort.  Military  companies 
were  immediately  organized — officers  chosen 
to  command  them — and,  in  a  few  hours,  the 
Spanish  authority  was  virtually  overthrown. 

At  the  same  time,  Lieutenant  Pope  issued 
an  address,  calling  on  all  the  citizens  to  assert 
their  rights,  and  pledging  liimself  to  protect 
them  from  every  act  of  hostility. 

A  large  concourse  of  people  met  at  Beach's, 
on  the  Nashville  road,  on  the  20th  day  of 
June ;  and  after  free  discussion,  appointed  a 
"committee  of  public  safety,"  consisting  of 
seven  prominent  men,  to  conduct  future  nego- 
tiations with  the  Spanish  autiiorities.  The 
consent  of  this  committee  was  declared  to  be 
necessary  to  the  validity  of  every  Spanish 
edict. 

On  the  18th  of  June,  Gayoso  desired  and 
obtained  an  interview  with  the  American 
commissioner,  at  Captain  Minor's  house,  to 
which  place  he  made  his  way  from  the  fort, 
secretly,  through  cane-brakes  and  a  corn  field, 
to  the  back  door,  and  thence  to  the  parlor,  in 
such  a  state  of  humiliation  as  deeply  affected 
Colonel  EUicott.  Here  he  met  the  committee 
— recognized  their  representative  capacity — 
acceded  to  their  demands  of  amnesty  to  the 
citizens  who  had  revolted,  and  of  their  ex- 
emption from  service  in  the  Spanish  militia, 
except  in  cases  of  riot  or  Indian  hostilities. 
These  conccs-ions  all  tended  greatly  to  allay 
the  popular  excitement. 

Mistrusting  the  fidelity  of  one  of  the  "  com- 


mittee,"* Colonel  Ellicott  persuaded  the  gov- 
ernor to  dissolve  it,  and  to  authorize  the  elec- 
tion of  a  permanent  one  in  its  stead.  Accord- 
ingly, a  new  committee  of  nine  members  was 
elected  in  July,  by  virtue  of  Spanish  authori- 
ty, to  be  "permanent"  in  its  duration.  This 
committee  was  the  finishing  stroke  to  Spanish 
authority  and  jurisdiction. 

During  the  ensuing  autumn.  Col.  Ellicott 
removed  liis  camp  to  the  present  site  of  the 
town  of  Washington,  seven  miles  N.  E.  of  Nat- 
chez, and  returned  to  Natchez  on  the  27th  of 
September.  On  the  26th  July  preceding, 
Gayoso,  having  been  appointed  governor  gen- 
eral of  Louisiana,  departed  for  New-Orleans; 
but  previously  appointed  Capt.  Stephen  Minor 
temporary  commandant  of  Fort  Panmure. 
Soon  afterwards.  Colonel  Grandpre  was  ap- 
pointed lieutenant-governor  at  Natchez,  but 
at  the  request  of  the  permanent  committee, 
never  appeared  there,  and  Capt.  Minor  con- 
tinued to  exercise  the  duties  of  that  office. 
Harmony  having  been  thus  restored.  Lieuten- 
ant Pope  had  retired  with  his  command  to 
the  more  healthy  position  at  Washington,  as 
above  related. 

General  Wilkinson  having  learned  the  delay 
of  the  Spanish  authorities  in  evacuating  the 
forts  north  of  the  boundary,  dispatched  Capt. 
Isaac  Guiou,  a  revolutionary  officer  of  expe- 
rience and  sound  sense,  and  enjoying  the  con- 
fidence of  the  President,  with  a  detachment  of 
troops,  to  assume  the  command  at  Natchez. 
He  arrived  in  December,  and  assumed  the 
command.  At  first  he  treated  the  Spanish 
authorities  with  respect,  but  discovering  that, 
without  any  good  reason,  they  were  still  in- 
clined to  delay  the  evacuation  of  the  forts  and 
the  survey  of  the  line  of  demarcation,  he  be- 
came impatient,  and  resolved  to  take  the  fort 
by  assault.  But  on  the  23(1  March,  1798, 
Fort  Nogales,  at  Walnut  Hills,  was  evacua- 
ted, and  the  troops  descended  thence  to  Nat- 
chez. Here  they  remained,  studiously  con- 
cealing the  time  of  their  departure ;  and  Capt. 
Guion  declared,  that  the  first  day  of  April 
should  not  witness  the  Spanish  garrison  with- 
in the  fort. 

On  the  2nth  March,  at  midnight,  the  Span- 
iards sent  their  artillery  and  stores  aboard 
their  boats,  and  about  four  o'clock,  on  the 
morning  of  the  1st  April,  the  troops  marched 
from  the  fort  to  the  river  bank.  Before  day- 
light they  had  embarked,  and  had  proceeded 
several  miles  on  their  voyage  to  New-Orleans. 
No  farewell  salute  honored  their  stealthy  de- 
parture. Col.  Ellicott  alone,  suspecting  their 
intention,  rose  early,  and  walking  towards  the 

•  The  members  of  the  first  committee  were,  Joseph 
Bernard,  .liidge  Peter  H.  lirucu,  Daniel  Chirke,  Ga- 
briel Henoit^t,  Pliiliuuler  Smith,  Isaac  Gaillard,  Roger 
Dixon,  William  Ratliff,  and  Prederick  Kimball.  Of 
these,  F.  Kimball  was  suspected.  An  iictivo  oppo- 
nent of  the  measures  of  Culonel  Kllicott  was  Colonel 
Anthony  Uutchens. 


MISSISSIPPI — EARLY   HISTORY. 


35 


fort,  entered  its  open  gates  just  after  the  rear 
guard  liad  passed  out  of  it,  and  from  the  para- 
pet witnessed  all  their  movements,  till  the 
whole  riotilla  was  out  of  sight. 

All  cause  for  delaying  the  survey  of  the 
line  of  demarcation  having  been  now  remov- 
ed, Gayoso  appointed  Capt.  Stephen  Minor 
and  Sir  William  Dunbar  commissioners  of 
Spain,  who,  with  Col  Ellicott,  repaired  to 
Bayou  Tunica,  six  miles  below  Fort  Adams; 
and  on  the  21st  of  May,  1*798,  having  b^en 
joined  by  Governor  Gayoso,  they  proceeded 
to  mark  the  line  as  far  as  East  Florida,  the 
survey  through  which,  owing  to  Indian  dis- 
turbances, was  not  made  until  the  following 
year. 

In  the  mean  time  Congress  had  erected  the 
territory,  surrendered  by  Spain,  into  a  terri 
torial  government,  by  the  name  of  the  "  Mis- 
sissippi Territory."  Its  boundaries  were  the 
Mississippi  on  the  west,  the  31st°  of  latitude 
on  the  south,  a  line  drawn  due  east  from  the 
mouth  of  the  Yazoo  to  Chattahoochee  river  on 
the  north,  and  on  the  east  by  said  Chattahoo 
chee  river. 

Wiutlirop  Sargent,  former  Secretary  of  the 
North-western  Territory,  under  Governor  St. 
Clair,  was  appointed  the  first  governor  of  the 
Mississippi  Territory.  He  arrived  at  Natchez 
on  the  6th  day  of  August,  1*798,  and  on  the 
26th  day  of  the  same  month.  General  Wilkin- 
son arrived  with  the  federal  array.* 

Proclamation  and  Letters  of  "Winthrop 
Sargent,  First  Governor  and  Organizek 
OF  THE  Territory. — The  long  disputed  boun- 
dary between  Spain  and  the  United  States 
having  been,  at  length,  amicably  established, 
the  subjects  of  his  Catholic  Majesty,  who  were 
unwilling  to  fraternize  with  republicans, 
quietly  retired  from  the  Natchez  District. 
General  Wilkinson,  with  the  view  of  insuring 
future  tranquillity,  established  a  military  post 
at  Loftus's  Heights,  (afterwards  named  Fort 
Adams,  in  compliment  to  the  President,)  and 
other  posts  along  the  line  eastward,  with  a 
small  garrison  in  each.  His  own  head-quarters 
remained  at  Natchez,  opposite  to  which  a 
new  Spanish  fort  was  erected.  A  convention 
between  Gayoso  and  General  Wilkinson  pro- 
vided for  the  mutual  extradition  of  deserters 
across  the  boundary,  or  across  the  river.  A 
most  amicable  spirit  prevailed  between  the 
civil  and  military  authorities  of  the  two 
provinces,  in  commemoration  of  which  the 
Spanish  fort  opposite  to  Natchez  received  the 
name  of  "  Fort  Concord,"  from  its  command- 
ant, Don  Jose  Vidal.  The  parish  of  Con- 
cordia and  town  of  Vidalia  owe  their  names 
to  the  fort  and  its  courteous  commandant. 


•  Monotte  says,  that  the  govornor  was  accompa- 
nied by  the!  ttTritorial  judges.  This,  it  will  hereafter 
be  perciMvetl,  ia  Governor  Sargent's  letters,  is  an 
error.  Tliu  t;ovL'rnor  liaj  not  even  a  secretary,  and 
wrote  out  with  his  own  hand  the  archives  of  the  ter- 
ritory. 


Nevertheless,  great  jealousy  was  enter- 
tained by  the  Spanish  government  of  Amer- 
ican immigrants,  especially  to  such  as  had 
served  in  the  revolutionary  war.  Though, 
in  the  war,  Spain  had  favored  the  Americans 
out  of  hatred  to  Great  Britain,  yet  she  had 
not  then  fully  realized  the  possibility  of  her  do- 
minions coming  in  conflict  with  those  of  the 
republic ;  and,  in  truth,  she  was  induced  to 
conquer  the  Natchez  District  and  the  Floridas 
only  with  the  expectation  of  holding  perpetual 
jjossesiion  of  them,  and  rendering  the  Indian 
tribes  a  perpetual  barrier  between  her  Ameri- 
can possessions  and  those  of  the  United  States. 
This  policy  was  openly  avowed  by  her  at  the 
treaty  of  1*783,  between  Great  Britain,  France, 
and  the  United  States,  and,  as  will  be  hereafter 
seen,  was  espoused  by  the  French  goveniment, 
and  only  frustrated  by  the  firmness  and  sa- 
gacity of  the  American  ministers,  Mr.  Jay  and 
Mr.  Adams.  This  policy  was  now  rendered 
impossible  by  the  surrender  of  the  Natchez 
District,  and  in  the  rapid  influx  of  American 
population  into  it,  occasioned  by  its  transfer  to 
the  United  States.  She  saw  foreshadowed  that 
destiny  by  which  she  was  ultimately  driven 
from  the  American  continent.  The  most  strin- 
gent regulations  were  adopted  to  discourage  the 
immigration  into  her  territory  of  any  other 
than  her  own  subjects.  Every  immigrant  was 
required  immediately  to  take"  an  oath  of  alle- 
giance to  Spain,  and  to  domiciliate  in  some  old 
Spanish  settlement,  under  the  eye  of  a  Spanish 
commandant.  No  foreigner,  without  money, 
slaves,  or  other  valuable  j^roperty,  could  re- 
ceive a  grant  of  land  until  he  had  lived,  and 
been  honestly  employed,  for  the  space  of  four 
years,  within  the  colony.  For  want  of  equally 
salutary  restri.tions  on  the  American  side  of 
the  line,  the  worthy  governor,  Winthrop  Sar- 
gent, (wiio  was  a  firm  supporter  of  the  alien 
and  sedition  laws,)  was  greatly  troubled  by 
turbulent  and  irresponsible  men,  as  his  letters, 
hereafter  to  be  exhibited  to  the  reader,  will 
abundantly  show. 

The  ordinance  of  178Y— the  provisions  of 
which  (except  the  clause  interdicting  slavery) 
had  been  extended  by  Congress  to  the  Missis- 
sippi Territory— required  the  appointment  of 
a  governor,  secretary,  three  judges,  and  other 
civil  oflllcers,  and  provided  for  a  General  As- 
sembly, to  consist  of  the  governer,  a  council  of 
five,  and  representatives  of  counties,  and  one 
delegate  to  Congress. 

Tha  General  Assembly',  in  1*799,  passed  an 
act  appointing  justices  R'ith  civil  and  criminal 
jurisdiction  of  limited  extent,  with  the  right  of 
appeal  to  the  parties  afTected  by  their  judg- 
ments. (Hutch.  Code,  ch.l  and  bQ)  The  gov- 
ernor, by  proclamation,  divided  the  district 
into  the  counties  of  Adams  and  Pickering,  so 
named  in  honor  of  tlie  President  and  Secretary 
of  State.  The  district  extended  .about  100 
miles  north  of  the  southern  boundary,  and 
about  25  miles  east  of  the  Mississippi  river. 


36 


MISSISSIPPI EARLY    HISTORY. 


It  comprised  about  6,000  inhabitaut",  of  u;liom 
more  than  1,000  were  slaves.  The  terriiory 
north  of  thi?,  for  500  miles,  was  inhalnted  by 
Indians.  The  NatchfZ  District  having  been 
surrendered  to  the  United  States  as  part  of 
Georgia,  the  consent  of  that  state  had  been 
previously  obtained  to  the  establishment  of  a 
territorial  government,  by  Congress,  over  it. 
This  consent  w-as  followed,  several  years  after- 
wards, by  an  act  of  cession  by  Georgia  to  the 
United  States  (in  1802)  of  all  her  lands  south 
of  Tennessee,  in  consideration  of  §1,250,000 
of  the  first  net  proceeds  of  the  ceded  lands, 
the  United  States  recognizing  all  grants  of 
land  made  by  Georgia  to  inhabitants  thereof 
prior  to  27th  October,  1795.  All  tl.e  land  so 
ceded  was  afterwards,  by  act  of  1804,  attached 
to  the  Mississippi  Territory,  which  thus  com- 
prised the  whole  territory  now  composing  Al- 
abama and  M  ssissippi,  from  the  31st  to  the 
35th  degree  of  north  latitude. 

The  coi  'fidence  in  the  federal  government,  ex- 
hibited by  Georgia,  in  thus  readily  conceding  to 
the  former  all  jurisdiction  over  a  country  which 
she  herself  was  incapable  of  protecting,  presents 
a  favorable  contrast  to  the  c< induct  of  Texas,  m 
reference  to  that  portion  of  New-Mexicoclaimed 
by  her.*  Tlie  increasing  power  of  the  federal 
government  was  then  a  source  of  pride,  and 
not  of  jealousy,  to  the  old  states,  who  had  es- 
tablished it  as  a  remedy  for  the  evils  of  their 
previous  weak  and  inefficient  confederation. 
The  reverence  with  which  the  federal  author- 
ity was  then  regarded,  is  forcibly  illustrated 
in  the  style  of  Governor  Sargent's  letters  to 
the  executive  department.  They  are  replete 
with  courtesy,  ami  profound  sense  of  duty  and 
obedience.  Though  they  may  exhibit  too  much 
of  this  quality,  yet  such  a  sfyle  is  far  prefer- 
able to  that  affectation  of  equality  and  parade 
of  independence  which  will  not  admit  even  of 
thit  subordination  which  difference  of  official 
rank  requires  for  its  own  preservation,  but  de- 
sires to  merge  all  distinctions  in  the  title  of 
"qitizen"— a  title  which,  during  the  French 
Revolution,  raised  every  human  butcher  to  a 
level  with  the  purest  patriot. 

To  .some  extent,  these  French  notions  of 
equality  obtruded  themselves  within  Ameri- 
can circles,  and  so  far  had  the  insolent  appeals 
of  Citizen  Genet  to  the  "  Democracy"  of  the 
country  betrayed  men  into  forgetfulncss  of 
what  they  owed  to  the  character  of  (General 
Washington,  and  the  dignity  of  the  first  magis- 
trate, that,  at  a  public  dinner  given  by  the 
"Democratic  Society"  at  New- York,  on  the 
Fourth  of  July,  the  President  was  toasted  as 

"  Citizen  George  Washington!" 

without  an  additional  word  indicative  of  re- 
spect for  his  station,  or  gratitude  for  his  ser- 

*  Of  course  we  ar«  entirely  at  "  swords'  points"  with 
our  friend  Mr.  Chilton  in  this  matter.— [Kd.] 


vices.  It  was  even  discovered  that  courtesy 
to  the  fair  sex  was  incompatible  with  sound 
republicanism;  and,  although  good  democrats 
still  married,  the  more  scrupulous  were  care- 
ful that  the  public  journals  should  designate 
the  bride  as  "  Citess,"  instead  of  "  Miss."  Such 
were  the  pains  then  taken  to  engraft  these 
French  extravagances  on  American  manners.* 
But  there  was  no  French  familiarity  (of 
the  revolutionary  sort)  in  the  letters  of  old 
Winthrop  Sargent.  He  entertained  a  pro- 
found respect  for  the  President  and  his  cabi- 
net, and  not  only  was  not  ashamed  to  express 
it  himself,  but  made  it  the  test  of  fidelity  to 
government  in  others.  The  following  letter 
is  an  exemplar  of  his  respect  for  superiors : 


"  Cincinnati,  May  21,  1798. 

"  My  Dear  Sir  :— I  have  just  now  received 
your  favor  of  4th  instant.  The  confidence 
and  good  wishes  of  the  President  of  the 
United  States  (per.'onal  respect  and  admira- 
tion even  out  of  view)  would  be  in  a  high  de- 
gree grateful.  I  can  know  no  greater  happi- 
ness, with  the  sentiments  that  I  possess  for 
Mr.  Adams,  than  is  communicated  by  his 
honorary  distinction  of  confidence ;  and  next 
to  my  desire  of  aspiring  to  an  elevated  station 
in  the  mind  of  the  President,  I  assure  you,  sir, 
is  my  wish  of  being  thought  well  of  by  your- 
self.   ... 

"  I  am  indeed,  my  dear  sir,  extremely  sick, 
and  perhaps  too  much  debilitated  to  engage 
in  those  duties  that  might,  even  in  better 
times,  be  to  me  arduous.  However,  my  dear 
sir,  you  have  expressed  a  wish  that,  if  the 
appointment  is  made,  I  should  accept  it.  This 
also  I  must  suppose  to  be  the  desire  of  the 
President,  and  in  consequence,  I  shall  impli- 
citly be  governed  by  your  instructions ;  if  I 
can  believe  it  amongst  the  probabilities  that 
my  state  of  health  may  possibly  admit  of  my 
discharge  of  those  duties  which  shall  be  as- 
signed to  me.     ... 

"  Before  the  arrival  of  Governor  St.  Clair, 
I  was  making  my  arrangements  for  leaving 
the  territory.  .  .  .  My  situation  was  crit- 
ical, and  I  had  made  up  my  mind  upon  a 
northern  journey — a  voyage  to  the  sea-coast, 
as  most  congenial  to  my  feelings.  I  have 
deposited  the  public  records  witJh  a  Captain 


*  Life  and  Writiiiss  of  John  .I.iy,  vol.  1.  p.  319.  {a.) 
(«,.■)  A  pleamight  be  pul  in  for  tills  democratic  affec- 
tation, if  weremoinbor  llio  passion  for  titles  whicli  had 
benim  to  develop  itself  in  other  quarters,  which  ia 
•'  y//.v  Scrnie  i/(>/t«cs.s"  olc,  etc.,  sought  to  gratify 
the  prevailing  taste  (Sec  some  interesting  pages  on 
this  point  in  llildrcth's  History  of  the  Administration 
of  Washington  ;  also,  Garland's  l.ile  of  John  Ran- 
d(ili)li.)  The  disresjjoct  to  the  President,  involved  in 
tho  title  of  "  Oa'ic?!,"  has,  pcrhapx,  been  equalled 
since.  Witness,  a  few  years  ago,  the  dmner  of  the 
New-York  Merchants,  at  which  "  Her  Majesty  the 
Queen"  was  toiistod  with  loud  applause,  and-'  His 
Kxcellency  the  President,"  (Mr.  Tyler,)  druuk  in 
silence.— [Editor.] 


MISSISSIPPI EARLY    HISTORY. 


37 


Harrison  *  a  young  gentleman  of  Virginia,  of  j 
education,  son  to  a  former  governor  of  tliiit 
name,  long  in  tbe  family  of  Genenil  Wayne  j 
in  a  confidential  character,  and  wlu)  for  seven 
years  has  sustaiuetl  a  fair,  indeed  unblemished 
reputation  as  a  military  officer.  A  few  weeks 
since  he  resigned,  and  from  faitli  in  the  good- 
ness and  propriety  of  his  principles  and  his 
ability,  I  had  placed  in  him  the  confidence 
before  expressed ;  and  I  am  sure,  sir,  that  he 
will  not  betray  any  trust  with  which  govern- 
ment may  honor  him.  Indeed,  I  think  him  a 
very  deserving  young  man. 

"  In  case  of  my  appointment,  will  it  not  be 
proper  I  should  be  furnished  with  a  military 
escort  ?  I  hope  government  may  be  jdeasetl 
to  consider  that  ray  expenses  at  taking  pos- 
tession  of  the  new  country  must  be  considera- 
ble, and  make  some  provision  therefor.  The 
movement,  not  having  been  calculated  by  me, 
has  not  by  me  been  provided  for.  I  leave 
Lome,  and  those  little  conveniences  that  have 
enabled  me  to  live  on  my  former  salary ;  and 
I  believe  no  man  in  the  administration  will 
be  unwilling  to  confess  that  a  considerable 
sum  of  money  must  be  actually  due  to  me  for 
my  services  to  this  country. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  every  senti- 
ment of  respect  and  esteem,  sir,  your  very 
bumble  servant,  Winthrop  Sargent. 

"  The  Hon.  Secretary  of  State." 

In  his  next  letter,  the  governor  acknow- 
ledges receipt  of  his  commission  as  Governor 
of  the  Mississippi  Territory,  and  pledges  him- 
self most  earnestly  to  "  act  with  integrity, 
and  to  the  best  of  his  ability,"  but  urges  his 
bad  health  as  a  plea  in  advance  of  all  omis- 
sions, etc.  He  also  regrets  being  compelled 
to  visit  the  territory  without  the  jiuhjcH,  but 
expresses  his  intention  immediately  to  depart. 
This  letter  is  dated  May  29th,  1798. 

In  a  letter  of  the  same  date,  he  says : 

"  I  do,  indeed,  accept  your  remarks  in  good 
faith,  and  you  cannot  confer  on  me  a  greater 
obligation  than  by  continuing  them.  They 
may  be  honorable  to  myself  and  useful  to  the 
new  government.  Tlie  footing  on  which  Gov- 
ernor Gayoso  lived  with  the  inhabitants  <jf 
the  Natchez.f  it  may  not  be  exactly  in  my 
power  to  observe,  from  the  difference  between 
the  American  and  Spanish  appointments,  and 
■which  must  be  as  well  or  better  known  to 
you  than  to  myself  It  shall  be  my  study  to 
conciliate  and  attach  all  parties  to  the  United 
States. 

"  The  opposition  to  my  appointment,  and 
the  news  which  had  preceded  the  same,  was 


*  Since  that  time,  President  W.  H.  Harrison.  The 
governor  displayed,  in  this  inatancfi,  knowledge  of 
huiniin  Diituro  ;  nil  his  confidimce  haviiii,'  bt^oii  fully 
redoemod  by  hisprolegi^  in  his  subsecinctiit  life. 

+  The  reader  has  already  learned  what  the  gover- 
nor was,  at  the  date  of  this  leUer,  ignorant  of. 


more  than  a  little  mortifying  to  me;  as  it 
was,  however,  only  because  I  have  been  an 
eastern  man,  the  effects  thereof  are  done 
away  with,  and  to  declare  myself  lionestly, 
(which,  perhaps,  I  am  too  prone  to,)  I  should 
liave  felt  myself  infinitely  more  honored  in 
one  single  nomination  to  a  dignified  trust,  than 
disiionoreil  or  mortified  by  half  a  dozen  re- 
jections, notwithstanding  my  high  respect  for 
many  members  of  the  Senate,  and  I  every 
day  thank  God  for  tliis  branch  of  our  govern- 
ment. May  I,  sir,  solicit  you  to  present  my 
acknowledgments  to  the  President?  His  mo- 
ments are  too  precious  for  my  immediate  ad- 
dress ;  and  with  all  the  respect  and  admira- 
tion that  it  is  possible  for  me  to  feel  for  the 
uKJst  diguifietl  character  in  the  Union,  I 
should,  1  believe,  be  always  compelled  to  si- 
lence, because  I  would  not  hazard  intrusion, 
"I  have  the  honor  to  be,  my  dear  sir,  (fee, 
"  Winthrop  Sargent." 

In  a  postscript  to  the  foregoing  letter,  he 
says : 

"You  have  had  enough  to  do  with  them 
to  know  they  are  a  very  troublesome  and  ex- 
pensive people. 

"Are  the  Spaniards  to  be  courted,  (with 
due  respect  to  ourselves,)  or  kept  at  a  dis- 
tance ?  Will  it  not  be  advantageous  that  an 
early  attention  be  given  to  the  land  claims 
upon  the  Mississippi  ?  I  am  told  Gayoso  was 
extremely  liberal  in  grants  ere  his  depart- 
ure.'"* 

In  a  letter  of  June  -Ith,  1798,  the  governor 
wrote  : 

"  It  will  be  my  special  duty  to  conciliate 
the  good-will  of  the  white  and  red  people, 
and  I  will  endeavor  to  perform  it.  The  latter 
are,  in  numbers,  very  frequently  at  Natchez  ; 
and  I  believe,  expect  to  be  fed  by  a  patron- 
izing country,  as  well  as  to  receive  some  small 
presents." 

On  the  16th  June,  the  governor  wrote,  just 
before  starting  to  Natchez,  as  follows  : 

"  I  mention  the  state  of  my  health  to  im- 
press on  you  more  strongly  the  necessity  that 
tlie  officers  of  the  government  should  speedily 
repair  to  the  territory.  The  presence  of  the 
judr/ea  cannot  be  dispensed  with. 

"  From  the  best  intelligence  I  have  been 
able  to  procure,  there  prevails  in  the  countiy 
of  our  destination  a  refractory  and  turbulent 
spirit,  with  parties  headetl  by  men  of  per- 
verseness  and  cunning.  Tiiey  have  run  wild 
in  the  recess  of  government,  and  every  mo- 
ment's delay  in  adoption  of  rules  and  regula- 
tions, after  the  ordinance,  etc.,  shall  be  promul- 
gated amongst  them,  must  be  productive  of 
growing  evils  and  discontent. 

"  I  am  anxious  to  know  who  is  the  first 
judge,  and  that  he  should  be  on  his  way  to 

*  None  of  these  grants  were  valid,  except,  wbes 
1  allowed  by  United  States  Commissioners. 


G0597 


38 


MISSISSIPPI EARLY    HISTORY. 


this  country.  I  ti-ust  he  -will  be  a  law  charac- 1  We  left  Governor  Sargent  in  great  triba- 
ter  of  strictest  integrity,  of  converse  with  all  [  lation,  owing  to  the  inadequacy  of  the  means 
the  states  national,  and  a  man  unconnected  j  afforded  him  by  the  general  government,  of 
with  land  speculations,  and  that  shall  make  the  ,  efficiently  administering  the  territorial  gov- 
duties  of  his  office  the  primary  consideration,  ernment  of  Mississippi.  At  that  time  the  re- 
"The  Supreme  Court,  from  whose  judg-  moteness  of  the  territory  from  the  seat  of  gov- 
ment  there  can  be  no  appeal,  should  no  more   ernment  rendered  all  communication  between 


lack  legal  information  than  integrity 

"  I  most  earnestly  pray  that  a  regular  com- 
munication b)'  post  may  be  established  be- 
tween the  general  government  and  Natchez." 
On  the  2d  July,  1798,  the  governor  was  at 
the  rapids  of  the  Ohio,  (now  Louisville,)  on 
his  way  to  Natchez ;  and  on  the  20th  August, 
wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United 
States,  announcing  his  arrival,  and  inclosing 


the  two  very  difficult  and  infrequent.  In  his 
letters  of  September,  1798.  the  governor  ipa- 
plored  that  Congress  would  establish  facilities 
of  intercourse  between  himself  and  the  gene- 
ral government ;  and,  in  the  followmg  Octo- 
ber, reiterates  his  complaints  of  the  length  of 
time  since  he  heard  from  the  Secretary  of 
State;  also,  of  his  enormous  expenses — to 
provide  for  which,  he  recommends  the  estab- 


a  copy  of  his  address  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  j  lishment  of  a  revenue  office  at  Natchez,  where 
territory.  In  this  letter,  as  in  many  succes-  "  foreign  rum,  sugar,  and  coffee  were  con- 
sive  ones,  he  still  earnestly  prays  for  the  ap-  sumed  in  large  quantities."  He  also  recom- 
pointment  of  judges,  the  want  of  whom  he  mended  the  appointment  of  an  inspector  of 
declares  to  be  a  source  of  great  uneasiness,  cotton,  or  a  delegation  of  authority  to  himself, 
He  says :  as  "  it  might  be  made  of  some  emolument  to 

"  I  pray  God  Mr.  McGuire  may  soon  arrive,  him,  and  would  keep  him  in  his  disbursements, 
or  some  /aw  character.    In  a  court  from  which   to  which  his  pay  was  inadquate."*     He  also 


there  is  no  appeal,  most  certainly  there  should 
be  law  knowledge.  Judge  Bruin,  a  worthy 
and  sensible  man,  is,  beyond  doubt,  deficient, 
and  Judge  Tilton  cannot  have  had  more  read- 
ing and  experience.  Under  these  circum- 
stances, might  it  not  be  advisable  to  make 
some  compensation  to  some  gentleman  learned 
in  the  law,  as  an  attorney  for  the  United 
States  and  territory  ? 

"  To  one  act  I  have  been  constrained  since 
my  arrival  here.  .  .  .  Mr.  Cox  was  at 
large  within  the  territory,  and  an  armed 
party  at  his  command.  Before  my  arrival 
his  coming  was  talked  of  among  some  few 
disaffected  persons  here ;  and  that  he  was  to 
assume  the  government  of  the  state  of  Geor- 
gia. He  is  now  in  close  confinement,  but 
with  every  indulgence  that  a  state  prisoner 
could  expect,  for  I  am  not  disposed  to  tor- 
ture even  a  criminal. 

"  We  have  no  printing  office  in  this  country. 
We  are  remote  from  all  others;  and  under 
such  circumstances  I  shall  find  it  impractica- 
ble to  diffuse  a  knowledge  of  the  laws  and 
other  useful  matter  without  the  aid  of  govern- 
ment. A  small  travelling  press,  sufficient  for 
half  a  sheet  of  ])ost  paper,  which  would  give 
four  pages,  would  be  a  blessing  to  the  peo- 
ple of  the  territory,  and  I  would  myself  con- 
trive to  manage  it,  if  we  may  through  your 
goodness  be  indulged. 

"At  this  place  the  Choctaw  Indians  fre- 
quently visit,  and  are  sometimes  troublesome 
to  the  inhabitants,  by  killing  tlieir  cattle,  etc. 
It  might  be  well  to  keep  them  in  good  humor 
by  a  little  bread,  beef  and  liquor,  and  some 
trifling  presents,  Ac.  ...  I  cannot  make 
advances  myself,  as  my  own  expenses  will  be 
gj-eater  than  1  had  an  idea  of :  living  is  higher 
than  I  had  expected,  and  even  house-rent,  I 
find,  is  estimated  at  ^300  a  year." 


prayed  for  the  appointment  of  judges,  saying 
that  Judge  Bruin  was  indefatigable  and 
meritorious;  "but,  for  want  of  another  judge, 
we  are  wretched.  The  people,  smarting  from 
our  delinquency,  will  become  restless,  and  I 
tremble  for  the  consequences.  Reputation  is 
at  stake,  and  eveiy  moment  hazard  increases." 
He  also  entreated  the  Secretary  of  State  to 
transmit  to  him  the  laws  of  the  different 
states,  a  seal,  and  stationery. 

Against  all  these  inconveniences,  the  gov- 
ernor could  oppose  only  his  own  indomitable 
will,  aided  by  his  past  experience  in  the 
North-west.  He  determined  to  be  goveraor, 
not  only  in  name,  but  in  fact.  He  would  not, 
like 

"  Albany,  witli  feeble  hand. 
Sway  borrowed  truucheon  of  command." 

He  had  been  an  officer  in  the  army,  under 
circumstances  when  the  force  of  arms  sup- 
plied the  place  of  law.  Placed  now  in  a 
similar  situation — suddenly  transferred  to  a 
country,  the  inhabitants  of  which  were,  in  his 
own  language,  "  composed  of  various  charac- 
ters, and  among  them  the  most  abandoned  of 
villains" — he  resolved  to  wrest  the  law  to  his 
authority,  and  exercise  every  power,  however 
despotic,  which  the  public  safety  might  re- 
quire. In  one  of  his  letters,  deploring  the 
want  of  judges,  he  says :  "  In  consequence 
thereof,  I  am  sometimes  constrained  to  mea- 
surcs,  that  hnperiou.i  necessity  onlii  can  jus- 
lifij.  They  will,  no  doubt,  be  noticed  by  the 
malcontents,  of  whom  there  are  not  a  few ; 


*  At  a  still  later  period  the  governor  wrote :  "If 
some  compens.ation  is  not  made  mefor  past  services, 
my  pockets  will  soon  be  empty  of  every  thiDf;  but 
honor;  and  honor,  you,  us  well  as  Falstaff,  do  ao 
Unowlidgc,  will  oo  more  discharge  the  expenses  of 
this  government  than  set  a  broken  leg." 


MISSISSIPPI EARLY   HISTORY. 


39 


and  amongst  them  some  most  unprincipled 
scoundreltJ,  who  manage  with  great  art  and 
address."     .   .    . 

"  Soured  by  the  seeming  inattention  of  the 
government,  -which,  no  doubt,  is  insidiously 
blazoned  by  Spanish  emissaries  -we  are  losing 
the  inliabitants,  while  discontent  is  every  mo- 
ment increasing  among  those  who  remain. 

"  It  is  not  strange  it  should  be  so  ;  for,  des- 
titute of  municipal  law  or  efficient  magis- 
trates, our  state  is  truly  deplorable,  and,  un- 
til the  arrival  of  the  judges,  it  cannot  be 
otherwise.  Diffused  over  our  country  are 
aliens  of  various  characters,  and  among  them 
the  most  abandoned  villains,  who  have  escaped 
from  the  chains  and  prisons  of  Spain,  and 
been  convicted  of  the  blackest  crimes.  It 
would  be  wise  policy  to  provide  for  extirpat- 
ing such  from  our  territory.  "VVe  have  no 
prisons,  aud  the  vilest  offenders  calculate, 
therefore,  with  some  certainty,  upon  impunity. 
I  have  done  every  thing  in  my  power,  7nore, 
perhaps  ;  but,  I  trust,  nece.isiti/ v^iW  plead  my 
justification.  All,  however,  is  inadequate, 
and  very  just  cause  of  complaint  will  remain 
till  some  complete  system  for  our  good  regu- 
lation be  adopted,  which  I  most  fervently 
supplicate,  for  the  sake  of  the  people,  for  the 
fair  reputation  and  dignity  of  the  United 
States,  and  for  my  own  honor  and  peace."* 

The  foregoing  sketch  of  the  condition  of  the 
ten'itory  will  incline  the  reader's  mind  to 
view  with  less  censure  the  acts  by  which  the 
governor  endeavored  to  correct  the  evils  by 
which  he  was  surrounded,  however  despotic, 
at  the  present  day,  they  would  appear  to  be. 

His  first  measure  was  the  posting  of  all  the 
soldiers  at  Loftus's  Heights,  "  to  save  the  men 
from  debauchery,  and  for  other  reasons  of 
national  importance."  This  he  recommended 
to  General  Wilkinson,  who  had  recently  ar- 
rived. 

His  next  care  was  to  provide  a  court-house 
and  jail.  In  this  scheme  he  proved  unsuccess- 
ful. In  a  letter  of  September,  1*708,  he 
wrote :  "  At  Natchez  is  a  Roman  Catholic 
church,  which  would  make  a  convenient 
court-house ;  but  having  been  consecrated,  it 
would  violate  the  feelings  of  about  a  dozen 
families  of  the  lioly  Catholic  religion,  and  be 
disagreeable  to  our  neighbors,  as  it  was  built 
by  the  King  of  Spain." 

"  There  is  an  appendage  to  the  church,  built 
by  the  King  of  Spain,  which  has  been  occupied 
by  Captain  Guion.  The  troops  will  leave,  but 
reluctantly.  I  wish  to  appropriate  this  build- 
ing to  the  purpose  of  a  courthouse." 


*  In  a  letter  of  the  same  date,  the  (,'overnor  thus 
describes  Natchez  :  "  Natchez,  from  the  perverse- 
ncss  of  siirae  of  the  people,  the  eliriety  of  Iho 
Indians  aivl  negroes  on  Sundays,  hasbfcome  a  most 
abominable  place.  I  must  myself,  in  the  absence  of 
thejud^i-s,  aim  at  some  police,  but  it  will  be  inef- 
fectual without  the  aid  of  the  garrisou.  Can  you  be 
good  enough  to  command  it  ?" 


About  this  time  the  governor  wrote  to 
General  Matthews,  who  "  had  come  forward 
in  behalf  of  a  New-England  company  of  land 
speculators,"  that  all  rights,  derived  from 
Georgia,  to  public  lands,  must  be  suspended 
till  provided  for  by  Congress;  and  in  October, 
1798,  he  issued  a  proclamation,  forbidding  all 
persons  from  surveying  lands,  marking  trees, 
(tc ,  on  penalty  of  fine  aud  imprisonment. 

He  recommended  to  government  the  issu- 
ing of  orders,  prohibiting  aliens  from  travel- 
ling through  the  territory  without  passports. 
Subsequently,  the  gfivernor  issued  a  pro- 
clamation, directing  "  all  persons,  not  actually 
citizens,  inhabiting  the  territory,  or  some  one 
of  the  United  States,  to  report  themselves 
within  two  hours  after  their  arrival  at  any 
of  the  settled  posts  of  the  territory,  to  a  con- 
servator of  the  peace,  under  the  penalty  of 
imprisonment ;  and  also  prohibiting  any  per- 
son from  entertaining  or  comforting  any  per- 
son neglecting  to  comply  with  this  regulation." 
The  same  proclamation  continued  the  power 
of  justices  to  administer  the  oath  of  allegiance, 
&c.,  till  the  30th  November  following.  This 
was  dated  October  18th,  1798. 

By  a  proclamation  of  the  same  date,  he 
prohibited  "  giving  or  vending  to  Indians, 
within  three  miles  of  Natchez,  any  whiskey, 
rum,  brandy,  or  other  ardent  spirits,  till  the 
1st  November  following."  It  will  presently 
appear  that  the  latter  proclamation  was  dic- 
tated by  the  apprehended  approach  of  about 
two  thousand  Indians. 

About  this  time,  also,  the  governor  ordered 
the  arrest  of  John  Callihan  and  "William  West, 
on  suspicion  of  being  associated  with  Zacha- 
riah  Cox,  who,  (as  appears  in  a  former  portion 
of  this  history,)  had  been  imprisoned  and  had 
escaped ;  and  in  a  letter  to  General  Wilkin- 
son, of  November,  1798,  he  says,  that  he  had 

ordered  one White  to  be  arrested   for 

"  impudent  observations."  In  a  preceding 
letter  to  General  W.,  he  discussed  the  mode 
of  recapturing  Z.  Cox,  whom  Governor  Ga- 
yoso  had  refused  to  deliver  up,  and  adds : 
"  Could  we  rely  on  any  of  the  soldiers  in  the 
fort,  the  affair  would  wear  a  good  fi\ce,  and 
promise  us  success."  In  November  following, 
he  offered  a  reward  of  8300  for  the  apprehen- 
sion of  Cox,  and  also  wrote  to  Mr.  Welch,  of 
the  Indian  Agency,  informing  him  that  Cox  is 
to  pass  through  the  Indian  nation,  on  his  way 
to  Tombigbee,  and  requesting  his  aid  in  arrest- 
ing him.  He  also  wrote  a  similar  letter  to. 
Mitchell,  the  Indian  Agent.  Numerous^were 
the  schemes  laid  by  the  governor,  during  his 
administration,  to  recapture  Cox,  until  the 
death  of  the  olTender,  some  time  afterwards, 
deprived  him  of  all  chance  of  vindicating  his 
own  insulted  dignity  and  the  majesty  of  the 
law. 

The  greatest  stretch  of  authority,  which  the 
governor  was  compelled  to  exercise,  was  the 
grant  of  power  to  William  Duubar,  to  grant 


40 


MISSISSIPPI EARLY   HISTORY. 


letters  of  administration  of  the  estates  of  de-l 
cedents,  takinij  bond,  with  security,  Ac. ;  thus, 
by  a  single  letter  patent,  creating  an  office, 
prescribing  the  laws  for  its  administration, 
and  appointing  an  otficer  to  fill  it.  Royalty 
could  have  done  no  more ! 

About  this  time  the  governor  entertained 
much  appreliension  of  danger  from  a  com- 
bination of  the  Indians  and  the  aliens,  whom 
ho  liad  previously  denounced.  In  October, 
1798,  he  wrote:  "  We  siuiU  not  enroll  in  the 
militia  more  than  eight  hundred  men.  I 
almost  despair  of  reconciling  them  to  each 
otlier,  or  concentrating  all  their  good-will  to 
our  government.  Our  frontier  is  exposed  to 
invasion  through  the  Spanish  dominions,  and 
also  by  the  Indians,  and  sound  policy  should 
obtain  for  us  some  special  indulgence." 

In  a  letter  to  General  W.,  same  date,  he 
says :  "  So  soon  as  the  enrolment  (to  which  I 
expect  much  insidious  opposition  from  base 
and  designing  men)  shall  have  been  effected, 
I  propose  to  have,  on  paper  at  least,  a  select 
corps,  equal  to  one  half  of  the  efficient  force 
of  the  district,  well  armed  and  accoutred  and 
officered,  to  act  on  the  shortest  notice ;  with 
these  I  propose  to  take  the  field,  and  co- 
operate witli  your  excellency." 

These  preparations  may  have  had  an  eye 
to  the  apprehended  war  which  the  gov- 
ernor was  expecting  to  occur  between  the 
United  States  and  France,  and  were,  prob- 
ably, accelerated  by  a  rumor,  which  had  just 
reached  him,  of  the  approach  of  about  two 
thousand  Indians  towards  Natchez,  with  the 
avowed  object  of  demanding  from  him  pro- 
visions and  ammunition,  sufficient  to  enable 
them  to  carry  on  a  war  against  the  Cadeaus, 
an  Indian  tribe  inhabiting  Louisiana.  This  de- 
mand, being  contrary  to  the  treaty  between  the 
United  States  and  Spain,  he  prepared  to  re- 
sist, and  prevent  the  invasion  of  the  Cadeans. 
In  a  few  days  a  part  of  the  Indians  arrived — 
consisting  only  of  two  hundred  warriors — 
and  assembled  at  Concord,  opposite  to  Nat- 
chez. They  stated  that  they  had  received 
every  species  of  injury  and  insult  from  the 
Cadeans,  had  patiently  endured  all  for  a  long 
time,  in  the  hope,  founded  on  the  assurance 
of  Governor  Gayoso,  that  they  should  obtain 
Batisfaetion  witliout  resorting  to  war  ;  that, 
disappointed  in  this,  they  had  embodied  them 
selves,  to  the  number  of  two  thousand  war- 
riors, and  proposed  to  cross  the  Mississippi 
and  attack  the  Cadeans ;  that  they  were 
•■without  arms  and  ammunition,  or  provisions, 
and  felied  on  the  bounty  of  their  father,  the 
United  States,  to  supply  them. 

The  address  of  the  governor,  in  reply,  had 
the  desired  effect,  and  the  red  wave  which 
threatened  for  a  wliile  to  overwhelm  his  pre- 
carious bark  of  authority,  receded  quietly  lie- 
neath  the  influence  of  his  Canute-like,  but 
more  potent  ekiquence.  The  Indians  retired 
to  their  wigwams,  and  so  far  from  ever  after- 


wards exhibiting  any  unfriendly  disposition 
to  the  Americans,  became  their  devoted 
friends  and  useful  allies  at  a  future  period, 
when  their  co-operation  was  of  vital  impor- 
tance to  the  interests  of  those  states  and  ter- 
ritories bordering  on  the  Spanish  domin- 
ions. This  happy  result  was  mainly  at- 
tributable to  Governor  Sargent's  mild  and 
conciliatory  conduct  towards  them  during  the 
whole  course  of  his  administration. 

The  governor's  military  measures  having 
been  thus  consummated,  he  turned  his  thoughts 
to  the  improvement  of  the  territory  by  the 
arts  of  peace.  In  a  letter  of  October  17  th,  to 
the  Secretary  of  State,  he  had  shown  his  so- 
licitude on  this  subject,  in  which  he  hoped 
"  that  the  United  States  would  not  forget  the 
interest  of  a  whole  government,  which,  feeble, 
and  on  the  confines  of  the  United  States, 
wiih  jarring  interests  among  the  people,  re- 
quired a  parent's  fostering  care."  In  the 
same  letter,  he  prays  "  for  the  adjustment  of 
land  claims,  provision  for  seminaries  of  learn- 
ing and  for  religious  purposes,  together  with 
encouragement  in  judiciously  settling  the 
country."  Again,  in  December  following,  he 
wrote :  "  The  population  is  small,  very  inferior 
to  the  adjacent  establishment  in  Louisiana,  and 
this  consideration,  in  our  distant  and  defense- 
less state,  upon  any  occasion  of  disgust  with 
the  general  government,  might  incline  them 
to  seek  a  reunion  with  the  old  province. 
Equitable  decision  on  their  land  claims  would 
produce  a  preference  of  the  United  States; 
but  remaining  a  mere  handful  of  men,  their 
apprehension  from  red  as  well  as  white 
neighbors  might,  nevertheless,  induce  a  con- 
duct nationally  injurious.  To  correct  this,  I 
would  recommend  the  establisment  of  a  land 
office,  and  encourage  settlement  to  a  consid- 
erable extent;  for  with  our  present  number, 
we  are  in  continual  anxiety  from  the  Choctaw 
Indians." 

Deferring  an  account  of  the  further  mea- 
sures of  the  governor  for  our  next  number, 
we  will  close  this  by  an  extract  of  a  letter 
which  grew  out  of  his  foreign  relations.  In 
December,  1798,  a  correspondence  occurred 
between  the  governor  and  M.  Tilhiene,  com- 
manilant  of  Fort  Moro ;  and  in  reply  to  a 
requisition  of  the  latter,  for  the  extradition  oi 
a  fugitive  from  the  Spanish  dominions,  the 
governor  wrote  as  follows: 

"  Perfectly  dis|)osed  to  aid  the  operation  of 
justice,  in  benefit  even  to  nations  uncon- 
nected by  amity  with  the  United  States,  and 
fxM'suaded  that  it  is  their  intention  to  consider 
Spain  in  a  very  favorable  point  of  view,  I  am 
anxious  promptly  to  deliver  over  to  j'our  justice 
the  fugitives  therefrom,  and  could  not,  for  a 
moment,  hesitate  to  surrender  any  atrocious 
malefactor,  escaping  from  your  government, 
and  found  within  this  territory,  had  not  an 
asylum  been  granted  to  a  most  abandoned 
ofiender  against  the  United  States, -within  the 


MISSISSIPPI — GENERAL   CHARACTER   AND   PROSPECTS  OF. 


41 


province  of  Louisiana;  his  excellency,  the 
governor-general,  believing  the  treaty  made 
no  provision  to  authorize  his  giving  him  up 
at  my  request.  Having,  however,  no  reason 
to  alter  my  opinion  then  expressed,  (save  the 
example  of  his  excellency,)  I  will  demon- 
strate ray  love  of  justice  by  arresting  Palmer, 
if  to  be  found  within  my  jurisdiction." 

MTSSISSIPn.— A  Sketch  of  the  Gene- 
ral Char.\cter,  as  to  Soil,  Climate,  Puo- 
DUc'Tioxs,  ttc,  Emiguatiox,  Prospects,  tic. 
OF  Mississipri. — To  a  Journal  devoted  to  the 
interests  of  the  Valley  of  the  West,  matter 
touching  any  portion  of  it,  I  trust,  will  be 
acceptable.  To  an  observer  of  the  present 
day,  indeed,  it  is  somewhat  strange  that  this 
section  of  country  did  not  earlier  attract  the 
examination  of  the  enterprising  to  the  many 
points  of  interest  to  be  found  in  its  bosom,  as 
well  as  the  research  of  literar}'  labor  in  re- 
gard to  its  earlier  history.  Surely  it  is  a 
theme,  in  all  its  bearings,  worthy  of  the  atten- 
tion of  our  ablest  and  wisest.  The  philoso- 
phic Frenchman,  De  Tocqueville,  writing  of 
our  country,  says :  "  The  Valley  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi is,  upon  the  whole,  the  most  magnifi- 
cent dwelling-place  prepared  b}'  God  for  man's 
abode."  And,  in  speaking  of  the  Atlantic 
states,  he  says  again  that  "  the  centre  of 
power  still  remains  there,  whilst,  in  the  back- 
ward states,  the  true  elements  of  the  great 
people,  to  whom  the  future  control  of  the 
continent  belongs,  are  secretly  springing  up." 
Scarce  fifteen  years  have  elapsed  since  the 
above  was  penned  by  a  sagacious  foreignei-, 
yet  they  have  served  far  more  than  to  fulfil 
his  remarkable  prediction.  And  here  I  might 
say  much  on  this  which  would  be  alien  to  the 
purposes  of  this  brief  article.  As  to  the 
truth  of  it,  it  sufficeth  that  there  is  no  more 
pertinent  evidence  needed  for  the  moment 
than  the  establishment  and  success  of  the 
Commercial  Review  of  the  South  and  Went, 
located  at  the  great  seat  of  their  trade  and 
power,  and  devoted  to  the  complex  and 
mighty  interests  growing  up  in  their  midst. 
May  it  continue  to  prosper,  and  remain  worthy 
of  the  important  duties  it  has  assumed ! 

Among  the  fair  sisterhood  of  states  so 
beautifully  traced  out  on  the  bosom  of  the 
great  Valley  of  the  West,  there  is  none  more 
interesting  than  the  state  of  Mississippi,  bear- 
ing, as  it  does,  the  name  of  their  common 
boast,  the  Father  of  the  American  waters. 
Though  among  the  first  of  the  Western  States 
admitted  into  the  Union,  Mississippi  seems 
only  for  a  brief  period  to  have  attracted  much 
of  the  general  attention.  During  the  preva- 
lence of  the  great  land  speculations,  which 
are  a  part  of  the  history  of  the  West,  its 
southern  portion  came  fully  into  market,  and, 
some  years  later,  similar  scenes  were  re- 
enacted  at  the  sale  of  that  fine  tract  of  coun- 
try in  the  northern  part  of  the  state  known  as 


the  "Chickasaw  Cession."  After  the  disposi- 
tion of  the  greater  part  of  the  public  domain 
at  these  sales,  interest  seems  to  have  sub- 
sided as  to  the  state,  and  to  have  turned 
aside  in  the  pursuit  after  the  rich  loam  of 
Louisiana,  the  new  regions  of  Arkansas,  and 
the  varied  expanse  of  the  young  republic  of 
Texas.  Among  the  many  causes  which  might 
be  assigned  for  the  comparative  neglect  into 
which  the  state  seems  then  to  have  fallen,  I 
will  mention  only  one.  It  is  a  conceded 
point,  I  believe,  that  our  western  land  sales 
were  at  the  same  time  the  cause  as  well  as 
the  nucleus  of  much  reckless  speculation  in 
which  bona  fide  settlers  could  not  participate, 
and  which  was  managed  and  governed  by 
gambling  traders  from  all  quarters  of  the 
United  States.  The  state  banks  of  the  time, 
managed  as  they  then  were,  furnished  the 
food  in  this  headlong  race  after  fortune. 
Without  a  further  waste  of  words,  we  have 
here  the  cause  and  the  course  of  some  of  the 
most  remarkable  events  in  the  private  finan- 
cial history  of  our  people  in  the  West.  No 
land  sales  presented  a  higher  degree  of  ex- 
citement, or  more  gigantic  schemes  of  specu- 
lation, than  in  Mississippi ;  no  state  plunged 
with  a  bolder  leap  into  the  corrupt  banking 
system  of  the  times,  and  no  where  did  more 
disastrous  consequences  follow  in  the  train  of 
either.  The  monopoly  of  large  bodies  of  the 
public  lands  in  the  hands  of  a  few,  to  the  ex- 
clusion of  the  great  mass  of  the  people,  and 
the  profits  of  gambling,  instead  of  the  regular 
returns  of  honest  industry,  were  the  legitimate 
results  of  the  one  and  the  other.  In  the  crash 
of  1836,  "7,  '8,  and  '9,  an  almost  universal 
bankruptcy  ensued  amongst  us,  and  some  of 
the  finest  portions  of  Mississippi  became  par- 
tially depopulated.  Then,  in  the  breaking  up 
of  our  miserable  banking  system,  many  un- 
happy consequences  followed,  the  baleful 
effects  of  which  have  pursued  the  state,  kept 
down  its  natural  growth  and  prosperity,  and 
are  yet  seen  and  daily  felt  in  our  courts  of 
justice  and  our  halls  of  legislation.  The 
effects  of  these  causes  (proceeding  from 
whence  they  may,  for  I  will  not  undertake 
to  say  here)  are  very  obvious.  They  have 
greatly  impeded  our  increase  in  population  ; 
turned  away  from  us  the  goodly  tide  of  east- 
ern emigration,  and  thus  crippled  the  revenue, 
resources,  and  power  of  the  state.  In  specu- 
lative schemes,  the  agricultural  interests  have 
been  grievously  neglected,  and,  in  its  infancy, 
our  rich  virgin  soil  has  been  squandered  and 
exhausted.  I  will  not  dwell  upon  the  abasing 
effects  of  this  race  after  gold  on  the  mtellect- 
ual  growth  and  character.  It  is  to  be  seen 
amongst  us ;  and  there  are  many,  rarely  and 
nobly  gifted,  who  look  with  vain  regret  on 
labors  expended  in  the  race  for  speculation 
and  money,  which  if  properly  directed  would 
have  made  them  useful  to  their  country,  an 
ornament  of  general  society,  an  honor  to  their 


42 


MISSISSIPPI — GENERAL   CHARACTER   AXD   PROSPECTS   OF. 


state,  and  enabled  them  to  bave  left  to  tbeir 
children  a  lofty  heritage  of  fame.  Lastly, 
from  peculiar  causes,  the  confidence  of  our 
sister  states  in  our  general  policy  and  system 
of  laws  was  entirely  destroyed.  But  a  great 
change  has  taken  place.  The  old  regime  of 
Mississippi  has  passed  away,  and  better  times, 
I  hope,  are  ahead  of  us.  Our  lands  are  now 
in  the  hands  of  earnest  cultivators.  The 
banking  system  is  no  more,  and  but  one 
diminutive  member  of  the  tribe  is  left  to  re- 
mind us  of  the  days  of  the  "olden  time." 
The  laws  and  legislation  of  the  state  have 
become  permanent  and  settled.  We  have  at 
last  gone  through  the  fiery  ordeal,  credit  and 
confidence  have  been  restored,  and  the  present 
population  of  Mississippi  is  almost  unindebted. 
Our  state  is  once  more  attracting  the  share  of 
public  attention  to  which  her  many  natural 
advantages  so  richly  entitle  her.  To  these  it 
is  my  present  intention  briefly  to  call  the 
notice  of  your  readers. 

The  state  is  comparatively  small.  It  yet 
presents  a  great  variety  of  soil,  and  is  divided 
into  many  different  districts.  The  upper 
portion  of  the  state  is  generally  known  as 
North  Mississippi,  though  the  region  thus 
designated  includes  a  portion  only  of  the 
north.  This  section  of  the  state  came  into 
market  and  cultivation  some  twelve  or  fifteen 
years  ago.  The  suiface  of  the  ground  is 
rather  rolling,  but  generally  it  is  very  clean ; 
has  an  open,  champaign  appearance,  and  is 
beautifully  wooded  with  oak,  hickory,  Ac, 
devoid  of  undergrowth.  The  uplands  pro- 
duce very  abundantly  for  a  year  or  two,  when 
they  are  apt  to  be  ruined  by  heavy  rains,  the 
substratum  of  the  country  being  sandy.  The 
valley  lands,  as  they  are  termed,  are  much 
Wore  durable,  the  soil  being  heavier  and 
darker,  and  are  highly  productive ;  but  they 
are  liable  to  be,  and  are  frequently,  sub- 
merged, acres  at  a  time,  under  billows  of  sand 
washed  from  the  uplands  during  the  heavy 
freshets.  Cotton  has  hitherto  been  the  chief 
product ;  but  as  the  soil  is  becoming  ex- 
hausted, and  the  country  colder  from  being 
more  open,  its  cultivation  will  probably  be  in 
some  degree  abandoned,  and  attention  given 
to  lighter  crops.  It  is  considered  a  healthy 
country.  The  water,  what  there  is  of  it,  is 
very  good ;  yet  it  cannot  be  said  to  be  well 
watered.  There  is  a  small  creek,  called  Cold 
Water,  in  its  borders,  and  the  Tallaliatchee 
river  makes  from  it.  But  for  the  scarcity  of 
water,  I  presume  it  would  be  a  good  stock 
country,  and  also  proper  for  the  raising  of 
small  grains.  The  cliief  outlet  of  this  region 
is  by  wagons  to  Memphis,  Tennessee,  which 
town  it  may  be  said  almost  to  have  built. 
Before  the  Chickasaw  Cession  came  into  cul- 
tivation it  was  a  muddy  village,  and  since,  in 
a  few  years,  through  its  wagon,  grocery,  and 
cotton  trade,  it  has  sprung  into  the  fair  and 
stately  city  which  now  salutes  the  eye  of  the 


traveller  from  the  brow  of  the  ancient  Chicka- 
saw Bluff. 

The  settling  of  this  region  is  one  among  the 
many  remarkable  events  in  the  history  of  the 
rise  of  the  Western  States.  Fifteen  years 
ago  it  was  an  Indian  wilderness,  and  now  it 
has  reached  and  passed  in  its  population 
other  portions  of  the  state  of  ten  times  its 
age ;  and  this  population,  too,  one  of  the 
finest  in  all  the  West.  Great  attention  has 
been  given  to  schools  and  education,  and  here 
has  been  located  the  "  University  of  Mis- 
sissippi," so  amply  endowed  by  the  state,  and 
now  just  going  into  operation  under  the  aus- 
pices of  some  of  the  most  able  professors 
from  the  eastern  colleges.  There  is  no  over- 
grown wealth  among  them,  and  yet  no  squalid 
poverty;  the  people  being  generally  comfort- 
able, substantial,  and  independent  farmers. 
Considering  its  climate,  soil,  health,  and  gene- 
ral character  of  its  inhabitants,  I  should  think 
no  more  desirable  or  delightful  residence  could 
be  found  than  among  the  hills  and  sunny 
valleys  of  the  Chickasaw  Cession. 

Another  section  of  North  Mississippi  is 
called  the  "Prairie"  or  " Tombigbee "  coun- 
try, commencing  in  the  extreme  county  of 
Itawamba,  covering  the  north-east  part  of 
the  state,  and  sweeping  far  down  on  the  Ala- 
bama line.  The  country  is  uniformly  level ; 
presents  an  almost  unbroken  flat  with  scarcely 
a  tree,  covered  by  rank  grass,  dotted  some- 
times with  pools  and  marshes,  and  intersected 
by  dull,  sluggish  branches.  The  soil  is  a  dark, 
heavy  loam,  coal  black,  and  of  surprising 
strength  and  fertility.  The  dirt  is  diflerent 
from  that  of  lower  Louisiana  in  this,  that  it  is 
more  of  an  original  and  less  of  a  depositary 
character;  and  also  in  being  thick  and  highly 
adhesive,  instead  of  light  and  asJiy,  as  the 
former.  It  is  also  corrosive,  and  deeply  im- 
pregnated with  lime.  The  soil  is  a  strong 
one,  and  certainly  inexhaustible.  The  crop  is, 
and  ever  will  be,  cotton,  of  which  the  yield  is 
abundant  when  the  rank  grass  of  the  prairie 
is  overcome  by  cultivation,  and  the  cotton  is 
not  ruined  by  the  diseases  incident  to  the 
strong  nature  of  the  soil.  The  black  mud 
becomes  excessively  disagreeable  in  wet  wea- 
ther, and  the  rains  are  very  heavy,  and  render 
transportation  through  the  country,  as  well  as 
its  cultivation,  very  laborious.  The  yield  of 
corn  is  luxuriant  and  abundant 

This  region,  though  lying  by  the  Chickasaw 
counties,  finds  its  market  at  Mobile,  by  means 
of  the  Tombigbee  river  principally  ;  a  fine 
stream,  and  navigable  for  good  boats  seven 
months  of  the  year.  The  head  of  its  naviga- 
tion is  Aberdeen,  a  thriving  town  in  ]\lonroe 
county,  sprung  up  in  a  few  years,  and  already 
a  place  of  very  heavy  trade  ;  the  third  ship- 
ping point  in  the  state,  having  cleared  near 
forty  thousand  bags  of  cotton  the  past  season. 
The  border  counties  down  the  Alabama  line 
change  from  the  prairie  and  partake  more  of 


MISSISSIPPI — GENERAL   CHARACTER   AND   PROSrECTS    OF. 


43 


the  character  of  the  Chickasaw  Cession.  It  is 
a  beautiful  and  healthy  range  of  counties, 
fiuely  watered,  and  for  several  years  fast  in- 
creasing in  jwpulation  and  growing  in  wealth. 
Cotton  grows  well,  and  the  lighter  grains 
abundantly,  which  is  wagoned  to  Gainsville, 
or  some  shipping  point  in  Alabama  on  the 
Tombigbee  rivor,  and  theuce  to  Mobile. 

A  large  district  of  the  state  is  known  as 
East  Mississippi,  which  really  includes  the 
south-east  and  part  of  the  southern  portion. 
Though  one  of  the  oldest,  it  is  one  of  the  most 
thinly  settled  portions  of  the  state.  The 
people  of  East  Mississippi  boast,  and  with 
reason,  of  their  good  health,  pure  bracing  air, 
and  delightful  water.  The  character  of  the 
land  is  mixed — some  poor  and  some  very 
rich — broken  hills  and  fertile  valleys.  Cotton 
is  produced,  though  to  no  great  extent ;  corn 
and  small  grain  abundantly ;  sometimes  rice 
in  small  quantities.  Fruits  are  plenty.  This 
region  is  somewhat  famous  for  cattle,  in  which 
a  chief  part  of  the  possessions  of  many  of  its 
citizens  consists ;  hence  has  often  been  applied 
to  them  the  familiar  sobriquet  of  the  "cow 
counties."  The  country  is  indeed  highly  pas- 
toral, and  possesses  many  of  its  pleasant 
characteristics.  Without  the  soil  or  the  mar- 
ket for  the  sole  cultivation  of  the  heavier 
southern  staples,  it  rejoices  in  other  advan- 
tages contributing  perhaps  more  nearly  to  the 
general  happiness  of  its  people.  Scattered 
thick  here  aiul  there  are  to  be  found  lands  of 
the  most  fertile  and  generous  cast ;  and  there 
cannot  be  met  with  a  more  independent  or 
hospitable  community  than  among  the  East 
Mississippians.  Among  their  fertile  valleys 
and  on  their  green  hills  is  to  be  found  "  many 
a  cozy  nook  and  dingle,  bushy  dell  and  bousky 
burn  fram  side  to  side,"  where  are  to  be  seen 
the  bright  eye  and  rosy  cheek  of  health,  and 
to  be  felt  the  warm  heart  and  generous  hand 
of  a  frank  and  manly  people. 

A  small  portion  of  their  trading  is  done  at 
Jackson,  the  present  terminus  of  the  Vicks- 
burg  railroad,  a  small  portion  down  Pearl  river 
to  New- Orleans,  and  the  greater  part  to  the 
city  of  Mobile. 

The  portion  of  the  state  bordering  on  the 
sea-shore,  with  its  bathing,  fish,  oysters,  and 
pleasant  summer  retreats,  is  well  known  to 
the  dust  covered  denizens  of  New-Orleans. 
It  is  becoming  a  place  of  resort,  as  well  for 
its  own  people  as  for  the  citizens,  and  bids  fair 
soon  to  rival  the  famed  gatherings  of  New- 
port and  Cape  May.  Bnck  from  the  sea-coast 
is  generally  a  sandy,  broken  tract,  covered  by 
quantities  of  fine  pine.  The  turpentine  busi- 
ne.S3  is  already  attracting  attention  ;  applica- 
tion lias  already  been  made  by  individuals  to 
the  general  government  for  grants  of  public 
lands  there  situated,  in  order  to  test  the  busi- 
ness and  thereby  enhance  the  value  of  the 
residue.  A  large  factory  has  been  opened, 
and  others  are  preparing  for  the   business. 


The  position  and  material  favor  such  a  trade, 
and  in  a  few  years  it  will  no  doubt  become 
heavy  and  profitable,  and  furnish  a  tine  in- 
vestment for  capital. 

The  south-west  and  country  above  it, 
though  the  oldest,  is  the  portion  of  Mississippi 
least  known  to  the  writer.  The  soil  is  rich, 
and  the  population  numerous,  wealthy,  and 
highly  distinguished  for  intelligence.  The 
course  of  trade  of  a  portion  is  through  Bayou 
Sara,  on  the  West  Feliciana  railroad,  and  the 
whole  to  New-Orleans  through  some  point  on 
the  Mississippi  river.  Among  others,  may  be 
mentioned  the  ancient  and  time-honored  city 
of  Natchez. 

I  will  now  direct  your  attention  to  the  only 
remaining  section  of  Mississippi  which  I  can 
notice.  Commencing  some  fifty  miles  below 
the  mouth  of  the  Yazoo  river,  inclining  to  the 
interior  for  about  one  hundred  miles  in  a  line 
gently  circling  northward,  up  through  the 
centre,  then  diverging  to  the  north-west  to  a 
point  below  Memphis,  including  the  counties 
of  De  Soto  and  Panola,  is  to  be  found  as  noble 
a  sweep  of  country  as  any  in  the  world.  It 
is  washed  by  the  Mississippi  from  Mem])his  to 
Vicksburg,  and  is  intersected  by  the  Yazoo, 
its  head  waters  and  tributaries,  throughout  its 
greatest  extent.  The  facilities  for  market  are 
unequalled.  The  Yazoo  river,  running,  as  we 
have  said,  through  nearly  its  whole  extent,  is 
an  excellent  stream,  affording  steam  naviga- 
tion sometimes  as  high  as  the  south-west 
corner  of  Marshall  county.  The  soil  is  of  the 
most  productive  character,  being,  as  it  is 
called,  sumnp  land.  It  possesses  all  the 
strength  of  the  prairie  lands,  without  their 
sticky,  adhesive,  and  corrosive  nature.  This 
region  of  our  state  has  come  into  cultivation 
at  a  comparatively  recent  period,  it  having 
been  heretofore  considered  damp  and  un- 
healthy. This  impression  is  fast  losing  ground, 
and  the  cotton  planters,  deserting  the  rolling 
uplands,  are  fast  pouring  in  upon  the  "  swamp." 
Indeed,  the  impression  of  the  sickliness  of  the 
South  generally  has  been  rapidly  losing 
ground  for  some  years  back,  and  that  bless- 
ing is  now  sought  with  as  nmch  coutidence  on 
the  "swamp  lands"  of  the  Yazoo  and  the 
Mississippi  as  among  the  hills  and  plains  of 
Carolina  and  Virginia.  Population  of  the 
very  finest  character  is  being  attracted  hither, 
and  in  a  few  years  it  must  be  the  wealthiest 
and  most  flourishing  part  of  Mississippi. 
When  other  portions  of  the  state  shall,  in  the 
lapse  of  time,  become  worn  out  and  exhaust- 
ed, (as  they  will,  unless  our  mode  of  cultiva- 
tion is  greatly  improved,)  it  will  be  the  store- 
house, the  granary,  the  Egypt  of  the  sur- 
rounding country.  One  drawback  on  these 
lands,  however,  is  their  liability  to  overflow 
from  freshets  in  the  Mississippi  river.  This 
danger  is  diminishing  every  year,  and  as 
population  increases,  levees,  good  and  sub- 
stantial, will  be  built.    An  effort  was  made 


44 


MISSISSIPPI GENERAL    CHARACTER    AKD    PROSPECTS    OF. 


at  tbe  lust  session  of  the  Legislature  to  pass  a 
levee  bill,  which  failed,  but  which  will  be  re- 
newed with  better  success  at  the  next  session. 
Some  years  ago  Congress  donated  to  the  state 
of  Mississippi  500,0U0  acres  of  laud,  to  be 
applied  to  purposes  of  internal  improvement. 
Most  of  these  lands  are  located  within  the 
district  we  are  speaking  of.  Under  an  act  of 
the  Legislature  they  were  advertised  to  be 
sold  on  the  1st  of  January  last,  by  the  Sec- 
retary of  State,  and  Planter's  Bank  bonds  and 
coupons  to  be  received  in  payment  therefor. 
There  is  a  considerable  quantity  of  govern- 
ment land  here  also  vacant,  and  selling  for  the 
minimum  price.  Very  heavy  tracts  of  land 
are  here  also  held  by  speculators,  whose  ne- 
cessities and  our  tax  laws  are  forcing  to  sell. 
The  natural  advantages  of  these  lands  are 
appreciating  them  in  value  every  year,  and 
the  present  is  probably  the  most  advantage- 
ous period  to  purchase  which  will  ever  occur 
again.  I  may  also  mention  that  there  are 
considerable  quantities  of  these  lands  owned 
by  old  commission  houses  and  foreign  banks, 
and  no  doubt  could  be  purchased  of  them 
low. 

The  section  last  spoken  of  embraces  the 
counties  of  Yazoo,  Sunflower,  Washington, 
Bolivar,  Coahomo,  Tunica,  Talhihatchie,  and  a 
portion  of  De  Soto,  Panola,  Yallobusha,  Car- 
roll, and  Holmes,  and  is  generally  known  as 
the  region  of  the  "  River  counties." 

Mississippi  can  as  yet  boast  of  but  few 
works  of  internal  improvement.  There  has, 
however,  for  a  few  years  past,  sprung  up  a 
strong  disposition  to  carry  out  something  of 
the  sort.  The  idea  of  connecting  Memphis 
by  a  railroad,  running  through  Nortli  Mis- 
sissippi, with  the  Alabama,  Georgia,  and 
Carolina  road,  has  been  broached  and  advo- 
cated through  your  journal.  The  plan  is 
feasible,  and  is  every  day  engaging  the  atten- 
tion of  men  who  will  accomjjlish  their  under- 
taking. 

For  several  years  we  have  had  a  railroad 
from  Vicksburg  to  Jackson.  This  road  has 
long  been  graded  twelve  miles  east  of  Jack- 
son to  Brandon.  By  an  act  of  the  last  Legis- 
lature, our  two  per  cent,  fund,  donated  to  us 
by  Congress  for  such  purposes,  was  appro 
priated  to  extending  and  completnig  this  line 
to  Alabama.  Commissioners  were  appointed 
for  the  purpose,  who  are  now  actively  en- 
gaged in  so  doing.  The  road  will  soon  be 
complcled  to  Brandon,  and  if  a  small  amount 
of  foreign  capital  can  be  attracted  to  it,  it 
^ill  be  completed  so  as  to  connect  with  the 
Atlantic  at  Charleston.  The  recent  addition 
of  Northern  M(!xico  to  our  Union,  the  immense 
mineral  wealth,  and  the  convenience  of  its 
ports  and  harbors  toward  the  rich  trade  and 
commerce  of  the  Orient,  render  the  question 
of  a  land  connection  between  the  Californias 
and  the  Atlantic  a  matter  of  pressing  and 
glorious  interest.    It  is,  however,  too  iiuport- 


ant  a  theme  to  be  discussed  here.  At  an 
early  day,  if  agreeable  to  you,  I  will  take  up 
the  subject,  and  from  an  examination  of  a 
mass  of  papers  heretofore  before  the  United 
States  Senate,  lay  before  your  readers  a  sketch 
of  the  diiiereut  projects  connected  with  the 
above. 

There  is  one  cause  which  at  present  I  will 
mention  as  operating  against  the  resources 
and  population  of  Mississippi :  it  is  the  heavy 
amount  of  government  lands  remaining  un- 
sold within  her  borders.  By  the  Report  of  the 
Commissioners  of  the  General  Land  Office, 
they  amounted,  on  the  30th  June,  1845,  to 
10,409,03-i  acres.  Of  these,  there  had  been 
in  market  five  years,  1,018,114  acres;  ten 
years,  451,390  acres ;  fifteen  years,  2,9'74,09'7 ; 
tioenty  years,  934,131  ;  twenty  five  years, 
894,424;  thirty  years,  2,924,172;  and  over 
thirty  years,  1,222  70G.  These  lands  are  all 
held  at  a  minimum  of  '$1.25  per  acre,  at  which 
price  they  can  never  be  sold,  and  M'ill  remain 
a  heavy  incubus  upon  our  prosperity.  The 
subject  calls  loudly  for  the  action  of  Congress, 
and  was  ably  urged  upon  it  by  General  Shields 
in  the  Report  above  named.  Under  the  grad- 
uation system,  of  about  4,344,725  acres,  in 
nine  years  was  sold  3,469,320.92  acres;  and 
the  balance  is  and  will  be  soon  disposed  of. 
Every  consideration  demands  strict  legisla- 
tion, economy,  comity  to  the  states  in  whose 
borders  these  lands  lie,  and  justice  to  the 
mighty  wave  of  the  frontier  population, 
sweeping  onward  to  the  base  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains  anil  the  shores  of  the  Pacific,  and 
extending  the  laws  and  institutions  of  our 
country  across  the  continent.  The  removal 
of  all  difficulties  in  the  way  of  the  occupancy 
of  our  public  lands  has  always  been  a  favorite 
idea  with  me,  and,  in  connection  with  it,  I 
cannot  here  help  alluding  to  a  public  man 
whose  official  career  is  now  nearly  run — one 
whose  untiring  industry  and  unvarying  accu- 
racy have  made  him  famous,  whilst  his  far- 
reaching  sagacity  and  comprehensive  ability 
have  shed  a  mighty  flood  of  light  upon  all 
the  financial  and  industrial  interests  of  his 
country.  I  allude  to  Robert  J.  Walker,  of 
Mississippi;  and  I  cannot  better  conclude  this 
subject  than  by  quoting  his  own  language  in 
reforence  to  it.  "  Reduce,"  says  he,  "  the 
price  which  the  laborer  must  pay  for  the  pub- 
lic domain ;  bring  thus  the  means  of  purchase 
within  his  power ;  confine  the  sales  to  settlers 
and  cultivators,  in  limited  quantities ;  preserve 
thus  hundreds  of  millions  of  acres  for  ages  to 
come  as  homes  for  the  poor  and  oppressed ; 
reduce  the  taxes  by  reducing  the  tariff,  and 
bring  down  the  prices  which  the  poor  are  thus 
compelled  to  pay  for  the  comforts  and  neces- 
saries of  life ;  and  more  will  be  done  for  the 
benefit  of  Ameiionn  labor  than  if  millions 
were  added  to  the  profits  of  manufacturing 
capital." 

There  is  much  else  which  I  could  well 


MARYLAND — HISTORY   AND   RESOURCES  OF. 


45 


allude  to  in  connection  with  my  state,  but  I 
am  warned  to  conclude.  I  can  only  say  that, 
to  my  view,  no  state  has  fairer  and  brighter 
prospects  before  her  in  the  future,  if  prudence 
shall  rule  the  action  of  her  people,  and  wisdom 
guide  their  counsels  and  conduct. 

MISSISSIPPI— Resources  of.— A  paper 
on  the  other  side  of  tlie  ocean  has  been  dis 
cussing  the  affairs  of  Mississippi  with  rather 
a  free  band ;  but  as  the  writer  does  great  jus- 
tice to  the  resources  and  wealth  of  our  sister 
state,  we  will  extract  some  part  of  his  re- 
marks : 

"  The  ten-itory  included  in  the  stste  of 
Mississippi  enjoys  a  preeminence  even  among 
the  most  favored  of  the  conuiiunities  which 
recognize  the  federal  government  of  Wash- 
ington. It  takes  its  name  from  the  great 
river  which  drains  into  the  Mexican  Gulf  the 
superfluous  waters  of  the  whole  middle  region 
of  the  North  American  continent ;  and  lor  two 
hundred  and  sixty-five  miles  along  the  lower 
and  tiie  richest  line  of  that  river,  Mississippi 
occupies  its  western  bank.  It  is  daily  en- 
riched, without  any  exertion  of  its  own ;  for 
evei'y  circumstance  and  every  accident  which 
contributes  to  swell  the  population  who  dwell 
on  the  higher  branches  of  the  Mississippi,  the 
Missouri,  and  the  Ohio  rivers,  increases  the 
traffic  on  the  low  waters  of  that  mighty  con- 
fluence of  streams.  The  state  of  Mississippi 
is  the  Holland  of  the  central  regions  of  North 
America.  She  is  placed  on  the  delta  of  the 
chief  lines  of  water  communication,  through 
which  alone  the  larger  part  of  the  external 
commerce  of  those  regions  can  find  a  passage, 
and  by  which  the  greater  portion  of  their  im- 
ported commodities  must  be  conveyed.  The 
Dutch  have  become  rich  and  illustrious,  not- 
withstanding that  their  country  is  little  more 
than  a  sand  bank,  and  a  mere  speck  on  the 
map  of  Europe.  But  Mississippi  occupies  a 
surface  equal  to  the  whole  of  England  and 
Wales.  In  point  of  fact,  she  is  one  of  the 
largest  states  of  the  Union  ;  and  the  natural 
resources  of  her  soil  have  excited  the  admi- 
ration and  amazement  of  every  person  who 
has  examined  them.  These  are  the  general 
outlines  of  the  picture ;  and,  when  we  turn 
our  attention  to  the  details,  we  arrive  at 
equally  striking  results.  Between  1830  and 
1840,  the  population  of  Mississippi  very  much 
more  than  doubled  itself;  and  when  the  census 
of  the  present  year  shall  be  completed,  we 
entertain  no  doubt  that,  in  point  of  numbers, 
tlie  citizens  of  that  state  will  be  found  to  oc- 
cupy a  position  so  favorable,  as  to  be  in  some 
degree  disproportionate  to  their  general  stand- 
ing in  the  federal  commonwealth.  Between 
the  years  1840  and  184B,  the  revenue  derived 
from  the  sale  of  her  public  lands  increased 
nearly  seven  fold;  and  it  must  be  borne  in 
mind  that,  among  the  new  western  states,  the 
rapidity  with  which  the  public  domain  is  ab- 


sorbed by  fresh  settlers,  is  one  of  the  strongest 
proofs  of  substantial  progress.  Notwithstand- 
ing, however,  this  great  increase  in  the  de- 
mand for  land,  the  state  had  still  on  hand,  on 
tlie  r>Oth  of  June,  1845,  no  less  than  10,409,034 
acres  of  surveyed  and  registered  lands,  await- 
ing the  appearance  of  purchasers.  And  if 
we  estimate  the  value  of  these  at  no  more 
than  the  very  moderate  price  of  two  and  a 
half  dollars  per  acre,  (the  rate  assumed  by 
the  commissioners  of  the  state,)  it  will  appear 
that  Mississippi  possesses,  in  her  unappropri- 
ated public  domain  alone,  a  fund  equal  to  five 
.and  a  half  millions  of  pounds  sterling,  or 
more  than  five  timeathe  principal,  and  more 
than  a  hundred  times  the  interest  of  the  debt. 
But  further,  we  have  at  this  moment  before 
us  a  copy  of  the  official  budget  of  Mississippi 
for  the  years  1846,  '47  and  '48  ;  and  what  are 
the  prominent  facts  which  these  documents 
disclose  ?  Not,  certainly,  that  the  people  of 
Mississippi  are  poor  and  helpless.  In  1^46, 
the  number  of  taxable  acres  in  the  state  was 
15,232  389  ;  and  in  1848  the  area  of  assess- 
ment has  expanded  to  16,019,488  acres;  that 
is  to  say,  in  two  years  it  has  increased  five 
per  cent.  The  whole  amount  of  public  taxes 
annually  collected  within  the  state  was  under 
$380,000,  or  £76,000;  and  the  burthen  of 
these  was  limited  to  an  infinitesimal  as- 
sessment, on  most  of  the  principal  kinds  of 
real  and  personal  property.  We  find,  for  ex- 
ample, entries  of  the  amount  of  duty  levied 
on  pleasure  wagons,  race,  saddle,  and  harness 
horses,  gold  and  silver  plate,  pianos,  pistols, 
bowie  knives,  '  slaves  under  sixty  years,'  and 
'  free  male  negroes.' " 

MARYLAND. — Historical  Events — Go- 
vernment —  Resources  —  Improvements  — 
Commerce — City  of  Baltimoke,  etc. — The 
state  of  Maryland  derives  its  name  from  Hen- 
rietta Maria,  the  wife  of  Charles  I.,  by  whom 
a  charter  was  granted  to  George  Calvert,  the 
first  Lord  Baltimore.  The  charter  was  issued 
on  the  20th  of  June,  1632,  and  assigned  to 
the  grantee  all  the  territory  lying  within  cer- 
tain prescribed  limits,  with  extensive  jurisdic- 
tion and  powers  of  government  over  it.  It 
was  distinguished  for  its  liberal  and  democra- 
tic character  in  an  age  which  was  proverbially 
illiberal  and  tyrannical.  The  law-making 
power  was  vested  in  the  Lord  Proprietary 
jointly  with  the  people,  or  their  re])resenta- 
tives.  The  Proprietary  could  only  act  alone 
in  cases  of  sudden  emergency,  when  the 
people  or  their  representatives  could  not  be 
easily  assembled.  The  right  of  exemption 
from  taxation  by  the  crown,  except  with  their 
own  consent,  was  clearly  stipulated,  together 
with  many  nthar  privileges,  us  they  were  then 
called ;  but  which,  in  this  enlightened  age, 
are  justly  considered  the  inalienable  rights  of 
man.  The  fires  of  Protestantism,  which  were 
lighted  up  by  Luther  and  Calvin,  were  burn- 


46 


MARYLAND — HISTORY  AND   RESOURCES    OF. 


ing  with  undiminished  intensity  in  England  as 
well  as  ou  tlie  continent ;  and  the  seventy  and 
cruelty  of  the  law.s  of  England  towards  the 
Catholics  rendered  it  impossible  for  them  to 
remain  in  their  own  country,  and  enjoy  that 
greatest  of  earthly  blessings,  the  liberty  to 
worsliip  our  Maker  according  to  the  dictates 
of  our  own  conscience.  It  is  well  known  that 
religious  persecution  and  the  love  of  gold  were 
the  inciting  causes  to  all  the  emigrations  from 
the  old  world  to  the  new.  Bat  the  early  settlers 
of  Marvlatid  had  to  encounter  difficulties 
of  the  same  kind  as  tho^e  which  compelled 
them  to  Hy  their  own  country.  Maryland 
having  been  included  within  the  limits  of  the 
royal  government  of  Virginia  previous  to  the 
issuing  of  her  charter,  one  William  Claiborne 
obtained  from  the  governor  and  council  a 
license  to  trade  with  the  Indians  on  the  Che- 
sapeake. Taking  advantage  of  his  position, 
he  excited  jealousies  on  the  part  of  the  In- 
dians towards  the  Marylanders,  by  represent- 
ing them  as  Spaniards  and  enemies.  But  he 
failed  in  his  insidious  attempts,  and  afterwards 
created  an  open  rebellion,  in  which  he  was 
again  thwarted,  and  compelled  to  fly  first  to 
Virginia,  and  then  to  England,  where  he  was 
tried  and  convicted  of  treason. 

The  first  General  Assembly  of  the  freemen 
of  the  colony  was  convened  at  the  town  of 
St  Mary's,  in  1635.  A  considerable  portion 
of  the  records  of  their  proceedings  was  de- 
stroyed by  fire,  so  that  but  little  of  them  is 
known.  The  second  Assembly  was  convened 
in  1G38.  In  some  respects  the  constitution  of 
those  early  legislatures  differed  from  those  of 
the  present  day.  The  charter  entitled  every 
freeman  to  take  a  share  in  the  making  of  those 
laws  by  wliicli  he  was  to  be  governed.  As  it 
was  inconvenient  to  assemble  at  a  given  time 
and  place  persons  who  were  few  and  far  be- 
tween, each  one  was  allowed  to  vote  by  proxy, 
so  that  it  sometimes  happened  that  one  indi- 
vidual cast  a  dozen  votes  The  Proprietary, 
however,  was  invested  with  the  power  of  sum- 
moning by  special  writ  those  whose  presence 
be  particularly  desired.  At  a  later  period,  two 
burgesses  were  elected  from  every  hundred 
individuals ;  but  each  individual  had  the  right, 
if  he  thouglit  proper  to  exercise  it,  to  claim  his 
seat  in  the  legislature.  This  right  was,  how- 
ever, taken  away  by  the  General  Assembly 
itself;  and  the  council,  the  delegates  from  the 
several  hundreds,  and  those  who  were  sum- 
monetl  by  special  writ,  constituted  this  body. 
The  Proprietary  (or  governor)  could  obtain  the 
control  of  the  Assembly  by  adding  to  it  a  few 
of  his  personal  friends.  They  all  sat  at  first 
in  one  house,  but  were  afterwards  divided  into 
two,  called  the  upper  and  lower,  somewhat  like 
those  of  tlie  Lords  and  Commons  of  Great 
Britain ;  the  council  appointed  by  the  Lord 
Proprietary  forming  the  upper,  and  the  dele- 
gates of  the  people  the  lower.  It  was  during 
this  session  that  the  colonists  began  to  pave 


the  way  for  the  more  just  and  equitable  sys- 
tem  which  lies  at  the  foundation  of  the  pres- 
ent constitution  of  Maryland.  The  old  leaven 
of  aristocracy  and  monarchy  which  pervaded 
the  government,  began  to  receive  a  blow 
which,  by  frequent  repetition,  compelled  the 
ancient  system  to  yield  to  the  wants  of  the 
age  and  the  stern  spirit  of  liberty,  which  were 
so  heroically  displayed  during  the  eventful 
crisis  of  the  great  Revolution. 

Lord  Baltimore  attempted  to  compel  the 
colonists  to  accept  the  system  of  laws  which 
he  had  digested,  and  to  annul  the  acts  of  the 
legislature,  because  they  were  not  framed  by 
himself.  The  people  were  convinced  that  the 
Proprietary  had  no  other  than  the  veto  power, 
and  vindicated  their  rights  by  rejecting  the 
whole  system.  The  Lord  Proprietary  vetoed 
all  of  the  bills  that  were  passed,  but  after- 
wards abandoned  it,  preferring  the  welfare 
and  prosperity  of  the  colony  to  his  own  indi- 
vidual privileges,  and  sensible  that  the  power 
of  negativing  any  bill  of  which  he  disapproved 
was  quite  sufficient  to  protect  his  rights  and 
authority  in  the  province.*  But  Maryland 
was  destined  to  encounter  other  difficulties  be- 
sides those  of  a  civil  character.  Although  re- 
ligious freedom  was  expressly  granted  to  them 
by  the  charter,  no  sooner  bad  the  contest  be- 
tween the  king  and  parliament  broken  out  in 
England,  than  the  spirit  of  disaffection  began 
to  show  itself  in  the  colonies.  The  bigoted 
Puritans  who  were  driven  from  Virginia  on 
account  of  their  intolerance,  fomented  the  dis- 
sensions which  began  to  prevail  between  the 
various  Christian  sects.  Their  strength  in- 
creased with  the  success  of  the  parliament, 
until  finally  they  attempted  the  reduction  of 
Maryland  by  ad<litional  reinforcements  from 
England.  Cliarles  the  First  bad  been  recently 
executed  by  the  republican  party.  It  was 
found  at  tlie  next  General  Assembly  that  the 
partisans  of  the  commonwealth  were  in  the 
majority.  Parliament  had,  in  the  mean  time, 
passed  an  ordinance  for  the  reduction  of  Mary- 
land. Commissioners  were  appointed,  who, 
with  armed  vessels  and  a  regiment  of  sol- 
diers, proceeded  to  wrest  the  government  of 
the  colony  from  the  hands  of  the  peojjle,  and 
requried  that  they  should  conform  to  the 
laws  of  the  commonwealth.  After  a  deter- 
mined resistance  on  the  part  of  the  Proprie- 
tary, his  power  was  overthrown,  but  not  un- 
til a  bloody  battle  had  been  fought,  and 
some  of  the  most  distinguished  men  of  the 
colony  had  been  killed.  As  soon  as  they 
took  possession  of  the  province,  an  Assembly 
was  called,  and  it  was  prohibited  that  any 
Catholic  or  royalist  should  vote  for  or  sit  there- 
in as  a  delegate.  Their  first  act  was  to  pass  a 
law  declaring  that  the  memljers  of  the  Catholic 
Church  would  not  be  protected  in  the  province, 
and  at  the  same  time  denouncing  "prelacy," 

*  Bozman. 


MARYLAND — HISTORY   AND   RESOURCES    OF. 


47 


as  they  denominated  the  Clmrcli  of  England. 
The  Puritan  rule  lasted  for  about  six  years, 
when  Cromwell  died,  and  Charles  II.  was  re- 
stored to  the  throne  of  his  ancestors.  The 
governnii'nt  of  the  Lord  Proprietary  was  again 
renewed  iu  Maryland,  but  it  was  destined  to 
undergo  many  severe  trials  before  it  was  en 
abled  to  continue  the  even  tenor  of  its  way. 
The  same  conspiracy  that  had  overthrown  the 
power  of  the  Puritans,  set  about  undermining 
that  of  the  Lord  Proprietary.  At  the  session 
of  1(359,  tlie  House  of  Delegates  demanded 
tliat  the  governor  and  council  should  no  longer 
sit  as  an  upper  house,  and  claimed  for  itself 
the  i-ights  of  supreme  judicial  and  legislative 
power.  The  governor,  who  had  beeu  appoint- 
ed (in  the  absence  of  Lord  Baltimore)  with 
two  of  his  council,  took  his  seat  in  the  lower 
house.  "  The  upper  house  was  then  declared 
to  be  dissolved,  and  the  governor,  having  re- 
signed his  commission  from  the  Lord  Proprie- 
tary into  the  hands  of  the  Assembly,  accepted 
from  that  body  a  new  one  in  their  own  name, 
and  by  their  own  authority.  To  secure  obe- 
dience to  this  new  and  almost  republican  gov- 
ernment, an  act  was  passed  declaring  it  to  be 
a  felony  to  disturb  the  existing  order  of  thbgs, 
and  the  people  were  commanded  by  procla- 
mation to  acknowledge  no  authority  except 
that  which  came  immediately  from  the  As- 
sembly or  from  the  king." 

For  about  thirty  years  after  these  events, 
tlie  government  preserved  a  character  of  sta- 
bility. The  colony  increased  in  inhabitants, 
productions  and  commerce,  and  enjoyed  all 
those  blessings  which  flow  from  a  peaceful  and 
prosperous  rule.  The  historian  apologizes  for 
the  dull  and  uninteresting  epoch  in  which  any 
event  is  deemed  worthy  of  being  I'ecorded. 
Gibbon  makes  the  same  apology  in  treating 
of  the  reign  of  the  Antonines.  There  were 
only  a  few  sanguinary  battles,  a  few  terrible 
crimes  or  astounding  calamities ;  civil  wars 
were  without  bloodshed,  and  the  colony  de- 
voted itself  to  the  increase  of  its  internal  pros- 
perity. A  mint  was  established  for  coining 
shillings,  and  taxes,  in  tlie  shape  of  tobacco, 
were  imposed  for  the  proper  maintenance  of 
the  government.  "The  mode  of  payment  of 
port  duties  is  worthy  of  notice,  as  indicating 
tlie  wants  of  the  times.  Every  vessel  having 
a  flush  deck  fore  and  aft,  coming  to  trade  in 
the  province,  was  compelled  to  pay  one  half 
pound  of  powder  and  tliree  pounds  of  shot  fir 
every  ton  burthen.  To  insure  the  circulation 
of  the  new  coinage,  every  householder  was 
compelled  to  take  from  the  mint  ten  shillings 
for  each  taxable  person  in  his  family,  for  which 
he  was  to  pay  in  tobacco,  at  tlie  rate  of  two 
pence  pur  [jound."  When  Philip  Calvert  as- 
sumed the  government  of  the  colony,  in  1660, 
there  were  twelve  thousand  inhabitants.  It  in- 
creased to  sixteen  thousand  in  the  next  five 
yeai's.     In  1671  it  amounted  to  twenty  thou- 


sand. They  began  about  this  time  to  enlarge 
the  number  of  counties.  There  were  only  a 
few  towns;  St.  Mary's  and  Annaj)olis  were 
the  only  ones  of  any  importance.  A  majority 
of  the  people  were  planters  and  farmers.  Tliey 
obtained  their  manufactured  articles  from  the 
mother  country.  At  the  session  of  166.'i,  the 
Assembly  were  engaged  in  laying  the  foun- 
dation of  a  system  of  laws,  many  of  which 
continue  to  exist  to  the  present  day.  The 
growing  wealth  and  importance  of  Maryland 
excited  the  avarice  of  Charles  II.  James  II. 
ortlered  a  writ  of  quo  warranto  to  be  issued,  to 
show  cause  why  the  charter  should  not  be  for- 
feited. But  Charles  died,  and  James  was  de- 
posed. William  and  Mary  ascended  the  throne. 
Soon  after  this  event,  a  conspiracy  was  formed 
to  overturn  the  government,  and  to  abolish  the 
Catholic  religion.  The  king  sustained  the  acts 
of  the  revolution,  and  the  province  continued 
under  the  administration  of  the  Convention  of 
the  people,  who  requested  the  king  to  take  the 
government  of  the  colony  into  his  own  hands. 
Sir  Lionel  Copley  was  sent  over  to  take  com- 
mand of  the  province  as  governor.  The  Con- 
vention was  dissolved,  and  a  General  Assem- 
bly was  summoned  to  meet  at  the  city  of  St. 
Mary's.  Its  acts  of  severity  towards  the  Catho- 
lics and  dissenters  are  blots  upon  the  history  of 
this  period.  The  royal  dominion  in  Maryland 
lasted  for  twenty-five  years.  Nothing  is  wor- 
thy of  particular  note,  except  that  the  crown 
had  already  begun  to  make  encroachments 
upon  the  liberty  of  the  people.  The  British 
Parliament  desired  to  destroy  the  charter,  and 
to  effect  the  reduction  of  Maryland,  as  well 
as  the  other  colonies  of  Massachusetts,  New- 
Hampshire,  Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  the 
Jerseys,  and  Pennsylvania.  They  charged 
I'ennsylvauia  with  being  a  receptacle  of  run- 
away slaves,  and  the  Jerseys  with  being  the 
resort  of  pirates.  In  1715  the  reins  of  gov- 
ernment were  again  surrendered  to  Lord  Bal- 
timore, and  the  Parliament  again  attempted  to 
take  away  their  charter ;  but  tlie  colonies  were 
successful  in  remonstrating  against  the  injus- 
tice of  it.  The  struggle  between  the  aristoc- 
racy and  the  democracy  began  to  be  more 
decided  than  ever.  Although  there  was  no 
actual  breach  between  them,  a  war  of  paper 
bullets  preceded  that  of  lead  Petitions  and 
protests,  resolutions,  addresses  and  proclama- 
tions ensued  for  several  years,  which  resulted 
iu  the  triumph  of  the  democracy.  In  17ul)  the 
Assembly  resolved  that  the  duties  levied  by 
the  Proprietary  were  unjust  and  oppressive, 
and  protested  against  certain  usurpations  and 
privileges  claimed  in  the  creation  of  new  of- 
fices without  the  consent  of  the  Assembly. 
The  tonnage  and  tobacco  duties  were  a  stand- 
ing subject  of  complaint  antl  resistance  be- 
tween the  peo)ile  and  the  Pi-oprietaiy,  un- 
til the  Stamp  Act  and  Tea  Duties  "closed 
all    controversies,   and    removed    all    griev- 


48 


MARYLAND — HISTORY  AND   RESOURCES    OF. 


ances."  In  1744,  a  treaty  ■was  concluded 
between  commissioners  appointed  by  the  gov- 
ernor and  a  powerful  tribe  of  Indians  called 
the  Six  Nations,  by  which  three  hundred 
pounds  of  current  money  was  agreed  to  be 
paid  to  them,  on  condition  that  they  would 
relinquish  all  claims  to  any  territory  within 
the  limits  of  Maryland.  Tlie  Assembly  pro- 
jected the  building  of  towns  and  cities,  but 
very  few  of  them  grew  to  any  hnportance. 
The  cities  of  Baltimore,  Aunapolis,  and  Fred- 
erick, are  the  only  ones  that  are  now  known. 
The  population  of  the  province  had  begun  to 
increase  rapidly.  In  1748,  the  number  of  in- 
habitants was  estimated  at  130,000  souls.  It 
increased  in  five  years  after  tu  154,188.  The 
mineral  and  agricultural  resources  of  the  soil 
began  to  be  developed,  and  an  establishment 
was  made  for  the  manufacture  of  linen  and 
woollen  stuffs  for  common  use,  and  for  the 
clothing  of  servants  and  slaves.  Grants  of 
land  were  made  to  those  who  would  erect 
watermills  and  forges  for  the  working  of  the 
copper  mines.  The  making  of  wine  was  also 
attempted.  Wheat  and  Indian  corn  were 
largely  exported,  but  tobacco  was  the  prin- 
cipal staple.  Free  schools  were  established 
and  supported  by  general  taxation.  The  cur- 
rency was  in  great  disorder.  An  issue  of 
paper  money  was  resorted  to  on  the  part  of 
the  government,  but  ultimately  failed.  There 
were  also  disputes  with  regard  to  her  boun- 
daries, which  have  never  been  settled  to  the 
satisfaction  of  the  people  of  Maryland.  There 
is  nothing  worthy  of  particular  mention  from 
this  time  until  the  revolution.  There  were  fre- 
quent contests  between  the  English  and  the 
French,  who  had  conceived  the  idea  of  connect- 
ing Canada  with  Louisiana,  by  constructing  a 
chain  of  forts  along  the  Mississippi  and  Ohio 
rivers,  which  passed  through  a  territory  to 
which  the  English  laid  claim.  As  Virginia  was 
principally  interested  in  the  controversy,  the 
governor  dispatched  Washington  to  protest 
against  the  proceedings  of  the  French  com- 
mandant. What  courage,  zeal,  and  persever- 
ance he  displayed  in  the  discharge  of  his  duty, 
and  wliat  unfading  glory  he  obtained  not  long 
after,  form  one  of  tlie  brightest  pages  in  the 
annals  of  our  country,  and  is  indelibly  im- 
pressed on  the  mind  of  every  American  citi- 
zen. 

The  two  principles  of  aristocracy  and  de- 
mocracy which  were  contained  in  the  original 
charter,  began  to  be  developed  in  broader  and 
more  decided  characters.  The  right  of  taxa- 
tion, which  was  claimed  by  the  upper  house, 
was  denied  by  the  representatives  of  the  peo- 
ple, who  claimed  the  exclusive  privilege  of 
framing  bills  for  raising  money.  Meanwhile 
the  colony  was  rapidly  increasing  in  popula- 
tion, which  spread  themselves  to  the  utmost 
limits  of  the  province.  The  soil  was  rich,  and 
intersected  by  navigable  streams,  and  possess- 


ing great  mineral  resources,  which  only  re- 
quired industry  and  independence  to  develop 
to  the  fnllest  extent.  Maryland  took  an  ac- 
tive part  in  opposing  the  stamp  act,  as  well  as 
the  duty  on  tea.  Her  heroic  conduct  during 
the  war  of  the  Revolution  is  so  well  known, 
that  it  is  unnecessary  to  dwell  upon  it.  Suf- 
fice it  to  say,  that  no  state  was  more  patriotic, 
and  that  none  rendered  more  distinguished 
services  in  obtaining  our  independence.  After 
the  Revolution  was  over,  the  finances  of  the 
country  were  in  a  very  disordered  condition. 
The  treasury  of  the  United  States  was  empty. 
Congress  was  burdened  with  a  debt  of  forty- 
two  millions  of  dollars,  and  several  of  the 
states  were  considerably  involved.  Maryland 
was  one  of  tlie  fi^st  states  that  passed  a  law 
authorizing  Congress  to  levy  the  required  du- 
ties on  exports  and  imports,  to  cover  the  in- 
terest of  the  public  debt.  With  a  view  to  en- 
able her  to  recover  from  the  effects  of  the  late 
struggle,  a  company  was  formed  for  the  pur- 
pose of  constructing  a  canal  from  the  Pennsyl- 
vania line  along  the  Susquehanna  to  the  tide 
water,  and  incorporated  in  1784  under  the 
name  of  the  Proprietors  of  the  Susquehanna 
Canal.  The  Potomac  Company  was  soon  after 
organized,  to  open  a  convenient  route  for  travel 
and  transportation  between  the  Atlantic  and 
the  growing  settlements  of  the  West.  A'ir- 
ginia  and  Maryland  united  in  this  enterprise, 
and  General  Washington  was  chosen  the  first 
President.  The  company  was  afterwards 
merged  in  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Canal 
Company.  A  scheme  was  also  proposed  for 
effecting  an  inland  communication  between  the 
Delaware  and  Chesapeake  Bay.  The  city  of 
Baltimore,  about  this  time,  received  a  new 
impulse,  and  the  enterprise  of  its  merchants 
began  to  display  itself  in  its  increasing  com- 
merce and  population.  In  1782  its  population 
was  8,000  inhabitants;  it  now  numbers  about 
167,000,  and  is  the  third  city  in  the  Union. 
The  cause  of  science  and  learning  were  not 
neglected.  A  college  was  established  at 
Chestertown,  called  Washington  College, 
and  another  in  connection  with  it  at  Anna- 
polis, called  "St.  John's  College."  The  great 
subject  of  political  interest  at  this  time  was 
the  formation  of  the  Federal  Constitution. 
The  democratic  party  was  inclined  to 
strengthen  the  state  authority  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  general  government,  or  more 
properly  speaking,  was  not  willing  to  sur- 
render to  the  general  government  more 
power  than  was  necessary  to  carry  its  pro- 
visions into  operation.  The  federal  party 
were  for  consolidating  the  government,  in 
order  to  preserve  security  at  home,  and  re- 
spect from  abroad.  Whether  the  Constitu- 
tion will  continue  to  endure  the  severe  shocks 
it  has  already  received,  and  which  is  now  agi- 
tating the  repnlilic  to  its  centre,  remains  to 
be  seen.     Nothing  but  a  strict  adlierence  to 


MARYLAND HISTORY    AND   RESOURCES    OF, 


49 


its  provisions,  and  a  spirit  of  mutual  forbear- 
ance, will  preserve  it  as  the  palladium  of  our 
safety.  Exto  pcrpctua,  lu  171l<"i,  the  District 
of  Columbia  was  ceded  by  Maryland  and  Vir- 
ginia to  the  United  States,  of  which  Wash- 
ington was  to  be  the  seat  of  government.  A 
contest  had  arisen  in  Maryland  for  the  en- 
largement of  the  right  of  suflTrage.  It  be- 
came the  leading  topic  in  state  politics,  and 
elections  turned  upon  it.  After  long  and 
angry  discussions  in  the  session  of  1802,  the 
confirmatory  act  was  passed.  That  odious 
restriction  iipon  the  freedom  of  elections,  the 
viva  voce  vote,  was  removed,  and  the  ballot- 
box  substituted  in  its  place.  The  old  judi- 
cial system  was  also  abolished,  and  the  pres- 
ent one  adopted. 

During  the  war  of  1812,  Maryland  acted 
with  her  usual  gallantry ;  and  the  battle  of 
Bladensburg  and  North  Point  will  be  ever 
memorable  in  the  annals  of  our  country.  Af- 
ter the  war,  she  turned  her  attention  to  inter- 
nal improvements.  The  puVjlic  schools  were 
to  be  supported  by  a  permanent  fund,  which 
the  banks  agreed  to  pay,  on  the  renewal  of 
their  respective  charters.  The  system  was 
afterwards  superseded  by  the  formation  of  the 
primary  school  organization  in  1825, — the  or- 
ganization of  which  was  considerably  enlarged. 
We  copy  the  following  remarks  from  Mc- 
Sherre's  History  of  Maryland,  a  work  recently 
published,  and  of  high  authority : 

"The  immense  mineral  resources  of  West- 
em  Maryland,  the  rich  mines  of  iron  ore,  and 
the  inexliaustible  supply  of  coal,  which  its 
mountains  contained,  made  it  a  matter  of  pe- 
culiar importance  to  Maryland,  that  the  designs 
of  the  Potomac  Company  should  be  comple- 
ted, irrespective  of  the  growing  trade  of  the 
West  A  water  communication  into  the  heart 
of  the  mineral  region,  affording  the  cheapest 
means  of  transportation  of  such  Jieavy  article-^  | 
was  almost  absolutely  necessary  to  develop 
fully  its  immense  wealth,  and  pour  it  into  the 
markets  of  the  Atlantic.  But  it  w-is  found, 
in  progress  of  time,  after  repeated  efforts,  that 
the  mode  of  navigation  proposed  by  the  Po- 
tomac Company  was  insufficient  and  unwor- 
thy of  the  great  object  in  view — the  securing 
the  trade  of  the  West ;  and  another  and  no- 
bler work  was  contemplated.  It  was  pro- 
posed that  the  Potomac  Company  should  sur- 
render its  privileges  to  a -new  corpciration,  to 
be  furmed  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  canal 
along  the  river  to  its  head,  and  thence  to  the 
waters  of  the  Ohio.  The  Legislature  of  Mary- 
land approved  of  the  design,  and  a  Conven- 
tion was  called  at  the  city  of  Washington,  of 
delegates  to  be  chosen  by  the  peoplfe  of  the 
different  counties  in  Virginia,  Maryland,  and 
Pennsylvania,  to  consider  the  best  means  for 
effecting  so  desirable  an  object.  Delegates 
fi'om  fourteen  counties  in  Virginia,  one  in 
Pennsylvania,  and  eight  in  Maryland,  besides 
a  full  rcpreseutation  from  each  of  the  District 
VOL.  11. 


cities,  attended  on  the  23d  of  November,  1823. 
It  was  resolved  that  a  company  should  be 
furmed  to  construct  a  navigable  canal  by  Cum- 
berland, to  the  coal  banks;,  on  the  eastern  side 
of  the  Alleghanies,  and  thence,  as  soon  aa 
practicable,  to  the  highest  point  of  naviga- 
tion on  the  Ohio,  or  Monongahela ;  and,  as 
it  was  contemplated  to  be  finished  by  the 
joint  efforts  of  the  United  States  government, 
Maryland,  Virginia,  Pennsylvania,  and  the  sub- 
scriptions of  private  stockholders,  it  was  pro- 
posed to  designate  it  as  "  the  Union  Canal," 
hut  its  present  name,  the  Chesapeake  and 
Ohio  Canal,  was  finally  adopted.  During  the 
sessions  of  the  Convention,  a  communication 
was  presented  from  two  delegates  from  Ohio, 
proposing  a  further  extension  of  the  w'ork,  by 
a  canal  from  the  Ohio,  through  that  state,  to 
the  great  lakes  on  the  north ;  which  portion 
of  the  design  was  finally,  by  the  state,  un- 
aided. 

"  In  conformity  with  the  recommendations 
of  this  body,  an  act  was  passed  by  Virginia, 
on  the  2Tth  of  January,  1824,  and  subsequent- 
ly confirmed  by  Maryland,  Pennsylvania,  and 
the  United  States,  to  incorporate  the  Chesa- 
peake and  Ohio  Canal  Company.  Maryland, 
wisely  looking  to  the  interest  of  its  commer- 
cial metropolis,  claimed  and  obtained  the  right 
of  constructing,  through  any  portion  of  the 
District  of  Columbia,  a  lateral  canal,  to  termi- 
nate at  the  city  of  Baltim  're.  It  further  in- 
sisted on  the  power,  anJ  maintained  the  expe- 
diency, of  the  general  government's  fostering 
this  great  national  work,  and  aiding  in  ita 
completion.  Ti  authorized  the  state  treasu- 
rer, in  its  name,  to  subscribe  five  thousand 
shares  oi  stock,  at  one  hundred  dollars  per 
share,  on  certain  conditions. 

"The  necessary  legislation  having  been  thus 
effected,  a  second  Convention  assembled  at 
Washington,  composed  of  numerous  delegates 
from  Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  Vir- 
ginia, who  approved  of  the  charter  thus  ten- 
dered to  them.  The  books  were  opened  by 
the  commissioners  appointed  for  that  purpose; 
and  the  requisite  amount  of  stock  having  been 
taken,  the  stockholders,  in  June,  1828,  organ- 
ized and  formally  accepted  the  charter.  The 
United  States  subscribed  for  ten  thousand 
shares  of  stock,  and  Congress  authorized  the 
District  cities  to  become  stockholders.  They 
accordingly  took  an  aggregate  of  fifteen  thou- 
sand shares.  The  amount  of  the  subscriptions 
of  Virginia  was  only  seven  hundred  and  sev- 
enty-seven shares.  These  subscriptions,  to- 
gether with  the  stock  taken  by  individuals, 
brought  the  sum  total  to  thirty-six  thousand 
and  eighty-nine  shares,  being  a  capital  of 
$3,008,900.  It  had  been  sanguinely  estima- 
ted, that  the  whole  work  could  be  completed 
to  Cumberland  on  the  scale  at  first  contem- 
plated— forty  feet  wide  at  top,  twenty-eight 
feet  at  bottom,  and  fom-  feet  deep — for  $4,400,- 
000.    The  dimensions,  however,  were  after- 


50 


MARYLAND HISTORY    AXD    RESOURCES    OF. 


wards  increased,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  Uni- 
ted States  government,  to  six  feet  in  depth ; 
and  in  width,  ranging  from  sixty  to  fifty  feet. 
The  route  was  immediately  selected,  and  the 
work  commenced. 

"  While  these  measures  were  in  progress,  the 
people  of  Baltimore  began  to  entertain  fears 
that  the  work  would  interfere  with  their  pros- 
perity, and  build  uj:)  the  District  cities  at  their 
expense.  Tbey  doubted  the  feasibility  of 
constructing  the  lateral  canal ;  and  a  railroad 
to  the  waters  of  the  Ohio  was  determined 
upon.  In  February,  1827,  a  public  meeting 
was  called  in  the  city,  and  a  memorial  prefer- 
red at  once  to  the  Legislature.  It  was  assert- 
ed that  the  route  of  the  railroad  was  the  only 
practicable  one — that  is,  shorter  by  one  hun- 
dred and  forty  miles  than  that  by  the  canal, 
and  that  it  could  be  opened  at  an  expense 
less  by  seven  millions  of  dollars.  In  ten  days 
after  the  application,  a  charter  was  granted 
by  the  Legislature. 

"  The  railroad  company  were  allowed  to  pass 
along  on  a  line  parallel  with  the  canal  to  Har- 
per's Ferry,  at  which  point  it  crossed  to  the 
Virginia  side.  The  state  subscribed  for  five 
thousand  shares  of  its  stock,  and  authorized 
the  city  of  Baltimore  to  subscribe  for  thirty 
thousand  shares.  Not  long  after, '  The  Balti- 
more and  Susquehanna  Railroad'  was  pro- 
jected from  Baltimore  to  York.  A  branch  of 
the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  road  was  turned  to- 
wards Washington,  and  a.  lateral  road  to  An- 
napolis was  connected  with  it.  The  failure  of 
the  canal,  beyond  Harper's  Pevry,  for  want  of 
funds  to  continue  it,  rendered  it  necessary  for 
the  Legislature  to  take  the  matter  mto  consid- 
eration. In  1835,  it  provided  for  a  su\)scrip- 
tion  of  three  millions  to  the  Chesapeake  \ind 
Ohio  Canal — three  millions  to  the  Baltimoi* 
and  Ohio  Railroad — half  a  million  to  the  Ma- 
ryland Cross-cut  Canal  to  Baltimore — half  a 
million  to  the  Annapolis  and  Potomac  Canal 
— and  one  million  to  the  Eastern  Shore  Rail- 
road. The  amount  of  the  state's  interest  in 
the  canal  in  1839  had  swollen  up  to  the  sum 
of  $7,197,000.  The  Tide  Water  Canal  Com- 
pany, and  the  York  and  Wrightsville  Road, 
was  supported  by  state  bonds,  for  which  the 
company's  tolls  were  pledged. 

"Agricultural  societies  were  formed  through- 
out the  counties — a  state  association  was  as- 
sembled— an  excellent  journal*  established  to 
advocate  the  cause  of  the  noblest  of  all  pur- 
suits— the  education  of  the  soil.  Men  of  en 
terprise  turned  their  attention  to  the  restora- 
tion of  these  barren  wastes,  and  soon  present- 
ed to  the  astonished  eye  of  advocates  of  the 
ancient  system,  the  '  old  fields  suddenly  reno- 
vated by  the  power  of  lime  and  guano,  and 


*  The  dcatli  of  John  S.  Skinner,  formerly  editor 
of  the  "  ^^portsInan^s  Miig.i/.inc,"  is  much  lamented 
throughout  the  agricultural  world.  He  was  recently 
the  editor  of  a  journal  called  "The  Plough,  the  Loom, 
and  the  Anvil."  Wo  loarn  that  a  mouument  is  about 
to  be  erected  to  his  memory. 


composts  judiciously  applied,  and  blooming 
and  producing  with  something  like  their  pris- 
tine fertility.  The  spirit  of  improvement  did 
not  rest  with  these.  The  man  of  smaller 
means  imitated  their  example,  and  profited 
by  theu"  experience.  Tlie  barren  wastes  of 
the  last  generation  are  becoming  smiling  fields, 
groaning  with  yellow  harvests,  and  rich  mea- 
dows waving  with  sweet-scented  grasses ;  the 
voices  of  a  tliriving  rural  population  sound 
like  music  once  more  in  the  long-deserted 
ranges ;  and  the  last '  old  field '  of  Maryland 
will  soon  yield  to  the  onward  progress  of  agri- 
cultural improvement." 

Although  Maryland  is  among  the  small 
states  of  the  Union  in  point  of  territorial  di- 
mensions, her  geographical  position  is  one  of 
the  best.  She  is  surrounded  by  rivers  and 
bays  which  discharge  the  products  of  several 
states  into  her  bosom.  Her  soil  is  rich  and 
fertile  in  the  growth  of  grain  and  tobacco ; 
and,  what  is  strange,  the  mineral  resources  of 
copper,  iron,  coal,  and  even  gold,  are  to  be 
found  within  her  borders.  It  is  well  known 
that  lands  which  abound  in  mineral  ores  are 
generally  very  barren. 

The  property  of  the  state  consists  of  the 
following  items: 

PRODUCTIVE    PEOPEETT    OF    MAETLAND. 

Stocks  of  the  Farmers'  Bank  of  Maryland .  $190,000  00 

"  Rank  of  Baltimore 174,000  00 

"           Mechanics'    Bank  of  Balti- 
more       46,500  00 

"  Union  Bank  of  Maryland....     31,800  00 

"  Hagerstown  Bank 25,000  00 

"  Commercial    and    Farmers' 

Bank  of  Baltimore 21,666  66 

"  Farmers'     and     Merchants' 

Bank  of  Baltimore 12,000  00 

"  Marine  Bank  of  Baltimore..     lo,000  00 

"  Franklin  Bank  of  Baltimore.       7,500  00 

"  Baltimore  and  Ohio   R.  R. 

Company 1,050,000  00 

"  Baltimore  and  Frederickton 

Turnpike  Road  Co 10,000  00 

'*■  Baltimoro    and    Yorktown 

Turnpike  Road  Co 5,000  00 

"          Unim  Manufacturing  Co....     10,000  00 
Bonds  of  the  Rusquehanua  and  Tide-wa- 
ter Cauala 1,000,000  00 

Loan  to  the  Trusi-^es  of  Charlotte  Hall 

School 2,666  77 

Due  from  sheriffs,  clerks,  collectors,  in- 
spectors, and  auctioneers 662,813  68 

Bonds  of  the  Susquehanna  and  Tide-wa- 
ter Canal  Companies 192,500  00 

Total  productive $3,451,477  1 1 

DNPEODUCTIVE  PROPERTY  OF  MARYLAND. 

Bonds  of  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Canal 

Company $2,000,000  00 

"  Baltimore  .111(1  Sus(iuehanna 

Hnilrnad  Cnuipany 1,884,045  29 

Loanto  tlio*Prcsidinl  and  Directors  of  ") 

(he  Potomac  Company I        30.000  00 

Interest  thereon  to  IGth  of  May,  1825.  f         I.<,280  00 

Stock  of  the  Potomac  Company J      120,444  44 

"           Baltimore  and    Ohio  Rail- 
road Comijany  3,000,000  00 

"           Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Ca- 
nal Company 5,000,000  00 

"  Chesapeake   and  Delaware 

Canal  Company 60,000  00 


MARYLAND — HISTORY   AND   RESOURCES   OF. 


61 


stock  of  the  Ballimoro  and  Susquehan- 

ua  Railroad  Coinpuiiy 100,000  00 

"  Annapolis   and   Klk  Ridgo 

Kuilroad  (Joinpaiiy 299  378  46 

«  Eastern  Sliori;  Railroad  Co.       BG,862  00 

"  NanticoUe  Uridgu  Company.        4,333  33 

"  Chcsapoakc  Stoam-Towing 

Company 25,000  00 

Stock  of  the  Elkton  Bank  of  IMaryl.ind. .       10,000  00 
Bunds  installed  aud  not  installed,  exclu- 
sive of  inlcrrst 10,759  33 

Duo  from  llio  Chosapoako  and  Ohio  Ca- 
nal Company,  for  interest, 3,274,318  57 

Due  from   tho  Baltimore  and  Susque- 
hanna R.  1{.  Co.,  for  iiiterost 925,905  76 

Penitentiary,  for  premium,  principal  and 
interest 59,096  64 

Total  unproductiye.... §16,999,623  95 
Grand  total 20,442,071  06 


PDBLIO  DEBT  OF  MARTtAND; 

Public  dobt  on  September  30th,  1849.  .$16,104,813  44 
Deduct    slerling    bonds 

held  by  the  Ualtimore 

and  Ohio  Railroad  Co . .  $3,200,000  00 

Tobacco  Loan 161,984  15 

Interest  bond-s  redeemed.     200,118  38 

Sinking  Fund 1,892,.537  61 

$5,514,640  14 

Total  public  dobt  to  bo  redeemed.. $10,650, 173  30 


The  popiil.'ition  of  Maryland,  according  to 
tlie  census  of  18.50,  the  returns  of  which  have 
been  lately  completed,  shows  the  following 
results  in  comparison  with  that  of  184    : 


POPULATION   OF  MARYLAND.* 


Wliite 
Cotinfipj.  Population. 

Alleghany 21,752  . 

Aune  Arundel 16,542.. 

Baltimore  City. 


—1850.- 


Colored. 
Fre?.  Slaves.  18.10. 

307 724 22,873. 

4,602 11,244 32,388. 


-TOTAL  POPULATION.- 


3,600. 


Baltimore  County 34,222 

Carroll 14,644 

Caroline 6,096 2,788 

Calvert .3,010 ],.520, 

Cecil 15,482 2,612. 


1840. 

15,740 

29,535 

141,441 24,625 2.946 169,012 102,513 


32,067 


Charles 6,665. . 

Dorchester 10,788. 

Frederick 3 1 ,595 . 

Harford 14,414. 

Kent 5,598. 

Montgomery 9.435 . 

Prmce  George 8,702 . 

Queen  Anne 7,040 . 

St.Mary's.         6,280. 

Somerset 13,417 . 

Talbot 7,087. 

Washington 26,969. 

Worcester 11,824 . 


913. 


3,767 41,589. 

479 15,123 17,245 

808 9,692 7,868 

4,488 9,618 9,095 

843 18,937 17,362 

9,584 16,162 16,012 

3,803 4,282 18,873 18,809 

3,637 3,261 38,493 34,983 

2,785 2,166 19,365 16,901 

3,132 2,627 11,857 10,840 

1,311 5,114 15,860 14,659 

1,138 11,510 21,.')50 19,483 

3,174 4,271 14,485 12,525 

1,690 5,811 13,681 13,244 

3,453 5,588 22,458 19,504 

2,590 4,134 13,811 12,103 

1,885 2,089 30,943 28,862 

3,-593 3,453 18,870 18,253 


Total 412,803. 


.  73,158 89,178 675,140 467,567 


The  above  table  shows  an  increase  in  the 
population  of  the  state  during  the  past  ten 
years,  of  107,573.  The  increase  in  the  whole 
state  during  the  ten  years  between  1830  and 
1840  was  but  20,527,  whilst  the  increase  in 
Baltimore  alone  waa  21,888;  so  that,  in  fact, 
the  population  of  the  state,  leaving  the  com- 
mercial emporium  out  of  the  question,  had 
decreased  during  that  decade,  1,361.  De- 
ducting the  increase  in  Baltimore  from  the 
■whole  increase,  as  shown  by  the  present  cen- 
sus, there  is  left,  as  the  increase  for  the  coun- 
ties alone,  41,004. 

The  total  free  black  population  of  the  state, 
as  shown  above,  is  now  73,158;  in  1840,  it 
was  61,937 — showing  an  increase  of  11,221. 

In  1840,  the  whole  number  of  slaves  in  the 
state  was  89,719,  whilst  there  are  now  but 
89,178— showing  a  decrease  of  641. 

The  increase  of  population  in  Baltimore 
City  is  60,499, — which  is  nearly  two  tliirds  of 


the  whole  increase  of  the  state.  Baltimore 
County  shows  the  next  greatest  increase,  be- 
ing 9,522;  Alleghany  next,  7,133;  Frederick 
next,  being  3,510;  and  Somerset  next,  2,954. 
Can-oil  County,  it  will  be  seen,  is  the  only 
county  in  the  state  that  shows  a  decrease  in 
its  population,  having  fallen  off  2,122  since  the 
last  census.  This  decrease  has  doubtless  been 
caused  by  its  neglect  to  avail  itself  of  a  direct 
railroad  connection  from  the  heai't  of  the  coun- 
ty with  Baltimore  City. 

According  to  the  last  report  of  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury  upon  the  Banking  Sys- 
tem of  the  United  States,  the  banking  capital 
of  Maryland  was,  in 


1837 $10,438,655  1845  ....$8,852,332 

1840 10,526,494  1847 7,999.004 

1841 10,214,908  1848 8.541,836 

1842 10,709,332  1849 8,.5.57,732 

1843 9,746,279  1850 8,704,7U 

1844 9,640,374 


•  Baltimore  Sun. 


52 


MARYLAND HISTORY    AND    RESOURCES    OF. 


BANKS    IN    MARYLAND,    1851.*  i 

■Location  Nnmc  of  Bank  President  Casbier.  Capital. 

Annapolis FBrmers'  Rank  of  Maryland.. George  Wells Tliomns  Franklin 298,000 

Cumberland CumlierlaiiJ  Bank David  Shriver JosHph  Shriver II -2.937 

•'  .Mineral  Itaulv Thomas  J.  McKaig Jot^epl.  II.  Tucker 1 09,137 

EUicott'.-f  Mills. .  I'atiipsco  Bank Thomas  H.  Unrsey IS.  U.  Caini>bell 12d,000 

Easton Faimnrs'  Bank,  (Branch) Theo.  R.  I  ockennaa — Riohnrd  Tliomas 271,575 

Frederi.-k "  "     Richard  Potts GodlV")'  Koontz 250,000 

"         Farmers'  and  Mechanics' William  Tyler Thomas  W.  Morgan l-.'5,430 

"         Krtderiok  County  Bank AlexaniU'r  It.  Hanson. .  .James  H.  Williams 150,000 

Hagerstown Ilasfrslown  Bank .\lexaiider  N'eil Elio  BcaUy 2.i0,000 

Port  Deposit (^ecil  Bank Jonathan  Tonio A.  Anderson 50,000 

WestminslcT liank  of  Westminster Isaac  Sliriver John  Kisher 60,000 

'•  Farmers'  and  .Mechanics' Jacob  .Mnlhias Jacob  Reese 50,000 

Williamsport..  ..Washington  County  Bank.... Daniel  Wei.sel John  Van  Lear,  Jr 135,C00 


Country Total,  12  Hanks Circulation,  $1,200,000.. Specie,  3400,000.  Capital,  §1,9.97,079 

Baltimore  street.  Bank  of  Baltimore James  H.  McCuUoh C-  C.  Jamison 1,200,000 

North  street Chesapeake  Bank John  P.  Oittin.irs Jimies  Lownds. 311,473 

Baltimore  street  Citizens'  Bank Adam  Denmead     Wm.  h.  Richardson 100,000 

Howard  street. .  .Commercial  and  Farmers'. .  .Thomas  Meredith Trueman  Cross 512,560 

South  street Farmers' and  Merchants'...  J.  Hanson 'I  honias John  Loney 393,560 

"  Farmers' and  Planters' William  E.  Mahew Thomas  B.'Rutter 6ii0,625 

North  street Franklin  Bank John  J.  Donaldson Aquila  P.  Giles 301.850 

Gay  street Marine  Bank Jacob  Bier Philip  l.ittig,  Jr 810,000 

North  (Jabert  St  Mechanics'  Bank John  B.  Morris James  \V.  Allnut 593,898 

Gay  street Merchants'  Bank James  Swan Dainel  l^prigg 1,. '500,000 

North  Charles  st.Union  Bank  of  Maryland John  M.  Gordon Robert  Mickio 916,350 

Eutaw  street Western  Bank Chauncey  Brooks James  H.  Carter 400,000 


City Total,  12  Banks Circulation,  $2,000,000. . Specie,  $2,127,000.    Cap'I.  $7,140,316 

Grand  total g9,137.395 


According  to  the  late  report  of  the  Manu- 
facturers' Convention  of  Maryland,  the  num- 
bei'  of  cotton  factories  in  the  state  the  present 
year  is  28. 

FOREIGN  TRADE  OF  MARYLAND. 


Tears,  Imports, 

1840  4,910,746 

1841 0,101.313 

1842 4,417,978 

1843 2,479,13! 

1844 3,917,750 

184.1 3,741,804 

1846 4,042,915 

1848 5.348.643 

1849 4,97(>,000 

1850 6,124,201 


ynm.  Fipnrts. 

1840 5,768,768 

1841 4,947,166 

1842 4.904,766 

184.3 2,820.814 

1844 .5,13.3,169 

1845 5,2.M.977 

1S46 6,979,0.=i5 

1848 7.129,782 

1P49 8,000,600 

1850 6,589,481 


POPULATION  OF  BALTIMORE. 
Tears.        Slaves.     Free  Cold.        Wliite  Totjil 

1790 1,2.55....      323....  II. 925...  13,.5()3 

1800 2,843....  2,771.... 20.91)0...  26.514 

1810 4,672....  5,671. ...36212...   46,.5.55 

1820. ..,4.3r)7....10.3.'6.... 48.855  ..  62,7.38 

1830 4,120....  14,790     ..51,710  ..  70,620 

1840  .. ..3,212.... 17980. ...ai,.321.  102.5'3 
1850....  2,946.... 24,625...  14 1,441...  109,012 
In  its  increase  in  wealth,  Baltimore  ha.i 
kept  ptice  with  the  increase  of  its  population. 
la  1808,  the  value  of  taxabU-  property  in  the 
city  was  computed  at  S2,5'.i2,780.  the  fol- 
lowing is  the  otHcial  estimate  of  tlie  value  of 
the  property,  and  the  number  of  iiouses  erect- 
ed in  the  city  for  the  hxst  six  year.^ : 

Tears.  Real  and  piT»inil  prop.    No.  Iiuiise*  rrected 

1844 53,790, 170 609 

1845 53,750,496 ],5U8 

1840 54.8-.1.217 

1847 72,079.322 2,006 

1848 74,228.276 1 ,920 

1849 -8,25.!.588 1,894 

1850 80,237,900 

Tlie  city  now  contains  upwards  of  an  hun- 
dred cluirche.s,  tliree  universities,  four  colleges, 
and  many  beautihd  and  cummodious  puljUc 
buildings.     To  notice  these,  however,  further 


than  they  affect  the  commercial  or  mercantile 
ciiaracter  of  the  city,  is  no  part  of  the  design 
of  tliis  article.  The  Merchants'  Exchange,  at 
the  corner  of  Gay  and  Lombard  streets,  is  a  spa- 
cious building,  225  feet  long  by  141  feet  wide, 
and  contains,  besides  the  usual  reading-room, 
and  the  room  for  the  meeting  of  the  mer- 
chants, the  custom-house,  bank,  telegraphic 
offices,  a  hotel,  &c.  The  room  in  which  the 
merchants' meetings  are  held  is  fifty-three  feet 
square,  has  upon  its  east  and  west  sides  co- 
lonnade.s,  the  columns  of  which  are  of  fine 
Italian  marble,  each  a  single  block,  and  it  is 
lighted  by  a  dome  115  feet  above  the  street 

The  tottil  value  of  goods  shipped  from  Bal- 
timore during  the  year  ending  June  30th, 
1849,  was  88,000,61)0;  of  which  $7,780,695 
were  of  articles  of  domestic  produce,  and 
*213.065  of  foreign  articles.  The  exports 
were  in  634  vessels,  with  a  tonnage  of  149,928 
tons  and  employing  6,335  men  in  their  navi- 
gation. Of  the  above,  491  vessels  were  Ame- 
rican, and  145  umlcr  the  flags  of  eighteen  dif- 
ferent foreign  nations. 

The  foreign  imports  into  Baltimore  during 
the  same  time  were  valued  at  $4,976,731,  of 
which  $4,613,219  were  in  American  vessels. 
The  foreign  imjiorts  were  received  in  484 
vessels, of  the  tonnage  of  110,068,  and  manned 
by  4,581  men. 

The  total  niunber  of  vessels  owned  and  re- 
gistered at  Btiltimore  on  the  30th  of  June, 
1849,  was  134,025.35  tons— 53,624.75  tons 
being  engaged  in  coasting,  and  11,464.28  tons 
in  steam  navigation.  In  the  same  year  there 
were  built  in  Baltimare  9  ships  and  barks,  8 
brigs,  41  schooners,  5  steamers,  with  the  ag- 
gregate tonnage  of  12,199.66  tons.  (See  B^- 
timore.) 


*  Bankers'  Magazine. 


MAINE EARLY    HISTORY    AND    PRESENT    CONDITION    OF. 


53 


MAINE. — Its  Early  HrsTonv— riivsiCAi. 
Aspect — Auricultuual  and  Mineral  Re 
SOWRCKs  —  Commerce— Manufactures — Gov 
EENMENT— Finances — Population — Schools, 
CoLLKGKs,  (tc,  &c. — lu  tho  year  1603,  a  com- 
pany (if  Bristol  merchants  fitted  out  an  expidi- 
tion  of  two  small  vessels,  under  the  command  of 
Martin  Piing,  for  the  purpose  of  exploring  the 
shores  of  America  north  of  Martha's  Vineyard 
and  Massachusetts  Bay,  and  of  opening  a  trade 
with  tlie  natives — ?ome  very  flaltering  notices 
having  been  received  of  that  portion  of  the 
New  World  from  Bartholomow  Gosnold,  who 
had  visited  it  the  year  before.  Pring  landed 
on  the  coast  of  Maine,  in  June,  1603,  discov- 
ered some  of  its  principal  rivers,  and  re- 
turned to  England.  In  1606  he  repeated  the 
voyage,  and  made  a  more  accurate  survey  of 
Maine  ttian  before.  The  whole  country,  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Hudson  to  New-Brunswick, 
was  in  the  same  year  granted  by  James  I.,  of 
England,  to  a  body  of  "  kuiglits,  gentlemen, 
and  merchants,"  in  England,  called  the  Ply- 
mouth Company.  This  company  sent  out  a 
colony  of  jjlanters,  under  George  Popham, 
who  landed  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kennebec 
river  on  the  21st  of  August,  1607,  and 
erected  a  few  rude  cabins,  a  store-house,  and 
some  slight  fortifications.  Forty-five  only  of 
the  emigrants  remained  at  the  place,  which 
they  called  St.  George;  the  rest  returned  to 
England   in  the   following   December.     The 

glace  where  this  colony,  usually  called  the 
agadahoc  colony,  passed  the  winter,  is  now 
the  town  of  Phippsburg.  The  winter  was 
extremely  severe,  and  the  poor  emigrants 
suffered  from  famine  and  hardships  of  every 
description.  Their  store-house  was  destroyed 
by  fire,  their  commander  died,  and  in  the  fol- 
lowing year  they  abandoned  the  settlement, 
and  returned  to  England. 

The  principal  object  of  trading  vessels  to 
the  American  coasts,  at  that  early  period,  was 
the  collection  of  furs  and  skins,  and  of  sassa- 
fras, then  becoming  fashionable  in  England, 
as  a  medicinal  drug.  Priug  took  home  with 
him  one  of  his  vessels  entirely  freighted  with 
sassafras,  and  the  other  with  furs  and  skins. 

The  next  settlers  on  the  New-England 
coast  were  the  Pilgrims,  at  Plymouth,  in 
1620,  from  whom  settlers  gradually  extended 
to  the  coasts  of  Maine.  Gorges  and  Mason, 
two  Englishmen,  had  long  been  engaged  in 
trafficking  on  these  coasts.  In  1621  Mason 
obtained  the  grant  of  a  tract  of  country,  ex- 
tending from  Salem  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Merrimac ;  and  in  1622  Mason  and  Gorges, 
together,  obtained  a  grant  of  the  whole  tract 
from  the  Merrimac  to  the  Kennebec,  which 
they  called  Laconia.  They  sent  out  a  colony 
of  fishermen,  who  settled  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Piscataqua,  where  Portsmouth  now  stands. 
Others,  fishmongers  from  Lontlon,  settled  at 
Dover,  eight  miles  np  the  river.  These  set- 
tlements, in  what  is  now  New-Hampshire,  are 


among  the  oldest  in  the  United  States ;  but 
they  did  not  prosper,  and  were  only  fishing 
stutio  18.  Settlements  of  stragglers  continued 
to  be  made  eastward  along  the  coast.  In 
1625  thero  was  a  settlement  at  what  is  now 
York,  and  another  at  the  mouth  of  the  Saco. 
In  1632  the  people  of  Plymouth  established 
a  trading-house  on  the  Penobscot,  and  one  at 
Machias,  at  the  entrance  of  tlie  Bay  of  Fundy, 
both  of  which  places  were  plundered  by  the 
French  in  1633,  who  claimed  the  whole 
country  east  of  Pemaquid  Point.  In  1635 
the  French  sent  an  armed  vessel  to  the  trad- 
ing house  at  Penobscot,  and  took  possession 
of  it,  paying  the  traders  for  their  goods  in 
bills  on  France.  The  traders  were  sent  home 
to  Plymouth.  An  attempt  was  made  to  re- 
gain tlie  place,  but  without  success ;  and  the 
French  held  it  many  years. 

In  1635,  the  Council  of  New-England  sur- 
rendered their  patent,  and  their  territories 
fell  to  eight  different  proprietors.  Gorges 
was  one  of  them  ;  and  to  his  territories,  lying 
between  the  Kennebec  and  Piscataqua,  he 
gave  the  name  of  New-Somerset.  He  sent 
out  his  nephew,  William  Gorges,  as  his  dep- 
uty, to  establish  a  government  over  the  set- 
tlements. A  general  court  was  held  at  Saco. 
In  1639,  Gorges,  who  for  thirty  years  had 
been  engaged  in  colonization  projects,  and 
who  had  lost  by  them  some  §598,000,  obtained 
a  royal  charter  for  his  American  provinces, 
and  changed  their  name  to  Maine,  in  honor,  it 
is  conjectured,  of  the  Queen  of  England,  who 
had  some  feudal  relation  with  the  French 
province  of  that  name.  It  had.  ho\vli*'er, 
been  long  the  custom  of  the  planters  and 
fishermen  of  the  whole  New- England  coast, 
to  designate  it  as  "  the  Main,"  to  distinguish 
the  main  1  nd  from  the  islands. 

Gorges,  who  appears  to  have  had  some- 
what pompous  and  inflated  notions  of  things, 
attempted  to  erect  over  his  fishmonger  sub- 
jects a  stately  government,  consisting  of 
a  lieutenant,  chancellor,  marshal,  admiral, 
(though  he  had  no  navy,)  and  other  high 
officers,  who,  together  with  eight  deputies 
chosen  by  the  people,  were  to  constitute  the 
general  court,  or  legislative  council.  The 
little  hamlet  of  Agamenticus  he  chartered  as 
a  city,  and  changed  its  name  to  Georgiana,  in 
honor  of  himself. 

When  the  civil  war  commenced  in  England, 
Sir  Fernando  Gorges  adhered  to  the  king,  and 
his  enemies  succeeded  in  getting  wrested  from 
him  all  his  territory  north  and  east  of  the  Saco. 
Gorges  died  in  1647,  and  iu  1652  his  little 
province  was  annexed  to  Massachusetts,  and 
Georgiana  changed  to  York. 

The  heirs  of  Gorges  contended  with  Mas- 
sachusetts for  Maine  until  the  year  1677,  when 
they  sold  all  their  right  and  title  to  it  for  the 
sum  of  £1,200.  The  province,  as  claimed  by 
Massachusetts,  under  this  purchase,  did  not 
I  extend  east  of  the  Kennebec.    The  French 


54 


MAINE EARLY   mSTORY    AND    PRESENT    CONDITION    OF. 


claimed  all  east  of  that  as  part  of  Acadie; 
and  New- York,  then  governed  by  Andros, 
claimed  all  between  the  Kennebec  and  Pe- 
nobscot. Androa  built  a  fort  at  Peniaquid, 
and  purchased  peace  of  the  Indians,  who  had 
nearly  depopulated  the  white  settlements,  by 
agreeing  to  pay  them  an  annual  tribute  of 
com — a  peck  for  each  English  family. 

From  1670  to  1712,  the  English  settlements 
in  Maine  suffered  much  from  the  incursion?  of 
the  Indians  and  French.  Some  of  the  towns 
■were  completely  destroyed,  and  large  num- 
bers of  people  massacred.  The  government 
of  Maesachusetts  offered  a  reward  of  $132  for 
every  grown  Indian  taken  prisoner.  By  the 
treaty  of  Utrecht,  in  1712,  France  yielded  to 
England  all  her  claims  to  Acadie,  and  thus 
the  Indian  massacres  in  New-England  ceased. 
Of  all  the  flourishing  settlements  on  the  coast 
of  Maine,  however,  only  three  were  left,  the 
others  having  been  destroyed. 

.Maine  being  incorporated  with  Massachu- 
setts, its  history  is  merged  in  that  of  the  latter, 
and  we  hear  nothing  more  of  it  until  after  the 
Revolutionary  War.  In  1785  its  population 
was  so  increased  that  a  convention  of  the 
people  was  held  at  Portland,  to  consider  the 
expediency  of  erecting  themselves  into  an 
independent  state. 

Ptirtland  was  first  settled  in  1632,  and  pur- 
chased by  Gorges  in  1637.  In  1675  it  was 
destroyed  in  the  Indian  war,  and  again  in  1690 
by  the  same  enemy.  It  was  rebuilt  in  1715, 
and  in  twenty  years  afterwards  its  trade  in 
lumber  was  extensive,  so  that  it  supplied  the 
BAish  navy  with  masts  and  spars,  which 
were  chiefly  exported  in  foreign  vessels.  At 
the  commencement  of  the  Revolution,  Port- 
land had  a  population  of  1,900,  and  a  port 
tonnage  of  2,555.  It  had  230  houses,  and  a 
Congregational  and  Episcopal  church.  In 
1775  it  was  bombarded  by  the  British,  and 
136  houses,  including  the  principal  public 
buildings,  were  destroyed.  The  place  was  at 
that  time  called  Falmouth,  which  was  changed 
to  Portland  in  1786.  It  is  now  the  largest 
town  in  Maine. 

It  was  not  until  1802  that  another  effort 
was  made  by  thi'  people  of  Maine  to  become 
a  separate  state.  In  1788  the  people  opposed 
the  ratification  of  the  federal  constitution, 
chiefly  on  the  ground  tliat  it  might  prove  an 
obstacle  to  their  favorite  project  of  becoming 
an  independent  state,  which  was  not  effected 
until  1820. 

Tiie  boundaries  of  Maine,  as  fixed  by  the 
late  treaty,  are  the  result  of  a  controversy 
with  Great  Britain  of  a  quarter  of  a  century's 
standing,  and  ot»e  which  came  near  involving 
the  two  countries  in  a  war.  By  the  treaty, 
the  St.  Croix,  and  a  line  running  due  north 
from  the  niomiment  at  its  source  to  the  St. 
John's  river,  form  the  boundary  on  the  east. 
On  the  north,  the  line  follows  the  St.  John's 
and  St,  Francis  rivers  to  lake  Pohenagamook. 


On  the  west,  the  line  follows  the  high  lands 
from  that  lake  in  a  south-west  direction  to  the 
north-east  comer  of  New-Hampshire,  which 
state  forms  part  of  the  western  boundary. 
The  Atlantic  is  on  the  south. 

Maine  is  the  largest  of  the  New- England 
States,  having  an  area  of  30,000  square  miles, 
or  more  than  four  times  the  area  of  Massa- 
chusetts. Maine  is  diversified,  of  an  uneven 
surface,  but  not  generally  mountainous.  Near 
the  sea  the  land  is  mostly  level.  Farther 
inland,  it  becomes  hilly,  and  finally  mountain- 
ous. Mount  Kotahdin,  the  highest  elevation, 
is  5,300  feet  high.  In  the  interior  there  are  a 
number  of  small  lakes,  noted  for  their  scenery. 
Maine  his  a  sea-coast  of  over  230  miles, 
indented  by  numerous  bays,  and  protected  by 
numerous  islands.  It  has  more  good  harbors 
than  any  other  state  in  the  Union.  The  land 
on  the  sea-coast,  for  from  ten  to  twenty  miles 
inland,  is  not  very  fertile,  but  improves  in 
quality  as  one  leaves  the  coast.  In  the  north- 
west and  south-east  parts,  the  soil  is  light  and 
indifferent.  Between  the  Penobscot  and  Ken- 
nebec there  are  lands  equal  m  fertility  to  any 
in  the  Union. 

The  climate  of  Maine  is  .subject  to  great 
extremes  of  heat  and  cold,  ranging  from  100° 
of  Fahrenheit's  thermometer,  in  summer,  down 
to  27°  below  zero  in  winter.  It  is,  however, 
generally  healthy.  The  season  of  vegetation 
does  not  continue  in  vigor  more  than  three 
and  a  half  months  in  the  year,  its  greatest 
length  being  from  the  21st  of  April  to  the 
16th  of  October. 

Maine  has  a  number  of  fine  rivers.  The 
Penobscot,  250  miles  long,  is  navigable  for 
large  ships  to  Bangor,  52  miles  fiora  the 
ocean.  The  Kennebec,  250  miles  long,  is 
navigable  for  large  ships  12  miles,  to  Bath, 
and  for  vessels  of  100  tons,  42  miles,  to 
Augusta.  The  Saco  is  navigable  only  sis 
miles.  The  entrance  and  exit  from  the  rivers 
of  Maine  arc  very  much  facilitated  by  the 
high  tides  which  prevail  there.  At  Bangor, 
52  miles  from  the  sea,  the  tide  rises  seventeen 
or  eighteen  feet. 

It  is  computed,  that  at  least  one  tenth  of 
the  surface  of  Maine  is  covered  with  water, 
so  immerous  are  the  lakes  and  ponds  in  the 
interior.  Lake  Moosehead,  the  large.st,  is  50 
miles  long,  and  10  or  12  broad.  Penobscot 
Bay  is  30  miles  long  and  18  wide.  Casco  is 
20  miles  long. 

Maine  is  noted  for  its  fisheries,  lumber,  and 
ship  building.  Its  other  products  are  grass, 
flax,  and  all  the  different  kinds  of  grain ;  but 
the  season  is  often  too  short  for  Indian  com. 
The  wild  lands  produce  vast  quantities  of 
timber  and  lumber,  which  may  be  regarded 
as  the  staple  production,  the  annual  amount 
exported  being  from  10  to  ?1 5.0(10,000.  The 
state  is  well  adapted  to  grazing  and  wool 
growing,  the  amount  of  wool  being  several 
millions  of  dollars  annually.     Lime,  marble, 


MAINE EAKLY    HISTORY    AND    PRESENT    CONDITION    OF. 


55 


and  ice  are  exported  in  vast  quantities.  Ships 
are  manufactured  for  a  foreign  market,  and 
the  fisheries  furnish  employment  for  thousands 
of  the  citizens. 

The  most  commercial  places  in  the  state 
arc  Portland,  Bangor,  Bath,  Hallowell,  Au- 
gusta, Thomaston,  famous  for  its  lime,  Belfast, 
Wiscasaet,  Wells,  Gardiner,  Brunswick,  Cam- 
den, Castine,  Eastport,  and  Topsham,  noted 
for  its  ship-building. 

Goveniinent. — The  government  of  Maine 
consists  of  a  Governor,  Senate,  and  House  of 
Eepresentatives.  The  governor  is  elected 
annually  by  the  people,  and  has  a  salary  of 
§1,500.  A  council  of  seven  persons  to  advise 
the  governor,  is  elected  annually  by  the  joint 
ballot  of  the  legislature.  The  members  of 
the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives — 
the  former  consisting  of  thirty-one,  and  the 
latter  of  one  hundred  and  fifty-one  members — 
are  elected  by  the  people,  annually.  All 
male  citizens  of  the  United  St&tcs,  21  years 
of  age,  (except  paupers,)  who  have  been  in 
the  state  three  months  previous  to  an  election, 
are  voters,  by  written  ballot. 

Jndk'iary. — This  is  vested  in  a  supreme 
judicial  court,  and  such  other  courts  as  the 
legislature  may,  from  time  to  time,  establish. 
The  Supreme  Court  has  four  judges,  with  a 
salary  of  81,800.  The  state  is  divided  into 
three  districts,  with  a  judge  over  each — 
salary,  §1,200.  In  each  of  the  13  counties 
there  is  a  Probate  Court,  with  salaries  vary- 
ing from  $150  to  $620. 

Finances. — Maine  has  a  total  debt  of 
$600,500,  paying  an  interest  of  $36,000. 
From  the  last  report  of  the  state  treasurer, 
we  have  the  following ; 

Amount  of  receipts  from  Blay  1, 
1851,  to  April  30,  1851 $426,196  30 

Balance  of  cash  in  treasury  May  1, 

1850 125,924  07 

$552,120  37 
Amount  of  expenditures  from  May  1, 

1850,  to  April  30,  1851,  iuclusivo  . .    507,450  30 

Leaving  a  balance  in  treasury  May  1, 

1851,  of $44,670  07 

Some  of  the  heaviest  items  of  expenditure 
in  1850-51  were  as  follows:  Pay  of  the 
legislature,  $47,976  ;  salaries,  $24,557 ;  roll 
of  accounts,  $15,238  ;  cost  of  criminal  prose- 
cutions, $26,887  ;  school  fund,  $81,610  ;  state 
roads  and  bridges,  $6,750 ;  deaf,  dumb,  and 
blind,  $5,126  ;  state  reform  school,  $3,000 ; 
insane  hospital,  $602 ;  teachers'  institutes, 
$2,600. 

The  resources  of  the  state,  consisting  prin- 
cipally of  direct  taxes  and  income  from  the 
land-office,  are  estimated  at  $688,602,  for 
1851.  During  the  same  year  the  chief  re- 
Bources  of  income  werj  as  follows:  Direct 
taxes,  $207,575;  land-office,  $137,341;  per- 
manent school  fund,  $2,707 ;  school  fund,  No. 


18,  $28,440;  duties  on  commissions,  $1,860  ; 
bank  dividends,  $800  ;  U.  S.  stock  and  pre- 
mium, $21,850;  interest  on  U.  S.  loan,  $600. 
J'opulation. — The  progress  of  the  popula- 
tion of  Maine,  since  1790,  has  been  as  follows: 

Increase  per  cent. 

1790 96,540   

1800  151,719   67.2 

1810 228,705   60.7 

1820 298,335   30.4 

1830  399,955   34.0 

1840 501,793 24.9 

1850 683,088* 16.6 

The  present  population  consists  of  103,787 
families,  containing  296,635  white  males,  and 
285,128  white  females.  Tlie  free  colored 
population  is  1,325.  The  number  of  dwelling- 
houses  in  the  .state  is  95,797.  Its  number  of 
representatives  in  Congress  is  six,  having  lost 
one  by  the  apportionment  of  the  last  census. 
As  each  representative  must  represent  93,702 
persons,  Maine  has  a  residuary  fraction  of 
21,020  persons. 

The  two  most  populous  cities  in  Maine  are 
Portland  and  Bangor,  the  population  of  the 
former  being  26,819,  and  of  the  latter,  14,441. 

Common  Schools. — In  1828,  the  state  set 
apart  20  town.ships  of  public  land  as  a  basis 
for  a  school  fund.  These  lands  have  yielded 
thus  far  $104,363,  which  is  permanent  school 
fund.  In  1850,  there  were  set  apart  24  half 
townships  more.  The  banks  are  also  required 
to  give  to  the  school  fund,  semi-annually,  one 
half  of  one  per  cent,  on  their  capital  stock. 
This  tax,  in  1850,  amounted  to  $27,230; 
which,  added  to  the  interest  arising  from  the 
school  fund,  amounting  to  $6,216,  makes 
$33,492,  the  sum  divided  among  the  towns 
of  the  state,  in  1850,  for  school  purposes. 
The  inhabitants  of  every  town  are  also  taxed 
40  cents  each  for  the  support  of  schools.  In 
1850,  this  tax  amounted  to  $264,351. 

The  number  of  common  schools  in  the  state, 
in  1850,  was  6,627,  with  230,274  pupils.  The 
average  monthly  wages  of  male  teachers  is 
$16.66;  of  female  $5.92.  There  are  school 
libraries  in  nine  towns.  There  are  92  char- 
tered academies  in  the  state.  Teachers'  insti- 
tutes also  have  been  in  successful  operation 
for  several  years;  1,732  teachers  attended 
them  in  1850. 

Colleges. — Bowdoin  College,  at  Brunswick, 
named  in  honor  of  its  principal  benefactor, 
the  Hon.  James  Bowdoin,  was  founded  in 
1794.  Its  president  is  Leonard  Woods,  jr., 
D.D.  It  has  14  professors,  1,051  alumni,  and 
121  students,  at  the  present  time.  Its  library 
contains  22,900  volumes.  Waterville  College 
was  founded  in  1820,  by  the  Baptists,  at 
Waterville.  David  N.  Sheldon,  D.D.,  is  its 
president.   It  has  five  professors  and  76  stu- 


•  This  gives  19  inhabitants  to  tbo  stiuare  mile. 


56 


MISSOURI ITS    HISTORY. 


dents.  There  is  also  the  Bangor  Tboological 
Seminaiy,  at  Bangor,  founded  in  1816;  the 
Wesleyaa  Seminary,  at  Readfield,  founded 
in  1822.  Maine  has  al'o  the  Maine  Medical 
School,  at  Brun.=iwick,  founded  in  1820;  it  has 
five  professors  and  51  students. 

There  were  in  Maine,  in  1840,  3,241  per- 
sons, over  20  years  of  age,  xvlio  could  neither 
read  nor  write. 

Internal  Improvements. — The  Cumberland 
and  Oxford  Canal,  connecting  Portland  with 
Sabago  pond,  and,  by  locks  in  the  Songo  river, 
with  Brandy  and  Long  ponds,  forms  a  naviga- 
tion of  50^  miles.  It  is  34  feet  wide,  contains 
26  locks,  and  cost  ?250,000. 

Railroads. — The  Androscoggin  and  Kenne- 
bec Railroad  is  55  miles  long,  and  cost 
$1,621,878.  The  Bangor  and  Piscataquis  is 
11  f  miles  long.  The  Calais  and  Baring,  6 
miles  long.  The  Portland,  Saco,  and  Ports- 
mouth is  52  miles  long.  The  great  Atlantic 
and  St.  Lawrence  Railroad,  extending  from 
Portland  to  the  Canada  line,  which  it  strikes 
at  the  town  of  Canada,  in  Vermont,  where  it 
connects  with  the  St.  Lawrence  and  Atlantic 
Railroad,  extending  from  Montreal  eastward, 
is  156  miles  long.  Railroad  cars  now  run 
through  from  Montreal  to  Portland.  It  has  a 
branch  13  miles  long. 

The  Kennebec,  Bath,  and  Portland  Railroad 
connects  Portland  with  Augusta,  the  capital 
of  the  state.  It  is  60  miles  long.  There  is 
also  the  York  and  Cumberland,  from  Portland 
to  Great  Falls,  New-Hampshire,  which  is 
about  50  miles  long. 

On  tlie  1st  of  January,  1852,  Maine  had 
315  miles  of  railroad  complete  and  in  use,  and 
127  miles  in  progress  of  completion ;  making 
in  all,  442  miles. 

Manufactures. — From  the  returns  of  the 
last  census,  we  have  the  following  statistics 
on  the  manufacture  of  cotton,  woollen,  and 
iron,  in  the  state  of  Maine,  up  to  1850 : 

Caintal  H»nd8  Value  of 

llivesteil.      enlploveJ       Pr.  Jucts 

Cotton  goods $3,.329.700 ..  3,739 . .  $2,596,356 

WooUin  goods,. . .      467,(iU0..     624.,       753.300 

Pig  Iron, 214,000..       71..         3{i,GlG 

Iron  Castings, 150,100..     244..      265,000 

The  number  of  spindles  employed  in  the 
manufacture  of  cotton,  in  1850,  was  142,700; 
but  during  that  year  112,500  were  stopped. 

The  quantity  of  lumber  of  all  kinds  manu- 
factured in  Maine,  in  1850,  was  203,754,201 
feet;  in  1851  it  was  202,005,830  feet,  which, 
at  the  average  price  of  *10  per  thousand 
feet,  would  amount  to  ?  2,020,05  8. 

Maine  is  noted  for  its  ship-building.  In 
1850  it  built  127  ships,  75  brigs,  115  schoo- 
ners, 3  sloops,  and  6  steamers; — in  all,  326 
Tessels,  having  a  tonnage  of  91,211.  No 
other  state  in  the  Union  built  halt  as  many, 
except  New- York,  which  built  224  vessels,  of 
a  tonnage  of  58,342. 

Salt  is  manufactured  in  large  quantities  iu 


Maine ;  also,  paper,  leather,  hats,  caps,  bon- 
nets, articles  of  saddlery,  pottery  ware,  bricks, 
lime,  machinery,  hardware,  cutlery,  cordage, 
carriages  and  wagons,  furniture,  drc.  The 
amount  of  capital  employed  in  manufactures 
is  not  probably  less  than  §10,500,000. 

Commerce. — Maine  exported,  in  the  year 
ending  July  1,  1850,  domestic  products  to  the 
amount  of  81,536,818,  and  foreign  to  the 
amount  of  $29,094.  Her  total  imports,  for 
the  same  year,  amounted  to  $856,411. 

Banks. — Maine  has  thirty -seven  banks,  with 
a  capital  of  83,586,100  for  all  of  them.  Their 
entire  circulation  is  §2,994,905.  Tlicir  total 
liabilities  amount  to  88,251,260.  These  are 
met  by  the  following  resources : 

Loans §6,450,460 

Bank  balances 813,232 

Specie  on  hand 630,296 

Real  estate 102,570 

Bills  of  MHine  banks 150,016 

Bills  of  other  banks 104,686 

Total  resources $8,251,260 

Such  is  the  condition  of  banking  in  Maine, 
as  furnished  by  the  last  annual  abstract,  pub- 
lished by  the  Secretary  ol  State  in  May,  1851. 
The  average  dividends  of  these  banks  is  about 
four  per  cent. 

More  complete  statistics  of  Maine  cannot 
be  given,  until  the  returns  of  the  last  United 
States  census  are  known. 

MISSOURI.— Its  History— St.\tk  Gov- 
ernment, Courts,  etc. — Boundaries,  and  Sur- 
face AND  Soil  of  the  Country — Natuu.u, 
Productions  and  Clim.\te — Principal  Rivers 
— Cuief  Towns — JIineral  Resources  of  the 
State  —  Internal  I.mi'rovements  —  Popula- 
tion—education, ETC.,  ETC. 

History. — Hernando  de  Soto  may  be  said 
to  be  the  first  European  that  beheld  the  river 
Mississippi,  called  by  him,  on  its  discovery, 
(April,  1541,)  "Rio  Grande."  Crossing  this 
stream,  probably  some  thirty  miles  below 
Helena,  in  the  state  of  Arkansas,  he  traversed, 
at  the  head  of  his  adventurous  band,  a  good- 
ly portion  of  the  territoiy  beyond.  He  is 
thought  by  some,  but  without  sufficient  reason, 
to  Iiavc  come,  during  this  march,  into  the 
limits  of  the  present  state  of  Missouri.  The 
Mississippi  was  first  explored  iu  1673,  by 
Marquette  and  Joliet,  two  French  mission- 
aries, and  more  fully  by  La  Salle,  also  a  na- 
tive of  France,  in  1C82.  By  him  all  the  re- 
gion situate  between  the  so-called  "  Illinois 
country  "  and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  was  for- 
mally declared  an  aj)pcndage  of  the  French 
crown,  and  called  Louisiana,  in  lionor  of  the 
reigning  monarch.  From  this  time,  settlements 
began  to  be  made  by  the  French  within  the  Mis- 
sissippi valley,  advancing  respectively  from 
the  northern  and  southern  extremities  towards 


MISSOURI ITS    HISTORY. 


57 


the  interior.  Canada  had  long  (from  1608) 
been  inhibited  by  colonists  from  France  ;  but 
not  till  tlie  beginning  of  the  18th  century  was 
the  region  bordering  on  the  gulf  alike  distin- 
guished. Natchez  was  settled  in  1700;  New- 
Orleans  was  founded  in  1718;  and  within  ?. 
few  years  the  whole  valley  was  protected 
from  Spanish  invasion  by  a  chain  of  forts  ex- 
tending from  the  lakes  to  the  Mexican  gulf 
Among  these,  was  built  in  1719,  Fort  Orleans, 
near  the  mouth  of  the  Osage,  not  fiir  from  the 
present  capital  of  Missouri.  The  "  Illinois 
country,"  above  mentioned,  was  discovered 
and  explored  by  Joliet  and  Marquette,  and 
was  colonized  before  Louisiana.  The  first 
settlement  was  made  at  Kaskaskia,  in  1684; 
the  next,  at  Cahokia,  in  1699 ;  and  Viucen- 
nes,  in  1735. 

In  legal  proceedings,  the  region  now  known 
as  the  state  of  Missouri  was  included  by  the 
French  and  Spanish  in  the  Illinois  country ; 
but  popularly  and  historically  it  was  denomi- 
nated '■  Upper  Louisiana."  The  state  of  Ar- 
kansas was  included  within  the  same  division. 
Situated  in  the  central  part  of  the  valley,  the 
progress  of  settlement  in  Missouri  at  first  was 
not  rapid.  Its  lead  mines  were  worked  as 
early  as  1720.  In  1755,  the  oldest  town  in 
the  state,  St.  Genevieve,  was  founded ;  St. 
Louis,  in  1764;  and  afterwards  a  number  of 
towns  in  quick  succession.  During  all  this 
time,  there  was  granted  only  one  tract  of  land 
■within  the  limits  of  the  state.  Meanwhile 
(1703)  the  jurisdiction  of  the  valley  passed 
from  France  to  Spain  and  England :  Spain 
obtaimng  all  the  territory  west  of  the  Missis- 
sippi; England  all  east  of  that  river.  To 
England,  too,  was  assigned,  as  the  reward  of 
conquest,  made  permanent  by  the  treaty  of 
1763,  the  entire  province  of  Canada.  France, 
after  a  violent  contest,  had  been  despoiled  of 
all  her  territorial  possessions  in  North  Amer- 
ica. During  the  struggle,  a  number  of  Ca- 
nadian French,  expecting  but  dreading  the 
English  yoke,  emigrated  by  the  way  of  the 
lakes,  and  going  southward,  located  in  Illinois, 
and  I'pper  and  Lower  Louisiana.  Hence  the 
first  important  impulse  to  the  colonization  of 
Missouri.  The  population  of  Spanish  Loui- 
siana at  the  time  of  its  public  transfer,  not 
without  serious  opposition  on  the  part  of 
the  settlers,  (1769,)  was  estimated  at  13,540 
persons,  of  whom  5,556  were  whites,  the  re- 
mainder negro  slaves.  Of  the  whites,  over 
2,000  were  able  to  bear  arms.  Of  the  whole 
populivtion,  the  city  of  New-Orleans  alone 
contained  3,190  souls,  domiciliated  in  468 
bouses.  A  river  trade  had  sprung  up  be- 
tween the  northern  and  southern  portions  of 
the  province ;  and  the  exports  of  the  province 
amounted,  the  year  before,  to  ?250,0ii0. 

The  character  of  the  new  government  was 
mild  and  conciliating.  The  laws  of  Spain 
were  promulgated  as  the  law  of  the  land.  The 
highest  tribunal  in  Lower  Louisiana  was  that 


of  the  governor ;  in  Upper  Louisiana,  that  of 
the  lieutenant  governor.  The  commandants 
of  the  various  posts  in  the  province  were  the 
inferior  tribunals.  Lands  were  granted  liber- 
ally to  colonists,  on  the  payment  of  a  trifling 
douceur  to  the  proper  commandant ;  and  every 
encouragement  was  given  to  those  wishing  to 
effect  a  settlement.  Numerous  emigrants  from 
Spain  flocked  into  the  province.  In  1775,  St. 
Louis,  originally  a  depot  for  the  fur  trade, 
had  increased  in  population  to  800.  Its  houses 
numbered  120,  many  of  them  built  of  stone. 
St.  Genevieve  contained  460  inhabitants,  and 
about  100  houses.  Just  then  the  American 
revolution  broke  out,  and  Spain,  siding  with 
the  English  colonists,  entered  into  hostilities 
against  England.  In  Lower  Louisiana  and  iu 
West  Florida,  the  arms  of  Spain  were  suc- 
cessful. Meantime  St.  Louis  was  besieged 
and  attacked  (1780)  by  a  body  of  British 
troops  and  Indians,  1,540  strong,  from  Michili- 
mackinac  and  the  southern  extremity  of  Lake 
Michigan.  Col.  Clark, then  at  Kaskaskia,  being 
called  on  for  assistance,  arrived  in  time  to  give 
succor,  when  the  grand  assault  was  being  made 
upon  the  town,  (May  6  ;)  for,  attacked  by  the 
"  Longknives,"  as  the  Indians  called  the  Amer- 
icans, they  fled  from  the  scene,  and  returned 
in  chagrin  to  their  homes.  During  the  siege, 
which  lasted  a  week,  about  sixty  persons  were 
killed  in  the  town  and  vicinity.  Thirty  more, 
who  had  been  captured  by  the  Indians,  were 
rescued  by  the  gallant  Clark.  The  force  under 
his  command  was  not  quite  500  men.  The 
general  peace  of  1783  put  an  end  to  hostili- 
ties. Spain  retained  her  previous  possessions, 
and  received  in  addition  the  whole  of  Florida 
south  of  the  31st  parallel  of  latitude.  Great 
Britain  resigned  East  Louisiana,  called  also 
Illinois,  to  the  United  States,  retaining  only 
Canada. 

Emigration  into  Spanish  Louisiana  began 
once  more  on  the  restoration  of  peace,  and 
trade  and  agriculture  commenced  again  to 
flourish.  The  hardy  settlers  of  the  western 
part  of  the  United  States  now  built  their 
cabins  in  numerous  places  on  the  west  side  of 
the  MississippL  As  might  have  been  ex- 
pected, difficulties  soon  arose  between  Spain 
and  the  United  States.  The  former  power 
became  jealous  of  the  increasing  greatness  of 
the  latter.  A  dispute  relative  to  the  western 
boundary  of  Georgia  and  the  navigation  of 
the  Mississippi  was  settled  by  a  treaty,  (Oct. 
20,  1795,)  by  which  the  Spanish  king  granted 
to  the  United  States  the  free  navigation  of 
the  Mississippi,  and  agreed  to  the  31st  paral- 
lel of  latitude  as  the  northern  boundary  of 
the  Floridas.  Territory  north  of  that  line, 
occupied  by  Spain  at  the  signing  of  the  treaty, 
was  not  surrendered,  however,  until  1798, 
(March  28,)  the  rival  powers  having  ap 
proached  meanwhile  the  very  brink  of  war. 
The  promised  free  navigation  of  the  Missis- 
sippi was  unexpectedly  obstructed,  a  place  of 


5S 


MISSOURI ITS    HISTORY. 


commercial  deposit  refused,  and  disabilities 
thrown  ia  the  way  of  Americans  desiring  to 
settle  in  Louisiana.  War  would  certainly 
have  ensued,  for  Spain  was  jealous  of  Amer- 
ican prosperity ;  and  the  American  spirit  of 
enterprise,  resolved  on  pa.ssing  any  and  every 
territorial  bound,  was  not  always  intent  on 
preserving  the  strictest  regard  to  the  rights, 
i"eal  or  assumed,  of  its  less  adventurous  neigh- 
bors. I  nvasion,  however,  was  prevented  by 
the  cession  of  Louisiana  to  France,  (March  21, 
1801,)  and  its  disposal  by  that  power  to  the 
United  States,  (April  30,  1803.) 

In  the  European  troubles  consequent  upon 
the  French  revolution  of  1*789,  Spain  had  be- 
come involved  in  the  general  war,  and  her 
king  was  compelled  to  bow  before  the  irresist- 
ible might  of  Xapoleon,  then  First  Consul  of 
France,  and  surrender  to  that  conqueror  the 
province  of  Louisiana.  Distrusting  his  power 
to  retain  it,  engaged  as  he  was  in  a  contest 
with  Europe,  and  pressed  for  money,  Napoleon 
Bold  the  province  to  tlie  United  States  for 
$15,000,000.  It  was  formally  delivered  to 
the  United  States  Dec.  20,  1803,  at  New- 
Orleans;  the  outposts  not  being  all  resigned  un 
til  the  ensuing  spring.  At  this  time  the  prov- 
ince contained  49,500  inhabitants,  of  whom 
6,028  were  living  in  Upper  Louisiana.  The 
products  of  its  agriculture,  in  1802,  were 
chiefly  cotton  and  sugar;  of  the  former,  20,000 
bales,  of  the  latter,  5,000  hogsheads.  The 
commerce  of  New-Orleans  had  become  exten- 
sive; its  exports,  coming  from  the  province 
and  the  AYestern  states  and  territories,  and 
consisting  chiefly  of  flour,  pork,  salt,  beef, 
tobacco,  cotton,  sugar,  molasses,  peltries,  naval 
stores  and  lumber,  amounted  to  40,000  tons. 
The  commerce  of  Upper  Louisiana  was  flour- 
ishing. A  prosperous  trade  was  being  carried 
on  between  St.  Louis  and  New-Orlean.s,  and 
with  the  settlements  on  the  Ohio,  Cumberland 
and  Tennessee  rivers.  The  annual  crop  was 
about  88,000  minots  (264,000  bushels)  of 
wheat,  84,000  of  Indian  corn,  and  28,627  lbs. 
of  tobacco.  Tiie  mines  produced  1,700  quin- 
tals (cwts.)  of  lead  ;  the  salines,  about  1,000 
bbls.  of  salt.  The  fur  trade  brought  in  about 
$70,000.  Louisiana,  henceforth,  formed  part 
of  the  United  States,  itself  "  an  empire," 
bought,  to  use  the  words  of  Bonaparte,  "  for 
a  mere  trifle." 

The  whole  purchase  was  speedily  divided 
into  the  "  Territory  of  Orleans"  (since  1812  the 
State  of  Louisana)  and  the  "  District  of  Loui- 
siana," erected  in  1806  iuto  a  territorial  govern- 
ment, administered  by  a  governor  and  territo- 
rial judges,  under  the  title  of  "Territory  of 
Loui.<iana."  The  seat  of  the  government  was 
St.  Louis:  its  districts,  St.  Cliarles,  St.  Louis, 
St.  Genevieve,  Cape  Girardeau,  New-Madrid, 
and  Arkansas.  In  1 8 1 2,  the  name  was  changed 
to  '•  Missouri  Territory."  The  province  ex- 
tended from  latitude  33°  to  41°  north,  and  the 
territorial  government  became  representative. 


William  Clarke  was  the  first  governor.  The 
assemby  consisted  of  a  Legislative  Council  of 
Nnie,  appointed  by  the  President,  and  a  House 
of  Representatives,  one  member  for  every  500 
free  white  males,  elected  by  the  people.  The 
limits  of  Missouri  Territory  on  the  west,  not 
fiir  off'  where  the  cession  was  made  by  France, 
were  gradually  extended  by  treaties  with  the 
Indians,  as  the  influx  of  immigrants  required. 
People  from  the  Western  States  began  to 
move  in  from  the  time  of  the  purchase.  In 
1810  the  population  numbered  21,000,  of 
whom  all  but  1,500,  belonging  to  Arkansas, 
were  settled  within  the  present  limits  of  Mis- 
souri. Upon  the  organization  of  the  regular 
territorial  government,  numerous  American 
pioneers  flocked  in  from  Kentucky,  Tennes- 
see, Ohio,  etc.,  especially  at  the  close  of  the 
war  with  England,  (1815 ;)  overrunning,  so  to 
speak,  the  French  settlements.  American 
habits,  usages,  laws  and  institutions  soon  be- 
came prevalent.  The  old  French  settlera 
were  quickly  merged  and  almost  lost  among 
the  later  and  more  active  population.  Chief- 
ly in  the  cities,  where  even  now  the  Catholic 
religion  is  full  of  life  and  vigor,  did  they  con- 
tinue to  exert  for  a  time  a  leading  influence ; 
their  habits,  even  in  these,  however,  becoming 
more  and  more  assimilated  to  those  of  the 
Anglo-Americans,  until  at  length  the  whole 
became  a  homogeneous  people. 

Immigration  was  so  rapid,  that  in  1817  the 
territory  contained  60,000  souls.  St.  Louis 
counted  at  that  time  5,000  inhabitants,  against 
1,000  in  1804.  It  had  already  become  the 
emporium  of  the  upper  Mississippi.  In  1817, 
application  was  made  by  the  Assembly  to 
Congress  for  authority  to  frame  a  state  consti- 
tution preliminary  to  admission  into  the  Fede- 
ral Union.  A  fierce  and  stormy  debate  arose 
at  once  on  the  subject  in  Congress.  A  power- 
ful party  demanded  that  the  new  states  should 
exclude  slavery  by  their  constitutions.  The 
discussion  raged  for  two  years,  threatening  to 
tear  the  Union  asunder.  At  length,  however, 
the  debate  was  stojiped  by  the  passage  of  the 
compromise  resolutions  of  Mr.  Clay,  by  which 
it  was  agreed  that  the  institution  of  slavery 
should  be  recognized  in  Missouri,  but  in  no 
other  new  state  north  of  latitude  36°  30'. 
The  state  constitution,  slightly  modified  since 
its  adoption,  was  framed  by  a  convention  of 
forty  delegates,  which  met  at  St.  Louis  June 
12,  1820,  and  adopted  on  the  19th  of  July 
following.  The  new  state  was  found,  by  a 
census  taken  the  same  year,  to  contain  a  popu- 
lation of  66,586,  of  whom  10,222  were  slaves. 

From  this  time  until  the  present,  there  has 
flowed  a  constant  tide  of  immigration  into 
Missouri  from  the  Southern,  Western,  and 
Northern  States,  and  from  Europe.  Before 
the  close  of  1833,  there  had  come  to  the  state 
as  many  as  30,000  frugal  and  iudustriQUS 
emigrants  from  Germany  alone.  Agriculture, 
commerce,  manufactures,  etc.,  have  kept  pace 


MISSOURI STATE    GOVERNMENT. 


■with  the  population.  In  1836,  the  65  coun- 
ties of  the  state  contained  in  all,  244,208  in- 
habitants. 

State  Government. — According  to  the  con- 
stitution, the  governor  is  chosen  by  the  peo- 
ple, for  the  term  of  four  years.  He  must  be 
85  years  old,  a  native  of  the  United  States, 
and  a  resident  of  the  state  for  four  years.  He 
nominates  the  judicial  and  some  other  civil 
officers,  pardons  and  reprieves ;  but  his  veto 
upon  a  legislative  act  is  set  aside  by  a  major- 
ity of  each  house  in  the  general  assembly.  The 
lieutenant-governor,  chosen  as  the  governor, 
is  also  president  of  the  Senate.  Tlie  general 
assembly,  or  legislature,  is  composed  of  two 
brandies,  the  Senate  and  the  House  of  Repre- 
.sentatives.  Senators  (not  fewer  than  14  nor 
more  than  33)  must  be  30  years  old,  citizens 
of  the  state  for  four  years,  tax  payers,  and  are 
chosen  for  a  term  of  four  years.  Represent- 
ativrs,  (not  above  100,)  chosen  every  two 
years,  must  be  24  years  old,  inhabitants  of 
the  state  two  years,  and  of  the  county  one, 
and  must  have  paid  a  tax.  Judges  are  ap- 
pointed by  the  Senate  on  the  nomination  of 
the  governor,  and  hold  office  during  good 
behavior,  or  until  65  years  of  age.  Soon,  no 
doubt,  they  will  be  appointed  by  popular 
election.  Every  free  white  male  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  21  years  old,  a  resident  in  the 
state  for  one  year,  and  at  the  place  of  voting 
three  mouths,  is  a  qualified  elector.  The 
Supreme  Court  is  composed  of  three  judges, 

Austin  A.  King Richmond,  . 


and  has  only  appellate  jurisdiction.  The  cir- 
cuit courts,  held  twice  a  year  in  each  county* 
iiave  exclusive  criminal  jurisdiction,  hearing 
all  cases,  unless  otherwise  directed  by  law, 
not  cognizable  by  a  justice  of  the  peace. 
County  courts  have  jurisdiction  over  matters 
probate,  and  local  county  affairs.  Appeal  is 
made  to  the  circuit  courts.  Amendments  to 
the  constitution  can  be  made  by  a  vote  of 
two  tliirds  of  tlie  general  assembly.  Only  one 
bank,  with  not  more  than  five  branches,  and 
a  capital  of  not  more  $5,000,000,  one  half  re- 
served to  the  state,  can  be  established.  Slaves 
have  the  same  protection  of  life  as  whites,  and 
in  criminal  cases  are  tried  by  a  jury,  and  pro- 
vided with  counsel  by  the  court.  A  revision 
and  digest  of  the  laws  is  to  be  made  every 
ten  years.  The  general  assembly  meets  bien- 
nially, on  the  last  Monday  in  December,  in 
Jefferson  City. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  Governors  of 
Missouri  from  its  territorial  organization,  in 
1 804,  to  the  present  titne  : — Territorial — 
Amos  Stoddart,  (1804-5;)  James  Wilkinson, 
(1805-7;)  Meriwether  Lewis,  (1807-13;) 
William  Clarke,  (1813-20.)  State— Alexan- 
der M'Nair,  (1820-24;)  Frederick  Bates, 
(elected  in  1824;)  John  Miller,  (1828;)  Daniel 
Dunklin,  (1832  ;)  Lilburn  Boggs,  (1836  ;)  Tho- 
mas Reynolds?,  (1840 ;)  John  C.  Edwards, 
(1844  ;)  Austin  A.  King,  (1848.) 

The  officers  of  the  state  government  for 
the  year  1851,  are  these: 

Term  ends,        Salary. 

Governor, 1852.  |2,000 


[and  a  furnished  house. 

Thomas  L.  Price, Jefferson  City,  .  .Lieutenant-Governor, 1852.  $4.50 

[a-day  while  rresiding. 

Ephraim  B.  Ewing, Richmond, Sec.  of  State,  and  Sup.  of  Public 

Schools, 1853.  $1,300 

Wilson  Brown, Cape  Girardeau,  Auditor  of  Accounts, 1853.     1,600 

Peter  G.  Glover, Treasurer, 1,350 

William  A.  Robards, Boone  County, .  .Attorney- General, 1853.      750 

A.  P.  Richardson, Bay  County,.. . .  Registrar  of  Lands, 1853.     1,250 

GustaAois  A.  Parsons, Jefferson  City, . .  Adjutant-Gciieral, 100 

George  W.  Miller, "  Quartermaster-General, 100 

Merry  weather  L.  Clark, ..  .St.  Louis, Snrvei/or- General, 1,500 

James  M.  Hughes, Liberty, President  State  Bank, 

Henry  Shurlds, St.  Louis Cashier,       "  " 


The  Supreme  Court  is  composed  of  William 
B.  Napton,  Saline  county,  Presiding  Judge, 
(with  a  salary  of  $1,100 ;)  John  F.  Rylaud, 
Lafayette  county.  Associate  Judge,  ($f,100;) 


2,000 

James  H.  Birch,  Clinton   county,  Assistant 
Judge,  ($1,100.) 

Of  tlie  fourteen  circuit  courts,  the  following 
are  the  officers  and  their  salaries : 


Judj;eb. 

James  W.  Morrow, 
W.  A.  Hall. 
Carty  Wells, 
Addison  Rees, 
H.  Young, 
George  W.  Duun, 
F.  P.  Wright, 
Alexaniler  Hamilton, 
John  H.  Stone, 
H.  Hough, 
James  A.  Clark, 
Sol.  L.  Leonard, 
C.  S.  Yancy, 
Daniel  M.  Leet, 


Salary,  Attorneys. 

1st  Circuit,  $1,000  William  A.  Robards,  . 


2d 

3d 

4th 

5th 

6th 

7th 

8th 

9th 

10th 

11th 

12th 

13th 

14th 


Charles  H.  Hardin, 250 

A.W.Lamb, " 

J.  J.  Lindley, " 

S.  L.  Sawyer, " 

M.  Oliver " 

W.  P.  Jolinson, « 

James  R.  Lackland, " 

M.  D.  Stevenson, " 

Samuel  A.  Hill, " 

W.  Halliburton, « 

Samuel  Archer, " 

John  T.  Coffee, « 

John  R.  Woodside, " 


Salary. 

.$750  and  fees. 


60 


MISSOURI BOUNDARIES,    SURFACE    AND    SOIL. 


Besides  the  circuit  and  county  courts,  the  j 
city  of  St.  Louis  has  a  Court  of  Common 
Plea?,  with  jurisdiction  very  like  that  of  the 
circuit  court;  a  Criminal  Court,  a  District  j 
Court  of  Probate,  and  a  Recorder's  Court. 
Samuel  Treat  is  Judge  of  the  Common  Pleas,  [ 
($1,000:)  James  B.  Colt,  of  the  Criminal 
Court,  (81,000;)  P.  6.  Ferguson,  of  Probate, 
(fees;)  Mr.  Dougherty,  Recnrder,  ($1,200.) 

Tiie  amount  of  the  state  debt  is  8684,997 
40  ;  the  interest  on  it,  873,100.  The  branches 
of  the  State  Bank  (itself  being  in  St.  Louis) 
are  located  respectively  in  Fayette,  Palmyra, 
Jackson,  Springfield,  and  Lexington.  Of  the 
stock  paid  in  to  the  bank  and  its  branches, 
up  to  December  21, 1850,  8954,205  were  own- 
ed by  the  state;  $254,926  by  individuals; 
deposits,  81,096,284;  received  in  interest  and 
exchange,  $273,829  ;  circulation,  82,552,500  ; 
bills  discounted,  $1,947,075  ;  specie  on  hand,  j 
$1,198,268. 

Boundaries,  and  Sueface  and  Soil  of 
THE  Country. — The  state  of  Missouri  lies,  j 
in  general,  between  the  parallels  of  36°  30'  j 
and  40°  30'  north  latitude,  and  12°  and  17° 
30'  longitude  west  from  Washington.  More 
specifically,  its  eastern  boundary  is  the  Mis- 
sissippi, beginning  at  latitude  36°,  and  run- 
ning north  to  the  mouth  of  the  Des  Moines, 
whence  the  line  follows  the  latter  river  up  to 
its  rapids,  (40°  30'.)  The  northern  boundary 
is  the  parallel  of  these  rapids  to  the  point 
where  it  cuts  the  Missouri.  The  western 
boundary  follows  the  Missouri  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Kansas,  where  it  commences  running 
due  south,  and  so  continues  until  it  intersects 
the  parallel  of  latitude  36°  30'.  The  south- 
ern bouudary  line  is  the  parallel  of  36°  30' 
as  far  as  the  St.  Francis,  whence  it  follows 
the  course  of  that  river  to  its  mouth,  and  after 
that  the  jiarallel  of  latitude  36°  to  its  point 
of  intersection  with  the  Mississippi.  The  state 
contaius,  within  these  boundaries,  67,380 
square  miles,  or  43,123,200  acres. 

In  the  southeastern  part  of  the  state  the 
country,  which  was  once  capable  of  cultiva- 
tion, liccame,  after  the  earthquakes  of  1811- 
12,  marshy.  This  district  contains,  on  esti- 
mate, 1,517,287  acres,  and  extends  soutli  from 
the  neighborhood  of  Cape  Girardeau  into  the 
northern  part  of  Arkansas,  a  distance  in  Mis- 
souri alone  of  108  miles,  and  westwardly  as 
far  as  the  river  St  Francis.  The  land  is  well 
located  as  r.  gards  facilities  of  transport,  and 
is  said  to  be  as  fertile  as  any  in  the  valley. 
The  greater  portion  can  be,  and  at  some  not 
very  distant  period  will  be,  reclaimed  by  ar- 
tificial means,  and  brought  under  cultivation. 
The  probable  cost  of  reclamation  is  estimated 
at  81,000,000.  The  remaining  parts  of  the 
state,  though  they  include  much  bottom  land, 
are  not  swampy.  The  river  Missouri  sepa- 
rates the  whole  into  two  jiarts,  distinguished 
from  each  other  by  dissimilar  geological  and 
geographical  features.    South  of  that  river, 


the  surface  of  the  country  is  rolling  as  far 
west  as  the  Osage,  gradually  rising  into  a 
hilly  and  mountainous  district,  furming  the 
outskirts  of  the  Ozark  Mountains.  Beyond 
the  Osage,  at  some  distance,  commi  iices  a 
vast  expanse  of  prairie  land,  which  stretches 
away  to  the  Rocky  Mountains.  The  chief 
geological  deposits  of  the  region  are  solid 
strata  of  carboniferous  and  silurian  hinestone 
and  sandstone,  reposing  on  or  around  the  un- 
stratified  primitive  rocks.  In  tlie  hilly  and 
broken  mineral  region,  which  includes  the 
greater  part  of  the  state  south  of  the  Mis- 
souri, having  an  area  of  about  17,000,000 
acres,  the  soil,  which  of  course  lies  above  the 
geological  deposits  just  mentioned,  is  formed 
of  decomposed  sandstone,  syenite,  and  mag- 
nesian  limestone.  Soils  constituted  of  the  las£ 
two  elements  are  fertile ;  but  in  many  of  the 
districts  of  the  mineral  region,  their  product- 
iveness is  impaired  by  the  admixture  of  oxide 
of  iron.  Other  districts,  as  the  Bellevue  Val- 
ley, and  the  valley  of  the  Maramec,  Gascon- 
ade, and  Osage,  are  well  fitted  for  cultivation, 
or  for  pasture.  Around  the  head  waters  of 
the  White,  Eleven  Points,  Current,  and  Big 
Black,  where  the  land  is  most  mountainous, 
the  soil  is  formed  of  decomposed  semivitreous 
sandstone,  and  is  in  general  unproductive, 
though  it  supports  a  magnificent  growth  of 
yellow  pine,  valuable  for  its  lumber.  The 
intervening  valleys,  however,  are  decidedly 
fertile,  but  small  in  extent.  The  lands  situ- 
ate more  immediately  south  of  the  Missouri 
are  partly  sandy  and  partly  calcareous.  In 
general,  where  alumina  or  clay  sufticiently 
abounds,  we  have  here  a  fertile  soil,  adapted 
to  the  production  of  wheat,  oats,  barley,  maize, 
hemp,  tobacco,  and  the  grasses. 

That  part  of  the  state  which  lies  north 
of  the  Missouri  river  is  in  no  place  moun- 
tainous, but  either  rolling  or  quite  flat.  It 
contains  more  inhabitants  than  the  southern 
division ;  and  being  richer,  is  in  a  more  ad- 
vanced state  of  cultivation.  Its  geological 
substratum  is  chiefly  carboniferous  limestone. 
The  coal  measure  of  Illinois  extends  west  of 
the  Mississippi  at  St.  Louis,  and  is  probably 
commensurate  with  the  northern  ilivision  of 
the  state,  being  limited  on  the  south  by  the 
narrow  strip  of  laud  above  spoken  of.  lying 
south  of  the  Missouri.  The  soils  of  this  re- 
gion are  chiefly  calcareous  and  arenaceous, 
the  aluminous  being  limited  in  extent.  The 
calcareous,  or  those  abounding  in  lime,  which 
are  predominant,  are  fertile,  particularly  near 
the  margins  of  the  rivers.  Of  this  character 
are  the  lands  in  the  western  part  of  the  state, 
along  the  Missouri.  The  counties  of  Clay, 
Piatt,  and  Buchanan  cannot  be  readily  sur- 
passed in  productiveness.  The  other  western 
and  interior  counties  are  nearly  equal  in  fer- 
tility to  those  specified.  In  the  eastern  part 
of  the  region,  arenaceous  or  sandy  soil  pre- 
I  dominates.    These  lands,  which  are  compar- 


MISSOURI PRODUCTIONS,    CLIMATE    AND    RIVERS. 


61 


atively  barren,  are  found  on  tbe  southern 
flank  of  the  prairies  which  have  their  origin 
in  nortli  Missouri,  and  extend  to  the  head 
waters  of  the  Mississippi.  In  general,  it  may 
be  said  that  the  land  of  Missouri  is  jiroductive. 
Tlie  mineral  region  of  the  south,  unlike  most 
others,  is.  un  the  whole,  a  fine  agricultural  dis- 
trict; Itnt  the  want  of  a  convenient  market  is 
a  dra\^)ack  to  its  agricultural  advancement. 

NATlIIi.^L  Productions  ano  Climate. — Ex- 
cept on  the  prairies,  Missouri  is  weil  timbered. 
The  river  bottoms,  in  jiarticular,  are  covered 
with  a  luxuriant  growth  of  oak,  elm,  a^h,  hick- 
ory, Cottonwood,  and  black  and  white  wal- 
nut. In  the  more  barren  districts  are  found 
white  and  pin-oak,  and  sometimes  forests  of 
yellow  ])ine,  Many  of  the  trees  and  shrubs 
met  with  differ  from  tho«e  found  in  the  same 
latitude  in  Ohio.  The  crab-apple,  paw-paw, 
and  persimmon,  are  abundant:  as  also  the 
hazle  and  pecan.  Three  specie  of  wild  grape 
vine  are  common  throughout  the  country. 
The  prairies  are  covered,  in  the  proper  sea- 
son, with  numerous  varieties  of  flowers,  and 
with  a  coarse,  tall  grass,  which,  either  green 
or  cured,  is  excellent  fodder  for  cattle.  Of 
the  cultivated  natural  productions,  wheat  and 
Indian  corn  succeed  the  best.  Rye,  barley, 
oats,  and  the  other  productions  of  the  middle 
and  northern  states,  as  buckwheat,  hops,  hay, 
<fec.,  are  successfully  cultivated.  Hemp  has, 
of  late  years,  been  raised  with  considerable 
success  ;  but,  owing  chiefly  to  haste  and  care- 
lessness in  its  preparation,  it  has  lost  ground 
in  the  market,  .and  does  not  command  near  so 
fair  a  price  as  that  not  naturally  better,  im- 
ported from  abroad.  Flax  is  also  produced. 
Cotton  can  be  raised  in  tlie  southeastern  lim- 
its of  ttie  state.  Tobacco  is  being  raised  in 
abundance,  and  will  become,  probably,  one  of 
tlie  leading  staples  of  Mis.souri.  Apples, 
peaches,  pears,  apricots,  nectarine  and  other 
fruit  trees  produce  in  profusion.  Potatoes  of 
both  kinds  succeed  well;  and  so  does  the 
vine,  which  is  successfully  cultivated  on  the 
southern  slopes  of  hills  and  eminences.  The 
dryness  of  soil  and  atmosphere,  characteristic 
of  the  state,  is  favorable  to  its  development. 

The  wild  animals  of  the  region  are  those 
common  lo  this  part  of  the  valley.  The  most 
formidalple  disappear  with  the  advance  of 
civilization.  Wild  fowls  are  abimdant.  The 
facilities  for  raising  cattle,  horses,  and  sheep, 
are  sujierior  to  those  of  any  other  western 
state,  Illinois  excepted.  Hogs  are  reared  with 
more  ease  than  in  Ohio,  and  are  beginning  to 
be  ext>  ii.-ively  raised  lor  export.  Poultry  suc- 
ceeds admirably. 

The  climate  of  Mis-souri  is  extremely  vari 
able.  In  winter,  the  cold  is  excessive;  in 
summer,  the  heat.  The  thermometer  falls 
below  Zero,  and  the  Missouri  and  Mississijipi 
are  frczi-n  over,  so  that  heavy-loaded  wagnns 
can  cro  -.-  in  safety  for  weeks  at  a  time.  The 
country  being  open  and  exposed  to  the  sun's 


rays,  and  the  soil  loose  and  sandy,  and  con- 
sequently retentive  of  heat,  the  summer  ia 
exceedingly  warm.  The  atmosphere,  Jiow- 
ever,  is  dry  and  pure,  and  cooling  winds  temper 
the  heat  of  sunmier.  Bilious  and  remittent 
fevers  prevail  in  the  bottom  lands  during 
warm  weather.  Other  portions  of  the  state 
are  deemed  healthy,  and  will  probably  be- 
come jiifire  so  as  settlements  increase.  Pul- 
monic, or  lung  complaints,  terminating  in  con- 
sumption, in  spite  of  the  variableness  of  the 
weather,  are  rare  ;  but  pleurisy  and  lung  fe- 
vers are  not  unfrequent  in  winter. 

Prixch'ai,  Rivkrs. — Omitting  the  Missis- 
sippi as  not  flowing  within  the  limits  of  the 
state,  we  may  mention  first,  as  most  important 
among  the  rivers  of  Missouri,  the  stream  from 
which  it  takes  its  name.  This  river  rises  in 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  not  far  from  the  head 
waters  of  the  Columbia,  3,096  miles  from  its 
mouth.  The  last  four  or  five  hundred  milea 
of  its  course  alone  lie  within  the  limits  of  the 
state;  the  rest  flows  through  the  Territory 
of  Missouri.  The  trough  through  wliich  the 
river  flows  is  from  two  to  four  miles  wide, 
and  is  bounded  by  rocky  limestone  hills,  which 
rise  to  a  height  of  from  one  to  three  hundred 
feet.  Nearly  all  the  bottoms  of  the  Missouri 
are  on  its  north  side;  and  ordinarily,  they  are 
not  subject  to  overflow.  In  this  respect  they 
differ  widely  from  those  of  the  Mississippi, 
which  latter  are,  moreover,  of  greater  width, 
and  formed  of  soil  less  sandy  and  less  easily 
percolated  by  water.  The  Missouri  flows 
ilown  an  inclined  plane,  the  upper  strata  of 
which  are  readily  disintegrated  and  trans- 
ported by  the  rapid  flow  of  the  main  stream 
and  its  chief  tributaries,  the  Yellowstone 
and  the  Platte.  Its  waters  become  thorough- 
ly impregnated,  as  we  find  them  at  its  mouth, 
with  mineral  and  organic  substances  in  solu- 
tion or  suspension,  imparting  to  it  that  turbid 
character  for  which  it  is  distinguished.  The 
alluvial  lands  lying  along  the  river  are  subject 
to  being  covered,  during  inundations,  with 
drifting  sands;  they  are,  however,  occupied  by 
a  luxuriant  vegetation  both  of  trees  and  herbs. 
The.se  bottomlands  are  favorites  with  settlers, 
and  they  are  capable  of  supporting  a  dense 
pupulation.  Tiie  river  is  navigable  from  its 
mouth  to  the  falls,  '2,000  miles  from  its  mouth. 
Its  valley  has  double  the  elevation  of  that  of 
the  Mississippi;  and  the  average  rapidity  of 
the  stream  is  as  fast  again  as  that  of  the  other. 
In  1819  it  was  first  navigated  by  a  steaiidjoat. 
The  products  of  the  Santa  Fe  and  of  tlie  In- 
dian fur  trade  find  their  way  down  this  river. 
The  former  trade  i<  valued  at  §500,000  a  year, 
the  latter  at  $.300,000. 

The  next  largest  river  of  the  state  is  the 
Osa^e,  a  tributary  of  the  Missouri,  coming  in 
on  its  south  side,  120  miles  from  its  mouth. 
At  its  mouth  the  Osage  is  400  yards  wide; 
and  is  navigable  for  boats  of  a  light  draught 
for  about  200  miles,  at  high  water.     About 


62 


MISSOURI — CHIEF   TOWNS. 


the  head  \s'aterg  of  this  stream  are  found  the 
best  cotton  lands  in  the  state.  The  Gascon 
ade  conies  into  the  Missouri  below  the  Osage, 
near  the  town  of  Hermann,  and  is  important 
for  the  supplies  of  fine  plank  and  timber  whicli 
it  furnishes  to  the  country  below.  The  Ma- 
ramec  is  a  beautiful  river,  running  through 
the  mineral  region,  and  flowing  into  the  Mis- 
sissippi, 18  miles  below  St.  Louis.  Further 
south  are  the  rivers  St.  Francis  and  the  White, 
with  their  branches.  North  of  tlie  Missouri 
we  find  Salt  river  flowing  into  the  Mississippi ; 
and  the  Chariton  and  the  Grand,  which  empty 
into  the  ISIissouri.  Propositions  have  been 
made  for  improving  the  Osage,  Grand,  Salt, 
and  Maramec ;  and  it  is  expected  that  no  long 
time  will  elapse  before  the  desired  improve- 
ments, at  least  in  the  Osage  (cost,  $204,600) 
and  the  Grand,  {U^,181,)  will  be  effected. 
Those  proposed  to  be  made  in  the  former  will, 
on  estimate,  save  the  people  residing  within 
the  territory  which  it  waters  an  annual  aggre- 
gate of  §329,594.  Other  rivers  than  those 
mentioned  are  of  minor  importance. 

Chief  Towns. — The  oldest  town  in  the 
state  is  St.  Genevieve,  on  the  west  bank  of 
the  Mississippi,  about  60  miles  below  St. 
Louis.  It  is  interesting  chiefly  for  its  early 
history,  and  for  its  future  prospects.  At  pres- 
ent it  is  much  decayed,  though  beginning  agaiu 
to  flourish.  The  old  village,  {Le  Vieux  Vil- 
lage) now  called  the  Big  Field,  {Le  Grand 
Champ.)  and  distant  about  three  miles  from 
the  present  town,  was  settled  about  the  year 
1755.  The  original  settlers  were  cultivators 
of  the  soil,  traders  in  furs,  peltries  and  lead, 
and  voyageurs.  Of  the  old  village,  nothing 
now  remains.  The  new  town  was  settled, 
about  1785,  the  year  of  the  great  flood  [Van- 
nee  dea  grands  eaux)  by  emigrants  from 
Kaskaskia,  in  Illinois,  and  a  portion  of  tlie 
inhabitants  of  the  old  town.  About  a  year 
ago,  the  last  survivor  of  the  new  town  settlers, 
Jean  Bapt.  Valle,  sen.,  died  at  an  advanced 
age.  The  present  town  is  located  in  the 
neighborhood  of  a  rich  mining  and  agricul- 
tural country,  and  must  in  time  enjoy  coii- 
sideralile  commerce.  When  the  contemplated 
railroail  between  it  and  the  Iron  Mountain 
shall  have  been  finished,  its  prosperity  will  be 
insured.  Marblu  and  limestone  abound  iu  its 
vicinity.  Its  sand  is  the  best  iu  the  United 
States  for  the  manufacture  of  glass,  and  Bos- 
ton and  Pittsburg  use  it  in  large  quantities  in 
their  manufactories.  The  village  possesses, 
too,  great  advantages  for  manufiicturiug.  Be- 
sides iron,  there  is  diiposited  here  for  shipment 
all  the  lead,  cobalt,  and  copper  made  in  the 
neighboring  counties  of  south-east  Missouri. 

New-Madrid,  another  of  the  first  settled 
towns  in  Missouri,  was  founded  by  Jaques 
Glamorgan,  a  Scotchman,  holding  office  under 
the  Spanish  government,  in  the  year  1788  or 
1789.  Its  founders  and  first  inhabitants  were 
men  fond  of  adventure,  iutelUgent,  and  most 


'  of  them  possessed  of  comfortable  means  of 
living.  They  engaged  in  raising  cotton,  which, 
together  with  furs  and  peltries  bought  from 
the  Indians,  they  exported.  None  of  the  old 
town  is  now  in  existence.  Its  fort,  churches, 
cemeteries,  and  houses,  have  all  been  swept 
away  by  the  encroachments  of  the  Mississippi. 
In  a  few  years  no  traces  of  the  town  so  noted 
for  its  suft'erings  during  the  earthquakes  of 
1811-12  will  be  discoverable  by  the  inquiring 
stranger.  The  present  town  was  laid  out 
back  of  the  old,  in  1820.  The  location  is,  or 
rather  will  be,  good,  in  a  commercial  point  of 
view.  The  chief  drawback  from  the  advance- 
ment of  the  town  is  the  vast  region  of  swamp, 
or  submerged  land,  lying  directly  in  its  rear. 
That  portion  of  the  neighboring  country  which 
can  be  tilled,  is  rich  and  highly  productive. 
When  the  proposed  drainage  of  the  surround- 
ing district  shall  have  been  completed,  there- 
fore, New-Madrid  will  awake  to  new  life  and 
energy.  Its  annual  exports  reach  iu  value 
about  $100,000. 

The  city  of  St.  Louis,  by  far  the  largest  in 
the  state,  and  the  largest  west  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, destined  to  be  second  only  to  New-Or- 
leans in  all  the  valley,  was  founded  in  1664  by 
a  company  of  merchants,  who  had  an  exclusive 
grant  for  carrying  on  commerce  with  the  In- 
dians on  the  Missouri.  The  city  is  situated  on 
the  Missisippi,  on  the  first  bluff,  20  miles 
below  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri ;  and  is  ad- 
mirably located  for  carrying  on  commerce.  It 
has  access  to  a  vast  region  of  country  :  on  the 
north  by  the  Mississippi  and  the  Illinois,  on 
the  west  by  the  Missouri,  and  on  the  south- 
east by  the  Ohio.  The  mighty  Mississippi 
gives  it  an  outlet  to  the  ocean.  Its  trade  sur- 
passes that  of  any  place  on  the  river  above 
New-Orleans.  In  1810  its  population  was 
1,600;  in  1820,4,598  ;  in  1830,6,694;  in  1840, 
16,496;  in  1850,  77,465,  of  whom  2,616 
were  slaves.  Capital  invested  in  the  city 
in  1850  amounted  to  $3,853,351 ;  persons  em- 
ployed, 7,929;  annual  product,  113,908,577. 
Of  the  population,  40,414  were  natives  of 
foreign  countries,  of  whom  23,774  were  born 
in  Germany.  This  emigrant  population  is  one 
of  tlie  chief  causes  of  the  city's  advance  in 
wealth  and  prosperity.  The  bluff  on  which 
the  city  is  built  is  composed  of  limestone, 
formed  into  two  distinct  banks:  tiie  first  20, 
tlie  second  60  feet  above  high  water.  The 
city  is  thickly  settled  a  mile  and  a  half  along 
the  river,  but  extends  in  all  .six  and  a  half 
miles  by  the  curve  of  the  river.  Its  breadth 
reaches  back  in  all  three  miles  ;  but  tlie  thickly 
settled  part  only  three  quarters  of  a  mile. 
The  houses  are  usually  of  neat  constiuction, 
the  most  recent  being  built  of  brick,  and  some 
of  stone  quarried  on  the  spot.  Tlie  city  con- 
tains 49  churches,  valued  at  $1,213,600.  Of 
the,se,  12  are  Roman  Catholic;  12  Methodist; 
8  Presbyterian;  5  Episcopal;  5  Lutheran;  2 
Baptist ;  2  Unitarian ;  2  Evangelical ;  1  Boat- 


MISSOURI — MINERAL   RESOURCES. 


63 


Tnen'^  Tliere  are,  besides,  two  synagogues. 
There  are  •within  the  city  limits  44  common 
schools,  with  2,847  pupils  ;  16  private  schools, 
■with  2,378  pupils;  9  Roman  Catholic,  with 
1,856  pupils;  a  Catholic  College  with  25U 
pupils ;  ami  two  Medical  Colleges,  with  14 
professors  and  262  students.  Tlie  trade  of  St. 
Louis  is,  of  course,  extensive  and  increasing. 
Of  the  principal  articles  of  trade,  there  were 
received  at  that  point  during  the  year  1850, 
60,862  bales  of  hemp ;  573,502  pigs  of  lead ; 
1,792,074  bushels  of  wheat;  325,070  barrels 
of  flour;  101,562  barrels  of  pork  ;  and  9,055 
hogsheads  of  tobacco.  The  number  of  steam- 
boat arrivals  during  the  same  year  was  2,599. 
The  amount  of  lumber  received  and  manufac- 
tured into  shingles,  laths,  and  staves,  was 
29,676,099  feet. 

Among  the  other  towns  in  the  state  may  be 
mentioned  Jefferson  City,  on  the  Missouri,  just 
above  the  mouth  of  the  Osage,  distinguished 
only  as  being  the  seat  of  government.  Boon- 
ville,  on  the  Missouri,  above  Jefferson  City,  in 
Cooper  county,  was  settled  by  Daniel  Boone, 
of  Kentucky.  Glasgow,  in  Howard,  laid  out 
in  1836,  contains  now  1,000  inhabitants,  and 
is  flourishing  in  its  commerce.  Lexington,  in 
Lafayette,  also  on  the  Missouri,  is  a  thriving 
place,  situated  in  a  rich  region,  and  containing 
about  2,500  inhabitants.  Weston,  in  Platte, 
on  the  same  river,  is  a  flourishing  place.  In- 
dependence, in  Jackson,  is  the  starting  point 
of  the  Santa  Fe  trading  caravan.  St.  Charles, 
near  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  is  the  most 
important  town  on  that  river.  Potosi,  in  the 
mining  district,  is  on  the  increase.  Hercula- 
neum  is  the  principal  place  of  deposit  for  lead 
from  the  mines.  Cape  Girardeau,  on  the  Mis- 
sissippi, below  St.  Genevieve,  has  a  fine  harbor, 
and  is  the  port  of  a  flourishing  region  in  the 
rear.  Louisiana,  Clarkesville,  and  Hannibal 
are  most  important  landing-places  on  the  Mis- 
sissippi, above  St.  Louis.  Palmyra,  lying 
back  of  Hannibal,  was  once  a  thriving  village, 
but  afterwards  became  much  decayed.  It  is 
now  again  flourishing,  containing  about  2,000 
inhabitants. 

Mineral  Resources. — The  mineral  region 
of  Missouri  occupies  an  area  of  from  seventeen 
to  eighteen  millions  of  acres,  an  extent  of 
country  greater  than  New-Hampshire,  Massa 
chusetts,  Connecticut,  Rhode  Island  and  Del- 
aware united.  It  was  described  as  early  as 
1718,  on  a  French  chart,  as  wn  p<iys  plein  de 
mines,  a  country  full  of  mines.  The  elevation 
of  the  district  above  the  sea  varies  from  600 
to  1200  feet.  Its  temperature  is  not  as  vari- 
able as  that  of  other  parts  of  the  state  ;  its 
climate  is  salubrious,  and  it  includes  much 
valuable  agricultural  land.  No  one  of  the 
mining  districts  of  Europe  affords  such  facil- 
ities for  su|)]Kirt  to  its  population  ;  and  yet 
the  Hartz  Mountains,  with  an  area  of  oOO,000 
acres,  sustain  60,000  inhabitants ;  the  Erzge- 
birge  of  Saxony,  with  a  million  and  a  half  of 


acres,  one  half  a  million ;  Cornwall  in  Eng- 
land, with  760,000  acres,  300,000  inhabitants. 
Populated  in  the  ratio  of  the  Erzgebirge,  the 
mineral  region  of  Missouri  would  contain 
6,000,000  of  souls.  Excepting  gold  and  pla- 
tina,  most  of  the  important  and  useful  metals 
and  ores  are  known  to  exist  in  Mis.souri.  The 
following  minerals,  metallic  and  non-metallic, 
arranged  here  according  to  their  intrinsic 
value, have  been  found  within  its  limits:  lead, 
iron,  copper,  cobalt,  silver,  nickel,  zinc  and 
calamine,  manganese  and  wadd,  coal,  rock- 
salt,  barytes,  sand  and  quaitz,  carbonate  and 
sulphate  of  lime,  alumine  and  potters'  clay, 
fullers'  earth,  variegated  marble  and  oolite, 
saltpetre,  antimony,  tin,  tungstate  of  iron  and 
lead,  diamonds,  chalcedony  and  feldspar.  To 
these,  others  might  be  added. 

The  lead  mines  of  this  state  have  been 
wrought  from  the  earliest  period  of  its  settle- 
ment;  but  since  1827  the  production  of  the 
metal  has  scarcely  increased,  many  miners 
liaving  been  drawn  away  by  the  reports  re- 
specting the  mines  of  Galena,  in  Illinois.  The 
lead  is  found  as  a  sulphuret  (called  aho  ffal€7ia) 
and  as  a  carbonate,  and  no  mine  of  it  has  yet 
been,  or  seems  likely  to  be,  exhausted.  Zinc, 
in  the  form  of  calamine  and  blende,  is  found 
mixed  with  it  in  the  upper  mines  ;  that  is,  in 
Potosi  and  its  neighborhood.  The  lead  con- 
tains six  ounces  of  silver  per  ton.  It  is  found 
in  Cole,  Franklin,  Jefferson,  Madison,  St.  Fran- 
cois, St.  Louis,  Washington,  and  several  other 
counties.  The  mines  of  Perry  and  Valle  are 
the  most  productive.  The  La  Motte  mines 
also  yield  abundance  of  this  as  well  as  other 
metals.  It  was  at  this  mine  that  the  work- 
men were  taught,  only  a  few  years  ago,  how 
to  reduce  the  carbonate,  which  they  had  hith- 
erto cast  aside  as  worthless.  It  yields  72  per 
cent,  of  pure  metal.  The  metal  from  the 
upper  mines  commands  a  better  price  than 
that  from  the  lower ;  but  none  of  it  is  quite 
equal  in  market  value  to  the  lead  of  Illinois. 
The  ores  are  all  easily  reduced  ;  the  carbonate 
by  means  of  a  blast  furnace.  The  sulphuret 
of  Potosi  yields  from  70  to  80  per  cent.;  that 
of  La  Motte,  not  over  66  per  per  cent. 

Iron,  in  the  form  of  hematite,  and  the  ochrey, 
the  micaceous,  and  the  red  oxides,  is  found  in 
the  greatest  abundance.  In  this  respect,  and 
in  facilities  for  the  manufacture  and  transport- 
ation of  the  article,  Missouri  cannot  be  equal- 
led by  any  other  state  of  the  Union.  The 
metal  is  found  throughout  the  whole  mineral 
region,  and  extends  even  into  the  coal  for- 
mation, which  occupies  the  rest  of  the  state. 
Her  celebrated  mountains  of  micaceous  oxide 
of  iron,  the  Iron  Mountain  and  the  Pilot  Knob, 
are  almost  inexhaustible  They  are  the  east- 
ern extreme  of  the  Ozark  Mountains,  the  range 
in  the  outskirts  of  which  the  mineral  rcgiou  is 
included,  and  are  situated  in  St.  Francois 
county,  a  few  miles  south-east  of  Potosi,  and 
1  about  forty  miles  from  the  town  of  St.  Gene- 


64 


MISSOURI — ^MINERAL   RESOURCES. 


vieve.  Tlie  two  peaks  are  about  six  miles 
apart  The  more  northerly  of  the  summits, 
the  Iron  Mountain,  is  a  mile  and  a  half  long, 
one  mile  broad,  and  444  feet  high.  The  whole 
top  of  the  mountain  is  a  solid  sheet  of  iron, 
and  one  sees  nothing  but  iron  lumps  as  far  as 
the  eye  can  reach.  The  ore  yields  60  per 
cent,  of  pig  metal,  ■which  is  deemed,  in  the 
market  of  St.  Louis,  superior  to  that  of  Ten- 
nessee. Edge  tools  have  been  manufactured 
and  forged  from  the  crude  ore.  The  Pilot 
Knob  is  larger  than  the  Iron  Mountain,  being 
not  less  than  1,500  feet  high,  and  extending, 
some  say,  a  mile  from  the  base  to  its  summit. 
This,  however,  is  an  erroneous  statement. 
Dr.  Feuchtwanger  estimates  the  quantity  of 
pig  iron  imbedded  in  the  mountains  at 
600,000,(;>00  of  tons,  enough  to  supply  the 
■world  for  more  than  a  century.  The  mines  of 
Elba,  of  Sweden,  or  of  Norway,  do  not  contain 
the  same  amount  of  metallic  iron  ore.  The 
operation  of  smelting  the  ore  is  now  carried  on 
■with  diligence  at  the  mountains,  and  the  pig 
iron  is  transported  in  wagons,  at  the  cost  of 
one  quarter  of  a  cent  a  pound,  to  St.  Gene- 
vieve. The  contemplated  railroad  between 
the  two  points  will,  when  constructed,  give  a 
new  impulse  to  the  mining  operations.  It  is 
only  of  late  years  that  the  iron  mines  of  Mis- 
souri have  been  wrought;  and  even  now  the 
manufactories  do  not  produce  enough  to  sup- 
ply the  foundries  of  St.  Louis,  that  city  being 
obliged  to  import  a  large  quantity  of  Scotch 
pig  iron,  an  inferior  article,  for  which  as  much 
again  is  paid  as  metal  of  the  best  quality  can 
be  produced  for  within  the  limits  of  the  state. 
Copper  is,  perhaps,  destined  to  be  the  most 
valuable  mineral  production  of  Missouri.  The 
ores  of  this  metal  are  found  througliout  the 
mineral  region,  but  chiefly  to  tlie  south  and 
■west  of  the  mine  La  Motte.  The  ore  is  of 
every  variety,  and  usually  very  rich.  It  is 
found  combined  with  iron,  lead,  and  frequently 
manganese,  cobalt  and  nickel.  It  is  generally 
pyritous,  but  oxides  and  carbonates  are  fre- 
quently found.  A  very  rich  mine,  called  Buck- 
eye, of  argentiferous  copper,  combined  with 
cobalt  and  nickel,  was  discovered  a  few  years 
•ince.  about  five  miles  south  of  the  mine  La 
Motte.  A  shaft  has  been  sunk  in  it  to  the 
depth  of  one  hundred  feet,  discovering  large 
veins  rich  in  ores.  'J'he  ores  appear  to  be,  in 
general,  a  cement  uniting  angular  fragments 
of  lime  rocks,  forming  a  breccia;  and  much  of 
it  is  easily  removed  by  tli(!  ))iokaxe  alone. 
Three  fourths  of  the  ore  yields  more  than  3-1 
per  cent.  Of  metal.  It  is  probable  that  the 
main  lode  of  the  deposit  lias  not  yet  been 
reached.  The  ore  as  it  comes  up  is  worth  875 
a  ton.  As  yet,  regular  systematic  mining  for 
copper  has  not  begun  in  the  state,  except  on 
a  small  scale  in  the  vicinity  of  the  two  or  three 
smcilting  establishmc^nts  previously  in  opera- 
tion. It  is  expected  that  copper  mining  will 
be  carried  in   tiiis  state  to  depths  rivalling 


[those  of  the  celebrated  mines  of  Wales  and 
Germany.  The  mines  are  considered  more 
valuable  than  those  on  Lake  Superior.  Indi- 
cations of  extensive  and  heavy  lodes  of  the 
metal  have  been  traced  for  miles,  situate,  a 
great  part  of  the  distance,  in  public  land,  liable 
to  entry  at  §1.25  an  acre.  The  ore  needs  but 
little  cleansing,  and  is  often  smelted  in  the  con- 
dition in  which  it  is  thrown  up  from  the  mine. 

Zinc  ores,  in  the  form  of  calamine  and  sul- 
phuret,  are  often  discovered  in  abundance  in 
mining  for  lead.  They  are,  as  yet,  deemed 
valueless,  but  will,  no  doubt,  be  turned  to  pro- 
fitable use  with  the  advance  of  metallurgic 
information.'*  Maiifjane-ie  ores  are  also  very 
abundant,  and  mu^t  in  time  be  sought  for  with 
avidity.f  Cobalt  has  ])ecome  an  object  of  ex- 
ploration. It  is  usually  fouinl  associated  with 
nickel,  in  the  torn:  of  the  sulphuretor  the  black 
oxide.  An  apparatus  for  the  preparation  of 
cobalt  oxide  has  been  fitted  up  at  the  mine 
La  Motte,  and  it  is  estimated  that  the  tract 
will  produce  from  three  to  five  thousand 
pounds  of  the  article  per  annum.  The  fact  of 
the  existence  of  this  ore,  to  any  valuable  ex- 
tent, is  only  a  very  recent  discovery. :j:  Nickel, 
which,  with  cobalt,  is  the  most  valuable,  in- 
trinsically, of  the  metals,  after  silver,  has  not 
yet  been  extracted  in  any  form  to  any  con- 
siderable quantity  § 

Silver  is  not  found  in  this  state  in  mines, 
nor,  is  it  likely,  will  be.  But  all  the  ores  of 
lead  contain  it;  many  of  them  in  quantities 
that  will  justify  its  extraction  by  the  well- 
known  and  simple  process  of  crystallization, 
practised  successfully  on  the  Missouri  lead  by 
capitalists  in  England.  Three  hundred  and 
fifty  pounds  of  pure  silver  were  obtained  from 
1,000,000  ll)s.  of  lead;  100  lbs.  of  the  latter 
containing  one  half  an  ounce  of  the  former. 


•In  commerce  zinc  is  often  known  under  the  name  of 
spelter.  Iteinga  cheiipaiKl  light  metal, and  one  which, 
after  having  been  supevtii'ially  oxidized,  long  resists 
the  farther  action  of  air  and  water,  it  has  been  much 
used  of  late  years  as  a  substitute  for  lead  in  lining 
water  cisterns  and  covering  house.s.  It  is  employed, 
also,  in  the  operation  of  transferring  printing,  called 
zincography. 

t  Manganese,  in  the  form  of  the  black  oxide,  (a  com- 
pound containing  one  part  of  the  metal  and  two  of 
oxygen,)  is  extensively  made  use  of  as  a  .source  of  ox- 
ygen, and  is  particularly  valuable  on  account  of  the 
use  made  ol  it  in  decomposing  common  salt  fur  the 
production  of  chlorine.  Some  of  the  proto-salts  of  the 
melal  are  employed  in  calico  printing  to  produce 
brown  colors,  and  occnsionally  as  deoxidiz  ng  agents, 

J  The  oxiile  of  ciiljnlt  is  nearly  black,  but  when  ex- 
isting as  a  hydrate,  or  when  largely  diluttd  by  lusion 
with  glass  or  borax,  it  produces  its  well-known  blue 
color.  This  color  being  perin;inent  at  very  high  tem- 
peratures, this  oxide  is  an  invaluable  article  in  the 
manufacture  of  porcelain  and  pottery,  all  the  blue 
colors  of  which  are  derived  from  it.  Fused  with  glass, 
it  imparts  a  blue  tint  without  impairing  its  trans- 
pareney. 

?  Since  the  commencement  of  the  manufacture  of 
German  silver,  (argentan.)  nickel  has  become  an  ar- 
ticle of  considerable  eommenial  importance.  It  is 
most  usually  found  in  combination  with  the  ores  Of 
cobalt.    Its  separation  is  a  complicated  process. 


MISSOURI INTERNAL    IMPROVEMENTS. 


65 


Some  of  the  lead  ore  of  Missouri,  analyzed  by 
Dr.  KiiiiT,  was  foiiiul  to  contain  an  amount  of 
silver  eijual  in  value  to  the  lead.  I'm  has 
been  found  near  Caledonia,  but  not  in  sufficient 
quantities,  it  would  seem,  to  justify  working. 
Gold  has  not  been  discovered  iu  Missouri.  It 
■will  probably  never  be  found  in  placers,  but 
may  be  iu  combination  with  other  metals. 

In  minerals  of  the  non-metallic  kind,  Mis- 
souri abounds.  The  carboniferous  Ibnentone 
formation,  on  which  St  Louis  is  built,  and 
which  extends  throughout  the  northern  di- 
vision of  the  state,  forms  a  beautiful  and 
compact  building  material.  Some  of  the  lay- 
ers abound  iu  a  species  of  coral,  the  stone 
from  wiiich  presents  a  fine  appearance  when 
polished.  Other  layers  furnish  an  excellent 
lime;  and  it  is  thought  by  Dr.  Prout  that 
some  are  sufficiently  aluminous  to  make  a 
good  hydraulic  cement.  Sandstones  are  abun- 
dant, but  are  of  too  loose  a  texture  and  too 
coarse-grained  to  be  used  as  a  building  ma- 
terial, though  some  species  would  answer  very 
well  for  flag-stones.  The  white  sandstone  of  St. 
Genevieve  makes  superior  glass.  Porphyries, 
some  of  them  having  a  red  ground  interspersed 
with  crj'stals,  and  susceptible  of  a  high  polish, 
are  numerous  in  southern  Missouri.  They  are 
well  fitted  for  architectural  and  ornamental 
uses.  Syenite  is  also  found,  but  it  is  too  coarse 
and  loose  of  texture  to  answer  building  pur- 
poses. 

Marbles  are  found  in  different  parts  of  the 
state.  They  are  usually  of  a  highly  crystalline 
character,  and  traversed  sometimes  by  veins  of 
different  colors,  which  inipart  to  the  marble  a 
beautiful  appearance  Several  varieties  are 
found  in  the  vicinity  of  Pilot  Knob  Mountain. 
Gypsum,  or  sulphate  of  lime,  from  which  plas 
ter  of  Paris  is  made  by  heating  the  gypsum, 
has  been  discovered  in  Jackson  county,  extend- 
ing in  a  regular  layer  some  distance  along  the 
bank  of  the  Missouri.  It  may  prove  very 
valuable  in  agriculture.  Saltpetre  is  known 
to  exist  in  caverns  on  the  banks  of  the  Mara- 
mec.  Current  and  Gasconade.  Sulphate  of  ba 
ryta,  or  heavy  spar,  is  found  in  the  lead  dig- 
gings. 

Coal  exists  in  abundance  in  the  northern  part 
of  the  state.  It  is,  in  general,  what  is  called 
bituminous  coal.  At  Cote  sans  Dessein,  how- 
ever, it  assumes  the  form  of  cannel  coal,  a 
variety  which  contains  less  bitumen  and  more 
carbon  than  the  other.  It  has  been  discovered 
at  several  distinct  points  in  Cole  and  Callaway 
counties,  and  as  higli  as  40  miles  upon  the 
Osage.  Some  of  its  layers  are  of  a  great 
thickness.  On  distillation,  this  coal  furnishes 
an  excellent  coke,  and  gives  out  gas  of  a  fine 
illuminating  power.  It  burns  with  a  bright 
and  copious  flame,  and  leaves  but  little  ashes. 
Being  destitute  of  sulphur,  it  is  well  adapted 
to  furnaces  and  manufacturing  purposes. 
Clays,  useful  for  economical  purposes,  are 
VOL.  II. 


found  iu  different  parts  of  Missouri.  The  sub- 
soil of  the  regi(»n  around  St.  Louis,  abounding 
as  it  does  in  oxide  of  iron  and  alumina,  makes 
brick  of  a  very  handsome  red  tint  and  smooth 
texture.  It  is  fitted,  too,  for  the  manufacture 
of  pottery.  Variegated  clays  are  found  in  the 
same  vicinity.  Kaolin  (the  Chinese  n'ime  for 
porcelain  clay)  and  pipe  clays,  of  which  porce- 
lain and  earthenware  may  be  made,  have  been 
discovered  near  Caledonia  and  near  Cape  Gi- 
rardeau. Delftware  is  manufactured  in  St. 
Louis  from  clay  obtained  near  Commerce,  in 
Scott  county. 

I.NTKRNAL  Improvememts. — Mispouri  is  far 
in  the  rear  of  other  newly  settled  states,  as  re- 
gards works  of  internal  improvement.  There 
were  in  the  state,  at  the  beginning  of  1850, 
five  Macadamized  roads,  commencing  at  the 
city  of  St.  Louis,  neither  of  which,  liowever, 
were  in  use  more  than  a  few  miles  beyond  the 
city  limits ;  a  railroad  in  progress  of  construc- 
tion from  Independence  to  the  Missouri  river,  a 
distance  of  about  three  miles;  and  certain  im- 
provements had  been  made  on  the  Osage  river, 
at  a  cost  of  about  $18,570.  Common  roads  and 
bridges  excepted,  these  were  all  the  public 
improvements  made  up  to  1850,  in  the  state. 
Charters  for  sundry  railroads — one  running 
from  Palmyra  to  the  Mississippi,  one  from 
Hannibal  to  St.  Joseph's,  one  from  Indepen- 
dence to  White  River,  one  from  Alexandria  to 
St.  Francisville,  in  Clark  county,  and  another 
from  Lexington,  Lafayette  county,  to  the  Mis- 
sissippi— have  been  obtained  from  the  legis- 
lature ;  but  it  is  probable  that  no  further  steps 
will  be  taken  for  some  time  towards  construct- 
ing at  least  the  second,  third,  and  fifth  men- 
tioned roads.  The  obtaining  a  charter  has 
been  the  only  noteworthy  event  in  the  history 
of  most  railroad  enterprises  in  Missouri.  We 
have  learned  by  verbal  communication,  that  a 
plank  road  is  being  constructed,  in  lieu  of  the 
proposed  railroad  from  St.  Genevieve  to  the 
Iron  Mountain.  The  work  is  being  carried  on 
with  zeal.  Measures  are  being  taken  also  for 
the  construction  of  a  plank  road  from  Cape 
Girardeau  to  Jackson.  The  amount  of  ?30,000 
has  been  subscribed  for  the  purpose.  The  work 
has  been  commenced. 

Manufacturing  and  mining  are  in  advance  of 
internal  improvements.  The  amount  invested 
in  both  would  not,  it  is  thought,  have  exceeded, 
in  1850,  $2,000,000.  Few  states  possess  more 
manufiicturiug  facilities  than  Missouri,  but  as 
yet  only  a  few  factories  are  in  operation.  In 
1840  there  were  in  the  state,  according  to  the 
census,  9  woollen  manufactories,  6  in  Callo- 
way and  3  in  Pike,  with  13  workmen,  a  cap- 
ital of  ?5,100,  and  goods  produced  to  the  value 
of  ?13,750.  There  are  no  cotton  or  silk  manu- 
factories. Homemade  cotton  goods,  of  fam- 
ily wearing,  amounted  in  value  to  81,1^9.544, 
Several  bale  rope  and  bagging  factories  were 
iu  operation  on  the  Missouri,  and  two  iu  St. 
5 


66 


MISSOURI ^MINERAL   WEALTH. 


Louis*  Tlie  statistics  of  1840  show  that  the 
lumber  trade  of  tliat  year  produced  §70,355, 
and  that  there  were  sold  l'JG,0S2  horses  and 
mules,  -133,875  neat  cattle,  348,018  sheep, 
1,271,161  swine,  and  poultry  to  the  value  of 
$270,647.  Since  that  time  all  these  articles 
of  trade  liave  increased  in  yearly  quantity,  as 
also  the  agricultural  products  of  tlie  state.  We 
have  no  means  at  present  of  ascertaining  the 
precise  increase. 

Population. — From  1848  to  1850  the  state 
increased  93,936  souls,  or  nearly  sixteen  per 
cent,  in  population,  notwithstanding  the  large 
emigration  to  California.  The  ratio  of  increase 
of  the  whites  and  that  of  the  slave  is  nearly 
exactly  the  same.  In  the  100  counties  of  the 
state  there  resided,  in  1848,  .'588,971  people; 
in  1850,  682,907,  of  whoui  595,140  were  free, 
and  87,769  slaves.  Next  to  St.  Louis  county, 
which  contained  105,064,  Platte  county,  con- 
taining 16,929,  had  the  greatest  number  of 
inhabitants. 

Education. — The  state  supports  common 
schools,  which  seem  to  be  working  well.  It 
contains,  beside  these  and  private  schools  and 
academies,  live  colleges :  the  University  of  St. 
Louis,  a  Roman  Catholic  institution,  located  in 


*The  subjoined  extract  from  the  messagp  of  Gov. 
Edwards,  lor  1846,  sets  forth  the  principal  supposed 
causes  which  retard  the  advancemcut,  us  wcil  as  those 
■which  tend  to  promote  the  establishment,  of  manulac- 
tures  in  Missouri : 

"  The  estabhshment  of  manufactories  is  attended 
with  its  difflcuUies.  To  carry  them  on  very  success- 
fully, large  investments  and  a  superior  population  are 
required.  We  are  not  without  capilal,  but  the  high 
rate  of  interest,  and  the  many  supposed  profitable  in- 
vestments tor  money  which  liave  heretofore  existed, 
have  prevented  the  appropriation  of  funds  to  the 
erection  of  manufacturing  establishments.  If  the  rate 
of  interest  were  lower,  capilal  wouhl  be  profitably  in- 
vested in  manufactories  to  a  considerable  extent.  The 
tariff,  also,  retards  the  establishment  of  niaiiutactories 
in  our  state,  whether  it  be  a  tarilf  for  proiection,  or  a 
tariff  for  revenue,  for  all  tariffs  for  revenue  iire  tariffs 
for  protection  to  a  greater  or  less  extent ;  but  a  high 
tariff  tends  more  to  prevent  the  establishment  of  man- 
ul'actories  in  our  state  than  a  low  one,  being  a  protec- 
tion to  the  eastern  manufacturer.  The  eastern  manu- 
facturer contends  that  he  cannot  succeed  without 
protection  against  his  foreign  competitor.  Our  in- 
terior p(jsition,and  our  remoteness  from  the  principal 
ports  of  entry,  give  the  manufacturer  in  this  country 
a  protection  which  no  tariff  can  immediately  affect. 
If,  then,  the  eastern  manufacturer  was  but  lightly 
protected,  or  not  protected  at  all,  ho  would  find  it  pro- 
fitable to  remove  his  capital,  and  to  invest  it  in  manu- 
factures in  the  west,  where  nature  would  always  pro- 
tect him  against  the  foreign  competitor.  No  country 
can  manufacture  cheaper  than  our  state.  We  have  all 
the  necessary  ingredients  at  the  lowest  prices.  We 
have  the  real  estate,  th«  water  power,  the  ore  to  make 
the  iron  to  make  the  machinery,  the  mnnual  labor, 
the  provisions  to  support  the  hands,  the  raw  material, 
the  flax,  hemp,  and  wool  of  our  own  production,  and 
the  cotton  in  exchange  for  our  wheat,  corn  and  tobac- 
co, hogs,  horses,  cattle  and  mules ;  and  these  ingre- 
dients we  have,  taken  together,  cheaper  than  any  other 
country  on  earth.  Even  our  manual  labor  is  at  the 
lowest  price.  But,  as  before  observed,  to  manufac- 
ture very  successfully,  a  superior  population  is  re- 
quired. This  we  can  soon  have  by  fostering  the  com- 
mon school,  and  developing  the  genius  and  mechani- 
cal ingenuity  of  the  youth  of  our  country." 


St.  Louis,  and  founded  in  1829;  St.  Mary's 
College,  at  Barrens,  also  Catholic,  founded 
in  1830;  Marion  College,  at  New  Palmyra, 
founded  in  1831 ;  St.  Charles  College,  Method- 
ist, at  St.  Charles,  fouuded  in  1839;  Fayette 
College,  at  Fayette,  and  Missouri  University, 
at  Columbia,  founded  in  1840.  They  could 
number  in  all,  in  1840,  about  500  students. 
The  University  of  Missouri  had,  in  1850,  154 
medical  students,  6  seniors,  13  juniors,  10  sopho- 
mores, 21  freshmen,  and  30  in  the  preparatory 
department.  The  President  is  Rev.  James 
Shannon,  A.  M. :  the  professors  are — W.  W. 
hudson,  A.  M.,  Math.,  Nat.  Philos.  and  Astron- 
omy ;  E.  H.  Leffingwell,  A.  M.,  Chem.,  Mineral, 
and  Geology  ;  R.  F.  Barrett,  M.  D.,  Phvsiol.  and 
Mat.Medica ;  J.  M  McDonell,  M.  D.,  Anat.  and 
Surgery ;  J.  S.  Moore,  M.  D.,  Theory  and  Prac. 
of  Medicine ;  R.  S.  Thomas,  A.  M.,  Metaph., 
Rhet.  and  Logic ;  G.  H.  Matthews,  A.  M.,  Anc. 
Languages ;  Johu  B.  Thompson,  M.  D.,  Pathol, 
and  Clin.  Medicine;  R.  A.  Grant,  A.  M.,  tutor 
of  Mathematics;  W.  C.  Shields,  A.  B.,  tutor  of 
Languages  ;  J.  S.  Moore,  M.  D.,  Dean  of  Med. 
Faculty  ;  I.J.  Hodgen,  M.  D.,  Demonst.  of  An- 
atomy ;  R.  S.  Thomas,  A.  M.,  Librarian. 

In  1840  the  Methodists  had  51  travelling 
preachers  in  the  state ;  the  Baptists,  86  min- 
isters and  146  churches  ;  the  Presbyterians.  17 
ministers  and  33  churches ;  the  Roman  Catho- 
lics, one  bishop  and  30  priests;  the  Episco- 
palians, three  ministers.     (See  St.  Louis.) 

MISSOURI.— Mineral  Wealth.— Dr.  Lew- 
is Feuchtwanger  gives  us  this  summary  : 

The  mineral  wealth  of  Missouri  has  long 
been  proverbial.  The  discovery  of  lead  in 
1715,  and  the  production  of  9,000,000  pounds 
in  1846,  must  naturally  attach  sufficient  im- 
portance to  this  State.  Latterly,  also,  iron 
has  been  made  very  conspicuous  in  it,  espe- 
cially since  attention  has  been  drawn  to  the 
iron  mountains  of  southern  Missouri,  which, 
according  to  my  approximate  calculation, 
contain  not  less  than  600,000,000  tons  of  iron 
in  tlieir  bowels.  A  short  time  ago,  (1847,)  a 
report  was  made  by  Dr.  King  on  the  subject 
of  erecting  more  furnaces  on  a  new  locality 
on  the  Mississippi  river,  called  Birmingham, 
and  he  says  that  iron  exists  in  that  particular 
spot  in  great  tibundance.  One  ridge,  which  is 
called  the  Iiwi  Rid()c,  contains  an  immense 
deposit  of  Injdratcil  brown  oxide,  averaging 
from  fifty  to  sixty  per  cent,  cast  iron,  which 
shows  itself  for  .several  acres  over  the  summit 
of  the  ridge,  and  extending  down  its  flanks  on 
each  side  of  the  adjoining  ravines,  where  the 
ore  may  be  seen  in  tliick  masses. 

As  regards  iron  in  the  state  of  Missouri,  it 
appears  as  plenty  there  as  coal  in  Pennsylva- 
nia ;  and  wherever  it  is  situated,  appears  to 
lie  in  such  huge  masses,  like  the  coal  mines 
in  Mauch  Chunk.  Pennsylvania. 

Next  to  iron  is  Coppeii  of  great  importance 
to  the  state  of  Missomi.     Large  tracts,  con- 


MASSACHUSETTS — HER   TRODUCTIVE    ENERGIES    AND    SPIRIT. 


6Y 


taining  this  valuable  ore,  have  been  discov- 
ered on  Current  river ;  and  on  Maramec 
river,  and  in  tlio  southern  part  of  the  state, 
very  good  veins  of  copper  have  been  discov- 
ered, and  wrouglit  to  some  advantage.  In 
Jefferstm  county,  a  very  good  prospect  of 
copper  mines  may  be  seen. 

CoBAi-T  is  an  ore  of  no  less  importance  than 
the  former.  It  occurs  in  tlic  form  of  black 
oxide  and  sulphuret,  and  is  found  either  in 
thin  layers,  in  lead  mines,  accompanying  the 
dr>ibone,  (carbonate^  or  in  connection  ■with 
manganese,  which  is  found  to  contain  the 
cobalt  from  five  to  fifty  per  cent. 

Zinc,  in  tlie  form  of  sulphuret  and  carbon- 
ate, or  calamine,  is  found  in  great  abundance 
in  the  lead  mines,  where  it  appears  to  form 
the  lens,  or  shell  of  the  veins  of  lead,  it  being 
found  on  the  upper  and  lower  crust  of  the 
rock.  It  is  thrown  away  as  useless  by  the 
miners,  although  there  are  imported  into  this 
country  over  $200,000  worth  annually. 

Silver. — It  is  ascertained  that  the  average 
of  silver  contained  in  all  the  Missouri  lead  ores 
is  from  six  to  eight  ounces  to  the  ton ;  but  it 
has  never  been  attempted  to  separate  the 
same  before  bringing  the  lead  in  market. 

Nickel. — This  rare  ore  has  been  found  to 
accompany  the  copper  and  cobalt,  particularly 
in  localities  where  the  latter  is  found  in  a 
state  of  sulphuret  and  combined  with  the 
copper  ore.  One  shipment  of  a  mixture  of 
the  three  metals,  averaging  in  the  greatest 
part  the  copper,  and  cobalt  and  nickel  in 
smaller  proportions,  has  been  made  a  year 
ago  from  Mine  la  Motte,  and  I  understand  it 
has  proved  profitable. 

Mang.\nese  abounds  all  over  the  southern 
pai't  of  tlie  state  of  Missouri. 

Among  the  non-metallic  substances,  Bary- 
TEs  deserves  a  conspicuous  place  in  this  state ; 
for  it  is  found  here  in  great  abundance,  and  of 
a  beautiful  white  color,  suitable  for  admixture 
with  white  lead. 

MASSACHUSETTS— Her  Productive' 
Energies  and  Spirit  (1849). — During  the  past 
summer  we  had  the  satisfaction  of  visiting 
Massachusetts,  and  inspecting  for  ourselves 
the  extraordinary  enterprise  and  industry 
■which  has  given  it  character  among  the  first 
of  ancient  or  modern  states.  All  the  docu 
meuts  were  kindly  put  into  our  possession  by 
the  lion  J.  G.  Palfrey,  Secretary  of  State, 
from  wliich  the  most  complete  notions  may 


be  formed.  Whatever  displeasure  as  a  south- 
erner we  may  have  expressed,  and  however 
often  we  may  have  expressed  it,  in  relation 
to  tlie  unauthoriztid  and  illiberal  course  pur- 
sued by  Massachusetts  in  reference  to  our 
institutions  and  our  riglits,  we  cannot  but 
admire  her  in  tlie  positi<in  in  which  she  is 
truly  aijniirable,  and  proclaim  her  honor  to 
the  world.  As  a  great  sister  of  our  confede- 
racy, we  are  bound  to  respect  her,  despite 
even  of  her  faults.  The  paper  which  we  now 
present  will  be  in  this  spirit  of  candor  and 
fellowship,  and  it  is  our  intention  to  present 
similar  papers,  having  a  like  reference  to  each 
of  the  states  of  the  Union.  In  this  matter, 
as  in  others,  we  must  solicit  the  aid  of  their 
citizens. 

The  state  is  supposed  to  have  derived  its 
name  from  one  of  its  tribes  of  Indians.  The 
stormy  and  troubled  periods  of  its  early  his- 
tory will  be  at  once  called  to  memory.  Ban- 
croft, one  of  iier  own  sons,  has  done  ample 
justice  to  this  epoch — moderating,  as  much  as 
could  be,  the  asperities  it  so  frequently  pre- 
sents. 

There  are  fourteen  incorporated  counties  in 
the  state,  their  charters  dating  from  1643  to 
to  1812.  There  are  also  an  immense  number 
of  towns  or  districts,  presided  over  by  Select- 
men, from  3  to  7  in  number  each. 

The  college  and  school  system  of  Massa- 
chusetts is  the  most  complete  of  our  times. 
A  Board  of  Education  was  established  in 
1837.  Large  annual  volumes  of  Reports  and 
Abstracts  have  been  published  regularly  from 
that  time.  The  Secretary  of  the  Board, 
Horace  Mann,  has  published,  for  several  years, 
an  Educational  Journal.  There  are  also 
Normal  schools  and  Teachers'  Institutes,  for 
the  preparation  of  instructors.  The  number 
of  lyceums  and  public  libraries  in  the  state 
evidences  the  great  educational  spirit.  There 
is  an  Atl  enoeum,  an  Academy  of  Arts  and 
Sciences,  a  Society  of  Natural  History,  and 
three  Musical  Associatii>ns  in  Boston,  also  an 
American  Oriental  Society,  an  American  Sta- 
tistical Association,  and  a  Historical  Genealo- 
gical Society.  There  are  three  Historical 
Societies  in  ttie  state :  at  Boston,  at  Dorches- 
ter, and  at  Salem ;  also  an  American  Anti- 
quarian Society  at  Worcester.  The  following 
table  will  sliow  the  number  of  agricultural 
societies,  and  the  amounts  they  have  received 
from  the  state's  munificence : 


68 


MASSACHUSETTS — HER   PRODUCTIVE   ENERGIES   AND   SPIRIT. 


•"•"ocT     rfuoc-rcoSfd^S'i  rt 
j;m      ci3<  —  o^'^Jj-a 

i:.Q      B-o-g-g  3  o  g  {3  [5 


o     ooooogoo 


ITS  O  O  T  ■^ 

i-  C^  C*  ^^  00  CO  C^^ 

CO  •.StS^Lo' effort 


— ,      55      —  —  CI  CI  "N  c,    .    - 

X      00      teooooij'Xxo-co 


•g  -g  a  a 


:  a 


are  38  Institutions  for  Savings  in  the  state. 
The  Railroad  Corporations  -would  occupy  a 
chapter  of  themselves. 

The  following  table  and  extract  is  taken 
from  Dr.  Chickering's  admirable  -work  pub- 
lished last  year : 


^  a  a 

•S  a 
<:  1 1 

•9  si 

a  ^. 


■goo 


ir„ 

■s 

X 

>. 

d 

.  0 

>, 

0 

1 

-1 

a 

c. 

.  a 

•  S2 

g 

cs 

1" 

.  a  0 

0 
0 

3 

•cc  a 

0 

&  S 

01 

3 
0 

c! 

? 

0  .s 

a 

0 

an 

•  a 

a 

J^^. 

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>1 

<5 

•3 

a 

a 

s'^ 

< 

.- 

d 

lliliipi|li 

a^;zi     p9  B  jS  w  <; « •<  ca 


There  are  two  Horticultural  Societies;  the 
Fair  of  the  one  at  Boston,  in  September  last, 
we  attended,  and  were  surprised  to  witness 
the  show  of  splendid  fruits  and  flowers  from 
such  a  region.  There  are  two  institutes  for 
the  insane.  AVe  cannot  _  even  refer  to  the 
various  religious  associations.  Mr.  Elliott,  of 
Boston,  estimates  the  charities  of  Boston  for 
thirty  years  past  at  near  $3,000,000  in  all, 
private  and  unseen  benevolence  being  of 
course  not  included  in  the  estimate.  Among 
the  numerous  societies,  we  note  one  for  the 
prevention  of  pauperism,  one  for  penitent 
females,  (we  suppose  of  the  town,)  and  one 
for  the  aid  of  discharf/cd  convicts.  The  Noii- 
Resistance  Society  is  characteristic,  as  is  also 
the  Anti- Slavery,  V\i\\  25  auxiliary,  and  God 
knows  how  many  Abolition  Societies,  which 
began,  perhaps,  as  anti-slavery.  Tliere  is  a 
Society  for  tlio  Abolition  of  Capital  Punish- 
ment. Massachusetts  abounds  in  Banking 
Institution.s,  as  we  shall  see  by  and  by.   There 


1   ?:  CJ  §;  CO  0 

is 

^  It 
t  It 

vxa3  J8d 

10.38680 
10  139  7 
9.52326 
14.38095 
17.35851 

78.74 

junouiv 

'  i  J?  ti  =  M 

r-;  =  —  c:  0 

CO  "^^  T  0  Cl 

to  CC 

cc  -^ 

i 

0 

360,467 
397,908 
438,253 
479,989 
549,016 
644,317 



jad  ©9Baj3ui  aSujaAV 

3.132 
3.083 
2.511 
3.553 
4.283 

0 

z  S 

0  «£ 

^    at 
C    ^  " 
»    c 

juaD  la  J 

36.11899 
35.48943 
28.1.5284 
41.78045 
52.10939 

409.73 

janomv 

6,617 
8,850 
9,.511 
18,094 
31,991 

75,063 
18,320 

93,383 

ensaaj 

18,320 
24,937 
33,787 
43,298 
61,392 
93,383 

lai  asE3J0ui  sSBjaAV 

1.1063 
1.1065 
1.03.59 
1.5519 
1.91213 

jaaD  jaj 

11.03133 
ll.(i3428 
10.85049 
16.64879 
20.85359 

94.75 

^unotuv 

44,058 
49,195 
51,247 
87,121 
127,292 

.3,58,913 

378,787 

737,700 

emoso 

378,787 
422,845 
472.040 
523,287 
610.408 
1  737,700 

•'-  „ft~     00 

i  s  ^  of 

. 

e.iB3i 

lO  0  0  0  0  0 

Oi  0  —  C-t  CO  -t* 

t- 00  CO  GO  CO  CO 

Inc 

50 

Gen 

Cen 

*  The   cnt.tle  sliow  and  fair  of  thia  Society,  at 
Pittsfield,  in  1814,  was  the  Jirst  held, in  this  country. 


"  It  will  be  seen  that  the  increase  of  the 
whole  population  for  tlie  first  10  years  was 
nearly  equal  to  that  in  the  second  period  of 
two  months'  less  duration,  but  greater  than 
that  in  the  third,  which  alone  embraced  ten 
years  and  two  montlis.  In  the  last  two 
periods,  there  was  decidedly  a  larger  increase 
than  in  either  of  the  first  three  periods.  The 
increase  of  manufactures  from  1820  to  1840, 
greatly  checked  the  emigration  to  other  states. 

"  The  increase  of  Boston  and  other  parts  of 
the  state,  from  1810  to  1820,  was  decidedly 
less  than  during  any  other  period ;  and  during 
the  last  two  periods  it  was  decidedly  greater 
than  during  tlie  first  two  periods. 

"By  adopting  2-14,149  as  the  population  of 
Massachusetts  in  1705.  we  find  that  tiie  in- 
crease in  the  twenty -five  years  was  134,638, 
from  which  we  deduce  the  average  increase 


MASSACHUSETTS — HER   PRODUCTIVE   ENERGIES   AND   SPIRIT. 


69 


of  9.1811  percent,  in  five  years;  of  19.2054 
per  cent,  in  ten  years  ;  and  -42.0992  per  cent, 
in  twenty  years.  In  thirty  years  the  increase 
at  the  same  rate  would  be  109,415,  or  C9.3920 
per  cent.  At  the  average  rate  of  9  1811  per 
cent,  increase  in  five  years,  the  numb  r  would 
be  2GG,565  in  1770 ;  291,039  in  1775  ;  317,760 
in  1780;  346,934  in  1785. 

"  The  average  increase  of  Mas.'^achusetts,  in 
each  period  of  ten  years,  from  1765  to  1790, 
was  1 9.2054  per  cent. ;  and  from  1790  to  1840, 
14.2606  per  cent. 

"  The  average  increase  of  Massachusetts,  in 
each  period  of  twenty  years,  from  1765  to 
1790,  was  42.0992  per  cent. ;  and  from  1790 
to  1840,  30.5551  per  cent. 

"  The  average  increase  of  Boston,  in  each 
period  of  ten  years,  from  1790  to  1840,  was 
38.506  per  cent. ;  and  of  the  rest  of  the  state, 
only  12.3173  per  cent. 

"The  increase  of  Massachusetts,  from  1765 
to  1840,  was  493,551,  or  202.1515  percent; 
of  Boston,  77,863,  or  601.6945  per  cent;  and 
of  the  rest  of  the  state,  415,688,  or  181.8177 
per  cent. 

"The  average  increase  of  Massachusetts, 
fi-om  1765  to  1840,  in  each  twenty-five  years, 
was  44.5688  per  cent. ;  in  each  twenty  years, 
34.2950  per  cent.;  in  each  ten  years,  15.8857 
per  cent;  in  each  five  years,  7.6503  per  cent; 
and  in  each  year,  1.4853  per  cent  This  last 
is  .1433  per  cent  per  annum  greater  than 
1.342IJ  per  cent,  the  rate  from  1790  to  1840. 

"  It  will  appear  from  these  statements,  that 
the  average  increase  of  the  population  of 
Massachusetts  was  greater  from  1765  to  1790 
than  it  has  been  since.  Had  the  rate  contin- 
ued the  same,  the  number  would  have  been 
911,749  in  1840.  Also,  the  increase  of  Bos- 
ton was,  on  an  average,  much  less  during  the 
first  twenty -five  years  than  that  of  the  other 
parts  of  the  state,  and  much  greater  during  the 
last  two  periods  of  twenty-five  years  each, 
showing  a  tendency  to  centralization  in 
Boston."  • 

Tiie  number  of  pau))ers  in  Massachusetts 
is  large:  15,261  were  supported  by  the  state 
in  1846  ;  net  amount  expended  in  their  sup- 
port, $301,707  08,  the  state  supplying  $33,852 
of  it.  In  all  her  precision  and  system  we 
regret  that  Ma.ssachusetts  excludes  in  her 
statistics  all  reference  to  her  black  population. 
Can  this  be  designedly  ?  Surely  this  class  of 
population  is  sufiicieutly  large  there  to  attract 
especial  notice.  Why  is  there,  then,  not  a 
single  syllable  in  all  of  her  documents  rel.a- 
tive  to  them  ?  This  is  not  so  in  slave  states. 
We  are  not  content  here  without  knowledge 
of  the  condition,  prospects,  and  improvement 
of  the  blacks.  Does  not  Massachusetts  owe 
it  to  her  sister  states  to  show  the  results  of 
her  benevolent  systems  upon  those  who  were 
formerly  her  slaves,  and  whom,  as  she  tells 
us,  she  has  been  endeavoring  to  improve  ? 
Let  us  know  their  condition  now,  and  their 


advances.  Let  us  see  the  results  of  your 
experiment.  You  are  not  silfnt  in  meddling 
with  our  affairs — excuse  the  want  of  courtesy 
betrayed  in  thus  intermeddling  in  yours.  We 
leant  facts. 

Pass  we  now  under  review  some  of  the 
volumes  of  Massachusetts  State  Documents. 

1.  Statistics  of  her  Industry,  published  by 
the  Secretary,  1845.  These  are  not  regarded 
complete  by  that  officer,  from  the  indisposition 
of  manufacturers,  »tc.,  to  give  full-information 
of  their  affairs. 

PRODUCTS    OF   MJiSSACHUSETl'S,    1845. 

Articles.                             Value.              Capital  Hand' 

Invested.  empl. 

A  nchors,   Chain   Ca- 
bles, &c $538,966      $377,685  422 

Axes,  Hatchets,  and 

other  edge  tools...           94,441          48,225  94 

Beef,  &c.,  slaughtered        225,918        

Beeswii: 981        —— 

Berries 10.842        

Blacking 10, 422        35 

Bleaching  or  Coloring     2,106,000        200,500  211 

Blocks  and  Pumps. ..         127,249        204 

Boats..     82,943        164 

Boots  and  Shoes 14,799,140        45,877 

Boxes  of  all  kinds...        215,105        235 

Brass  articles 331.890         167,600  145 

Bricks 612,8.32        1,407 

Britannia  Ware 102,5.'>0           49,350  93 

Broom  Seed  &  Brush  86,111        ■ 

Brooms 200.814        313 

Brushes 1.53,900           68.875  220 

Butter 1,116.709        

Buttons,  metal 56,080           51,500  60 

Butts  or  Hinges 25.390             3,500  49 

Calico 4.779.817       1,401.500  2,053 

Candles  Sperm,  &  Oil  3,613,796  2,451,917  306 
Candles  Tallow,  and 

Soap 836,156         405,872  343 

Cannon 82,000         120,0110  48 

Cards 323,845         171.500  147 

Carpeting 834.322        488,000  1,034 

Cars,     Railroad    car- 
riages,   and    other 

vehicles 1,343,576        553,434  1,881 

Chairs    aud   Cabinet 

Ware 1,476.679        477,374  2,594 

Cheese 398,174        

Chemical       Prepara- 
tions          331,965       251,700  113 

Chocolate 81.672         47,.500  27 

Clocks 54,975         10,350  40 

Coal,  Mineral,  &  Iron 

Ore 21,669        78 

Combs 198  965         73,100  340 

Cooi)erage 269,935        487 

Copper 6in,9.30       329,000  197 

Cordage 906,321       543,930  647 

Cotton  goods    of   all 

kinds 12,193.449    17,739.000  20,710 

Cutlery 148.175           68,725  197 

Dyeing 98,700        114 

Earthcrn    and   Stone 

Ware 52,025           15,500  72 

Engines,  Fire 37,800        42 

Engines  and  Boilers, 

Steam 208..546         127,000  221 

Firearms 260,819         789,848  357 

Fishery,  Mackerel  and 

Cod 1,484,137      1,238,640  7,866 

Fishery,  Whale 10,371,167     11,085,910  11,378 

Flax -  665        

Flour  aud  olhor  Grain        174.805           44,550  30 

Fringe  and  Tassels...          54,300           11,700  106 

Fruit 744,,i40        

Gins,  Cotton  45.444          75,000  48 

Glass 758.300         700,200  630 

Glue 387.575        283,675  253 

Grain 2,228,229       


10 


MASSACHUSETTS — HER    PRODUCTIVE    ENERGIES    AXD    SPIRIT. 


Artiiles  Value 

Hats  and  Caps 734,947 

Hay 5,214,356 

Hollow  Warp  and  Cast- 

inirs,  other  than  Pig 

Iron  1,280.141 

Honey 13,206 

Hops 32.251 

Hosiery  and  Yarn. . . .  94,892 
Instruments,    Mathe- 
matical, &c 54.050 

Iron,  Pig  148,761 

Iron   Railing,  Fences 

and  Safes  129,300 

Jewelry,  includ.  Chro- 
nometers, Watclies, 

Gold  <$•  Silver  Wrne  305,623 

Lasts 80,145 

Latches     and    Door 

Handles 3,200 

Lead  Pipe,  and  Lead 

Manufactures 90,880 

Lead,     VVlxite,     and 

Paints 3S6,200 

Leather 3,830,6.57 

Lime 43.629 

Linen  Thread 145,000 

Linseed  Oil 181,100 

Locks 60,079 

Lumber  and  Shingles.  921,106 

Machinery 2,022  648 

Maple  Sugar 4i,443 

Marble 220,004 

Milk 304,917 

Millet 8,476 

Musical  lustruments.  54S.625 

Oil,  I.ard 219,990 

Oil  (see  Candles  and 

Fishery) 

Paper 1,750,273 

Pens,  Steel 15,000 

Plouyhs    and    other 

Agricultural  Tools.  121,691 

Potatoes, 1,303.030 

Poultry  and  Eggs....  25,891 

Powder 165,500 

Rolled  and  Slit  Iron, 

and  Nail 2,478,300 

Saddles,      Harnesses 

and  Trunks 422,794 

Salt 79,980 

Sashes,    Blinds    and 

Doors 180,181 

Scythes 113.935 

Seeds 4.721 

Shoe  Pegs 18,206 

She  vels.Spades. Forks 

and  Hoes 275,212 

Silk,  Raw 952 

SUk,  Sewing 150,477 

Snuff,   Tobacco,  and 

Cigars 324,039 

Soap,  (see  Candles; . . 

Starch 119,940 

Stone,  Ruilding  , 1,005,599 

Straw    Boniiels    and 

Hats,         I'alm-leaf 

H  ats  and  li  raid ....  1 ,649.490 

Sugar,  Refined 940,000 

Tacks  and  Rrads 253.687 

Teazles 3,308 

Tin  Ware 793  624 

Tobacco  raised 10,686 

Tools,  Mechanics' 16i,899 

Upholstery 354,261 

Vegetables,       other 

than  Potatoes 515,082 

Vessels 1,172,147 

■Whips 111,947 

Woodi  Fire),  Bark  and 

Charcoal 1,03^6.58 

Wooden  Ware 416,366 

Wool 365,138 


Carit.ll 
invtrsted 

213,793 


empl 
1,003 


713,270      1,267 


42,500 

238 

68 
235 

155,000 

63,000 

87 

126,225 

293 
84 

750 

10 

72,700 

50 

253,.500 
1,900,545 

79,000 
77,000 
23;,009 

1,103,850 

106 

2,043 

80 

192 

34 

75 

9,,5ii6 

2,421 

312 

293,100 
91,000 

427 
37 

1,144,.537 
5,000 

1,369 
12 

58,575 


120,000 

49 

1,906,400 

1,729 

144,540 

399,285 

648 
584 

215 
171 

96,590 

123,950 
38,900 

259 
156 

572 

39 
1,849 

37,500 

410,000 
123,225 

343,710 
124,700 

13,311 
106 
269 

710 

256 
275 



1,017 
526 

2,025 
806 

Articles  Value  Capital         Hards 

iDvested  empl 

Woollen  Goods  of  all 
kinds 8.877,478      5,604,002      7,372 

Worsted  Goods 654,566         514,000         846 

Stoves,  Bread,  Betr, 
Books  and  Station- 
ery, Balances,  Mat- 
ches, Lamps,  Pick- 
les,Papir  Hangings, 
Tvpes,  Umbrellas, 
&c 4,758,3&1      1,587,760      3,232 

Total 114,478,443    59,145,767  152,766 

2.  Railroad  Reports. — There  are  annual 
volumes  pnbli.sbed.  From  the  one  published 
in  1847  for  1846,^6  note  twenty-eight  cor- 
porations. The  fatal  accidents  on  all  during 
the  year  are  nine — seven  not  fatal;  others 
supposed  not  given.  Among  tlie  information 
given  is  that  relative  to  stock  of  companies, 
cost  of  roads  and  buildings,  characteristics  of 
roads,  re-sults  of  the  year,  expenditures,  in- 
come, motive  power,  dividends,  &.C.  All  of 
these  evidence  wkie  prosperity,  and  deserve 
to  be  studied  in  every  part  of  the  Union.  In 
1818  there  was  not  a  single  mile  of  railway 
in  New-England,  save  a  short  wooden  track. 
The  capital  invested  in  railroads  by  Massa- 
chusetts men  in  1846,  was  esthnated  at 
^37,000,000 ;  it  must  be  now  fast  verging 
upon  150,000,000. 

3.  State  jAinntic  Asyhtm. — Six  hundred 
and  thirty-seven  insane  persons  have  had  the 
privilege  of  the  institution  during  1846. 

OCCUPATIONS    OF   THOSE   ADMITTED. 

1816.   Previously. 

Farmers     admitted 30  272 

Merchants         "       12  98 

Laborers           "       31  178 

Shoemakers      "       2  89 

Seamen             "       13  80 

Carpenters        "       8  67 

Manufacturers"       1  35 

Teachers            "       3  31 

Slndents            "       6  31: 

niacksmiths      "       2  22 

Printers               f        1  20 

Tailors                "       1  14 

Clergymen        "       2  12 

Lawyers            "       0  Q 

Physicians         " 0  ft 

Females  not  accustomed  to  labor. ..  0  177 
Females   accustomed    to    sedentary 

employment 4  240' 

Femnles  accustomed   to   active  em- 
ployment  06  432 

Many  not  classed,  particularly  females. 

4.  Common  Schools. — The  Report  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Board,  a  considerable  vol- 
ume, contains  the  particulars  in  relation  to  all 
the  school  districts,  itc.  From  the  concluding 
pages  we  extract  a  pa.ssage : 

"  And  the  calamities  which  spring  from 
ignorance,  and  a  neglect  of  the  social  condi- 
tion of  the  masses  of  the  people,  are  no  excep- 
tion to  this  rule.  Rejniblics,  one  after  an- 
other— a  splendid  yet  mournful  train — have 
emerged  into  being;  they  have  risen  to  great- 
ness, and   surrounding  nations  have  sought 


MASSACHUSETTS — HER    PRODUCTIVE    ENERGIES    AND    SPIRIT. 


71 


protection  beneath  the  shelter  of  their  power ;  i 
but  they  have  peri-^hed  through  a  want  of  in- 
telhirenoe  ami  virtue  in  tlie  nuieses  of  the  peo- 
ple." They  liave  been  delivered  over  to  anar- 
chy and  thence  to  despotism;  and  because 
they  would  not  obey  tlieir  own  laws,  they 
have  been  held  in  bondage  by  tlie  laws  of  ty- 
rants. Otio  after  anotlier,  they  have  been 
blotted  from  the  page  of  existence,  and  the 
descendants  of  a  renowned  and  nohlt^  ancestry 
have  been  made  bondmen  and  bonil-womeu  ; 
they  have  been  dishonored  and  trampled 
upon,  on  the  very  soil  still  choral  with  the 
brave  deeds  of  their  forefathers.  Has  a  suf 
ficient  munber  of  these  victim-nations  been 
sacrificed,  or  must  ours  be  added  to  the  tragic 
list  ?  If  men  had  been  wise,  these  sacrifices 
might  have  been  mitigated,  or  brought  to  an 
end,  centuries  ago.  If  men  are  wise,  they 
may  be  brought  to  au  end  now.  But  if  men 
■will  not  be  wise,  these  mournful  catastrophes 
muse  be  repeated  again  and  again,  ft)r  centu- 
ries to  come.  Doubtless,  at  some  time,  they 
will  come  to  an  end.  When  the  accuniula- 
tion  of  evils  .shall  be  so  enormous  and  over- 
whelming that  humanity  can  no  longer  en 
dure  them,  the  adequate  efforts  for  their  termi- 
nation will  be  made.  The  question  for  us  is,  has 
not  the  fulness  of  time  now  come  ?  Are  not 
the  sufferings  of  past  ages,  are  not  the  cries  of 
expiring  nations,  whose  echoes  have  not  yet 
died  away,  a  summons  sufficiently  loud  to 
reach  our  ears,  and  to  rouse  us  to  apply  a  rem- 
edy for  the  present,  an  antidote  for  the  fu- 
ture ?  We  shall  answer  these  question?,  by 
the  way  in  which  we  educate  the  rising  gene- 
ration. If  we  do  not  prepare  children  to  be- 
come good  citizens ;  if  we  do  not  develop 
their  capacities;  if  we  do  not  enrich  their 
minds  with  knowledge,  imbue  their  hearts 
with  the  love  of  truth  and  duty,  and  a  reve- 
rence for  all  things  sacred  and  holy,  then  our 
republic  must  go  down  to  destruction,  as 
others  have  gone  before  it ;  and  maTikind 
must  sweep  through  another  vast  cycle  of  sin 
and  suffering,  before  the  dawn  of  a  better  era 
can  arise  upon  the  world.  It  is  for  our  gov- 
ernment, and  for  that  public  opinion,  which, 
in  a  republic,  governs  the  govennuent,  to 
choose  between  those  alternatives  of  weal  or 
woe." 

The  volume  of  extracts  from  School  Re- 


ports for  1844,  contains  340  page.a.  Tliat 
some  idea  may  be  formed  of  the  immense  la- 
bor expended  upon  it,  the  following  extract  is 
introduced: 

"Ou  the  Ist  of  May  last,  therefore,  I  found 
myself  in  possession  of  the  School  Commit- 
tees' Reports  for  two  years.  Each  set  of  these 
was  more  voluminous  than  for  any  former 
year.  Together,  they  were  equal  to  fifty-five 
hundred  closely  written  letter-paper  p:  giis. 
Every  one  of  these  I  have  carefully  lead. 
Taken  as  a  whole,  they  are  documents  of  ex- 
traoniinary  interest  and  value.  From  them, 
the  i)resent  volume  of  the  Abstracts,  more 
select  than  any  of  its  predecessors,  has  been 
compiled.  I  earnestly  recommend  its  peru- 
sal to  every  friend  of  popular  education  in 
Massachusetts — especially  to  all  school  com- 
mittee-men and  teachers." 

5.  Rffjhiration  of  Birthx,  Marriagea,  and 
Deaths. — These  are  volumes  published  annu- 
ally. We  have  four  of  them  before  us — the 
one  of  1842  being  the  first  puVjlished  under 
the  state  law.  These  cannot  be  too  highly 
commended  when  properly  kept.  They  pre- 
sent at  all  times  an  index  to  the  actual  con- 
dition of  a  people.  The  system  of  Massachu- 
setts is  deserving  of  universal  imitation  in 
other  states,  and  we  hope  to  see  something  of 
the  kind  before  long. 

The  volume  for  184.5  contains  an  admirable 
letter  to  the  Secretary,  by  that  able  statisti- 
cian, Lemuel  Shattuck,  Esq.,  of  Boston.  We 
make  no  apologies  for  presenting  to  our  read- 
ers some  of  the  striking  results  which  it  un- 
folds : 

PRODUCTIVE    CLASSES. 

From  this  statement  it  appears  that,  while 
the  whole  United  States  had  52.85  per  cent, 
of  the  population  of  the  productive  class,  be- 
tween 15  and  60,  Massachusetts  had  59.65  per 
cent,  and  England  56.70;  showing  this  state 
to  be  better  situated,  in  this  respect,  than 
either.  In  the  aged  class  it  appears,  however, 
that  England  had  7.20  per  cent,  while  this 
state  had  but  6.74 — a  result  in  favor  of  the 
longevity  of  that  country.  Some  counties 
compare  better  than  others  or  th«  whole  state. 
Boston  has  64.65  per  cent. — the  greatest  pro- 
portion of  the  productive  class ;  and  only  2.93 
per  cent. — the  least  of  the  aged. 


PROPORTION    OF    BIRTHS,    MARRIAGES,    AND    DEATHS,   IN    EUROPE. 


STATES. 

Period  of 
Ob.servation. 

Aiinuiil  numher  of  Marriages,  Birtlis 
and  Deaths,  to  100  persons  living, 
or  percent. 

Number  of  persons  Jn-ine  to 
n„c  annual  Marriage,  RiitL, 
and  Dfath 

Marriages, 
per  cent. 

Births, 
per  cent 

3.200 
2.837 
3.S74 
3.767 
4.^*4 

Dealhs, 
per  ceat 

Marr.iiges.  1  Births. 
One  in      jOne   in 

Oeatlis. 
One  ia 

1S39.-1842 
1840-1842 
lS;i9-lS41 
1839-1841 
1842 

.770 
.825 

.8<i7 

.887 

1.(113 

2.209 
2,397 
2.995 
2.6.58 
3.690 

130 
121 
124 
118 

99 

31 

35 
S-'O 

27 
23 

45 

42 

33 

38 

Russia 

28 

72 


MASSACHUSETTS — IlEH    I'KODUCTIVE    ENERGIES    AXD    SPIRIT. 


MARRIAGES    IN    MASSACDUSETTS,    1845. BELGITM,    1841. 


Number  orperaons  Riairi«d  in 

1            To  10,000  married,  tliere  were  in 

AGE. 

Massat-lius^tts. 

Belgium. 

1         MassachusetU. 

lielBium. 

Malca. 

Femate.s. 

Males. 

Kemales. 

Miles. 

femnles 

Males.     1    ^cnlilles. 

Under  20 

53 

1,308 

952 

247 

81 

17 

8 

5 

690 

1,422 

446 

79 

17 

14 

2 

1 

757 

4,530 

9,420 

5,497 

2,483 

1,000 

340 

137 

5() 

2,685 

6,966 

8,0R7 

3,841 

1,719 

653 

225 

70 

27 

38 

t         198 

1     4,897 

3,564 

925 

303 

G4 

30 

19 

2,583 

6,324 

1,670 

296 

64 

52 

7 

4 

312 

1,864 

3,877 

2,262 

1,0-24 

412 

140 

66 

23 

30 

1,105 

20    to    25 

2,867 

25    to  30 

3.320 

30    to   35 

35   to   40     

1,581 

707 

40    to  46 

45    to   5!> 

269 
93 

50    to   55 

31 

55    to   60  

Over     60 ^ 

11 

16 

2,671 

2,671 

24,297 

24,297 

1   10,000 

10,000 

10,000 

10,000 

The  number  of  births  in  Massachusetts,  in 
1845,  was  15,564;  being  7,793  males,  and 
7,594  females. 


In  1S44  thore  was  1  twin  birth  to 


"  lS4o 
'<  1H44 
"  1845 
"  1844 
«  184.5 


to 

to  7,261 
1    "  to  15,444 

1  quadruplet  to  15,523 


123  births. 
129     " 


1  triplet 


no 


"The  births  registered  in  England  are  in 
proportion  to  the  population  one  seventh  part 
more  numerous  than  in  France,  and  one  sev- 
enth pa.rt  leas  than  in  Prussia.  To  3,625  inhabi- 
tants, 100  births  are  annually  registered  in 
France,  113  m  England,  133  in  Prussia,  ISO 
in  Austria,  151  in  Russia.  Tiie  small  number 
of  birtlis  in  France  is  not  accounted  for  by 
any  ditference  in  the  proportion  of  the  persons 
married,  who  are,  in  fact,  more  numerous  in 
France  tiian  in  any  other  country  from  whicli 
I  have  been  able  to  procure  returns.  It  ap 
pears  that  lOU  Frencli  wives  iiad  14  cliildren, 
100  Prassian  wives  21  children,  yearly ;  or, 


in  other  terms,  717  wives  bore  annually  100 
children  in  France,  152  children  in  Prussia. 
If  the  births  are  divided  by  the  annual  mar- 
riages that  took  place  seven  years  before, 
there  were  3.33  births  (in  wedlock)  to  a  mar- 
riage in  France — 1.05  to  a  marriage  in  Prus- 
sia, and  4.34  to  a  marriage  in  Austria;  4.26 
to  a  marriage  in  Englaud,  and  if  a  correction 
be  made  for  first  marriages,  4.79  to  every  two 
persons  married.  Tlie  total  annual  birtlis  in 
England,  divided  by  the  persons  married  sev- 
en years  before,  give  on  an  average  5.12  chil- 
dren to  every  two  persons  married ;  and  as 
many  illegitimate  children  are  the  oHspring  of 
married  persons  before,  during,  or  after  mar- 
riage, the  number  of  children  to  every  two 
[)er3ons  married  in  England  must  be  between 
4.79  and  5.12,  or  little  .short  of  five,  about 
three  of  which  attain  the  age  of  marriage  to 
replace  the  two  parents  and  tliose  who  have 
no  offspring;  the  surplus  swelling  the  number 
of  tlie  existing  inhabitants  of  the  island,  or 
flowiut'  in  of  emigration." 


TABLE     OF     LONGEVITY. 


AOG 
SURVIVING. 

NumLersu 

vivin?  ea,  h  s 

)f(ritieJ  age,  ( 

alculateil  tVitri 

thedeatlm. 

In  Ma-s 

(■IV18.-IIS. 

In 

I'rest.in,  Kng 

and. 

It'Ai. 

IXA-i 

IXM. 

1»45. 

G.'ntry. 

Tradesmen 

Operativee. 

At  Birth 

1110 
88.43 
81  76 
72.04 
67.62 
60  .56 
48  34 
40  40 
.32.87 
26.08 
18.. 35 
9.00 
2.03 
.07 

100. 
80.51 
79  42 
70.71 
64 .  99 
.58.63 
47.32 
39  01 
32.28 
26.02 
18.20 
8.45 
1.64 
.08 

100. 
83.74 
76  69 
69.46 
65.13 
58. 21 
47  30 
38.78 
32  56 
26.92 
19.09 
9  32 
1.83 
.05 

100. 

82.38 

74.67 

65.26 

61.04 

53. 9H 

42.12 

33.73 

27.07 

21.71 

15.26 

6.81> 

1.35 

.07 

100. 
90.8 
87.6     . 
82.4 
81.1 
76. 3 
72.3 
63.4 
56. 
45.1 
25.4 

8. 

1.3 

100. 
79.6 
73.5 
61.8 
56.6 
51. G 
45.9 
.37.5 
28. 1 
20.5 
13.3 
4.6 
.8 

ICO. 

1  year . . 

08.2 
67.5 

5    "      

44.6 

10    "      

38.8 

20    "      

31.5 

30     "       

25.2 

40    "      

20.4 

50    "      

15  6 

60    "      

11.2 

70    "      

6.1 

80    " 

2.1 

90    «'      

.2 

100    "      

It  appears  from  this  table,  (hat  in  Masoa-  [per  cent,  of  the  "tradesmen,"  and  only  31.5 
chusetts  00.50  per  cent,  in  1842  survived  tlie  per  cent,  of  the  "operatives,"  survived  the 
age  of  20,  and  only  53.98  in  1845;  wliile  in  .same  age.  In  Massacliusetts,  26.08  in  1842, 
Preston  76.3  percent,  of  the  "gentry,"  51.0  j  and  only  21.71  m  1845,  survived  the  age  of 


MASSACHUSETTS — HER    PRODUCTIVE    ENERGIES    AND    SPIRIT. 


73 


60,  while  in  Preston  45.1  per  cent  of  the  gen- 
try, 20.5  per  cent,  of  the  tradesmen,  and  only 
11.2  per  cent,  of  the  laborers  survived  that 
age.  This  shows  that  the  people  of  Massa- 
chusetts do  not  enjoy  so  good  health  as  the 
better  classes  in  England,  tliough  better  health 
than  the  laboring  classes.  The  influence  of 
circumstances  and  occupation  on  health  and 
longevity,  is  strikingly  illustrated  by  the  state- 
ment concerning  Preston.  It  appears  that 
while  72.3  per  cent,  of  the  gentry  survived  30 
years,  only  25.2  of  the  operatives,  or  laborers, 
survived  the  same  age. 

The  following  extracts  are  curious  and  in- 
terest'ng.  They  furnish  the  most  powerful 
reasons  for  the  preservation  of  life  statistics, 
and  the  study  of  this  important  branch  of 
knowledge : 

"Man  comes  into  existence  a  helpless  be- 
ing; arrives  at  maturity  by  the  aid  of  others; 
exists  in  a  state  of  maturity  an  indefinite  pe- 
riod, and  then  decays  and  dies;  'the  dust  re- 
turns to  the  earth  as  it  was.'  This  is  the  com- 
mon lot  of  all.  Life  may  extend  to  70, 80, 90, 
or  even  100  years:  and  it  may  terminate  in  a 
year,  a  month,  or  even  in  an  hour.  We  know 
that  we  all  must  die ;  but  the  time  of  our 
death  we  do  not  know.  It  may  come  com- 
paratively soon ;  it  may  not.  We  believe, 
however,  that  the  time  of  our  death,  though 
unknown,  is  in  some  respects  within  our  own 
control.  We  believe  that  disease  and  deatii 
come  not  from  a  mysterious,  unconditional 
Providence,  but  are  the  result  of  the  condition 
of  our  bodies,  and  the  influences  that  are 
brought  to  bear  upon  them.  Many  of  these 
influences  we  bring  around  us  by  our  own  vol- 
untary choice.  One  person  takes  proper  food, 
at  proper  times  and  in  proper  quantities ;  an- 
other indulges  his  appetite,  and  takes  unwhole- 
some food,  at  irregular  intervals,  and  in  inju- 
rious quantities.  One  person  clothes  himself 
so  as  to  maintain  a  uniform  temperature  of 
the  body  at  all  times ;  another  guards  not 
against  the  changes  in  the  temperature  of  the 
seasons,  but  allows  himself  to  be  alternately 
heated  and  chilled.  One  man  selects  a  place 
of  residence  where  the  air  he  breathes  is  pure 
and  invigorating ;  another,  where  the  noxious 
impurities  of  the  air  carry  disease  and  death 
to  his  vitals.  One  person  keeps  his  skin  in  a 
healthy  state  by  frequent  bathing ;  another 
permits  it  to  be  coated  over  with  impurities. 
One  chooses  an  occupation  which  gives  suffi- 
cient exercise,  physical  and  mental,  to  keep 
all  the  energies  of  his  body  vigorous ;  another, 
one  that  requires  too  much  labor  for  his  phy- 


sical nature,  or  has  in  itself  unhealthy  influ- 
ences, or  in  his  occupation  over-exerts  himself 
so  as  to  impair  his  physical  an^l  mental  capa- 
city. One  man  exposes  himself  to  the  con- 
tagion of  small-pox,  knowing,  at  the  same 
time,  that  it  is  dangerous,  takes  the  disease 
and  (lies  ;  another  vaccinates  himself,  and  thus 
protects  and  saves  his  life.  One  man  ven- 
tures upon  the  ocean  without  sufficient  know- 
ledge to  manage  his  craft,  and  thus  exposes 
himself  to  accidental  death ;  another  is  cau- 
tious, and  ventures  no  fixrther  than  safety  per- 
mits. The  act  of  the  one  in  each  case  is  fa- 
vorable, and  prolongs  life  ;  the  act  of  another 
is  unfavorable,  and  abridges  it.  And  will  not 
every  one  say  that  all  these  acts  and  influ- 
ences, for  good  or  for  evil,  are  more  or  less 
within  the  control  of  man  ? — that  life  may  be 
saved  and  prolonged,  and  that  the  time  of  our 
death  may,  in  some  sense,  be  postponed  ?  Nu- 
merous illustrations  of  this  truth  present  them- 
selves within  the  circle  of  our  own  knowledge. 
The  late  Rev.  Dr.  Ripley,  of  Concord,  when 
settled,  in  1778,  had  a  feeble  constitution; 
and  one  man  voted  against  him  because  he 
thought  it  useless  to  settle  a  man  whose  prob- 
abilities of  living  were  so  small.  He,  how- 
ever, by  great  care  and  attention  to  his  health, 
acquired  a  pretty  good  constitution,  and  sur- 
vived his  90th  year.  He  probably  added  50 
years  to  a  life,  which  another  man,  under  simi- 
lar circumstances,  would  not  have  enjoyed. 

"  The  tendency  of  our  people  is  to  become 
a  manufacturing  people;  and  manufactures 
have  been  so  far  investigated,  that  the  cost 
of  every  article  —  material,  transportation, 
labor,  wages,  board,  <fec. — is  clearly  known. 
But  what  amount  of  life  is  sacrificed  thereby 
we  know  not.  We  do  not  know,  though  we 
ought  to  know,  whether  there  exists  or 
whether  there  is  any  tendency  to  such  a  con- 
dition in  any  of  our  cities  and  towns,  as 
would  justify  the  remark  of  Mr.  Chad  wick, 
before  quoted,  making  them  'characteristic 
of  those  crowded,  filthy,  badly-administered 
districts  in  England,  where  the  average  dura- 
tion of  life  is  short,  the  proportion  of  the 
young  very  great,  and  the  adult  generation 
transient.' 

"  The  average  age  at  death,  as  has  been 
already  said,  is  not  to  be  taken  as  an  exact 
index  of  comparison  for  the  health  of  a  place, 
unless  we  have  the  number,  age,  and  condition 
of  the  living.  It  is,  however,  an  interesting 
fact  to  be  known,  and  we  present,  in  the  sub- 
joined table,  several  calculations  made  from 
such  data  as  are  in  our  possession ; 


li 


MASSACHUSETTS HER    PRODUCTIV'E    ENERGIES    AND    SPIRIT. 


Place  and  Circumstances 


Period  nfObser-  Numlierof 

valiiin  Ti-ars. 

1779  to  1842 t)3 Concord 1,600. 

Icil.' to  IS  15 33 Plympton 494. 

1805  to  1836 32 Amherst,  N.  H 815. 

1817  to  1843 27 Dorclifsti-r,  Mass 1.7(17 . 

1842 1 Massiichusetts  Returns 0,9S6. 

1843 1 "  "         7,798. 

1844 1 "  "        7.0-9. 

1845 1 

1811  to  1820 10. 

1821  to  1830 10. 

1831  to  1840 10. 

1841 1. 

1841 1. 

1841 1.. 

1841 1. 


.38.08 
.41.00 
.32.00 
.32.20 
.34.77 
.33.82 
.33.74 


"  «        8,3ci8 30.26 

.City  of  Boston 8,020 27.25 

"  10,731 2.3.83 

"  16,314 22.72 

.England 335,106 29.46 

.  Ireland 28.00 

.Loudon 27.00 

.Liverpool 20.00 


1814  to  1833 20 Geneva,  Switzerland,  males 5,219 38.44 

lS14tol833 20 "  "  females 5,688     42.68 

1814101833 20 "  «  both 10,907 40.07 

"Tliis  statement  affords  another  striking  |  lost  to  the  state  last  year  by  premature 
illustration  of  tlie  influence  of  locality  on  deaths,  before  any  return  could  be  made  for 
longevity.  Estimating,  by  the  above  average  it.  Can  any  one  doubt  tliat  half,  at  least, 
age  at  death,  the  value  of  life  to  be  100  per  might  have  been  saved  by  proper  knowledge 
cent,  enjoyed  by  the  people  of  Plympton,  then  ;  and  care  ? 

the  people  of  Boston  would,  according  to  the  |  "  The  proportionate  number  of  deaths 
age  1831-1840,  enjoy  but  55.41  percent.;  or, '  among  the  young  has  been  increasing  for 
in  another  view,  the  people  of  Boston,  on  the   several  years  past  in  this  country,  as  our  in- 


average,  live  a  less  number  of  years  by  44.59 
per  cent,  than  do  the  people  of  Plympton  ! 

"  But  while  we  have  all  these  surveys  and 
maps  pointing  out  the  boundaries  of  our 
counties  and  towns,  the  localities  of  our 
mineral  wealth,  the  best  lands  for  farming 


vestigations  prove ;  and  we  see  no  reason  to 
believe  it  will  be  less,  until  more  knowledge 
is  diffused  in  regard  to  the  laws  of  life  and 
the  liability  to  death,  under  different  circum- 
stances. This  inuuense  loss  of  the  productive 
power  of  the  state  may  be  considered  as  an 


and  the  production  of  domestic  animals,  and  annual  tax,  which  the  people  must  pay  every 
the  existence  of  noxious  and  innoxious  wild  i  year,  until  they  find  out  aud  use  the  means 
animals,  we  may  ask  where  is  the  sanatory   of  prevention. 

map  which  points  out  the  healthy  aud  un-  "  It  has  been  said  that  the  strength  and 
bealtliy  localities  of  the  state,  which  will  re-  dignity  of  a  nation  consist  not  in  its  lands, 
veal  to  our  people  where  and  how  human  j  its  houses,  its  wealtli,  but  in  its  people.  And 
life  cau  best  be  sustained  aud  longest  con-  I  have  already  stated,  that  that  people  is 
tinned,  and  where  and  how  human  energy  most  prosperous  which  contains  the  greatest 
and  productive  power  can  be  best  brought  to  proportionate  mimber  of  the  productive  age. 
bear  upon  the  culture  and  development  of  In  the  above  calculation  we  have  not  taken 
the  sources  of  wealth  in  the  state  ?     Have   into  account  the  loss  sustained  by  tiie  death 


we  not  said  by  such  legislation  that  our  cat- 
tle and  our  hogs  are  of  more  value  than  the 
lives  of  ourselves  and  our  children  ?  Have 
•we  not  extended  to  the  brute,  wliose  worth 
is  measured  by  dollars  and  cents,  a  species  of 
legislation  wliich  has  been  witliheld  from 
man,  who  is  of  immeasurable  value?  Wlien 
compared  to  investigations  into  the  physical 
conclitiou  of  man,  all  other  investigations 
dwindle  into  insignificance. 

"Tiie  pf)pulation  of  Massachusetts  may 
DOW  be  estiniated  at  8UO,000.  From  the 
returns  of  deaths  received,  I  have  estimated 
the  whole  number  of  deaths  in  the  state  last 
year  to  have  been  li,000,  whicii  is  nearly  1 
in  57,  or  1.73  per  cent,  of  the  popuhition. 
Of  these  14,000,  there  died  at  least  (i.OOO 
children  and  youth  under  15  years  of  age. 
Estimating  the  average  ages  of  the  whole  of 
these  in  the  same  proportion  as  those  actually 
known,  it  will  give  for  each  about  4  years, 
or  24,000  years  of  life  for  all.  This,  at  .$50 
a  year,  amounts  to  $1,200,000  ae  the  cost  of 
tlieir  maiiiteuance.     Aud  oil  this  sum  was 


of  those  belonging  to  this  age.  This  would 
greatly  swell  the  amount  of  loss.  We  have 
stated  that,  by  care  and  attention,  the  late 
Dr.  Ripley  probably  added  fifty  years  to  his 
life.  We  are  now  considering  time  as  money, 
labor  as  money,  life  as  7nunei/,  and  not  the 
real,  moral  value  of  that  good  man's  services. 
Estimating,  then,  this  time  to  be  worth  $1 
per  day,  or  $3oO  per  annum,  the  fifty  years 
of  life  were  worth  §15,000,  and  that  sum  was 
?aved  by  the  prohmgaliou  of  his  life.  The 
deatlis  in  this  state  last  year,  as  we  have 
estimated,  were  14,000.  Of  these,  5,000  prob- 
ably died  between  15  and  CO  years  of  age. 
Let  us  suppose,  that  by  proper  knowledge  of 
the  laws  of  health,  and  a  pro])er  care  in  obey- 
ing these  laws,  five  years  might,  on  the  aver- 
age, have  been  addetl  to  each  of  their  lives — 
and  this  seems  nut  an  extravagant  supposi- 
tion— then  we  should  have  saved,  instead  of 
losing,  as  wo  have  done,  25,000  vears  of  life, 
which,  estimated  to  bo  worth,  in  this  adult 
age,  only  $150  a  year,  would  have  produced 
§3,760,000 1    Aud  this  loss  must  be  annual  I 


MASSACHUSETTS — HER    PRODUCTIVE    ENERGIES    AND    SPIRIT. 


75 


"  There  is  still  another  view  of  this  great 
subject.  William  Farr,  Esq ,  one  of  tlie  ablest 
writers  on  \'ital  Statistics  of  the  age,  stati^l 
in  McChHocIi's  Statistical  Account  of  the 
British  Empire,  that 'when  one  person  in  a 
hundred  dies  annually,  two  are  constantly 
sick;  although  this  exact  relation  is,  perhaps, 
not  preserved  in  infancy  and  old  age,  or 
where  tlie  rate  of  mortality  deviates  from 
the  standard,  it  may  be  safely  assumed  as  a 
near  approximation  to  the  truth.'  This  prin- 
ciple may  be  more  simply  expressed  thus: 
the  proportion  of  persons  constantly  sick  in  a 
population,  is  double  the  annual  proportion 
per  cent,  which  the  deaths  bear  to  the  living 
in  that  population.  According  to  the  esti- 
mate already  given,  the  proportion  of  deaths 
to  the  population  in  Massachusetts  was  one 
in  fifty-seven,  or  1.75  per  cent.  Double  this 
percentage,  and  we  have  3.5  as  the  propor- 
tion per  cent.;  and  this  proportion  of  800,000 
is  28,000,  the  actual  number  constautly  sick 
in  this  state. 

"  Sickness  occasions  a  twofold  loss ;  one  for 
the  time  and  labor  of  the  sick,  and  the  other 
for  the  nursing,  medical  attendance,  medi- 
cine, and  other  expenses,  which  they  re- 
quire. The  first  may  be  estimated  at  ^50, 
and  the  second  at  8150,  or  $200  per  annum 
for  both,  which,  multiplied  by  28,000,  gives  a 
total  annual  loss  by  sickness  of  $5,600,000 ! 
It  is  supposed  that  half  of  this  sickness  is 
preventable,  and  that  half  of  this  enormous 
sum  might  be  saved  if  the  laws  of  health 
were  properly  understood  and  obeyed. 

"  We  might  save  then — 

By  diminishing  the   mortality   of 

infancy  and  childhood.: $600,000 

By  prolonging  the  lives  of  adults.   3,750,000 
By  preserving  the  general  health 

and  diminishing  sickness 2,800,000 

Making,  according  to  this  view,  an 
annual  total  saving  of $7,150,000 

"  This  amounts  in  ten  years  to  $71,500,000, 
or  about  one  quarter  of  all  the  jn-operti/  of 
the  Commonwealth,  according  to  the  valua- 
tion of  1840!" 

6.  The  Banking  System  of  Massachusetts 
is  on  the  most  enlarged  scale.  It  would 
seem  as  if  the  people  of  that  Commonwealth 
had  the  most  unlimited  confidence  in  this  spe- 
cies of  investment.  The  Legislature  requires 
an  annual  statement  of  the  condition  of  all 
these  banks,  and  we  have  before  us  several 
ofthse  annual  publications.  The  number  of 
Savings  Institutions  in  18-16  wns  tliirty-eight; 
their  condition,  <fec.,  were  as  follows  :* 


*  We  are  iiulebted  for  thi.s  summary  to  a  handsome 
volume,  Hio  .Massachuseits  State  Reeor.!,  1847,  com- 
piled by  Nalium  Capen,  Esq.,  who  kiudly  furnished 


The  number  of  depositors  in  all  thirty- 
eight  banks  wan 62,893 

Amount  deposited  in  all  thirty- 
eight  banks $10,680,933   10 

Public  Funds 1,890,525   93 

Loans  on  I'liblic  Funds 19,500  00 

Bank  Stock 1,909,620  72 

Loans  on  Bank  Stock 149,256  50 

Deposits  in  Banks  bearing  in- 
terest   94,520  61 

Railroad  Stock 14,800  00 

Loans  on  Railroad  Stock 232,538  75 

Invested  in  Real  Estate 90,884  22 

Loans  on  Mortgage  of  Real 

Estate 3,757,262  80 

Loans  to  County  or  Town 818.041  96 

Loans  on  Personal  Security. .     1,930,072  88 

Cash  on  hand 150,728  26 

Rate  and  amount  of  ordinary 
dividend  for  last  year,  4f 

per  cent 345,443  10 

Average  annual  per  cent,  of 
dividends  of  last  five  years, 
54  per  cent. 
Annual  expenses  of   Institu- 
tions   29,306  69 

7.  Insurance  Returns. — We  have  three  of 
these  annual  publications. 

8.  The  Agricultural  Reports  we  have  al- 
ready particularly  referred  to  in  previous 
pages  of  this  number.  We  have  several  of 
them,  which  embrace  a  variety  of  the  most 
interesting'information. 

9.  We  might  properly  conclude  with  the 
Manufactures  of  Massachusetts.  None  of  the 
Reports  are  complete  enough  in  this  particular. 
It  would  be  a  source  of  great  satisfaction  to 
know  the  annual  average  profits  now  and 
hitherto  in  that  species  of  industry  through- 
out the  state.  We  should  learn  the  uses 
or  abuses  of  the  protective  system,  and  de- 
termine how  far  it  is  necessary  among  us. 
We  had  the  satisfaction  of  vi-siting  Lowell 
a  short  time  since,  the  most  important  manu- 
facturing town  in  New-England,  and  which 
consumes  about  one  sixth  of  all  the  cotton 
manufactured  in  this  country.  The  history  of 
this  remarkable  city,  prepared  by  Mr.  Miles, 
is  worthy  of  study.  It  lias  grown  in  an  amaz- 
ing ratio.  Scarcely  more  than  twenty  years 
have  passed  since  the  manufacturing  system 
was  opened  there  on  a  scale  of  any  promise. 
We  know  its  present  stature.  Mr.  Miles 
states  the  semi  annual  dividends  of  the  com- 
panies to  be  frequently  ten  per  cent,  for  six 
months,  or  thus  doubling  the  capital  in  five 
years !  It  may  be  gathered  from  this  what 
a  mint  of  wealth  exists  here,  and  the  fortunes 
of  Massachusetts  maiuifacturers.  Hence  the 
secret  of  Boston's  greatness. 


U9  a  copy.   It  is  made  from  the  returns  to  the  Secre- 
tary of  State. 


V6 


MOBILE COMMERCE    OF. 


STATISTICS    OF    LOWELU 


Kein. 

Mairs         Kinil  o(  Goods 

CorporaliooB. 

porated. 

Stuck. 

empl. 
1,775 

empl. 

made. 

Merrimack  Mauufoc.    o.. 

\8-2-2 

82,000,000 

41,600 

1,300 

600  jl 

Prints  &  Shecl- 
inK?Nos.22to40 

Hamiltoa  Maiiufac.  Co. . . 

1823 

1,200,000 

25,956 

736 

750 

270  )| 

Prints,  Flannels, 
&yheet.l4to40 

Appleton  Company 

1823 

600,000 

11,776 

400 

340 

(  1 
65)  j 

Slioetings&Shirt- 
ines,  No.  14. 

Lowell  Manufac.  Co 

1828 

600,000  1 

3,400VVool5 
7,142  Cot.  1 

244  Cotton. 
60  Power  Carpet. 
30  Hand  Carpet. 

S5d0 

225  5 

Carpets.  Rue;?,  & 
Cotton  Cloths. 

Middlesex  Manufac.  Co. . 

1830 

750,0011 

13,000     1 

45  Rroadclotl). 
376  Cassimere. 

J950 

550  1 

Broadcloth   and 
Cissimere. 

Suffolk  Manufac.  Co 

1830 

600,000 

13,936 

4(14 

400 

90 

Drillinas,  14. 

Tremont  Mills 

1830 

600,000 

12,960 

479 

460 

100 

Sheetings,  Xo.l4. 
Sliirlinps,  No.  14. 

200  ) 

Printing  Cloths. 

Lawrence  Manufac.  Co.. 

1830 

1,500,000 

■44,032 

1,260 

1,200 

Sheetines&Shirt- 

inK.S  1-1  to  30. 

Lowell  Bleachery 

1832 

140,000 



20 

230  1 
160^ 

1,700,000  lbs. 
bleaeheil  per  an, 
DriUincs,  No.  14. 

Boott  Cotton  Mills 

1835 

1,200,000 

34,374 

9G6 

870 

Shirtinas.  No.  40. 

Printing  Cloth,40 

( 

pJlieetiui.'.  No.  13. 

Massachus.  Cotton  Mills.. 

1839 

1,200,000 

29,152 

919 

750 

160.^ 

ShininK.  No.  14. 
Drillins;?.  No.  14. 

Prescott  Manufac.  Co... . 

1814 

600,000 

16,128 

548 

450 

90  \  [Sbeelinsrr'&Shirt- 
[  1  incs,  12  i  &  14. 

Lowell  Machine  Shop 

1845 

500,000 



GOO  J 

'3,000  tons  \vrn& 
1  cast  iron  per  an. 

Total 

11,490,000 

253,4  S6 

7,756 

7,915  1 3,340 

Average  wages  of  females,  clear  of  board,  per  week $2  00 

"  "  males,  "  per  day     80 

Medium  produce  of  a  loom.  No.  14  yarn,  yards  per  day 45 

"  "  "  No.30    "  «  "        33 

Average  per  spindle,  yards  per  day 1} 


"The  Lowell  Machine-shop,  included  among 
the  above  mills,  can  furnish  machinery  com- 
plete for  a  mill  of  G.OOO  spindles  in  three 
months,  and  a  mill  can  bebuiltinthesametime. 

"  An  important  undertaking,  eventually  to 
redound  to  the  interest  and  wealth  of  the  city, 
is  the  building  of  the  new  canal.  It  is  des- 
tined to  give  to  most  of  the  mills  on  the  lower 
level  a  more  regular  supply  of  water,  and  con- 
sequently benefit  those  on  the  upper  level.  It 
is  to  be  of  an  average  width  of  100  feet,  and 
a  deptli  of  15  feet.  It  will  require,  in  its 
construction,  a  rock  excavation  of  150,000 
yards,  an  earth  excavation  of  110,000  yards, 
and  a  mass  of  masonry  of  50,000  yards;  the 
■whole  estimated  at  an  expense  of  $500,000. 

"  In  the  course  of  a  few  months  two  new 
cotton  mills  will  be  in  fiperatiou.  Tlie  one, 
built  by  the  Merrimack  Company,  to  contain 


2.3,424  spindles,  and  640  looms.  The  other, 
built  by  the  Hamilton  Company,  will  com- 
mence with  10,368  spindles,  and  2G0  looms, 
but  is  of  sufficient  capacity  to  contain  nearly 
20,000  spindles,  an^  400  looms.  The  driving 
power  for  the  latter  will  be  a  steam  engine, 
of  IGO  horse  power,  which  is  bein^  put  in. 

"  Other  manufactures  are  produced  in  the 
city  than  tliose  specified  above,  of  a  value  of 
§800,000,  employing  a  capital  of  1310,150, 
and  about  1.000  hands." 

Total  manufacturing  capital  of  Lowell, 
SI  1,490,000.  Total  females  employed,  7,915 ; 
total  males,  3,340.    Consumption  in  factories, 

[about  50,000  tons  of  coal,  5.000  cords  of 
wood,  100,000  gallons  of  oil,  1,000,000  pounds 
of  starch,  705  barrels  of  flour.  Population 
of  Lowell,  1828,  3,532;  184G,  28,841.     (See 

'  Boston.) 


MOBILE— Commerce  of,  1850-1851 
Exports  of  Sawed  Lumber  from  this  Fort  since  Septeinher  \sf,  1850. 


WHITHER  EXPORTED. 
Cuba 

This  week. 

Previously. 
2I04SG2 
yCK-i  -3 
12420 
4109669        ^.. 

6585374 

Total. 

21tl4S62 

20S.V-'3 

124'-'0 

443M--'49 

681G054 

Las 

season. 

968471 
250924 

334718 

Coast  wlio 

230680     . . . 

230680     ... 

4739783 

Total , 

7293890 

MOBILE — COMMERCE    OF. 


11 


Exports  of  Staves  from  this  Port  since  1st  September,  1850. 


WHITHBR  EXPORTED. 

Cuba 

This  week. 

Previously. 

80UU         

1(15099        '.!.'." 
210413        

Total. 
8000 

'.          105820        '. 
240953 

Last  year. 



Other  ports  

727 

272019 

405924 

Coastwise 

36540 

Total 37267 


323512 


360779        677943 


Comparative  Exports  of  Staves  from  this  Port  for  four  years,  to  date. 


WHITHER  EXPORTED.  1850-51. 

Cuba 8000 

Mexico — 

Other  ports 105826 

Coastwise 246953 


Total 360779 


1849-50. 


677943 


1848-49. 
24500 


87070 
141820 


253390 


1847-48. 
21000 


328240 
212960 


562200 


Comparative  Exports  of  Sawed  Lumber  from  this  Port  for  five  years,  to  date. 


WHITHER  EXPORTED. 


'50-'51. 


Cuba 2104862 

Mexico 268523 

Other  ports 12420 

Coastwise 443U249 


'49-'50. 

1968471 
250924 
334718 

4739783 


'47-'48. 

'46-'47. 

1373548     , 

..     329173 

1094294     . 

. .     878479 

414028     . 

..     216636 

47.37223     .. 

..  4309846 

Total 6810054        ....        7293896        ....       7619093        ....        5734134     .. 

Exports  of  limber,  d'c.,  from  this  Port  since  September  1st,  1850,  to  date. 

ARTICLES.                               Great  Britain.  France.           Other  ports.       Coastwise. 

Timber,  pieces 100  ....  1473  302 

Spars —  ....  414  ....  130 

Masts —  ....  2  69 

D'i£  Plank, feet —  ....  7560  ....  88317 

Oars —  ....  1891  ....  — 

Shingles —  ....  —  ....  92000 

Cedar,  Logs —  ....  —  ....  — 

Laths —  ....  —  ....  6000 


203000 
1315 


3597253 


Total. 
1875 

544 

61 

95877 

1891 

295000 

1315 

6000 


Statement  of  the  Value  of  Imports  and  Dm- I  Total  amount  of  imports $440,404 

ties  at  this  Port  for  the  third  and  fourth 
quarters  of  1850,  and  the  first  and  second 
quarters  of  1851. 


XniKD    QUARTER,  1850. 

Value  of  imports,  dutiable 8'7,640 

Value  of  imjiorts,  free 35,456 


Total  imports ?43,096 

Amount  of  duties  collected,  ?4,249  90. 

POURTU  QI'.\RTER,   1850. 

Value  of  imports,  dutiable 76,009 

Value  of  imports,  free 84,360 


Total  imports $160,429 

Amount  of  duties  collected,  §25,043  20 

nRST   QUARTER,    1851. 

Value  of  imports,  dutiable 101,632 

Value  of  iinports,  free 23,223 


Total  imports ?124,255 

Amount  of  duties  collected,  ?33,506  44. 

SECOND  QUARTER,    1851. 

Value  of  imports,  dutiable 10-5,024 

Value  of  imports,  free 7,600 


Total  imports $112,024 

Amount  of  duties  col'd,  §33,417  40. 


Total  amount  of  duties   collected 

for  the  past  year $90,276  94 

Comparative  Exports  of  Cotton  from  Port  of 
Mobile,  from  September  \st  to  date,  in  the 
following  years : 

Britain.  France. 

1851  . .250118... 46005. 

1850  ..162189... 39973. 

1849  . .290836... 63290. 

1848  ..228329... 61812. 

1847  ..131156. ..39293. 

1846  ..208047... 66821. 

1845  ..269037... 68789., 

1844  ..204242... 49611. 

1843  ..285029... 53645. 

Comparative  Receipts,  Exports,  and  Stocks  of 
Cotton  at  the  Port  of  Ilobile,  frmn  1st 
September  to  date,  in  the  following  years  : 

Reieipls.  Exports,  Stocks. 

1851 433646 41S525 27797 

1850 332796 325541 12902 

1849 517846 539042 5046 

1848 438324 439501 23584 

1847 323266 3069u7 24172 

1846 421669 416856 7813 

1845 517550 521338 438 

1844 468717 465452 3920 

1843 479744 479345 790 


other  Foreign 

Pons. 

U.  states. 

..26373.. 

.    96029 

..11927.. 

.111452 

..44525.. 

.140993 

..29070.. 

.120350 

..19784.. 

.116674 

..26824.. 

.115164 

..52811.. 

.130701 

..15885.. 

.195714 

..20903.. 

.113768 

78 


MOBILE — TOrOGRAPIIT    AND    SANATORY    CONDITION    OF. 


COTTON    TRADE. 

Comparative  View  of  (lie  Foreign  Export.i,  Rc- 
cei/jt.i,  and  S/ocks  of  Cotton  of  the  United 
State",  at  the  latest  dates,  for  the  last  Four 
Years  : 

YEARS.  1851.        1850.      1849.      1848. 

To  Gr.iit  Britain...  1413733  10Hoi.'35  ]63i331  13il-274 

Frauce 29JJuo    28^397    367U71    27694i» 

Oth.T     Foreign 

Ports 268900    188929    320143    254145 

Total  bales...  1977838  lo^hSGl  220054.")  l84-.;3.i9 

R«ceipls 23311120  2071108  27(iGil3S  23I7S11 

Stocks 96229    143833    114229    134352 


MOBILE. — ToroGRAPiiY,  Sanatory  Con- 
dition AND  Vital  Statistics  of  Mobile, 
Ala.  — Mobile  is  situated  on  tlie  west  bank  of 
the  Mobile  River,  just  before  it  empties  itself 
into  the  Mobile  Bay.     The  site  is  but  slightly 


and  during  even  the  winter  month?  is  trying 
to  the  constitution  from  the  many  anrl  sudden 
changes  that  occur.  The  spring  and  fall  are 
deliglilful  seasons.  During  the  coldest  wea- 
ther in  winter  the  ground  is  but  seldom 
frozen. 

Most  rain,  I  think,  falls  in  December  and 
January,  and  June  and  July. 

There  are  in  Mobile  two  hospitals,  large, 
commodious,  and  well-ventilated  buildings, 
situated  in  the  western  part  of  the  city, — 
the  United  States  Marine  Hospital,  and  the 
City  Hospital.  They  are  each  capable  of  ac- 
conmiodating  between  two  and  three  hundred 
patients.  Their  location  is  an  admirable  one, 
being  situated  on  a  dry,  elevated  opot,  with 
but  little  near  them  to  obstruct  the  breezes 
from  the  bay. 

Tiiere  are  several  institutions  of  a  charitable 
character  in  the  cit\',  among  which  may  be 


elevated   above  the  level    of   the    river,  but    mentioned  the  Catholic  and  Protestant  Orphan 


sufficiently  so  for  all  purposes  of  convenient 
drainage.  The  soil  is  dry  and  sandy.  Im- 
mediately opposite  the  city,  on  the  east,  is  a 
large  low  island,  covered  with  lugh  grass  and 
rushes,  and  known  as  the  "  Marsh."  Imme- 
diately above  the  city,  on  the  north,  is  a  large 
swamp,  extending  along  the  banks  of  the 
river.  Back  of  the  city,  on  the  north-west, 
west  and  south,  the  dry,  sandy  pine-hills  com- 
mence, affording  deliglitful  and  healthy  re- 
treats from  the  heat,  sickness  and  annoyances 
of  the  city,  during  the  summer ;  and  thus 
have  8|)rnng  up  the  pleasant  villages  of  Toul- 
minville,  Spring  Hill,  Cottage  Hill,  Summer- 
ville  and  Fulton.  South  of  the  city,  the  shores 
of  the  bay  are  dotted  for  many  miles  with 
the  residences  of  our  citizens.  These  spots 
have  been  found  usually  exempt  from  the 
visitations  of  epidemic  disease. 

The  city  is  not  compactly  built,  except  in 
tlie  portions  occupied  by  the  commercial  and 
business  houses. 

The  streets  generally  are  wide,  and  run 
mostly  north  and  south,  east  and  west.  Much 
attention,  of  late  years,  has  been  p;iid  to  plant- 
ing shade  trees  along  the  pavements,  and  the 
comfort,  and  probably  the  health  of  the  city- 
is  much  improved  thereby. 

Tlie  prevailing  wind.*,  during  the  winter 
months,  are  the  north  and  northeast.  From 
the  middle  of  April,  (at  which  time  the  warm 
spring  weather  commence-^,)  the  .souih  winds, 
cool,  refre.'iliing,  and  laden  with  the  moisture 
of  the  extensive  waters  of  the  gulf  and  bay, 
make  the  heat  quite  endurable. 

No  system  of  under-ground  drainage  has 
ever  been  attempted  in  Mobile.  From  the 
light  and  porous  cliaracter  of  tlie  soil,  however, 
the  streets  soon  dry  after  the  heaviest  fall  of 
rain. 

The  city  Is  supplied  with  good  spring  water 
througli  the  City  Water  Works,  from  a  stream 
some  few  miles  distant.  The  climate  of 
Mobile  is  warm  and  relaxing  to  the  energies, 


Asylums;  the  Benevolent  Society,  which,  be- 
sides other  objects  of  charity,  has  charge  of 
the  destitute  widows  of  the  city ;  and  the 
Samaritan  Society,  which  does  an  immense 
deal  towards  alleviating  the  suffering  and  dis- 
tress of  the  indigent  poor. 

The  want  of  a  lunatic  asylum  and  a  work 
house  is  sadl}'  felt,  and  the  urgent  necessity 
for  such  institutions  is  becoming  more  and 
more  apparent  each  year. 

There  are  three  cemeteries,  which,  from  their 
location,  can  exert  but  little  influence  upon 
the  public  health. 

The  sanatory  condition  of  the  city  has 
undoubtedly  improved  within  the  last  few 
years.  For  many  years  ilobile  enjoyed  the 
unenviable  reputation  of  being  a  very  un- 
healthy place,  and  the  devastating  epidemics 
of  18iy,  ''25, '-29,  '37, '39,  and '43,  in  truth, gave 
a  coloring  to  this  accusation.  Since  the  last- 
mentioned  year  there  has  been  no  severe 
visitation  from  the  destroyer.  We  may  ac- 
count for  this,  in  some  measure,  by  the  fact 
that  the  wet,  muddy  morasses,  filled  with 
rushes  and  stubble  cane,  which,  until  1843, 
occupied  nearly  the  entire  northern  portion 
of  the  city,  have  been  filled  in,  and  their 
places  are  now  the  sites  of  large  cotton  ware- 
houses and  presses ;  a  better  system  of  (h-ain- 
age  has  been  resorted  to  in  the  principal 
streets;  and,  lastly,  more  exertion  has  been 
made  by  the  municipal  officers  to  carry  into 
effect  the  prudent  suggestions  of  the  Board  of 
Health. 

There  arc  but  very  few  deaths  that  occur 
from  any  of  the  usual  formsof  endemic  fever; 
in  fact,  the  diseases  of  that  character  seem  to 
have  lost  almost  entirely  the  dread  which  a 
few  years  since  they  inspired.  The  greatest 
mortality  for  the  last  four  or  five  years  back, 
has  been  from  enteric  affections.  The  deaths 
from  diarihcra  and  dysentery  have  exceeded 
greatly  ihe  mortality  from  any  other  disease 
of  an  acute  character.    These  diseases  have 


MOBILE STATISTICAL   HISTORY    OF. 


19 


not  been  confined  so  entirely  as  formerly  to  sanatory  condition  of  the  city  has  improTed 
the  spring  and  summer  month",  but  have  oc-    '     '      ••  •    ■■ 
curred  throughout  the  year,  and,  at  all  seasons, 
have  been  occasionally  of  a  very  unmanage- 


able character.  The  following  table  will 
show  the  entire  number  of  deatlis  in  Mobile 
for  the  years  1845  to  1850,  inclusive: 


Tears 

1845. 

1846. 

1847., 

1848., 

1849.. 


Population. 

,.12,000. 
.12,000., 
.13,000.. 
.15,000., 
17,000. 


1850....  20,000. 


Wliites. 

..320.. 
.  .339.. 
..433.. 
.  .506.. 
.633.. 
..437 


Bl.iclm.       Ceattia 

.122. . . .442 

.144 483 

..175.... 608 

..239 805 

..273 910 

..178.. ..611 


during  this  time. 
The  average  annual  mortality  of 
London,  population,  2,000,000,  is  44,700 


Pans, 
New- York, 
Philada, 
N.  Orleans, 
Mobile, 


1,000,000,  is  23,500 

440,000,  is  23,400 

400,000,  is  14,000 

125,000,  is    7,954 

20,000,  is.      611 


These  figures  would  give  a  mortality  for 

London,  of  one  in  every  44  living. 
Paris,  "  42      " 

New-York,        "  19      " 

Philadelphia,    "  27      " 

New-Orleans,   "  15      " 

Mobile,  "  32      " 

Tlius  showing  that  the  percentage  of  deaths 
s  actually  less  in  Mobile  than  in  any  of  the 


During  this  period  the  yellow  fever  pre 
vailed  but  one  season,  the  summer  and 
autumn  of  1847,  and  there  were  seventy-six 
deaths  from  the  disease  that  year.  In  1848 
and  1819,  the  cholera  and  its  kindred  affec- 
tions swelled  the  mortaUty  somewhat.     The 

scarlet  fever,  during  the  winter  of  1848  and  I  named  American  cities. 
1849,  and  the  spring  of  1849,  prevailed  to  a       The  annexed  table  will  show  the  number 
great  extent,  and  numbered  among  its  victims  j  of  each  class— whites  and  blacks,  males  and 

females — who  have  died  in  Mobile  from  1845 

to  1850,  inclusive  : 

1845.  1846.  1847   1848.  1849.  1850.  Total. 

Males 279 

Females.  .163 


many  adults.  The  mortality  from  this  dis 
ease  in  1848  was  seventy -five ;  in  1849  the 
mortality  from  the  same  cause  was  fifty. 
These  remarks  will  explain  the  large  ap- 
parent increase  in  the  mortality  in  1848  and 
1849.  In  1850  there  was  no  epidemic  of  a 
fatal  character.  The  dengue  fever  prevailed 
to  a  very  great  extent  during  September  and 
October  of  this  year,  but  there  was  no  fatality 
attending  it. 

In  1845,  with  a  population  of  12,000,  and 
a  mortality  of  442,  the  deaths  were  36  5-6 
in  every  thousand  living;  in  1850,  with  a 
population  of  20,000,  and  a  mortality  of  61 1, 
the  deaths  were  30^  in  every  thousand  living. 
These  two  years  were  both  considered  healthy 
years.  There  was  no  epidemic  visitation 
either  year  of  a  fatal  character:  we  may, 
therefore,   infer  from   these  facts,   that    the 


324  396   536  580    396 
159  212    267  329  220 


2511 
1350 


Whites... .320 
Blacks.... 122 


339  443 
144  175 


566  637  433 
239  273  173 


Total.  ..442   483  008    805  910  611    3859 

One  is  struck  immediately  with  the  great 
disproportion  exhibited  by  this  table,  between 
the  mortality  of  the  males  and  females. 
Very  nearly  the  same  disproportion  probably 
exists  in  the  relative  population,  and  the 
greater  degree  of  exposure  and  the  various 
excesses  committed  by  the  males,  will  prob- 
iibly  account  fiSt  much  of  the  excess. 


MOBILE — Statistical  History  of. 

MADE    r'p     FROM    OFFICIAL    SOUECBS,   BY   WM.   V.   HOLLEY,    F.    O.    KIMBALL,   AND 
J.  H.   HINT,   CITY   ASSESSORS. 


Years 
1814 
1815 
1816 
1817 
1818 
1819 
1820 
1821 
1622 
1823 
1824 
1825 
1826 
1827 
1828 
1829 
1830 
1831 
1832 


Noof 
Polls 


94 

93 
101 

97 
104 

88 
211 
287 
332 
512 
3.H 
407 
471 
527 
402 
531 
419 
704 


Value  of 
Carriages 


Special 


96 
I'l 
123 
136 
158 
169 
174 
161 
191 
367 
3'^2 
640 
706 
717 
723 
1.195 
1,041 
887 
1,535 


Value  of 

Slaves. 

41,750 
43^100 
48,200 
56.9011 
67, '80 
71,410 

73,:joo 

59,390 
85:)0 
119  300 
106,575 
218  800 
22l.<90 
215,750 
232.240 
326,7110 
311,.555 
274  1H5 
530,155 


M 


Value  of 
ertbandise. 


111,200 
101,(100 
1  =17.200 
18.1,600 
203  000 
276,100 
208,000 
383.300 
231,300 
3118.950 
108,800 
397,500 
535.980 
411.9.=.0 
559.678 
500  (i83 
421,7.50 
540,449 
975,028 


198,000 

2'22,500 

319,4(10 

371,001) 

398  01  lO 

417  000 

493,300 

403,-.'O0 

419,550 

989.350 

632, '25 

1,519.765 

1,.^35  640 

1,408  3-27 

1.483.108 

1,891,760 

2.162,770 

1,294,810 

2,623,110 


Total 
Valuation. 

350,950 

366,000 

524,800 

613.500 

608,180 

764.510 

874.600 

846.390 

7;J6,150 

1,477,600 

1.107,500 

2  1.36,140 

2.292,658 

2.036.(133 

2,175,087 

2.719,148 

2  896,070 

2,1(19.444 

4,118,293 


80 


MEMPHIS,   TENX. 


Ko  of  Value  of 

Teart  Polls  Horses 

lc-33  8!>8  

1834  O'^O  

1835  7r8  

1836  617  

1837  KW  

1838  l.^«'7  

1839  1,725  

1840  1,453  

1841  1,372  

1842  1,015  

1843  V.55  

1844  452  

1845  943  

1846  No  poll  tax  28,770 

1847  Do.  15,925 

1848  1.217  16,980 

1849  1,607    6,185 

1850  1,400    7.135 
1S51  1,554  87,100 


Value  of 
Carriages ' 


42,450 
27.590 
24,680 
7,840 
8,685 
54,740 


Special  No  of 

Tax  Slaves 

1  856 

2,565 

2,411 

3,1-11 

3.4.S9 

3,920 

2.135 

2,1 07 

3,467 

.3.iJ55 

3,.5n2 

3.963 

10.000  3,81j7 

12.690  4.586 

10,748  3,808 

9,890  4.169 

9,570  3,888 

5,735  3,313 

9,285  5,203 


Value  of 

Slaves 

694  805 
1,(IU0,3.50 
1.447.000 
1.871,100 
2,7 -J  1,300 
l,4(il,200 
1,22.^1150 
1.078.020 
l,.=ili8.900 
1,067.375 
1  471.750 
1,705,845 
1,428,620 
1,697,650 
1,323.480 
1.544.3.50 
1,600,8.50 
1.345,850 
2,493,845 


M 


Value  of 
li:*ndiee 

l.(i4-',400 
1.143.725 
L.Wl.lOO 
2  739.o.'i0 
2,975.250 
2.-J53,285 
3,1 06,3.^0 
1,820,770 
2,297,600 
2,477,820 
1,676,550 
2.329.976 
2,442.616 
2.121,820 
1  760  745 
1,801,750 
1,728,3.50 
2,041.360 
3,836,565 


Valoe  of 
Keal  K-t.iIe 
3.377.649 
4,611,9.^0 
6.414.425 
18,1150.1180 
27.4e2.961 
20.407  4.35 
21.098,915 
13.441,783 
17  6019.50 
16.138.643 
14,773.470 
14.0.i3  056 
12.622,085 
12,854,650 
8,r.38.2ft0 
8,943.810 
9.300,930 
8,.57-,025 
11,698,045 


Tota! 
Valu.ition 

5.014,864 
6,756,025 
9,083,135 
22,1)60,230 
33,062,191 
24,121.920 
24.480.315 
16,398,623 
21  468,450 
20,283.8:» 
17,921,770 
18,098,877 
16.503.325 
16.745,345 
11,776,730 
12.431.560 
12,629,700 
11.985,790 
17,070,295 


MOLASSES    TRADE    OF    UNITED    STATES,    1851, 

RECEIPTS    OF    FOREIGN    IN    UNITED    STATES. 

Hhds.  Tcs.  Bbla. 

Total  receipts,  from  Jjinuary  1  to  Decpmber  31, 1851 2.57.688  18.620  25,2CS 

Add  stock  at  all  the  ports,  January  1, 1851 12,800  310  250 

Total  supiJly 270,488        18,930        25,518 

Deduct  exports  in  1851 2,3t5  408  239 

268,123        18,.522       25,279 
Deduct  stock,  1st  January,  1852 11,200  327  252 

Total  coni=umptioii  of  foreign  in  1851 256.923       18.195       25,027 

—Or.  about i .  33,238,278  gallons. 

Add  crop  of  Louisiana.  Texas,  Florida,  &c.,  of  1850-51,  (the  most  of  which  caino 
to  market  iu  1^51,  and  assuming  the  stock  of  this  description,  1st  January  of  each 
year,  to  be  criual) 10,709.7 10  gallons. 

Would  make  the  whole  consumption  in  1851 43  94S,0I8  gallons. 

Consumption  of  foreign  in  1850  24,816,949        " 

Add  crop  of  Louisiana,  Texas,  Florida,  &c.,  1849-50 12,212.300       « 

Would  make  the  whole  consumption  in  1850 37.019,249        " 

Whole  excess  in  1851 6,928,779        " 

Excess  of  foreign  in  1851 8,431.3i.9       " 


It  xvill  be  Bcen  by  the  above  statement, 
that  the  increase  in  the  consumption  of  foreign 
in  the  countrj',  in  1851,  is  ec^al  to  about  34 
per  cent,  over  the  consumjition  of  18,jO.  It 
will  be  remembered,  however,  that  the  crop 
of  Louisiana,  Texas,  &c.,  in  1860- .51,  was 
1,502,560  gallons  short  of  the  production  of 
the  previous  season,  which  induced  larcjer  im- 
portations tlie  past  year ;  even  New-Orleans 
having  taken  equal  to  1,227,435  gallons  of 
Cuba  to  supply  the  deficiency.  The  crop  of 
Louisiana,  Ac,  the  jircsent  season,  is  estimated 
to  be  a  full  average  one. 

MEMPHIS,  TENN.— Eveiy  day  gives  me 
additional  evidence  of  the  increasing  pros- 
perity of  this  already  prosperous  city ;  and 
although  her  commerce  is  great,  yet  upon 
that  alone  her  public-spirited  citizens  dr> 
not  intend  to  rely,  for  the  notes  of  jirepara- 
tion  are  already  licnrd  in  various  quarters, 
and  in  addition  to  her  commerce,  manufac- 
tories will  8(>on  claim  a  part  in  adding  to 
her  weallli.  Preparations  are  now  making  1 
for  the  establishment  of  a  very  large  bi.at-! 


yard,  to  l)e  conducted  on  a  scale  as  exten- 
sive as  any  in  the  west;  and  ere  long, 
althfiugh  we  cannot  afford  the  facilities  at 
Na.shville,  Tennes.-^eeans  will  have  the  oppor- 
tunity of  supporting  in  Tennessee  this  im- 
portant brancli  of  industry.  The  gentleman 
who  opens  the  yard  is  said  to  be  one  of  the 
bt£.st  boat-builders  in  the  Union.  As  an  evi- 
dence of  its  truth,  some  of  the  finest  boats 
running  on  the  Mississippi  are  his  liandiwork; 
among  others,  tlie  magnificent  Autocrat.  In 
addition  to  this,  an  extensive  flour  mill,  now 
nearly  completed,  is  about  to  commence 
operations,  and  will  make,  it  is  said,  sixty- 
two  thousanil  barrels  of  flour  annually ; 
creating  another  large  source  of  wealth  to  the 
communit}'.  These  things  speak  most  favor- 
ably for  the  public  spirit  of  Memiihis,  and  in- 
deed I  find  on  all  sides  evidence  that  her 
citizens  are  determined,  by  th(>  liberal  views 
they  t.ake  of  things,  to  make  ."Memphis  one  of 
tlie  first  cities  in  the  West— and  the  city 
already  feels  the  beneficial  result  of  these 
views.  In  1840,1am  told,  Mempliis  had  a 
population  of  from  tluee  to  four  thousand  ; 


MEMrmS  CONVENTION  OF  1845. 


81 


the  census  rocently  taken  shows  a  population 
of  twelve  i!k)U?:uk1  ;  and  althoutch  no  prophet, 
I  venture  the  prediction  that  18(30  will  show 
a  population  more  than  double  this  number. 
*  *  *  » 

Since  writing  the  above,  I  learn  that  a 
large  cotton  manufactory  has  just  been 
erected  here,  and  will  go  into  operation  very 
shortly,  giving  employment  to  a  large  num- 
ber of  operatives.  Why  cannot  we  chronicle 
suiji  an  event  in  Nashville?  Urge  our 
citizens  to  wake  up  to  the  importance  of 
these  things,  for  if  tlicy  sleep  much  longer, 
every  city  in  tiiis  country  will  outstrip  us,  and 
upon  ourselves  must  rest  the  fault. 

MEMPHIS  CONVENTION  OF  1845.— 
We  give  the  resolutions  adopted,  for  useful 
reference : 

1st. — Refolved,  That  the  reports  of  the 
various  committees,  presented  to  the  con- 
vention, be  printed,  together  with  such 
documents  accompanying  them,  as  the  com- 
mittee appointed  to  supervise  the  printing 
of  the  proceedings  of  the  convention  shall 
deem  necessary. 

2d. — Resolved,  That  safe  communication 
between  the  Gulf  of  ilexico  and  the  interior, 
afforded  by  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi 
and  Ohio  rivers  and  their  yirincipal  tributa- 
ries, is  indispensable  to  the  defense  of  the 
country  in  time  of  war,  and  essential  also  to 
its  commerce. 

3d. — Resolved,  Tliat  the  improvement  and 
preservation  of  the  navigation  of  those  great 
rivers,  are  objects  as  strictly  national  as  any 
other  prejtaration  for  the  defense  of  the 
country,  and  that  such  im])roveinents  are 
deemed  by  this  convention  impracticable  by 
the  states,  or  individual  enterprise,  and  call 
for  the  appropriation  of  money  for  the  same 
by  the  General  Government. 

4th — Resolved,  That  the  deepening  of  the 
mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  so  as  to  pass  ships 
of  the  largest  class,  cost  what  it  may,  is  a 
work  worthy  of  the  nation,  and  would 
greatly  promote  the  general  prosjjerity. 

5th. — Resolved,  That  if  the  policy  of  rein- 
forcing our  Navy  with  war  steamers  be 
adopted,  the  western  waters  are  proper 
sources  of  supply,  as  they  abound  in  iron, 
the  best  material  for  their  construction,  and 
in  lead  and  copper,  important  materials  for 
munitions  of  war;  provisions  also  being 
cheap,  and  the  skill  requisite  for  their  con- 
struction and  navigation  being  ample  in 
this  region,  which  already  j)ossesses  the  lar- 
gest steam  commercial  marine  in  the  world. 

6th — Resolved,  That  the  project  of  eon 
necting  the  Mississippi  river  with  the  Lakes 
of  the  North,  by  a  ship  canal,  and  thus  with 
the  Atlantic  Ocean,  is  a  measure  worthy  (f 
the  enlightened  consideration  of  (Vingress. 

'7th. — Resolved,  That  the  intereonrse  be- 
tween the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the  Atlantic 
VOL.  II. 


coast  ought  to  be  preserved  unimpaired, 
and  that  ample  military  and  naval  defenses, 
and  additional  light-houses  and  beacons, 
should  be  established  along  the  coast  of  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  at  the  most  eligible 
points. 

%x\\.— Resolved,  That  the  Gulf  and  Lake 
coasts  are  greater  in  extent  than  the  Atlan- 
tic seaboard  ;  that  the  interests  to  be  defend- 
ed in  one  quarter  are  quite  as  important, 
and  altogether  as  national,  as  those  in  the 
other;  and  that  the  (,'xpenditures  required 
for  the  proper  defenses  of  the  (5ult'  and 
Lakes,  will  fall  far  short  of  what  has  been 
freely  voted  for  the  coast  defenses  of  the 
Atlantic. 

9lh. — Resolved,  That  Congress  should  es- 
tablish a  National  Armory  and  Foundry  at 
some  point  on  the  western  waters,  at  as 
early  a  period  as  practicable. 

loth. — Resolved,  That  the  Marine  Hospi- 
tals on  the  western  and  southern  waters, 
the  construction  of  which  has  been  com- 
menced or  authorized  by  Congress,  ought 
to  be  prosecuted  to  completion  with  the 
least  practicable  delay. 

11  til. — Resolved,  That  the  Mail  service  of 
the  West  and  South  requires  great  inqn-ove- 
ment  in  speed  and  regularity,  particularly 
on  the  western  rivers,  and  that  measures 
ought  to  be  taken  for  the  prompt  extension, 
by  Government,  of  the  Magnetic  Telegraphy 
into  or  through  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi. 

r2th. — Resolved,  That  millions  of  aci'cs  of 
the  public  domain,  lying  on  the  Mississippi 
river  and  its  tributaries,  now  worthless  for 
purposes  of  cultivation,  might  be  reclaimed 
by  throwing  up  embankments,  so  as  to  pre- 
vent overflow ;  and  that  this  convention 
recommend  such  measures  as  may  be  deem- 
ed expedient  to  accomplish  that  object,  by 
grant  of  said  lands,  or  an  appropriation  of 
money. 

13th. — Resolved,  That  Railroads  and  com- 
munications from  the  Valley  of  the  Missis- 
sippi to  the  South  Atlantic  ports,  in  giving 
greater  facilities  to  trade,  greater  dispatch 
in  travelling,  and  in  developing  new  sources 
of  wealth,  are,  in  all  their  salutary  influen- 
ces on  the  commercial,  social,  and  political 
relations,  strongly  urged  upon  the  considera- 
tion and  patriotism  of  the  people  of  theWest: 
and  they  are  the  more  recommended  as 
works  within  the  jiower  of  private  enter- 
prise to  construct,  and  as  afTording  profita- 
ble investment  of  capital. 

14lh. — Resolved,  That  in  order  that  the 
earliest  opportunity  may  be  afforded  for 
private  individuals  and  eiiter]irise  to  direct 
their  capital  and  energies  to  the  completion 
of  the  important  roads  projected,  the  con- 
vention recommend  to  the  delegations  pres- 
ent to  ap]ioint  committees  charged  with  the 
duty  of  prompt  and  early  a))plicati<)ns  to 
their  respective  Legislatm-es,  for  charters  to 


82 


MEMPHIS    CONVENTION    OF    1849. 


construct  such  roads  as  may  pass  through 
their  states ;  and  to  ask  such  aid  and  pat- 
ronage from  said  states  as  they,  in  their 
discretion,  may  deem  proper  and  necessary, 
to  aid  in  tiie  construction  of  the  works. 

15th. — Resolved^  That  as  many  of  the 
roads  projected  may  pass  through  the  public 
domain,  tliis  convention  -would  respectful I3' 
urge  upon  the  consideration  of  Congress,  the 
equity  of  granting  the  right  of  way  and 
alternate  sections,  iu  aid  of  the  works  so 
situated — such  grant,  iu  the  opinion  of  this 
convention,  being  no  more  than  a  fair  com- 
pensation paid  by  the  proprietor  for  the 
enhanced  value  imparted  to  the  sections  of 
land  retained  by  Government. 

16th.  —  Resolved,  That  efficient  steps 
should  be  t.aken  by  the  General  Govern- 
ment to  move  and  prevent  the  recurrence 
of  the  obstacles  in  the  Mississippi,  opposite 
the  city  of  St.  Louis,  so  that  the  harbor 
there  may  at  all  times  be  accessible,  as  ob- 
jects of  public  utility,  and  of  a  national 
character,  and  entirely  beyond  the  ability 
of  Missouri  to  accomplish. 

ITlh. — Resolved,  That  it  is  expedient  that 
Congress  should  make  an  appropriation  of 
money,  for  the  purpose  of  completing  the 
Military  Road  from  the  Avest  bank  of  the 
Mississippi  (opposite  Memphis)  through  the 
swamps,  to  the  highlands  in  Arkansas,  in 
the  direction  of  the  various  military  posts  on 
the  western  frontier. 

18th. — Resolved,  That  a  Dry  Dock  and 
convenient  arrangement  for  the  repairs  and 
refitting  of  Government  vessels,  should  be 
establislied  at  some  suitable  point  on  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico. 

loth. — Resolved,  That  the  president  ap- 
point a  committee  of  five  members  of  this 
convention,  to  memorialize  Congress  on  the 
various  topics  embraced  in  the  foregoing 
resolutions. 

20th. — Resolved,  That  the  president  also 
ap]>oint  a  committee  of  five  members  of  this 
convention,  to  address  our  common  constit- 
uents on  the  same  subjects. 

MEMPHIS  CONVENTION  OF  1849.— 
RicsoLiTioxs  Adopted. — Resolved,  That  it  is 
the  opinion  of  this  convention,  that  it  is 
the  duty  of  the  Gener.al  Government  to 
provide,  at  an  early  period,  for  the  con- 
struction of  a  national  railroad  from  the 
Mississippi  river  to  the  Pacific  ocean. 

Rcsotved,  That  to  facilitate  the  accom- 
plishment of  this  object,  in  the  opinion  of 
this  convention,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Gene- 
ral Government  to  constitute  an  efficient 
and  competent  corps  of  engineers,  to  make 
complete  explorations  and  surveys  of  all  the 
routes  that  have  been  designated  by  public 
opinion,  as  proper  for  the  line  of  this  road. 

Resolved,  That  after  the  proper  surveys 
shall  have   been   completed,   that,   in  the 


opinion  of  this  convention,  it  is  the  duty  of 
tile  General  Government  to  locate  the  line 
of  the  road ;  and,  in  making  the  location, 
tliat  route  should  be  selected  which  is  easiest 
of  access,  best  calculated  to  subserve  the 
purposes  of  national  defense,  most  conven- 
ient to  the  people  of,  and  (as  far  as  practi- 
cable) central  to,  the  United  States,  and 
upon  which  a  railroad  can  be  constructed 
on  the  cheapest  and  best  terms. 

Resolved,  That,  to  carry  into  effect  the 
object  of  the  first  resolution,  in  the  opinion 
of  this  convention,  the  public  lands  of  the 
United  States  constitute  a  legitimate  and 
jjropcr  fund. 

Resolved,  That,  after  the  construction  of 
the  national  railway  trunk  from  the  Missis- 
sippi river  to  the  Pacific  ocean,  in  the  opin- 
ion of  this  convention,  it  is  the  duty  of  Con- 
gress to  aid,  by  the  ajipropriation  of  the 
national  domain,  in  the  construction  of  such 
branch  railroads  as  will  best  connect  it  with 
the  northern  lakes,  and  the  great  thorough- 
fares leading  to  the  Atlantic  ocean,  and  with 
such  other  points  on  the  Mississippi  river  as 
will  connect  it  with  the  lines  of  improve- 
ment completed,  or  in  the  course  of  construc- 
tion ;  and  also  to  aid  in  the  construction  of 
branches  from  the  main  trunk  to  suitable 
points  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  either  east  or 
west  of  the  Mis.-^issippi  river. 

Resolved,  That,  in  the  opinion  of  this  con- 
vention, it  is  the  duty  of  the  General  Govern- 
ment to  provide,  under  liberal  conditions,  for 
a  connection  between  the  main  trunk  of  this 
national  railroad  and  all  railroads  now  made, 
or  which  may  hereafter  be  constructed  by  the 
authority  of  the  several  states  and  territo- 
ries of  the  Union. 

Resolved,  That  as  an  important  means,  a 
necessary  preliminary  to  the  construction  of 
a  railroad,  it  is  the  first  duty  of  Congress  to 
take  the  necessary  measures  for  the  establish- 
ment of  military  posts  from  the  western  con- 
fines of  uur  western  states,  along  the  southern 
houndaiies  of  our  republic  and  our  Indian 
frontier,  to  the  Pacific  ocean ;  that  these  posts 
should  be  established  in  all  proper  places, 
not  far  distant  from  each  other,  and  that 
civilized  and  productive  settlements  should 
be  encouraged  around  them,  by  sales  and 
the  grant  of  preemption  rights  of  the  pub- 
lie  lauds  to  actual  settlers,  and  by  such  other 
encouragement  as  may  be  deemed  necessary, 
so  that  by  these  means  ample  opportunities 
may  be  afforded  to  our  engineers  for  the  im- 
mediate survey  and  reconnolssanee  of  our 
possessions  lying  between  our  western  and 
southern  states  and  the  Pacific  ocean ;  and 
so,  also,  that  by  these  means  safe,  practical 
roads,  one  or  more,  with  facilities  of  travel, 
may  be  immediately  formed  for  our  citizens, 
and  for  the  transportation  of  troops  and  mu- 
nitions of  war,  etc.,  across  our  own  territo- 
ries, from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  shores. 


MINNESOTA. 


83 


and  in  order  that  our  government  may  ful-i 
fil  its  recent  treaty  stipulations  with  Mexico. 
Resolved,  That  while  the  contemplated 
railroad  across  the  continent  is  being  con- 
structed, a  present  communication  between 
the  states  of  this  Union  and  the  American 
and  Asiatic  coasts  of  the  Pacific  ocean,  is  of 
vast  importance  to  every  portion  of  this 
country;  that  such  communication  can  be 
obtained  by  ship-canal  or  railroad  across 
the  isthmus  of  Tehuantepec,  Nicaragua,  or 
Panama,  or  across  them  all ;  which  i-ailroads 
or  canals  may  be  constructed  by  i)rivate  en- 
terprise; and  this  convention,  in  order  to 
encourage  the  undertaking  and  completion 
of  such  works,  recommend  the  passage  of  a 
law,  by  the  Congress  of  the  United  States, 
directing  the  Postmaster  General,  Secretary 
of  War,  and  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  to  make 
annual  conti'acts  for  the  transportation  of 
the  mails,  troops,  and  military  and  naval 
stores  of  the  government,  from  the  Atlantic 
to  the  Pacific  ports  of  the  country,  by  the 
shortest,  speediest,  and  cheapest  route. 

Resolved,  That,  in  the  event  of  the  appro- 
priation by  Congress  of  a  considerable  por- 
tion of  the  public  lands,  or  of  the  proceeds 
of  the  sales  thereof,  to  the  construction  of  a 
railroad  from  the  Mississippi  river  to  the 
Pacific  ocean,  that  liberal  appropriations  of 
the  public  lands  lying  within  the  limits  of 
the  respective  states,  should  ^e  made  to  aid 
Ihem  in  the  construction  of  their  works  of 
internal  improvement. 

Resolved,  That,  in  the  present  state  of  our 
knowlcflge,  we  feel  warranted  in  recommend- 
ing to  the  particular  attention  of  the  General 
Government  for  examination,  as  possessing 
special  advantages,  the  route  commencing  at 
San  Diego  on  the  Pacific  ocean,  crossing  the 
Colorado  of  the  West,  running  along  the  Gila 
river,  or  near  it,  in  a  direction  to  the  Paso  del 
Norte,  and  tlieuce  across  the  state  of  Texas  to 
its  north-eastern  boundary,  between  32°  and 
33°  of  north  latitude,  terminating  at  some 
point  on  the  Mississippi  between  the  mouth 
of  the  Ohio  river  and  the  mouth  of  Red  river. 
Resolved,  That  a  special  committee  of  seven 
be  appointed  by  the  president  of  the  conven- 
tion, to  collect  and  publish  information,  to 
prepare  a  memorial  to  the  Congress,  and  an 
address  to  the  people,  of  the  United  States, 
upon  the  subject  of  increasing  the  facilities  of 
intercourse  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
oceans,  and  such  other  matters  as  shall  be 
embraced  in  the  resolutions  of  this  convention 
Committee  of  seven,  appointed  by  the  presi- 
dent to  memorialize  Congress,  &c. : 

J.  D.  B.  DeBow,  of  Louisiana. 

Absalom  Fowler,  of  Arkansas. 

James  C,  Jones,  of  Tennessee. 

J.  R.  SmoTHER,  of  Missouri. 

J.  F.  G.  MiTTAG,  of  South  Carolina. 

C.  C.  Mills,  of  Texas. 

G.  S.  Yeegee,  of  Mississippi 


MINNESOTA.— We  make  the  following 
extract  descriptive  of  Minnesota,  from  a 
letter  written  by  II.  II.  Siblej',  Esq. : 

"The  part  of  Minnesota  which  lies  east  of 
the  Mississippi  river  constituted  a  portion 
of  Wisconsin  Territory  before  the  admission 
into  the  Union  of  the  state  of  that  name, 
with  curtailed  boundaries.  The  St.  Croix, 
and  a  line  drawn  from  the  main  branch  of 
that  stream  to  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Louis 
River,  on  Lake  Superior,  now  divide  Wis- 
consin and  Minnesota.  On  the  Avest  of  the 
Mississippi,  the  parallel  of  43°  30'  is  the 
line  of  division  between  the  state  of  Iowa 
and  Minnesota  west  to  the  Missouri.  All 
the  country  up  the  latter  stream  to  its  junc- 
tion with  the  AVhitewater,  and  along  that 
river  to  the  British  Possessions,  thence  west- 
wardly  following  the  line  of  49°  to  the 
intersection  of  the  extreme  north-west  boun- 
dary of  Wisconsin,  •  in  Lake  Superior,  ap- 
pertains to  Minnesota  Territory.  The  area 
embraced  between  these  limits  contains 
between  140,000  and  150,000  square  miles, 
equal  in  extent  to  New-York,  Virginia  and 
Pennsylvania  combined. 

"This  immense  region  is  bountifully  water- 
ed by  the  Mississippi,  St.  Peter's,  and  Missouri 
rivers,  and  the  Red  River  of  the  north,  and 
their  nimierous  tributary  streams  which  tra- 
verse it  in  every  part.  There  are  also  in- 
numerable bodies  of  fresh  water,  which 
abound  in  fish  of  various  kinds,  the  white 
fish  especially  being  found  in  great  numbers 
in  the  more  northern  and  large  lakes.  The 
general  character  of  Minnesota  is  that  of 
high  rolling  prairie;  but  the  streams  and 
lakes  are  bordered  with  heavy  bodies  of 
timber  which  contain  every  species  of  wood 
known  along  the  Mississippi  below,  except 
beech  and  sycamore.  At  a  point  about  eight 
miles  above  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  west 
of  the  Mississippi,  commences  a  large  and 
remarkable  forest  which  extends  to  the  south, 
nearly  at  a  right  angle  across  the  Minnesota 
or  St.  Peter's  river,  to  the  branches  of  the 
Makato  or  Blue  Earth  river.  This  vast 
body  of  woodland  is  more  than  one  hundred 
and  twenty  miles  in  length,  and  from  fifteen 
to  forty  in  breadth.  Many  beautiful  lakes 
of  limpid  water  are  found  withiu  its  limits. 
In  this  beautiful  country  are  to  be  found  all 
the  requisites  to  sustain  a  dense  population. 
The  soil  is  of  great  fertility  and  unusual 
depth,  covered  as  it  is  with  the  motdd  of  a 
thousand  years.  The  Indian  is  here  in  his 
forest  home,  hitherto  secure  from  the  intru- 
sion of  the  pale  faces;  but  the  advancing 
tide  of  civilization  warns  him  that  ere  long 
he  must  yield  up  his  title  to  this  domain,  and 
seek  another,  and  a  strange  dwelling-place. 
It  is  a  melancholy  reflection  that  the  large 
and  warlike  tribes  of  Sioux  and  Chippewas, 
who  now  own  full  nine  tenths  of  the  soil  of 
Minnesota,  must  soon  be  subjected  to  the 


84 


MINNESOTA. 


operation  of  the  same  causes  ■nliich  have 
swept  their  eastern  hretliren  from  the  earth, 
unless  an  entirely  different  line  of  policy  is 
pursued  by  the  government  towards  them. 
if  they  were  brought  under  the  influence 
and  restraint  of  our  benign  laws,  and  some 
hope  extended  to  them,  that  education  and 
a  course  of  moral  training  would,  at  some 
period  hereafter,  entitle  them  to  be  placed 
on  an  equality,  socially  and  politically,  with 
the  whiles,  much  good  would  be  the  result. 
The  soil  of  Minnesota  is  admirably  adapted 
to  liie  cultivation  of  all  the  cereal  grains. 
Wheat,  oats,  and  barley  afford  a  safe  crop, 
even  at  the  British  Red  river  colony,  which 
is  in  latitude  50°. 

"  Minnesota  is  destined  to  become  a  great 
agricultui-al  region,  and  her  prairies  are  well 
calmilated  for  the  raising  of  stock.  Tiiere  is 
also  sueli  an  extent  of  water-power  through- 
out its  broad  surface,  that  no  reason  can  be 
perceived  why  manufactures  Avould  not 
flourish  also.  The  reports  of  those  scien- 
tific men  who  have  explored  the  country 
justify  us  in  the  belief  tiiat  our  territory  is 
rieli  in  copper  ores;  and  more  particularly 
in  galena  or  lead.  "Wiiether  coal  exists  is  a 
problem  yet  to  be  solved.  If  it  shall  be 
found  in  any  consiilerable  quantities,  the  dis- 
covery will  be  of  more  real  advantage  to  Min- 
nesota tiian  the  best  mines  of  silver  and  gold. 

"  On  the  upi)er  portion  of  the  Mississippi 
and  St.  Groix  valleys  lies  the  great  region  of 
pine,  which  will  continue  to  prove  a  source 
of  wealth  to  the  territory  and  state  for  a 
century  to  come.  The  manufacture  of  pine 
lumber  already  oecuj)ies  a  large  part  of  the 
industrial  labor  of  the  people.  Much  of 
this  is  needed  for  home  consumption,  caused 
by  tiie  rapid  increase  of  population  ;  but 
the  larger  portion  is  sent  to  St.  Louis,  where 
it  meets  with  a  ready  sale. 

"The  climate  of  Minnesota  is  not  subject 
to  sudden  variations,  especially  in  winter. 
Although,  in  some  years,  the  snowfalls  to  a 
considerable  depth,  j-et,  as  a  general  rule, 
Ave  have  far  less  than  is  the  case  either  in 
IS'ew-Eiigland  or  the  northern  part  of  the 
state  of  New-York.  The  comparative  ab- 
sence of  moisture  in  our  country  is  attribut- 
able, doubt  less,to  the  fact  that  no  very  large 
bodies  of  water  ai'e  to  be  found,  allliough, 
as  t  have  before  stated,  small  lakes  abound. 
During  the  coldest  weatlier  in  winter  the  air 
is  pei'fectly  still ;  consequently  the  tempera- 
ture is  much  moi'e  tolerable,  and  even  jdea- 
sant,  tlian  could  be  supposed  by  those  who 
reside  in  the  same  latitude  on  a  stormy  At- 
lantic coast. 

"Tlie  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  is  not 
to  be  relied  on  after  tlie  first  week  in  De- 
cember, and  steamboats  arrive  in  the  spriuir 
about  the  10th  or  I'itli  of  April,  so  tliat  the 
river  may  be  considered  as  closed  about  live 
monlha  in  the  year. 


"St  Paul  is  the  present  capital  of  the 
territory.  It  is  situated  on  the  east  bank  of 
tlie  Mississippi,  about  fix  miles  below  P"ort 
Snolling,  and  eight  miles  by  land  from  the 
Falls  of  St.  Antliony,  It  is  now  a  town  of 
twelve  or  thirteen  hundred  inhabitants,  and 
is  rapidly  augmenting  in  population. 

"Stillwater  is  a  thriving  village  on  lake 
St.  Croix,  about  eighteen  miles  from  St. 
Paul  by  land,  and  twenty-five  miles  from  the 
Mississippi  It  is  second  only  to  St.  Paul  in 
size,  and  is  increasing  steadily  in  Avealth  and 
population.  There  is  also  quite  a  village  at 
the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  which  is  one  of 
the  most  lovely  spots  in  the  upper  coimtry, 
and  also  at  Marine  Mills  on  the  St  Croix 
river,  Sauk  Papids,  on  the  Mississippi, 
seventy-five  miles  above  the  falls,  and  at 
Mendo'ta,  at  the  mouth  of  the  St  Peter's 
i-iver.  Point  Douglass  is  at  the  junction 
between  the  Mississippi  and  St  Croix  livers. 
It  is  a  charming  place,  and  is  destined  to  be 
the  site  of  commercial  importance. 

"Pembina  is  the  name  of  a  settlement  on. 
our  side  of  the  line  of  the  British  Possessions, 
and  contains  upwards  of  a  thousand  souls, 
principally  persons  of  a  mixed  Indian  and 
white  blood.  These  people  are  active  and 
enterprising,  hardy  and  intrepid,  excellent 
horsemen,  and  well  skilled  in  the  use  of  fire- 
arms. They  subsist  by  agriculture  and  the 
hunting  of  birfialo.  They  desire  to  be  re- 
cognized as  citizens  of  the  United  States,  as 
do  some  thousands  of  their  kindred,  who 
now  reside  at  Selkirk's  colony  in  the  British 
territory  ;  but  who  are  anxious  to  cnutnci- 
l)ate  themselves  from  the  iron  rule  of  the 
lludson  Bay  Company.  These  people  are 
only  waiting  some  action  on  the  part  of  the 
government  of  the  United  States  to  join 
their  brethr<'n  at  Pembina.  They  would 
form  an  invaluable  defense  to  that  exposed 
frontier,  either  with  the  British  government 
(to  whieh  tlipy  are  much  disaffected)  or  with 
the  Indian  tribes. 

"I  might  state  in  the  connection  that  the 
Indians  generally  through  our  territory  are 
kindly  disposed  towaids  the  whites,  and 
anxious  to  avoid  a  collision.  This  is  empha- 
tically the  case  Avith  the  Sioux  and  Chip- 
pewas. 

"I  would  remark  in  conclusion,  that  the 
people  of  oui'  territory  are  distinguished 
for  intelligence  and  high-toned  morality. 
For  the  twelve  months  or  more  prior  to  the 
establishment  by  Congress  of  a  government 
for  Minnesota,  althougli,  in  the  anomalous 
position  in  whieh  it  was  left  by  the  admis- 
sion of  Wisconsin  into  the  Union  as  a  state, 
it  was  uncei'tain  to  what  extent,  if  any,  the 
laws  covdd  be  enforced,  not  a  crime  of  any 
magnitude  was  committed.  The  emigration 
to  Minnesota  is  composed  of  men  who  go 
there  with  the  well-founded  assurance,  tliat^ 
iu  a  laud  where   nature  has  lavished  her 


MEXICAN    REPUBLIC. 


85 


choicest  gifts,  where  sickness  has  no  dwell- 
iug-|>]ace,  where  the  dreadful  cholera  has 
not  elaidied  a  siugle  victim,  their  toil  will 
be  amply  rewarded,  while  their  persons  and 
property  are  fully  protected  by  the  broad 
shield  of  law.  The  suu  shines  not  upon  a 
fairer  region,  one  more  desirable  as  a  home 
for  the  mechanic,  the  farmer,  and  the  laborer, 
or  where  their  industry  will  be  more  fully 
requited,  than  Minnesota  Territory." 

ilEXrCAX  REPLTBLTC— The  work,  the 
title  of  which  we  have  prefixed  to  this  article,* 
besides  being  well-timed,  fur  it  has  made  its 
appearance  when  all  meu's  minds  are  occupied 
Willi  the  subject,  is  very  cleverly  written,  and 
exhibit^,  iu  an  advantageous  light,  the  indus- 
try and  talent  of  the  author.  General  Thomp- 
son appears  to  have  availed  liimself  of  all  the 
advantages  of  his  situation,  to  store  his  mind 
with  characteristic  anecdotes  of  the  people 
among  wliom  he  was  living,  as  wellas  carefully 
to  observe  the  tendency  of  the  events  that 
were  p;t8.<iug  around  him  ;  and  to  study  wiih 
unremitting  attention  the  conduct  and  charac- 
ter of  the  principal  actors  in  the  revolutionary 
struggles  which  have  disti-:icted  that  country 
for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century.  Al- 
though we  differ  with  him  in  some  particulars, 
and  in  none  more  than  in  his  estimate  of  the 
character  and  services  of  some  of  the  chiefs 
who  have  figured  during  this  eventful  period, 
on  the  whole,  we  congratulate  ourselves  and 
the  public  upon  the  appearance  of  a  work  on 
Mexico  by  an  American  and  a  Republictin. 
The  accounts  we  have  latelj'  seen  liave  all 
been  written  by  Europeans,  who  take  part 
heart  and  mind  with  the  monarchical  party  ; 
and  unhesitatingly  misrepresent  the  motives 
and  Conduct  of  tlie  federal  republicans  ;  and 
from  i<;norance  of  the  truth,  as  we  are  dis 
posed  to  believe,  give  a  false  coloring  to  the 
events  they  undertake  to  describe. 

Before  entering  into  a  more  minute  exami- 
nation of  the  work  before  us,we  propose  to  give 
our  readers  a  rapid  sketch  of  the  present  con- 
dition and  prospects  of  Mexico,  and  briefly  to 
review  the  chief  events  of  its  history  since  the 
revolution;  and  of  the  causes  which  have  led 
to  its  actual  state  of  destitution  and  misrule. 
And  first,  it  may  not  be  useless  to  give  some 
account  of  the  extent,  population,  and  military 
and  other  resources  of  the  country. 

Mexico  is  bounded  on  the  east  and  south- 
east by  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the  Caribbean 
Sea ;  on  the  west  by  the  Pacific  Ocean ;  on 
the  south  by  Guatemala;  and  on  the  north  by 
the  Uiiited  States.  From  the  southern  ex- 
tremity of  Yucatan  to  the  northern  extremity 
of  Gahfornia,  Mexico  extends  over  twenty- 
seven  degrees  of  latitude ;  varj-ing  consider- 
ably in  breadth,  being  only  one  hundred  and 


*  Recollections  of  Mexico,  by  tlie  Hon.  VVaddy 
Thoinjpson. 


twenty-five  miles  across  at  its  lower  extremity, 
anti  about  eleven  hundred  miles  from  the  Gulf 
to  the  Pacific,  at  its  northern  boundary.  Baron 
llumlwldt  estimated  the  superficial  extent  of 
the  Mexican  territoiy  to  be  118  478  square 
leagues ;  of  which  82,000  square  leagues  are 
situated  under  the  temperate  zone,  and  the 
remainder  lie  within  the  tropics.  The  whole 
of  this  immense  extent  of  country  is  traversed 
by  the  great  Cordillera;  which,  after  passing 
through  the  whole  of  South  America,  in  a  single 
chain,  broken  only  hero  and  there  by  deep 
tiansverse  valleys, divides  into  two  branches  on 
entering  this  northern  continent,  which,  pre- 
serving their  northerly  direction,  leave  in  the 
centre  an  elevated  tract  of  country  known  as 
the  table-land  of  Mexico.  The  height  of  this 
tract  varies  fiom  six  to  eight  thousand  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  is  surmounted 
by  several  lofty  peaks,  which  soar  above  the 
region  of  perpetual  snow.  The  western  branch 
continues  of  an  uninterrupted  height,  until  it 
splits  into  the  various  ramifications,  known 
ciiiefly  by  the  name  of  the  Rocky  Mountains; 
while  the  eastern  division  declines  as  it  ap- 
proaches our  frontier,  until  about  the  26tli  de- 
gree parallel  of  north  latitude,  it  subsides  to 
nearly  a  level  with  the  ocean.  In  ascending 
from  the  coast  to  the  table-land,  the  climate 
and  productions,  to  use  an  expression  of  Hum- 
boldt, succeed  each  other  in  layers  ;  and  the 
traveller,  in  a  few  days,  passes  in  review  the 
whole  scale  of  vegetation,  from  the  ferns  and 
other  plants  of  the  tropics  to  the  pines  of  the 
arctic  regions.  He  considers  the  low  country 
as  very  insalubrious  ;  but,  with  the  exception 
of  the  towns  on  the  coast  and  the  borders  of 
rivers  and  streams,  even  this  portion  of  Mexico 
is  singularly  exempt  from  disease.  Humboldt 
gives  76  deg.  of  Fahrenheit  as  the  mean  heat 
of  the  coas^;,  and  6-i  deg.  of  Fahrenheit  as  that 
of  the  table-land.  We  should  have  estimated 
both  as  somewhat  higher,  especially  that  of 
the  coast;  but  in  such  an  extent  of  country, 
all  general  calculations  must  be  suViject  to  ex- 
ceptions. In  the  internal  provinces,  for  in- 
stance, the  cold  of  winter  and  heats  of  summer 
are  both  extreme.  In  the  equinoctial  region 
of  Mexico,  and  even  as  far  north  as  28  deg., 
the  seasons  of  rain  and  drought  are  regular  and 
periodical.  The  rains  generally  commence 
about  the  middle  of  May,  and  end  in  October ; 
the  remainder  of  the  season  being  one  long 
drought.  Owing  to  this  cause,  wheat  and 
barley  can  only  be  cultivated  where  the  land 
is  capable  of  irrigation ;  and  in  such  situations 
they  are  very  productive,  yielding  thirty  for 
one.  Maize  or  Indian  corn  is  always  sown 
before  the  rains  set  in,  the  farmer  relying  upon 
the  moisture  in  the  ground  to  bring  up  his  crop, 
and  upon  the  intercession  of  his  patron  saint  or 
of  some  miraculous  image  to  bring  down  the 
rain  in  due  season  to  mature  his  crop.  The 
crops  of  Indian  corn  that  we  have  seen  in  the 
i  low  lands  near  the  coast,  on  the  slope  of  the 


86 


MEXICAIf    REPUBLIC. 


Cordillera,  and  on  those  favored  spots  of  the 
table-land,  equal,  if  tbey  do  not  exceed,  those 
of  Tennt'Ss^ee  and  Kentucky. 

As  may  be  supposed,  tlie  face  of  the  country 
thus  dijtiugui^hed  presents  a  very  arid  ap- 
pearance during  the  period  of  drought,  and  is 
entirely  without  forage  for  horses  or  cattle. 
We  have  seen  the  herdsmen  feeding  the  latter 
-with  the  succulent  leaves  and  stems  of  the 
cacti,  -which  they  roast  in  the  fire  to  deprive 
them  of  their  prickles,  that  effectually  prevent 
animals  from  feeding  on  them  without  the  aid 
of  man.  Horses  and  mules  are  here  fed 
throughout  the  winter  on  barley  and  chopped 
straw.  At  the  proper  season  pasturage  is 
abundant,  and  the  road  along  this  elevated 
platform,  running  north  and  south,  s» perfectly 
practicable,  that  we  have  ourselves  seen  on 
one  occasion  four  wagons  in  the  square  of 
Mexico,  driven  and  escorted  by  our  sturdy 
countrymen  from  Santa  Fe,  in  New-Mexico, 
through  Chiliuahua  to  the  capital.  They  were 
proceeding  with  produce  to  Vera  Cruz,  on  ac- 
count of  some  Mexican  merchants,  and  actually 
delivered  their  loads  there,  and  returned  to 
Chihuahua  with  dry  goods.  Ncitiier  the  na- 
ture of  the  country,  therefore,  nor  that  of  the 
roads  offer  any  serious  obstacle  to  the  passage 
of  armies.  Provisions,  however,  are  not  abun- 
dant ;  fur  corn,  wheat,  and  barley  are  cultivated 
only  in  patches  as  ii  were;  chiefly  in  the 
Baxio,  a  rich  and  fertile  country  lying  north  of 
Mexico  and  soutli  of  Guaiuljuato,  the  plains  of 
Toluca,  tlie  southern  and  eastern  parts  of  the 
valley  of  Mexico,  the  state  of  Puebla,  and  the 
vicinity  of  Aguas  Calientes.  Enough,  how- 
ever, is  raised  for  the  wants  of  this  very  ab- 
stemious people;  but  a  few  thousand  north- 
men,  with  the  ordinary  appetites  of  their  race, 
would,  in  a  few  days,  breed  a  fiimine  in  the 
most  fertile  and  productive  of  tlieee  favored 
districts.  Beans  are  cultivated  pretty  exten- 
sively, and  we  sent  home  on  one  occasion,  to 
the  New- York  Horticultural  Society,  thirty- 
two  varieties  of  pulse ;  the  best  is  the  most 
common,  a  red  beau,  resembling  very  much  in 
form,  taste  and  flavor,  our  southern  red  or  cow 
pea.  Our  people  would  be  much  surprised  to 
see  a  whole  estate  cultivated  in  red  pepper, 
or  a  species  of  capsicum,  called  by  the  natives 
chile.  The  consumption  of  this  article  is  pro- 
digious, the  working  classes  subsisting  diiefly 
on  thin  cakes,  made  of  Indian  corn,  seasoned 
with  a  sauce  of  tomato  and  chile.  It  would 
be  foreign  to  our  purpose  to  dwell  upon  the 
other  j)roductioiis  of  Mexican  agriculture.  They 
would  not  aid  much  in  subsisting  an  army 

The  poj>ulation  of  the  country  has  been 
variously  estimated.  In  18;>0,  it  was  be- 
lieved to  have  reached  8,600,666.  It  cannot 
be  short  u{  that  number  now.  It  is  composed 
of  a  very  few  European  Spaniards  ;  Creoles  or 
Spanish  descendants,  who  aie  the  chief  j)ro- 
prietors  of  the  soil,  and  govern  the  country  ; 
Indians,  unmixed,  descendants  of  hewers  of 


wood  and  drawers  of  water  among  the  abo- 
riginal races  found  there  at  the  lime  of  the 
ci'iiquest,  the  better  born  having  perished  un- 
der tlie  oppression  of  i  heir  conquerers  ;  and  the 
mixed  classes.     Of  tliis  enumeration,  the  poor 
Indians  are  the  most  numerous  and  the  most 
industrious.      Now,  in  what  condition  is  this 
immense  population  to  defend   the    country 
against  an  invading  army  ?     The  regular  army 
of  Mexico,  even  in  the  midst  of  peace,  cannot 
be  estimated  much  below  30,UOO»with  an  equal 
number  of  active  militia,  enrolled  and  partially 
disciplined,  ready  to  be  called  into  the  field  ia 
any  emergency.      The  entire  militia  cannot 
well  be  counted  at  less  than  500,000  men, 
liable  to  be  drafted  into  the  service  at  any 
moment.     Of  these  latter,  100,000  are  horse-' 
men,  unsurpassed  in  horsemanship  and  in  the 
use  of  the  spear  and  tasso.     It  must  not  be 
supposed  that,  because  the  recruiting  service 
is  carried  on  forcibly,  and  the  recruits  con- 
ducted to  tlie  army  like  felons,  they  make  on 
that  account  ineflicient  soldiers.   "VVe  have  seen 
the   French  conscript  manacled   and    driven 
along  to  the  depot  by  gensd'armes;  we  have 
seen  the   English   sailor   dragged,   bleeding, 
thi'ough  the  mud.  by  the  press-gang,  to  man 
some  vessel  of  war  ;  and  yet,  after  a  moderate 
course  of  drill,  they  both  are  animated  by  the 
esprit  de  ccrps  of  their  comrades,  and  rival  the 
most  enthusiastic  volunteers  in  battle.      The 
Mexicans  do  not  excel  in  the  use  of  firearms, 
but  frequent  practice  may  remedy  that  de- 
fect.    When  we  were  in  Mexico,  in  18'J9,  the 
army  was  stated  by  the  Secretary  of  War  to 
consist  of  58,955  men,  of  whom  32,101  were 
actually  under  arms.      The  uoops  of  the  line 
were  con.  posed  of  twelve  battalions  of  infantry, 
each  of  823  men,  the  full  war  coni])lement 
being  12213 ;  twelve  regiments  of  cavalry,  each 
559  men,  the  war  complement  being  815  ;  and 
ihrce  brigades  of  artillery,  of  1797  men  in  all. 
In  addition  to  this  force,  stationed  at  and  near 
the  capital,  the  rejxirt  represented  22,788  reg- 
ulars under  arms,  protecting  the  coasts  and 
the  northern  frontier.     We  believe  this  to  have 
been  an  exaggerated  statement ;  indeed,  we 
know  it  to  be  so ;  but  we  likewise  know,  that  the 
expenses  of  the  army,  at  that  period  exceeded 
nine  millions  of  dollars  a  year,     'i'his  i-xtrava- 
gance  has  proveil  ihf  fiuiifiil  source  of  all  the 
evils  that  have  befallen   this  ill-fated  country 
since  its  separation  from  Sj)ain. 

The  Mexican  government,  soon  after  its  in- 
stallation, negotiated  a  loan  in  England,  which 
they  dis^ipaIed  in  ostentatious  ami  needless 
exj)enses  in  three  years;  and  from  that  period 
the  country  has  bt-eii  torn  by  domestic  faction 
and  constantly  recurring  insurrections.  If  we 
were  called  n])on  lo  account  for  these  disor- 
ders, we  should  be  disposed  to  attribute  them 
altogether  to  want  of  economy  and  financial 
skill.  They  borrow  money,  and  lavi^h  it  as  if 
it  formed  part  of  their  annual  income  ;  they 
anticipate  theli'  revcuue  at  a  ruinous  sacrifice. 


MEXICAN    REPUBLIC. 


87 


aiul  make  no  permanent  provi(»ion  for  repay- 
ing tlx'ir  debt,  or  refunding  the  amount  tlius 
abstracted,  at  an  enormous  cost,  from  their  in 
come.  The  pensions,  no  inconsiderable  items 
of  their  expenses,  tlie  salaries,  the  army  and 
navy,  are  all  unpaid,  and  all  complain  and 
chimor ;  and,  at  length,  on  some  pretext  or 
other,  revolt  against  the  government  in  the 
vain  hope  of  being  relieved.  Whether  the  in- 
vasion of  their  territory  will  impart  more  wis- 
dom to  their  councils  and  energy  to  their  go- 
vernment, we  know  not.  But  if  the  people 
should  take  an  active  part  in  the  contest,  and 
the  clergy  be  incited  to  oppose  us,  our  forces 
ought  to  be  well  organized,  well  disciplined, 
and  well  supplied,  to  promise  a  successful  re- 
sult to  our  arms.  During  the  struggle  for  in- 
dependence it  was  remarked,  that  the  frequent 
failure  of  the  insurgents  was  occasioned  by 
the  necessity  they  were  under  to  subsist  their 
armies  on  the  country  they  sought  to  liberate. 
Owmg,  in  some  measure,  to  the  bad  roads  and 
absence  of  other  meansof  transportation,  little 
more  is  |)roduoed,  in  most  of  the  districts,  than 
the  wants  of  the  inhabitants  require  ;  and  the 
attempt  to  take  from  them  that  little,  would 
rouse  them  to  desperate  resistance.  All  out- 
rages upon  the  churcli,  t 'o,  must  be  avoided  ; 
for  if  the  clergy  are  forced  to  regard  their  in- 
fluence or  their  property  to  be  in  danger,  they 
will  exert  the  one  to  inflame  tlie  minds  of  the 
people  against  us,  and  give  a  portion  of  the 
other  tosupply  the goverrjment  with  the  means 
of  carrying  on  the  war,  as  they  can  very  well 
afford  to  do.  The  great  influence  exercised  by 
the  priesthood  over  the  affairs  of  Mexico  may 
be  inferred  from  the  fact,  that  all  the  great 
revolutions  that  country  has  undergone,  during 
tJie  present  century,  have  been  their  work. 
Hidalgo  and  his  co-laborers  were  priests,  and 
the  successful  movement  that  resulted  in  the 
separation  of  Mexico  from  Spain  was  instiga- 
ted by  thnm,  in  i^rder  to  preserve  their  estates, 
■which  would  have  been  forfeited  if  the  decrees 
of  the  Cortes  of  Spain  had  been  carried 
into  effect  in  their  American  dependencies. 
They  afterwards  dreaded  the  ultimate  effect 
of  free  institutions,  and  aided  to  overthrow  the 
federal  republic,  and  to  erect  upon  iis  ruins  a 
central  government,  which,  if  it  be  allowed  to 
subsist  any  length  of  time  by  the  Mexican 
people,  must  terminate  in  monarchy.  We 
mean  despotic  monarchy.  We  are  aware  that 
many  entertain  the  opinion  that  this  is  the 
onlv  form  of  government  suited  to  restrain  the 
turbulent  character  cf  this  people.  We  do 
not  coincide  with  this  opinion,  but  believe,  that 
with  more  experience  and  better  education, 
the  people  will  gradually  comprehend  the 
workings  and  benefits  of  free  government,  and 
become  tranquil.  This  can  only  happen,  how- 
ever, under  a  federal  system.  A  central  go- 
vernment, under  whatever  denomination  it 
may  exist,  will  be  a  tyranny  ;  and  if  the 
states  should  separate,  an  event  by  no  means 


improbable,  there  is  too  much  reason  to  fear 
they  will  be  involved  in  continual  disputes 
and  war  wiih  each  other,  and  become,  each  in 
its  turn,  subject  to  military  despotism.  From 
all  these  evils  their  sister  republic  n)ight  have 
saved  them,  not  by  force,  but  by  advice  and 
persuasion  ;  for  a  very  large  majority  of  the . 
Mexicans  are  inclined  to  look  up  to  us  as  their 
example;  and  it  is  certain. that  the  contem- 
plation of  our  success  cheered  them  on  their 
rugged  path  to  freedom.  Tlie  monarchists, 
the  aristocracy,  and  the  clergy,  became  early 
aware  of  this  feeling  among  the  people,  and, 
aided  by  the  Europeans  in  Mexico,  succeeded 
in  driving  from  the  country  the  first  envoy 
sent  there  by  our  government,  who,  it  was 
supposed,  exercised  an  influence  adverse  to 
their  views ;  and  now  the  same  parties  have 
provoked  a  war  with  the  United  States,  which 
must  result  in  the  further  i^lienation  of  the 
two  republics.  We  shall  for  ever  regret  that 
thisgovernment  has  permitted  them  to  succeed 
in  their  nefarious  designs.  We  venture  to 
predict,  however,  that  their  triumph  will  be 
ephemeral.  Let  the  final  result  of  this  war 
be  what  it  may,  let  the  monarchists  and  the 
military  succeed  in  establishing  a  central  des- 
potism and  a  kingly  throne  in  Mexico,  such  a 
government  will  not  long  subsist  where  the 
|ieople  are  as  deeply  imbued  with  ihe  spirit 
of  liberty  as  the  Mexicans  are.  They  will 
rise  in  their  might  and  shake  off  so  disgraceful 
a  yoke ;  and  in  our  opinion  the  only  circum- 
stance likely  to  retard  this  event,  Avould  be  the 
premature  interventionof  this  government.  It 
is  not  our  province,  nor  is  it  our  intention,  to 
indicate  the  steps  by  which  these  United 
States  might  acquire  sway  over  the  republics 
of  the  new  worki ;  but  we  are  persuaded  they 
might,  by  judicious  management,  exercise  a 
beneficial  moral  influence  over  their  councils 
and  conduct,  equally  advantageous  to  both 
parties. 

So  many  misrepresentations  have  appeared 
in  print,  injurious  to  the  character  of  the  leaders 
of  the  republican  party  there,  that  we  cannot 
forbear  giving  an  account  of  the  occurrences 
as  they  really  took  place.  We  attach  no 
blame  to  tlie  European  authors  wlio  have 
recorded  the  events  of  the  several  revolu- 
tionary movements  in  Mexico.  They  re- 
ceived their  information  from  men  preju- 
diced against  the  party  of  the  people,  and 
with  feelings  warmly  enlisted  in  favor  of  the 
aristocracy.  Their  statements  furnish  another 
striking  proof  of  the  difficulty  of  writing  con- 
temporaneous history. 

The  feeble  attempts  which  were  made  to 
render  Mexico  independent  of  Spain,  from  the 
year  18 ID  to  1821,  were  chiefly  the  work  of 
the  parish  priests,  aided  by  the  Indian  popu- 
lation. Not  one  of  the  nobles,  and  very  few 
of  the  gentry,  took  part  with  the  insurg'  nts. 
It  is  true  that  the  revolution  was  ultimately 
effected  by  them ;  but  they  were  actuated  by 


88 


MEXICAN    REPUBLIC. 


very  different  motives  from  those  wliich  had 
animated  the  people  iu  their  first  efforts  to 
Bhake  off  tlie  yoke  of  the  motiier  country. 
The  new  con-^titution  of  Spain  was  so  liberal 
as  to  be  offensive  to  their  pride.  The  Euro- 
peans saw,  with  jealousy,  that  the  Creoles 
jwould  be  intrusted  with  power ;  and  the 
clergy  with  ilread  that  the  decrees  of  the 
Spanish  Cortes  would  deprive  them  of  their 
vast  possessions,  and  reduce  them  to  poverty. 
They  speedily  determined  on  a  separation, 
and  found  a  fitting  agent  to  carry  out  their 
plans  in  Don  Augustm  Iturbide,  who  pos- 
sessed great  influence  with  the  army,  and  had 
hitherto  been  an  active,  zeahjus,  and  cruel 
persecutor  of  the  Mexican  insurgents.  The 
sepiiration  from  Spain  was  declared,  and  the 
"plan  of  I^uala"  promulgated;  the  principal 
object  of  this  scheme  was  to  establish  a  Bour- 
bon Prince  of  Spain  on  the  throne  of  Mexico. 
A  vast  number  of  the  Creoles,  and  of  the  peo- 
ple generally,  were  opposed  to  the  plan  of 
Iguala.  They  were  unwilling  to  receive  a 
prince  of  Spain,  or  to  sanction  the  adoption  of 
a  monarchical  government.  They  were  with- 
out organization,  however,  and  compelled  to 
submit  to  the  Bourbonistas,  as  the  ruling 
party  was  then  styled.  In  this  state  of  af- 
fairs, the  new  Caj^tain-gcneral,  O'Donojn,  ar- 
rived at  Vera  Cruz,  to  take  command  of  the 
country  under  the  new  constitution.  He 
soon  saw  the  futility  of  resisting  the  march 
of  the  revolution,  entered  into  a  negotiati  ni 
■with  Iturbide,  on  the  basis  of  the  plan  of 
Iguala,  and  evacuated  the  country  with  the 
Spanish  troops  that  had  formed  the  garrisdu 
of"  Mexico.  So  far,  the  part}'  were  successful, 
but  their  intentions  were  frustrated  by  the 
ambition  of  the  chief  they  had  selected  tti 
carry  them  into  effect  Iturbide  managed  to 
have  himself  proclaimed  emperor  by  the 
army,  dissolved  the  Congress,  and  impris 
oneil  his  former  frientls,  the  chief  Bourbon- 
istas. His  career  of  extravagance  and  mis- 
rule was  brief,  and  we  hesitate  not  to  predict 
that  a  similar  fate  awaits  any  one  who  shall 
have  the  folly  to  make  a  simihtr  attempt. 
After  a  sharjj  contest  between  the  Bourbonis- 
tas and  the  Republicans,  the  latter  succeeded 
in  establishing  a  federal  govenmient,  very 
nearly  resembling  that  of  tlie  United  States. 
"When  l\>\:*  was  resolved  on,  the  former  made 
an  effort  to  elect  one  of  their  number  ])resi- 
dent.  The  election  of  the  people,  however, 
elevated  General  Guadaloupe  \'ict(  ria  to  the 
presidency  of  the  new  liepublic,  and  (reneral 
Jjravo  became  vice-president  and  leader  of 
the  opposition,  which  was  promptly  formed 
against  the  administration.  Matters  went  on 
Bmoothly  enough  until  the  republican  party 
began  to  gain  the  ascendency  in  Congress, 
when  one  Montauo  made  a  silly  attempt  to 
disturb  the  government  at  Otumba,  in  1827. 
His  declaration  was  only  remarkable  for  con- 
taining a  deuunciation  of  the  Minister  of  the 


United  States,  and  a  peremptory  demand 
that  he  should  be  expelled  from  Mexico. 
His  example  was  followed  by  Colonel  Rivero. 
Bi'th  these  insurrectionary  movements  were 
put  down  by  a  proclamation,  declaring  them 
treasonal)le.  But  to  the  surprise  of  every  one, 
a  very  few  months  after  this  event,  General 
Bravo  retired  to  Zulancingo,  with  a  small  body 
of  discontents,  from  whence  he  issued  a  mani- 
festo, declaring  himself  in  favor  of  the  plan  of 
Montauo.  We  never  shall  forget  the  exulta- 
tion of  the  Bourbonistas,  the  Europeans,  the 
priests,  and  all  those  who  had  hitherto  ap- 
peared in  the  character  of  advocates  of  order 
and  moderation,  when  this  movement  became 
public.  They  already  believed  themselves 
triumphant,  and  ruling  again  in  Mexico. 
They  were  destined,  however,  again  to  be 
disappointed.  By  order  of  government, 
General  Guerrero  marched  upon  Zulancin- 
go; and  Bravo,  although  at  the  head  of  a 
considerable  force,  surrendered  without  any 
serious  opposition.  He  was  brought  to  trial 
before  the  Congress  of  the  Mexican  United 
States,  found  guilty  of  treasonable  designs, 
and  banished  the  country  for  a  period  of 
seven  years. 

But  the  great  struggle  between  the  two 
contending  parties  that  divided  the  nation, 
was  made  upon  the  election  of  a  successor  to 
President  Victoria.  Guerrero  was  the  candi- 
(1  ite  of  the  republicans,  and  Gomez  Pedraza 
of  their  opponents.  The  latter  was  Secretary 
of  War  in  Victoria's  cabinet.  General  Guer- 
rero had  distinguished  himself  in  the  wars  of 
the  revolution,  as  an  active  and  brave  parti- 
san leader.  He  was,  however,  a  weak  man, 
and  totally  unfit  for  the  station.  Pedraza,  his 
antagonist,  on  the  contrary,  was  a  man  of 
education;  he  began  his  career  in  the  service 
of  Spain,  under  the  viceroys,  taking  an  active 
part  against  the  Mexican  patriots;  was  sent 
deputy  to  the  Cortes  of  Spain ;  antl,  on  his 
return,  became  one  of  Iturbide's  ministers, 
and  subsequently  a  leader  of  the  escoiceses, 
or  Bom'boii  party,  which  contributed  so  es- 
sentially to  the  overthrow  of  the  emperor. 
On  the  first  outbreak  against  the  admiuistra- 
tion,  he  took  part  in  it.s  favor,  and  was  furious- 
ly abused  by  his  former  friends  They  became 
reconciled  to  him,  however,  when  they  se- 
lected him,  as  it  were,  a  fit  instrument  of 
their  designs,  and  resolved  to  run  liim  in 
opposition  to  Guerrero.  Although  he  had 
very  frequently  and  openly  declareil  that 
he  would  never  again  hold  communion  with 
men  who  had  sought,  by  the  basest  means,  to 
destroy  the  liberties  of  their  country,  lie  did 
not  long  hesitate  to  yield  to  their  solicitations. 
This  party  could  not  have  made  a  better  se- 
lection. Pedraza  liad  partisans  among  the 
Iturbidestas,  and  even  with  the  republicans, 
and  was  supporteil  by  the  whole  strength  of 
the  Bourbon  faction.  He  was,  moreover,  Sec- 
retaiy  of  War,  aud  showed  himself  not  over- 


MEXICAN    REPUBLIC. 


s» 


scrupulous  in  using:  the  power  that  station 
placed  in  his  hands,  to  further  liis  views. 
Officers,  whose  adlierence  was  doubtful,  were 
dismi^^sed ;  and  to  all  the  states  military 
commandants  were  sent,  to  exert  their  power 
and  influence  to  favor  the  election  of  their 
chief.  There  is  good  reason  to  believe,  like- 
wise, that  the  wealth  of  liis  rich  partisans  was 
used  to  obtain  the  same  end.  Notwithstand- 
ing all  these  abuses,  Gomez  Pedraza  was 
elected  President  by  a  majority  of  only  two 
votes.  It  is  very  probable,  that  if  tiie  power 
thus  iniquitously  acquired  had  been  used  with 
moderacion,  it  would  have  been  preserved 
without  a  struggle  ;  but  the  senate  and  the 
supreme  court,  both  bodies  created  during  the 
reign  of  the  Bourbon  party,  and  both  violently 
opposed  to  the  republicans,  commenced  at 
once  a  series  of  persecutions  against  such  of 
their  opponents  whose  talents,  liberal  p'inci- 
pies,  or  extensive  popularity,  excited  their 
jealousy,  or  gave  cause  of  alarm.  Several 
governors  of  the  states  of  tlie  confederation 
were  impeached  on  anonymous  charges,  sus- 
pended from  their  offices,  and  a  design 
manifested  to  bring  them  to  condign  pun- 
ishment. One  especially,  Don  Lorenzo  Za- 
vala, at  that  time  governor  of  tiie  state  of 
Mexico,  was  the  chief  olyect  of  their  ani- 
mosity. He  was  charged  falsely,  as  we 
have  reason  to  know,  with  treasonable  prac- 
tices, and  a  party  of  soldiers  was  dispatched 
to  the  capital  of  the  state,  St.  Augustin  de 
los  Cuevas,  where  he  resided,  to  arrest  him. 
The  first  intimation  he  had  of  being  accused, 
was  the  order  for  his  arrest,  delivered  to  him 
by  an  officer  of  cavalry,  who  was  accompanied 
by  an  escort  of  soldiers  to  convey  him  to  pri- 
son ;  a  prison  which,  it  was  afterwards  ascer- 
tained, iiad  been  fitted  up  with  every  precau- 
tion to  prevent  escape,  and  from  which  he 
would  piobably  have  been  sent  to  the  scaf- 
fold. That  the  governor  of  a  free  and  inde- 
pendent state,  containing  nearly  a  million  of 
people,  should  be  arrested  without  any  other 
preliminary  proceedings,  upon  the  simple 
order  of  the  executive,  is  calculated  to  ex 
cite  the  indignation  of  every  frfeman  ;  and 
yet  how  is  this  occurrence  narrated  by  Eng- 
lish historians  ?  Speaking  of  the  defection  of 
Santa  Anna,  who,  on  being  deprived  of  the 
office  of  governor  of  Vera  Cruz,  appeared  in 
arms,  and  declared  against  the  election  of 
Pedraza,  as  having  been  effected  by  fraud 
and  violence,  and  in  favor  of  General  Guer- 
rero, they  say : 

"  In  the  capital  some  of  the  Yorkino.s,  and 
among  others  one  of  the  chief  leaders,  Zavala, 
governor  of  the  state  of  Mexico,  evinced  a 
disposition  to  make  common  cause  with  Santa 
Anna ;  and  Zavala,  upon  his  being  denounced 
to  the  Congress  as  a  correspondent  of  that 
general,  confirmed  the  accusation  by  flight." 

Zavala  was  not  apprised  that  such  an  accusa- 
tion had  been  preferred  against  him ;  he  saw 


only  the  order  for  bis  arrest,  and  the  soldiers 
sent  to  conduct  him  to  prison.  He  knew  the 
character  of  his  persecutors,  and  the  little  pros- 
])oct  he  had  of  obtaining  justice  at  tlioir  hands, 
lie  foresaw  a  long  imprisonment,  to  be  ter- 
minated, too  probably,  by  a  violent  death, 
and  he  fled.  He  was  more  disposed  to  sus- ' 
tain  the  government  than  to  take  part  with 
that  chief  against  Santa  Anna,  for  there  was 
no  sympathy  between  them;  but  he  was 
driven  to  rebellion  against  it  by  the  unjust 
and  tyrannical  conduct  of  his  enemie.s.  He 
would  have  submitted  to  the  elevation  of 
Pedraza  to  the  presidency,  notwithstanding 
he  was  an  eye-witness  to  the  unju-tifiable 
means  used  to  obtain  that  election ;  l)ut  he 
was  an  object  of  hatred  to  the  party  in  y)ower, 
because  he  had  uniformly,  and  with  great  abil- 
ity and  great  force  of  eloquence,  suppoited 
tlie  federal  party  and  advocated  republican 
piinciples.  These  unjust  and  violent  exhibi- 
tions of  animosity  against  the  best  patriots 
and  most  deserving  men  in  the  country, 
roused  the  people  to  resistance,  and  pro- 
duced the  catastrophe  which  drove  Pe- 
draza from  the  country,  and  placet!  General 
Guerrero  in  the  presidential  chair.  Santa 
Anna  was  compelled  to  retire  before  the 
naiional  army,  commanded  by  General  Cal- 
deron,  to  the  city  of  Oaxaca,  where,  after  a 
protracted  siege  and  desperate  resistance, 
he  was  forced  to  surrender.  He  was  saved 
from  destruction  only  by  the  successful  revo- 
lution in  the  capital  of  the  4th  of  December; 
a  revolution,  we  repeat,  entirely  brought 
about  by  the  violence  and  injustice  of  the 
reigning  faction.  We  would  not  be  under- 
stood as  including  President  Victoria  in  this 
charge ;  he  deserved  the  high  encomium  pro- 
nounced upon  him  by  General  Thompson,  in 
the  work  before  us.  He  was  truly  a  man  of 
inflexible  virtue  and  transcendent  patriotism  ; 
but  iiis  virtues  were  those  of  endurance  rather 
than  of  active  usefulness.  He  was  uninformed, 
and  therelbre  dependent  upon  his  ministers, 
and  above  all,  very  indolent;  so  that,  after 
the  election  of  Pedraza,  he  suffered  him  to 
tlircct  all  the  measures  of  the  government 
until  his  overthrow  and  flight,  when  he  re- 
posed the  same  trust  in  Guerrero. 

The  outrageous  conduct  of  the  friends  of 
Pedraza  brought  on  the  crisis,  and  it  was 
considered  most  advisable  by  the  leaders  of 
the  opposition  to  efi'ect  the  revolution  in  the 
capital  itself,  and,  if  possible,  before  the  ar- 
rival of  the  armed  bands  that  were  known  to 
be  on  their  march  from  the  coast  of  the  Paci- 
fic, whose  excesses  they  dreaded.  Accord- 
ingly, on  the  night  of  the  30th  of  November, 
1828,  the  acorilada,  a  large  edifice  at  the  en- 
trance of  the  city,  then  used  as  artillery  bar- 
racks, was  seized  by  the  ex-marquis  of  Ca- 
dena,  at  the  head  of  a  battalion  of  militia. 
The  next  morning  they  were  joined  by  Gen. 
Lobato,  who  assumed  the  command,  Zavala 


90 


MEXICAN    REPUBLIC. 


and   others,  wlio  liad  been  persecuted  and 
outlawed;    "and,". says  tlie  author  we  liave 
before   quoted,  "  by   a   luultitude  of  leperos, 
who  were  proniiseil  the  piUage  of  tlie  capital 
a3  a  reward  for  their  services."     This  is  not 
only  untrue,  but  improbable:  these  leperos 
resemble  the  lazzaroni  of  Naples,  unarmed 
and  unaccustomed  to  the  use  of  arms ;  what 
services  could  such  men  render  ?     The  insur- 
gent forces  increased  every  hour,  by  the  junc- 
tion of  the  militia  from  the  neighb'iihood,  and 
by  desertion  from  the  army.     Guerrero  was 
proclaimed,    and    at    that    period    his    name 
would  have  assembled  a  host      He  visited 
the  acordada,  and  then  retired  to  a  distance 
of  three  leagues  from  the  city,  waiting  the 
result  of  eveut.s,  but  taking  no   part  in  the 
contest.     The  city  was  beleaguered ;  and  al 
though  the  government  made  a  feeble  defense, 
and  must  have  been  conscious  of  its  utter  ina 
bility  to  repel  an  assault,  it  obstinately  refused 
to  accept  the  terms  which  were  repeatedly 
and  urgently  pressed  upon  it,  in  order  to  pre- 
serve the  inhabitants  from  the  excesses  to  be 
apprehended    from    a    body   of  arme<l   men, 
hastily  collected  together,  without  order   or 
discipline,  forcibly  entering  the  city.      They 
continued   to  resist,  after  tlieir  outposts  had 
been   driven  in  and  the  defences  destroyed, 
and  until  the  insurgents  entered  the  principal 
square;  when  the  soldiers  drawn  up  in  front 
of  the  palace  to  defend  its  entrance,  threw 
dow'n  their  arms  and  joined  the  plutiderers, 
who  did  not  spread  themselves  like  a  torrent 
over  the  city,  as  is  stated,  but  concentrated 
their  attack  upon  the  Parian,  a  wooden  struc- 
ture erected  in  one  corner  of  the  square,  con 
taining  the  retail  shops  princijially  owned  by 
Spaniards — an  extensive  bazaar — which  they 
sacked.     Order  was  restored  in  the  course  of 
two  or  three  hours,  and  an  attem|)t  to  renew 
the    plunder  on  the  following  morning  was 
promptly  put  down    by   the   energy   of  the 
leaders,  who  ordered  out  a  battalion  of  liglit 
artillery  to  disperse  the  mob.     Only  one  citi- 
zen lost  his  life — the   Count  del    Balle — on 
whose  house-top  troops  had  been  stationed  to 
fire  upon  the  besiegers.     The  same  column 
attacked   the  liouse   of  our    minister,  where 
several  Sj)anish  merchants  had  taken  refuge, 
but  ceased  their  hostilities  upon  hi-i  di-^phiyiiii^ 
the  fliig  of  his  country.      I'edraza  had   lied 
from  the  city,  resigned  his  rights  and  preten- 
sions to  the  presidency,  and  Guerrero  was  de- 
clared the  successor  of  Victoria  by  the  Con- 
gress of  Mexico.     No  oppo>ition  was  made  to 
this  change ;  all  the  states  gave  in  their  ad- 
lierence  to  it;  the  republicans  were  released 
from  the  pri-ons  in  wliich  tliey  had  been  con 
fined  by  tlieir  opponents,  and  the  satisfaction 
of  the  peoi)le  apjieared  complete.     To  add  to 
Guerrero's  popularity,  a  Spanish  force  under 
General  Barradas,  which  hud  landed  at  Tain- 
pico  with  the  avowed  intention  of  subduing 
Mexico,  had  at  this  time  been  vanquished, 


and  forced  to  lay  down  their  arms,  by  Gen- 
eral Santa  Anna.  Every  thing  combined  to 
render  his  term  of  otSce  prosperou-i ;  but 
unfortimately  for  himself,  if  not  for  the  coun- 
try, he  was  a  very  vain  as  well  as  weak 
man,  and  suffered  his  former  enemies  and 
opponents  to  approach  and  counsel  him.  He 
was  flattered  by  the  notice  of  men  of  their 
rank  and  distinction,  and  received  them  into 
his  confidence,  gradually  putting  away  all  his 
old  partisans  and  tried  friends. 

When  the  way  was  thus  cleared.  General 
Anastasio  Bustamente,  who  had  been  chosen 
vice-president,  gave  the  signal  of  revolt  by 
putting  himself  at  the  head  of  the  forces 
stationed  in  the  state  of  Vera  Cruz.  From 
thence  he  issued  his  proclamation,  setting 
forth  the  abuses  and  usurpations  of  Guerrero, 
and  declaring  his  intention  of  wresting  the 
government  from  him.  The  revolutionary 
president  looked  in  vain  for  counsel  and  suc- 
cor in  this  emergency.  He  had  dismissed  his 
republican  friends  and  counsellors,  :md  the 
persons  who  hail  brought  him  into  these  difH- 
culties,  left  him  to  extricate  himself  as  best 
he  might.  He  became  alarmed  at  the  idea 
of  being  besieged  in  tlie  ])alace ;  and  under 
the  pretext  of  placing  himself  at  the  head  of 
the  troops  and  marching  against  Bustamente, 
he  left  the  capital  and  retired  to  his  old 
haunts  in  the  south.  Here  he  was  pursued 
by  the  relentless  animosity  of  his  enemies, 
and  at  length  captured  by  a  most  contempti- 
ble stratagem  and  executed  as  a  traitor,  by 
order  of  government.  A  more  disgraceful 
outnxge  never  was  perpetrated;  but  as  the 
perpetrators  were  Bourbonistas,  the  friends 
of  law  and  order,  so  called,  the  English  his- 
torians have  thought  proper  to  pass  it  over 
in  silence. 

Guerreio,  as  we  have  seen,  was  a  very 
weak  man,  but  he  was  humane,  generous, 
and  brave,  and  had  served  his  country  during 
her  strutrgle  for  independence,  faithl'ully  and 
gallantly.  He  was  covered  with  wounds 
received  in  battles  with  the  royalists,  and 
merited  a  better  fate.  He  had  no  sooner  left 
the  capital  than  his  late  friends  and  advisers 
seizetl  upon  tlie  reins  of  government.  Busta- 
mente was  declared  his  successor,  and  the 
administration  went  blundering  on  amiil  the 
universal  disaffection  and  dissatisfaction  of  the 
people,  until  General  Santa  Anna  availed 
himself  of  this  public  sentiment  to  place  him- 
self in  an  attitude  of  hostility  to  Bustamente, 
and  \o  pronounce  against  the  existing  order  of 
tilings,  that  is,  to  issue  his  jiroclamation  con- 
taining his  plan  or  declaration  of  views  and 
intentions.  This  plan  was  so  thoroughly  ilem- 
ocratic  that  even  the  Texans  gave  in  their 
adherence  to  it,  and  the  other  states  follow- 
ing this  example,  Bustamente  was  driven 
forth  an  exile,  and  Santa  Anna  assumed  the 
reins  of  government.  He  held  them  with  a 
tirm  Laud,  and  being  instigated,  aided,  and 


MEXICAN    REPUnLIC. 


91 


upheld  by  the  anti-republican  party,  he  dis- 
missed tiie  Congress,  which  thwarted  his  pro- 
jects, exiled  tliat  stern  republican,  Gomez 
Fariiis,  who  had  been  made  vice-president, 
and  filially  succeeded  in  converting  the  fede- 
ral republic  into  a  central  government,  the 
whole  power  of  which  he  usurped.  He  was 
dictator  with  extraordinary  powers — in  s-hort, 
an  autocrat.  The  states,  by  a  stroke  of  liis 
pen,  were  converted  into  departments,  and 
their  legislatures  mto  a  council  of  five.  Some 
of  the  northern  states  revolted  against  this 
monstrous  abuse  of  power ;  among  these 
were  Zacatecas  and  Texas.  The  former  was 
put  down  by  the  strong  arm,  and  the  latter 
achieved  its  independence.  We  perceive 
that  all  other  right  on  the  part  of  Texas 
than  that  of  revolution,  is  denied  by  trans- 
Allantic  writers.  They  say:  "  If  the  people 
of  Mexico  preferred  a  different  form  of  gov- 
ernment to  that  established  in  1824,  they 
bad  the  right  to  effect  this  change,  because  it 
is  generally  admitted  that  in  a  republic  the 
majority  must  govern."  Now,  in  the  first 
place,  it  is  universally  known  that  this  change 
was  effected  by  the  military  power,  and 
manifestly  against  the  will  of  the  majority  of 
the  people ;  and  in  the  next,  that  the  federal 
constitution,  copied  almost  verbatim  et  litera- 
tim from  ours,  professed  to  consider  and  treat 
the  states  confederated  together  by  this  act 
as  sovereign  and  independent  states,  which, 
like  our  own,  would  be  set  free  by  a  dissolu-, 
tion  of  the  federal  union.  But  it  is  useless 
to  discuss  this  question  now.  The  right  of 
revolution  is  nowhere  denied  them.  Their 
appeal  to  arms  was  successful,  and  Texas  has 
transferred  her  allegiance  and  her  territory  to 
the  United  States  of  America,  which  we 
think  she  had  an  undeniable  right  to  do. 

But  to  return  to  Mexico.  Santa  Anna's 
defeat  and  capture  at  San  Jacinto  changed 
the  actors  on  the  stage  of  public  affairs  there, 
but  did  not  vary  the  scene.  Bustamente 
was  restored  to  the  chief  magistracy  after 
a  brief  space  of  time,  and  the  government 
continued  to  suffer  all  the  disorders  inci- 
dental to  an  empty  treasury  and  a  disor- 
derly soldiery,  until  Santa  Anna  was  again 
called  from  his  retirement  by  the  voice  of 
the  army,  and  of  his  friends  and  allies,  the 
Catholic  clergy.  On  his  return  from  his  un- 
fortunate campaign  in  Texas,  he  was  re- 
garded by  his  countrymen  with  distrust. 
They  believed  that  he  liad  bargained  away 
Texas  for  life  and  liberty,  and  were  more- 
over mortified  by  his  failure  to  reduce  that 
rebel  state.  The  revolutinary  movement  of 
General  Mexia  first  drew  him  from  his  retire- 
ment. He  solicited  and  obtained  the  com- 
mand of  the  troops  sent  to  quell  this  insur- 
rection. The  contending  forces  met  near  the 
city  of  Puebla.  The  patriots  were  defeated, 
and  Mexia  fell  into  the  hands  of  bis  former 


friend  and  comrade  in  arms,  and  was  shot  by 
his  order  on  the  instant. 

General  Thompson  appears  to  have  been 
seduced,  like  many  others,  by  the  gallant 
bearing  and  social  qualities  of  General  Santa 
Anna,  into  an  esteem  lor  his  person.  He  was 
besides  deeply  grateful  to  him  for  releasing, 
at  his  solicitation,  many  of  his  unfortunate 
fellow-citizens  who  were  held  in  chains  in 
Mexico  and  Perote — an  act,  by  the  way,  un- 
worthy a  Christian  despot,  and  unparalleled 
except  in  Barbaiy  and  Borneo.  For  our- 
selves, we  confess  that  his  whole  course  has 
impressed  us  with  the  opinion  that  he  is  an 
ambitious,  unscrupulous,  corrupt,  and  cruel 
man,  with  no  redeeming  qualities  but  courage 
aud  activity.  If  the  violation  of  faith,  and  the 
murder  of  the  gallant  Colonel  Fanning  and  his 
brave  followers,  are  susceptible  of  any  pallia- 
tion, which  we  do  not  admit,  what  can  be  said 
in  justification  of  the  dreadful  massacre  of  his 
unfortunate  countrymen  at  Zacatecas  ?  But 
the  whole  tenor  of  his  conduct  as  a  public 
man  is  so  generally  well  known,  that  we  leave 
him  to  the  judguient  of  an  impartial  public. 

The  only  insurrectionary  movement  in 
Mexico  since  1822,  in  which  General  Santa 
Anna  did  not  take  the  lead  or  a  very  promi- 
nent part,  was  that  of  Urrea  in  favor  of  the 
federal  constitution  in  1840,  and  which  was 
suppressed  by  the  active  measures  6f  General 
Valencia,  although  President  Bustamente  was 
at  one  time  a  prisoner  in  the  hands  of  the 
insurgents.  The  following  year  a  combined 
movement  of  Paredes  at  Guadalaxara,  of 
Valencia  and  Lonibardini  in  the  capital,  and 
of  Santa  Anna  at  Vera  Cruz,  in  August, 
1841,  overthrew  Bustamente  after  a  sangui- 
nary conflict  in  the  streets  of  Mexico,  and 
again  changed  the  form  of  government. 
Santa  Anna  had  recovered  his  popularity 
with  the  army  by  the  part  he  took  in  repel- 
ling the  attacks  of  the  French  upon  Vera 
Cruz.  As  soon  as  the  blockade  was  estab- 
lished he  repaired  to  the  port,  and  was 
placed  in  command  of  the  troops.  His  pres- 
ence and  activity  restored  confidence  to  the 
garrison,  and  tlie  enemy  were  driven  back 
in  their  attempts  to  land.  On  one  occasion, 
while  following  the  French  in  their  retreat 
to  their  boats,  Santa  Anna  had  his  leg  shat- 
tered by  a  cannon  ball,  an  event  that  at  once 
re-established  his  influence  throughunt  the 
empire.  The  downfall  of  Bustamente  was 
followed  by  the  elevation  of  this  daring  chief- 
tain. As  was  customary  with  him,  he  pro- 
claimed his  entire  submission  to  the  will  of 
the  people  and  of  the  Congress,  merely  indi- 
cating his  preference  of  a  central  government 
strong  enough  to  maintaiu  the  peace  of  the 
country ;  but  upon  Congress  exhibiting  too 
great  a  leaning  toward  free  institutions,  he 
dissolved  that  body  and  convened  a  junta  of 
Notables,  which  framed  the  "  Bases  of  poll- 


92 


MEXICAN  MINES  AND  MIXEnAL  KESOURCES. 


tical  organization  of  the  Mexican  Republic." 
Strange  notions  tlioy  must  have  entertained 
of  a  republican  i^overinent !  The  chief  basis  of 
this  anomalous  fabric  is  the  creation  of  a  presi 
dent  for  the  term  of  five  years,  with  power 
to  declare  war  or  make  peace,  to  fine  those 
who  disobeyed  his  orders,  to  visit  the  tribu- 
nals of  justice,  reform  abuses  therein,  seeing 
that  a  tiue  preference  was  given  to  causes 
which  concerned  the  public  weal. 

The  Bases  of  the  new  Government,  as  its 
provisions  were  properly  called,  for  it  bore 
no  resemblance  to  a  constitution,  provided  for 
a  House  of  Representatives  and  .Senate,  to  be 
chosen  by  a  privileged  class  of  electors,  an 
Executive  Council  and  perpetual  Court  Mar- 
tial, the  members  of  both  these  bodies  to  be 
appointed  by  the  President.  This  despotic 
ruler  was  to  be  elected  every  fifth  year  by 
the  departments  which  were  represented  by 
assemblies  of  not  more  than  eleven  nor  less 
than  seven  members.  He  was  re-eligible 
without  restriction.  On  these  bases  stood 
Santa  An  la,  and  for  a  longer  period  than 
was  u^ual  in  that  turbulent  country  adminis- 
tered the  government  with  great  firmness, 
would  we  could  say  with  justice  !  The  diffi- 
culties he  had  to  contend  against  were  nume- 
rous and  formidable.  Amoni;  them  were,  first, 
a  numerous  army  always  inclined  to  mutiny, 
who,  tofrether  with  a  large  band  of  rapacious 
civil  offieers,  had  to  be  quieted  and  paid 
without  a  dollar  being  in  the  treasury,  with- 
out the  existence  of  any  well-digested  sys- 
tem of  finance  to  re])lenish  it;  next,  his  own 
corrupt  nature  and  tiiat  of  the  favorites  who 
eurrounded  him ;  and  lastly,  the  disaffection 
of  a  large  body  of  the  people,  who  disliked, 
and  distrusted,  and  dreaded  him.  The  dis 
content  broke  out  into  open  revolt  in  1845. 
and  Santa  Anna  was  hurled  from  the  eleva- 
tion he  liad  usurped  by,  as  it  appeared,  one 
universal  burst  of  popular  indignation.  He 
was  abandoned  by  all  his  former  adherents, 
hunted  down  and  arrested  by  the  peasantry, 
and  confined,  by  order  of  government,  in  the 
castle  of  Perote.  After  some  not  very  cred- 
itable passages  between  the  Congress  and 
the  falk-n  cliief,  he  was  permitted  to  leave 
the  country  with  his  ill-gotten  wealth. 

He  was  succeeded  by  General  Herr<>ra, 
who  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  successful 
movement  against  him,  and  who  continued 
to  struggle  with  the  difficulties  of  his  station 
until  the  army,  habituated  to  seek  payment 
of  their  arrears,  an<i  to  redress  real  or  fancied 
grievances,  Ijy  overthrowingone  government, 
Bettiii;^  uj)  ariotlier,  availing  itself  of  the  dis- 
content of  the  people  occasioned  by  the 
President's  supposed  disposition  to  renew 
the  diplomatic  intercourse  with  the  United 
States,  marclied  upon  the  capital,  under 
General  Paredes,  and  etfecled  another  change 
of  government,  or  rather  of  rulers;  for  it 
must  be  evident,  from  all  we  have  said,  that 


since  the  destruction  of  the  constitution  of 
1824,  Mexico  has  been  subject  to  a  military 
despotism. 

]SrEXICAN  JUNES  AND  MINERAL  RE- 
SOURCES IN  1850.— The  Minks  of  Mex- 
ico— Mexico  under  tue  Colonial  System. — 
It  is  generally  supposed  that  the  mineral 
wealth  of  America  was  one  of  the  most 
powerful  stimulants  of  Spanish  conquest  and 
emigration;  nor  is  the  idea  erroneous,  if  we 
recollect  the  manner  in  which  the  Castilian 
power  was  founded  on  tliis  continent,  and 
the  colonial  policy  it  originated.  It  will  be 
seen  by  the  tables  annexed  to  this  article, 
that  the  results  have  largely  fulfilled  the 
hopes  of  European  adventurers,  and  that 
the  wealth  of  the  world  has  been  immensely 
augmented  and  sustained  by  the  discovery 
of  the  New  World. 

In  the  order  of  the  earth's  gradual  de- 
velopment under  the  intellectual  enterjirise 
or  bodily  labor  of  man,  we  find  the  most 
beautiful  system  of  accommodation  to  the 
growing  wants  or  capacities  of  our  race. 
Space  is  required  for  the  crowded  popu- 
lation of  the  Old  "World,  and  a  new  con- 
tinent is  suddenly  opened,  in  which  the 
cramped  and  burdened  millions  may  find 
room  for  industry  and  independent  exist- 
ence. The  political  institutions  of  Europe 
decay  in  consequence  of  the  encroach- 
ments of  power,  the  social  degradation  of 
large  masses  by  unjust  or  unwise  systems,  or 
the  enforced  operation  of  oppressive  laws; 
and  a  virgin  country  is  forthwith  assigned 
to  man,  in  which  the  principle  of  self-gov- 
ernment may  be  tried,  witiiout  the  necessity 
of  casting  off  by  violence  the  old  fetters  of 
feudalism.  The  increasing  industry  or  in- 
vention of  the  largely  augmented  population 
of  the  earth,  exacts  either  a  larger  amount 
or  a  new  standard  of  value  for  the  precious 
metals,  and  regions  are  discovered  among 
the  frosts  and  forests  of  a  far  off  continent, 
in  which  the  fable  of  the  golden  sands  of 
Paetolus  is  realized.  The  labor  of  man  and 
the  flight  of  time  strip  eommercial  eountries 
of  their  trees;  yet,  in  order  to  support  the 
required  supply  of  fuel,  not  only  for  the 
comfort  an(l  preservation,  but  also  for  the 
industry  of  the  race,  the  heart  of  the  earth, 
beneath  the  soil  which  is  required  for  cul- 
tivation, is  found  to  be  veined  with  inex- 
haustible supplies  of  mineral  coal! 

The  bounty  and  the  jiroteetive  forethought 
of  (Jod  for  his  creatures  is  not  only  inti- 
mated but  proved  by  these  benevolent  store 
houses  of  treasure,  comfort,  and  freedom; 
and  whilst  we  acknowledge  them  with  pro- 
per gratitude,  we  should  not  forget  that 
t.lieir  accjuirement  and  enduring  possession 
are  only  to  be  paid  for  by  labor,  thrift,  and 
social  as  well  as  political  forbearance. 

We  do  not  think  these  observations  out  of 


MEXICAN   MINES    AND    MINERAL   RESOURCES. 


93 


place  in  an  article  devoted  to  the  mineral 
wealth  of  Mexico.  The  subject  of  property 
and  its  representative  metals  should  be  ap- 
proached in  a  reflective  and  Cliristian  spirit, 
m  an  age  in  which  the  political  and  personal 
misery  of  the  over-crowded  masses  of  Europe 
are  forcing  them  to  regard  all  Avho  are  bet- 
ter provided  for,  or  more  fortunate  by  thrift, 
or  the  accident  of  both,  as  enemies  to  the 
poor.  The  demagogue  leaders  of  these 
wretched  classes,  ^^"shing  the  principle  of 
just  equalization  to  a  ridiculous  and  hideous 
extreme,  have  not  hesitated  to  declare  in 
France,  since  the  revolution  of  February, 
1848,  that  "property  is  robbery."*  We 
shall  not  pause  to  examine  or  refute  this 
false  dogma  of  a  dangerous  incendiary.  The 
common  sense,  as  well  as  the  common  feel- 
ing of  mankind,  revolts  at  it.  Property,  as 
the  world  is  constituted  by  God,  is  the  source 
of  new  industry,  because  it  is,  under  the  laws 
of  all  civilized  nations,  the  original  reMilt  of 
industry,  "It  makes  the  meat  it  feeds  on." 
Without  it  there  would  be  no  duty  of  labor, 
no  exercise  of  human  ingenuity  or  talent,  no 
responsibility,  no  reward.  The  mind  and 
body  would  stagnate  under  such  a  mon- 
strous contradiction  of  all  our  physical  and 
intellectual  laws.  The  race  would  degene- 
rate into  its  former  savage  condition,  and 
force,  instead  of  its  antagonists,  industry  and 
honest  competition,  would  usurp  the  domin- 
ion of  the  world,  and  end  this  vicious  circle 
of  bastard  civilization. 

And  yet  it  is  the  duty  of  an  American — 
who,  from  his  superior  position,  both  in  re- 
gard to  space  in  which  he  can  find  employ- 
ment, and  equal  political  laws  by  which  tliat 
employment  is  protected,  stands  on  a  van- 
tage ground  above  the  confined  and  badly 
governed  masses  of  Europe — to  regard  the 
present  position  of  the  European  masses  not 
only  with  humane  compassion,  but  to  sym- 
pathize with  that  natural  feeling  which  re- 
volts against  a  state  of  society  which  it  seems 
impossible  to  ameliorate,  and  yet  whose 
wants  or  luxuries  do  not  afford  them  sup- 
port. It  is  hard  to  suffer  hunger,  and  to  see 
our  dependents  die  of  starvation,  when  we 
are  both  able  and  willing  to  work  for  wages, 
but  can  obtain  no  work  upon  which  to  ex- 
ercise our  ingenuity  or  our  hands.  It  is 
frightful  to  reflect,  says  Mr.  Carlyle,  in  one 
of  his  admirable  essays,  that  there  is  hardly 
an  English  horse  in  a  condition  to  labor  for 
his  owner,  that  is  deprived  of  food  and  lodg- 
insr,  whilst  thousands  of  hunian  beings  rise 
daily  from  the  obscure  and  comfortless  dens 
in  the  British  isles,  who  do  not  know  how 
they  shall  obtain  employment  for  the  day, 
by  wliich  they  may  purchase  a  meal. 

To  this  dismal  account  of  European  suf- 
fering, the  condition  of  the  American  conti- 

•  '■'■La  propriete,  e'est  It  do/."— Prudhon. 


nent  affords  the  best  reply.  The  answer 
and  the  remedy  are  both  displayed  in  the 
social  and  political  institutions,  as  well  as 
in  the  boundless,  unoccupied,  and  prolific 
tracts  of  our  country.  Labor  cries  out  for 
work  and  recompense  from  the  Old  World, 
whilst  the  New  displays  her  soil,  her  mines, 
her  commerce  and  her  trades,  as  the  best 
alms  that  one  nation  can  bestow  on  another, 
because  they  come  direct  from  God,  and  are 
the  reward  of  meritorious  industry.  Before 
such  a  tribunal  the  modern  demagogues  of 
continental  Europe  shrink  into  insignifi- 
cance, and  the  laws  of  labor  are  effectually- 
vindicated. 

The  mines  of  Mexico  have  been  wrought 
from  the  earliest  periods.  Long  before  the 
advent  of  the  Spaniards,  the  natives  of  Mex- 
ico, like  those  of  Peru,  were  acquainted  with 
the  use  of  metals.  Nor  were  they  contented 
with  such  specimens  as  they  found  scattered 
at  random  on  the  surface  of  the  earth  or  in 
the  ravines  of  mountain  torrents,  but  had  al- 
ready learned  to  dig  shafts,  pierce  galleries, 
form  needful  implements,  and  trace  tlie  me- 
tallic veins  in  the  hearts  of  mountains.  AVe 
know  that  they  possessed  gold,  silver,  lead, 
tin,  copper,  and  cinnabar.  Beautiful  samples 
of  jewelry  were  wrought  by  them,  and  gold 
and  silver  vases,  constructed  in  Mexico,  were 
sent  to  Spain  by  the  conquerors,  as  testimo- 
nials of  the  mineral  wealth  of  the  country. 
The  dependent  tribes  paid  their  tributes  to 
the  sovereign  in  a  species  of  metallic  cur- 
rency, which,  though  not  stamped  Ijy  royal 
order,  was  yet  the  representative  of  a  stand- 
ard value.  The  exact  position  of  all  the 
mines  from  which  these  treasures  were  de- 
rived by  the  Aztecs,  is  not  certainly  known 
at  the  present  day ;  but,  as  the  natives  were 
often  compelled  to  indicate  some  of  the 
sources  of  their  riches  to  the  con(pierors, 
there  is  little  doubt  that  the  present  mineral 
district  of  the  republic  is  that  from  which 
they  procured  their  chief  supj)lies. 

The  mines  of  Mexico  may  be  classed  in 
eight  groups,  nearly  all  of  which  are  ]>]aced 
on  the  to)\  or  on  tlie  western  slo|)e  of  the 
great  Cordillera.  The  first  of  these  groups 
iias  been  the  most  productive,  and  eml)races 
the  districts  contiguous  to  Guanajuato,  San 
Luis  Potosi,  Charcas,  Catorce,  Z;ifatecas, 
Asientos  de  Ybarra,  Fresnillo,  and  Som- 
brerete. 

The  second  comprises  the  mines  situated 
west  of  the  city  of  Durango,  as  well  as  those 
in  Sinaboa,  for  the  labors  of  engineers  have 
brought  them  so  close  to  each  otiier  by  tJieir 
works,  that  they  sjiould  be  united  in  the 
same  geological  division. 

The  third  group  is  the  northernmost  in 
Mexico,  and  is  tliat  which  embraces  the 
mines  of  Chihuahua  and  Cosiguiriaclii.  It 
extends  from  the  27  th  to  the  2yth  degree  of 
north  latitude. 


94 


MEXICAN  MINES  AND  MINERAL  RESOURCES. 


Tlie  fourth  and  fifth  clusters  are  found 
northeast  of  Mexico,  and  are  formed  by  the 
mines  of  Real  del  Morte,  or  Paeluica,  and 
Zimapan,  or  El  Doctor.  Bolanos,  in  Guada- 
lajara, and  Tasco,  in  Oajaca,  are  the  central 
points  of  the  sixth,  seventh,  and  eighth* 

The  reader  who  will  cast  his  eye  over  the 
map  of  Mexico,  will  at  once  perceive  that  the 
geographical  space  covered  by  this  metal- 
liferous region  is  small,  -when  compared  with 
the  extent  of  the  whole  country.  The  eight 
groups  into  which  the  mining  districts  are 
divided,  occupy  a  space  of  twelve  thou- 
sand square  leagues,  or  one  tenth  only  of 
the  whole  extent  of  the  Mexican  republic, 
as  it  existed  previous  to  the  treaty  of  18J8, 
and  before  the  mineral  wealth  of  California, 
and  probably  of  New-Mexico,  was  known  to 
the  world.  But  as  that  treaty  confirmed 
and  ceded  to  the  United  States  more  than 
one  half  of  the  ancient  territory  of  Mexico, 
we  may  estimate  the  mining  region  as  cover- 
ing fully  one  fifth  of  the  remainder. 

Before  the  discovery  and  conquest  of  the 
West  Indies  and  the  American  continent,  Eu- 
rope had  looked  to  the  East  for  her  chief  sup- 
plies of  treasure.  America  was  discovered  by 
Columbus,  not,  as  was  so  long  imagined,  be- 
cause he  foresaw  the  existence  of  another  con- 
tinent, but  because  he  sought  a  shorter  route 
to  the  rich  and  golden  Zipangon,  and  to  the 
spice  regions  of  eastern  Asia.  Columbus  and 
V  espncius  both  died  believing  that  they  had 
reached  eastern  Asia,  and  thus  a  geographi- 
cal mistake  led  to  the  greatest  discovery  that 
has  ever  been  made.  In  proof  of  these  as- 
sertions, we  may  state  that  Columbus  de- 
signed delivering  at  Cuba  the  missives  of  the 
Spanish  king  to  the  great  Khan  of  the  Mon- 
gols, and  that  hi;  imagined  himself  in  Mangi, 
the  capital  of  the  southern  region  of  Ca- 
thay or  China!  "The  island  of  Hisjianiola," 
(Ilayti,)  he  declares  to  Pope  Alexander  VI., 
in  a  letter  found  in  the  archives  of  the  Duke 
of  Varaguas,  "is  Tarshish,  Ophir,  and  Zii).in- 
gon.  in  my  second  voyage  I  have  discovered 
fourteen  hundred  islands,  and  a  shore  of 
three  hundred  and  thirty-three  miles,  be- 
longing to  the  continent  of  Asia."  This 
West  Indian  Zipangon  produced  golden  frag- 
ments, or  spangles,  weighing  eighty  ten,  and 
even  twenty  pounds. f 

Before  the  discovery  of  the  silver  mines  of 
Tasco,  on  the  western  slope  of  the  Mexican 
Cordilleras,  in  the  year  15'22,  America  sup- 
plied only  rjold  to  the  Old  World;  and  con- 
sequently, Isabella  of  Caslile  was  obliged, 
already  in  149Y,  to  modify  greatly  the  rela- 
tive value  of  the  two  precious  metals  used 
for  currency.   This  was,  doubtless,  the  origin 


•  Humboldt's  Essai  Politique,  book  iv.,  chap.  ii. 
Paris,  1811. 

t  See  Humboldt's  essay  on  the  produotion  of  gold 
and  silver,  in  the  Journal  dcs  Econonusles  for  March, 
April,  and  May,  1838. 


of  the  edict  of  Medina,  which  changed  the 
old  legal  ratio  of  1  :  10.7  ;  yet  Humboldt  has 
shown  that,  from  1-11'2  to  1500,  the  quantity 
of  gold  drawn  from  the  parts  of  the  Xew 
World  then  known  did  not  amount,  an- 
nuallj',  to  more  than  about  one  thousand 
pounds  avoirdupois ;  and  the  Pope,  Alexan- 
der VI.,  who  by  his  famous  bull  bestowed 
one  half  the  earth  upon  the  Spanish  kings, 
only  received,  in  return,  from  Ferdinand  the 
Catholic,  some  small  fragments  of  gold  from 
Hayti,  to  gild  a  portion  of  the  dome  of  the 
Basilica  of  Santa  Maria  Maggiore — a  gift 
that  was  suilaljly  acknowledged  in  a  Latin 
inscription,  in  which  the  offering  is  set  forth 
as  the  first  that  had  been  received  by  the 
Catholic  sovereigns  from  India. 

Although  the  income  of  treasure  mnst 
have  increased  somewhat,  yet  the  working 
of  the  American  mines  did  not  yield  three 
millions  of- dollars  yearly,  until  1545.  The 
ransom  of  Atahualpa  amounted,  according 
to  Gomara,  to  about  425,000  dollars  of  our 
standard,  or  52,000  marks  of  silver;  whilst 
the  pillage  of  the  temples  at  Cuzco,  if  Iler- 
rera  is  to  be  credited,  did  not  produce  more 
than  25,700  marks,  or  a  little  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  million  of  our  currency.* 

It  has  been  general'y  imagined,  that  the 
wealth  of  the  New  World  immediate!}'  and 
largely  enriclied  the  Spanish  kings,  or  their 
people,  and  that  the  sovereigns  under  whoso 
auspices  the  discovery  was  made  {)artioi- 
pated  at  once  in  the  treasures  that  were 
found  in  the  possession  of  the  Indian  rulers. 
Such,  however,  was  not  the  case.  The  his- 
torian, Ilanke,  in  his  essay  on  the  S]>anish 
finances,  has  shown,  by  new  documents  and 
official  vouchers,  the  small  tpiantity  of  the 
precious  metals  which  the  American  mines, 
and  the  supposed  treasures  of  the  Incas, 
yielded,  j-  It  is  probable  that  the  conquer- 
ors did  not  make  exact  returns  to  the  coiirt 
of  their  ac<[uisition3,  or  that  the  revenue  of- 
ficers appointed  at  an  early  period  of  Ameri- 
can history  were  not  reuuirkable  for  the 
fidelity  with  which  they  transmitted  the 
sums  that  came  into  their  possession  as  ser- 
vants of  the  crown,  and  thus  it  hajvpened 
that  neither  the  king  of  Spain  nor  his  king- 
dom was  speedily  enriched  by  the  New 
World.  Baron  Humboldt,  in  one  of  his  late 
publications,  gives  an  interesting  extract 
iVom  a  letter  written  by  a  fi-icnd  of  Ferdinand 
the  Catholic,  a  few  days  after  his  death, 
which  exhibits  the  finances  of  that  king  in 
a  diil'erent  light  from  that  in  which  they 
have  been  hitherto  viewed.  In  an  epistle 
to  the  bishop  of  Tuy,  Peter  Marty n  says, 
that  this  "lord  of  many  realms — this  wear- 


♦  Poc  Humboldt's  essay  on  Precious  Metals,  ut  nn- 
(c'(,  ill  note,  in  the  .\merican  traiisliition,  given  in  vol- 
ume .3d  of  the  Hankcr's  Mana/.iim,  page  600. 

t  Seo  Kauku,  Tursten  uud  Volkor,  vol.  1,  pages  347, 
355, 


MEXICAN   MINES    AND    MINERAL    EESOURCES. 


95 


er  of  so  many  laurels — this  diffuser  of  the  j 
Christian  faith,  and  vanqiiisiier  of  its  enc  j 
mie? — died  poor,  in  a  rustic  hut.  While  ho 
lived,  no  one  imagined  that  after  his  death 
it  would  be  discovered  that  he  i)ossesscd 
scarcely  money  enough  cither  to  defray  the 
ceremony  of  his  sepulture,  or  to  furnisii  his 
few  retainers  with  suitable  mourning!"* 

The  adventurers  nt  America  were,  doubt- 
less, enriched,  and  duly  reported  their  gains 
to  friends  at  home ;  but  Spain  itself  was  not 
iiujiroved  by  their  acquisitions. 

The  rise  in  the  prices  of  grain  and  other 
products  of  agriculture  or  human  industry, 
about  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
and  especially  from  1570  to  1595,  indicates 
the  true  beginning  of  the  plentiful  flow  of 
the  precious  metals  to  the  Old  World,  in 
consequence  of  Avhieh  their  value  diminish- 
ed, and  the  results  of  European  industry  in- 
creased in  price.  This  is  accounted  for  by 
the  commencement  of  the  beneficial  work- 
ing of  the  American  mines  about  that  period. 
The  real  opening  of  the  nunes  of  Potosi,  by 
the  Spanish  conquerors,  dales  from  the  year 
1545;  and  it  was  between  this  epoch  and 
1595,  that  the  splendid  masses  of  silver  from 
Tasco,  Zaeatecas,  and  Paehuca,  in  New- 
Spain,  and  from  Potosi,  Porco,  and  Oruro, 
in  the  chain  of  Peruvian  Andes,  began  to 
b  e  distributed  more  uniformly  over  Euiope, 
and  to  aftect  the  price  of  its  productions. 
From  the  period  of  the  administration  of 
Cortez  to  the  year  1552,  when  the  celebrated 
mines  of  Zaeatecas  were  just  opened,  the 
export  from  Mexico  rarely  reached  annually 
in  value  100,000  pesos  de  oro,  or  nearly 
$1,165,000.  But  from  that  date  it  rose  rap- 
idly, and  in  the  years  1569,  1578,  and  1587, 
it  was  already,  respectively,  931,564,  1,111,- 
202,  and  \,812,()dI  pesos  de  oro.-\ 

During  the  last  peaceful  epoch  of  the  Span- 
ish domination.  Baron  Humboldt  calculates  the 
annual  yield  of  the  mines  of  Mexico  at  not 
more  than  23,000,000  of  dollar,s,  or  nearly 
1,184,000  pounds  avoirdupois  of  silver,  and 
3,500  pounds  avoirdupois  of  gold.  From 
1690  to  1803,  §1,330,772,093  were  coined  in 
the  only  mint  of  Mexico;    while,  from  the 


•  Pet.  Mart.  Epist.,  lib.  xxix.,  No.  556, 23a  January 
1516. 

t  Thp  peso  de  oro  is  ratpd  by  Prescott  at  $11  05,  and 
by  Ramirez  at  $2  !13.  See  M.  Ternaux-Oompans's 
Original  Mfinoirs  of  the  discovery  of  America  (Con- 
quest of  Mexico,  page  451.)  C'nnipaiis  pulilislies  in 
this,  for  the  first  time,  an  official  list,  .sent  between 
15-22  and  1587,  by  tlie  viceroys  of  New  Spain,  to  the 
mother  country.  The  prxos  of  gold  must  be  multi- 
plied by  a  mean  of  §11  tiS,  in  order  to  give  their  value 
in  dollars.  See  Banker's  Magazine,  vt  anlea,  pafte 
594.  in  note.  See  Prescott'g  History  of  the  Conquest 
of  Mexico,  vol.  1,  page  320.  Ramirez,  in  his  notes  on 
the  Spanish  translation  of  Prescott's  History  of  the 
Conquest,  rates  the  peso  de  oro  at  $  '.93.  This  result 
is  reached  by  a  Ions  financial  calculation  and  course 
of  reiisoning.  See  La.Comiuista  de  Mejico,  vol.  2,  at 
page  89  vf  the  notes  at  the  end  of  the  volume. 


discovery  of  New  Spain  until  its  independ- 
ence, about  $2,028,000,000,  or  two  fifilis  of 
all  the  preciou'^  metals  which  the  whole  of 
tiie  New  World  has  supplied  during  the  .«ainc 
period,  were  furnished  by  Mexico  alone.*  It 
ajipears,  from  these  data,  that  the  exhaustion 
f  the  mines  of  Mexico  is  contradicted  by  the 
geognostic  facts  of  the  country,  and,  as  we 
shall  hereafter  show,  by  the  recent  issues  of 
Mexican  mints.  The  mint  of  Zaeatecas  alone, 
during  the  revolutionary  epoch  from  1811  to 
1833,  struck  more  than  8*56,332,766;  and  in 
the  eleven  last  years  of  this  period  from  four 
to  five  millions  of  dollars  were  coined  by  it 
every  year  uninterruptedly. 

The  general  metallic  production  of  the 
country,  which  was  of  course  impeded  by  the 
revolutionary  state  of  New  Spain  between 
1809  and  1826,  has  arisen  refreshed  from  its 
slumber,  so  that,  according  to  the  last  ac- 
counts, it  has  ascended  to  perhaps  twenty 
millions  annually  in  total  production,  in  con- 
sequence of  tlie  prolific  yield  of  the  workings 
at  Fresnillo,  Chihuahua,  and  Sonora,  indepen- 
dent of  the  abundant  production  at  Zaca- 
tecas.f 

The  Mexican  mines  were  eagerly  and  even 
madly  seized  by  the  English,  and  even  by  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  as  objects  of 
splendid  speculation,  as  soon  as  the  country 
became  settled ;  but,  in  consequence  of  bad 
management,  or  the  wild  spirit  of  gambling, 
which  assumed  the  place  of  prudent  commer- 
cial enterprise,  the  holders  of  stock  were 
either  disappointed  or  sometimes  ruined.  Sub- 
sequently, however,  the  proprietors  have 
learned  that  prudence  and  the  experience  of 
old  Mexican  miners  were  better  than  the 
theoretical  principles  upon  which  tliey  de- 
signed producing  larger  revenues  than  had 
ever  been  attained  by  the  original  Spani.sh 
workmen.  Their  imported  modern  machin- 
ery and  engines  for  voiding  the  shafts  and 
galleries  of  water,  are  the  chief  beneficial  im- 
provements introduced  since  the  revolution ; 
but  the  enormous  cost  of  transporting  the 
heavy  materials,  in  a  country  where  there  are 
no  navigable  rivers  extending  into  the  heart 
of  the  land,  and  where  the  usual  mode  of 
transportation  is  on  the  backs  of  mules,  by 
wretched  roads  over  mountains  and  through 
ravines,  has  often  absorbed  lai'ge  portions  of 
the  original  capital,  before  the  proprietors 
even  began  to  employ  laborers  to  set  up  their 
foreign  engines.  Many  of  the  first  British 
and  American  adventurers  or  speculators  have 
thus  been  ruined  by  unskilful  enterprises  in 
Mexican  mines.  Their  successors,  however, 
are  beginning  to  reap  the  beneficial  results  of 


•  This  is  Humboldt's  estimate  in  the  essay  cited  in 
this  section.  We  think  it  rather  too  I<ir,s;e,  yet  g;ive  it 
upon  such  hii-'h  authority.  See  our  general  table  of 
Mexican  coinage. 

t  It  will  bo  recollected,  that  all  that  is  extracted 
from  the  mines  is  not  coined. 


9G 


MEXICAN  MINES  AND  MINERAL  RESOURCES. 


this  expenditure  ;  and  throughout  the  repub- 
lic eteiiin  eii;;ine?,  together  ■with  the  best 
kinds  (if  liydiaulic  apparatus,  have  superseded 
the  Spaiiitih  mafacales. 

"  Wheniivor  tliese  superb  countries,  which 
are  so  f^rcatly  favored  by  nature,"  says  Hum- 
boldt, iti  his  essay  on  gold  auJ  silver  in  the 
Journal  des  Economistes,  "  shall  enjoy  perfect 
peace,  after  their  deep  and  prolonged  internal 
agitations,  new  metallic  deposits  will  neces- 
sarily be  opened  and  developed.  In  what 
region  of  the  globe,  except  America,  can  be 
cited  such  abundant  examples  of  wealth  in 
silver-  Let  it  not  be  forgotten  that  near 
Sombrerete,  where  mines  were  opened  as  far 
back  as  1555,  the  family  of  Tagoiiga  (Mar- 
quises de  Apartado)  derived,  in  the  short 
space  of  five  months,  from  a  front  of  one 
hundred  aijd  two  feet  in  the  out-cropping  of 
a  silver  mine,  a  net  profit  of  §4,000  000  ; 
while,  in  the  mining  district  of  Catorce,  in  the 
space  of  two  years  and  a  haif,  between  1781 
and  the  end  t>f  1783,  an  ecclesiastic  named 
Juan  Flores  gained  $3,500,000  on  ground  full 
of  chloriile  of  silver  and  oi  color  ados !" 

One  of  the  mo.-t  ilourishing  establishments, 
iu  1842,  was  the  ZacatecauoMejicauo  mining 
company  of  Fresnillo.  Its  one  hundred  and 
twenty  shares,  which  originally  cost  '?22,800, 
were  still  held  by  Spaniards  and  Mexicans. 
These  mines  were  originally  wrought  by  the 
state  of  Zacatecas;  but  in  1836  Santa  Anna 
took  possession,  by  an  alleged  right  of  con- 
quest, and  rented  them  for  twelve  years  to 
this  sucx^essful  company.  In  the  first  half 
year  of  1841,  they  produced  §1,025,113,  at  a 
cost  of  S7G 1 ,800,  or  a  clear  profit  of  $263,3 1 3. 

Mcxii'u,  under  the  colonial  system,  with  the 
immense  product  of  her  mines,  and  notwith- 
standing the  richness  of  her  soil  for  agricul- 
tural pui-poses,  became  almost  entirely  a  sil- 
ver producing  country.  The  poliey  of  Spain 
was,  as  we  have  already  often  stated,  to  be 
the  workshop  of  the  New  World,  while  Mex- 
ico and  I\-ru  were  the  treasuries  of  the  Old. 
The  consequence  of  this  was  natural.  Mexico, 
one  of  the  finest  agricultural  and  grazing 
lands  in  the  world,  but  with  no  temptations 
to  expert  her  natural  ])roduct8,  (for  she  had 
no  markits  for  them  elsewhere,)  and  no  roads, 
canals,  or  rivers,  to  convey  her  products  to  sea- 
ports for  shipment,  even  if  she  had  possessed 
consumers  in  Europe,  at  onci-  devoted  heiself 
to  her  mines,  wliicii  were  to  her  both  wealth 
and  the  representatives  of  wealth.  Her  agri- 
culture accordingly  assumed  the  standard  of 
the  mere  national  home  consum{)tion,  while 
the  pa>toral  and  horticultural  interests  fol- 
lowed the  same  law,  except,  perhaps,  within 
late  years  in  California,  where  a  ])rofitable 
trade  was  carried  on  by  the  missions  in  hides 
and  tallow.  From  this  restrictive  law  of  ex- 
portation, we,  of  course,  except  vanilla,  cochi- 
Deal,  and  a  few  ot'ier  minor  articles. 

The  sources  of  the  wealth  of  the  principal 


families  of  Mexico  will  consequently  be  found 
in  her  mines ;  and  an  interesting  summary  of 
this  aristocracy  is  given  by  Mr.  Ward,  in  his 
"Mexico  in  1827,"'  to  prove  the  fact.  The 
family  of  llegla,  which  possessed  large  estates 
m  various  parts  of  tlie  country,  purchased  the 
whole  of  them  with  the  proceeds  of  the  mines 
of  Real  del  Monte.  The  wealth  of  the  Fago- 
agas  was  derived  from  the  great  Bonanza  of 
the  Pavellon  at  Sombrerete.  The  mines  of 
Balanos  founded  the  Vibancos.  Valenciana, 
Ruhl,  Perez  Galvez,  and  Otero,  are  all  indebt- 
ed for  their  possessions  to  the  mines  of  Valen- 
ciana and  ^'illalpando,  at  Guanajuato.  The 
family  of  Sanlaneta,  formerly  Marquises  de 
llayas,  took  its  rise  from  the  mine  of  that 
name.  Cata  and  Mellado  enriched  their  ori- 
ginal proprietor,  Don  Francesco  Matias  de 
Busto,  Marqnis  of  San  Clemente.  The  three 
successive  fortunes  of  the  celebrated  Laborde, 
of  whom  we  shall  speak  hereafter,  when  we 
describe  Cuernavaca,  were  derived  from  the 
Canada  which  bore  his  name,  at  Tlalpujahua, 
and  from  the  mines  of  Quebradilla  and  San 
Acasio,  at  Zacatecas.  The  beautiful  estates  of 
the  Obregones,  near  Leon,  were  purchased 
with  the  revenues  of  La  Purisima  and  Con- 
cepcion,  at  Catorce  ;  as  was  also  the  estate  of 
Maipasso,  acquired  by  the  Gordoas  from  the 
products  of  La  Luz.  The  Zanbranos,  dis- 
coverers of  Guarisamey,  owned  many  of  the 
finest  properties  in  Durango  ;  while  Batopillas 
gave  the  Bustamentes  the  opportunity  to  pur- 
chase a  title  and  to  enjoy  an  immense  unin- 
cumbered income.* 

Nevertheless,  some  of  the  large  fortunes  of 
Mexico  were  made  either  by  trade  or  the 
possession  of  vast  agricultural  and  Ciittle 
estates,  in  sections  of  the  country  where  there 
were  either  no  mines,  or  where  minmg  was 
unprofitable.  The  Agredas  were  enriched  by 
commerce,  while  the  descendants  of  Cortez, 
who  received  fi  royal  grant  of  the  valley  of 
Oajaca,  together  with  some  Spanish  merchants 
in  Jalapa  ami  Vera  Cruz,  derived  the  chief 
part  of  their  fortunes  from  landed  estates, 
cultivated  carefully  during  the  period  when 
the  Indians  were  under  better  agricultural 
subjection  than  at  present. 

Thus  the  mmes  and  the  mining  districts,  by 
aggregating  a  large  laboring  population  in  a 
country  in  which  there  were,  until  recently, 
but  few  manufactures,  and  in  which  the  main 
body  of  the  people  engagi^d  either  in  trades 
or  iu  tending  cattle,  became  the  centres  of 
some  of  the  most  active  agricultural  districts. 
"The  most  fertile  portions  of  the  table-land 
are  the  Baxio,  which  is  immediately  contigu- 
ous to  Guanajuato,  and  con)])rise8  a  portion  of 
Valladolid, Guadalajara,  (iueretaro,  and  Gua- 
najuato, the  valley  of  Tojuca.  and  the  southern 
part  of  the  state  of  Valiadolid,  which  both 
supply  the  capital  and  the  mining  districts  of 


Word's  Mexico  in  1827,  voJ.  ii.,  p.  151. 


MEXICAN    MINES    AND    MINERAL   RESOURCES. 


Tlalpujuhua,  El  Oro,  Temascaltepoc,  and  An- 
gauijeo;  the  plains  of  Paohuca  ami  Appam, 
■wliicli  extend  on  either  s-ide  to  the  loot  of 
the  mountains  upon  whicli  tiie  mines  (jf  Real 
del  Monte  Chicn  are  situated  ;  Itzmiquilpan, 
which  owes  its  existence  to  Zimapaii;  Aguas 
Calientes,  by  whicii  the  great  mining  town  of 
Zacatecas  is  supplied;  a  cuusiderable  circle 
in  the  vicinity  of  Sombrerete  and  Frcsuillo; 
the  valley  of  Jaral  ami  the  plains  about  Sau 
Luis  Potosi,  which  town,  again,  derives  its 
name  from  the  mines  of  the  Cerro  de  San 
Pedro,  about  four  leagues  from  the  gates,  the 
supposed  8uperi<jrity  of  which  to  the  cele- 
brated mines  of  Potosi,  in  Peru,  gave  rise  to 
the  appellation  of  Potosi.  A  little  further 
north  we  find  the  district  of  Matehuala,  now 
a  thriving  town  wUh  more  tlian  seven  thou- 
sand inhabitants,  created  by  the  discovery  of 
Catorce ;  while  about  the  same  time,  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  last  century,  Durango  rose 
into  importance  from  the  impulse  given  to  the 
surrounding  country  by  the  labors  of  Zara- 
brano,  at  San  Dimas  and  Guarisamey.  Its 
population  increased,  in  twelve  years,  from 
eight  to  twenty  thousand,  while  whole  streets 
and  squares  were  adiled  to  its  extent  by 
the  munificence  of  that  fortunate  miner.  To 
the  extreme  north,  Santa  Eulalia  gave  rise 
to  the  town  of  Chihuahua;  Batopilas  and 
El  Parral  becime  each  the  centre  of  a  little 
circle  of  cultivation ;  Jesus  Maria  produced  a 
similar  effect;  Mapimi,  Cuencame,  and  Inde, 
a  little  mure  to  the  southward,  served  to  de- 
vek)p  the  natural  fertility  of  the  banks  of  the 
river  Nazas-,  while  in  the  low,  hot  regions  of 
Sonora  and  Siiialoa,  on  the  western  coast, 
almost  every  place  designated  on  the  map  as 
a  town,  was  originally  and  generally  is  still  a 
real  or  district  for  mines."* 

Such  is  the  case  witli  a  multitude  of  other 
mines  which  have  formed  the  nuclei  of  popu- 
lation in  Mexico.  They  created  a  market. 
The  men  who  were  at  work  in  the  vein  re- 
quired the  labor  of  men  on  the  surface  for 
their  support  and  maintenance.  Xor  was  it 
food  alone  that  these  laborers  demanded  ;  all 
kinds  of  artisans  were  wanted,  an<l  conse- 
quently towns  as  well  as  farms  grew  up  on 
every  side.  When  these  mining  dependen- 
cies are  once  formed,  as  Baron  Humboldt 
justly  says,  they  often  survive  the  mines  that 
gave  them  birth,  and  turn  to  agricultural 
labors,  for  the  supply  of  other  districts,  that 
industry  which  was  formerly  devoted  solely 
to  their  own  region. 

Such  are  some  of  the  internal  advantages 
to  be  derived  from  mining  in  Mexico,  espe- 
cially when  the  mines  are  well  and  scientifi- 
cally wrought,  and  when  the  miners  are  kept 
in  proper  order,  well  paid,  and  consequently 
enabled  to  purchase  the  best  supplies  in  the 
neighboring  markets.     The  mines  are,  in  fact, 


*  Ward,  ut  antea, 
VOL.  II. 


to  Mexico  what  the  manufacturing  districts 
are  to  England  and  the  United  States ;  and 
they  nuist  be  considered  the  great  support  of 
the  national  agricultural  interests,  until  Mex- 
ico becomes  a  commercial  power,  and  sends 
abroad  otiier  articles  besides  silver,  cochineal, 
and  vanilla;  the  two  last  of  which  may  be 
regarded  as  her  monopolies.  The  operation 
of  this  tempting  character  of  mines,  or  of  the 
money  they  create  as  well  as  circulate,  is  ex- 
hibited very  remarkably  in  the  rapidity  with 
which  the  shores  of  California  have  been  cov- 
ered with  towns,  and  filled  with  industrious 
population. 

The  tabular  statement  on  the  next  page 
manifests  the  relative  production,  and  improv- 
ing or  decreasing  ])roductiveness,  of  the  several 
silver  districts  of  Mexico  during  the  compara- 
tively pacific  period  of  ten  years  antecedent 
to  the  war  with  the  United  States,  which 
commenced  in  1846.  While  that  contest 
lastt^d,  the  agricultural  and  mineral  interests 
and  industry  of  the  country  of  course  suff"ered, 
and,  consequently,  it  would  be  unfair  to  calcu- 
late the  metallic  yield  of  Mexico  upon  ihe  basis 
of  that  epoch,  or  of  the  yeai's  immediately 
succeeding. 

From  the  table  it  will  be  seen  (omitting 
the  fractions  of  dollars  and  of  marks  of  silver) 
that  the  whole  tax  collected  during  these  ten 
years,  from  1835  to  1844,  amounted  to 
$l,988,89r3  imposed  on  15,911,194:  marks  of 
silver,  the  value  of  which  was  $131,261,352  ; 
the  mean  yield  of  tax  being  §198,889,  and  of 
silver,  1,591,1 19  in  marks,  which,  estimated  at 
the  rate  of  eight  dollars  and  a  quarter  per 
mark,  amounts  to  813,126,734  annually. 

Comparing  the  first  and  second  periods  of 
five  years,  we  find  a  difference  in  the  tax,  in 
fixvor  of  the  latter,  of  $113,130,  or  905,042 
marks  of  silver ;  showing  that,  in  the  latter 
period,  $7,406,596  more  were  extracted  from 
the  Mexican  mines  than  during  the  lormer. 

If  we  adopt  the  decimal  basis  of  calculation, 
the  returns  show,  approximately,  the  follow- 
ing results : 

In  Zacatecas 83.,^,  pr.  ct. 

«  Guanajuato 21^^  « 

"  San  Luis  Potosi ^f^  " 

"  Pachuca 6^i  " 

"  Guadalajara Sg*  " 

"  Mexico 43-^  " 

"  Durango 43^  " 

"  Guadalupe  y  Calvo 3^  " 

"  Chihuahua  y  J.  Maria 4J3  " 

"  Rosario,  Cosala,  and  Mazatlan.  2'^^  " 

"  Sombrerete 2;^  " 

"  Parral l|.  « 

"  Zimapan 33  " 

"  Alamos %  " 

"  Hermosillo 33  " 

1 


98 


MEXICAN  MINES  AND  MINERAL  RESOURCES. 


In  Oajaca 3%  pr.  ct.  f  cious  metals  produced  in  Mexico,  ^vhicli  were 

"  Tasco i      "*     either  clandes^tinely  dissposed  of  or  used  in  the 

„,  ,         ,   .    ,    1     xT  manufacture  of  articles  of  luxury. 

These  statements  do  not  mclude  the  pre- 

Tablk  op  the  Gold  and  Silver  c«incd  in  the  eight  mints  of  the  Mexican  Republic,  from  IstJanu- 
ary,  1844,  to  1st  January,  1845,  according  to  official  reporte: 


Chihiiahua, $61 ,630  00 

Durantfo 27.508  00 

Guadaltij.ini, 5.'J82  51 

Guadalupe  y  Calvo, 95.004  00 

Guanajuato, 441,8i'8  00 

Mexico 36,17-2  00 

San  Lui.sPot^si, 

Zacatecas, 


Silver. 

$290,000  00 
213,362  30 
95  sOUi  G3 
338.124  00 

4,219.900  00 

1,688,156  48 
9.«),525  50 

4,429.353  40 


Totals, $067,406  51  $13,065,454  71 

Coinage  of  Mkxico,  from  153510  1850,  omittiDg  fractions  of  a  dollar: 

Mints.  Silrer.  Gold. 

1535  to  1(50%  in  city  of  Mexico, $620,000,000 

1690  to  1844,        "  "         l,60i>,2-25.<J22 


1811  to  1844,  Chihuahua, 6.629.S75 

1811  lo  1844,  Duramen, 21,815  913 

1812  to  ["JJ,  Gu.adalajnra 17,840,720 

1844.  Uu.idiilupey  Calvo, 338.124 

18 1 i  to  1844.  (;uan:ijuato, 50,998,241 

1827  to  1844,  San  Luis  Polosi, 18.631,428 

ISin,  1811,  and  1812,  Sombrerete, 1,561,249 

1828,  1829,  1831),  Tlalpam, 959, 1 16 

ISlii  lo  1844,  /ac  te.>a.<, 120,375,306 

All  thi'  .Me.\ican  inint.s  from  the  end  of) 

1844  tr.  ih«  end  of  1849,  at  thp  rate  of  !  

§14,0  '0,111)0   per  ann.,  which  was  the  j 
approximate  total  coinage  in  1844. +     J 


§31,000.000 

88,597,827 

3f;8,248 

1,986,069 

364.620 

95,004 

4,370,700 


203,544 


Copper, 

s 

5,323,765 
50,428 

61,217 
23,517 
107,949 


Total. 

8331,632  00 
240  870  iO 
95.\3I5  34 
433,128  00 

4,661,7(3  00 

1,724,328  48 
936,.525  50 

4,429,353  40 

§13,732,861  40 


Total. 

86^1,000,000 

1,700.147,514 

7,048.551 

23.801,982 

18,266.,566 

433.128 

55.3tiS.94 1 

18,554,945 

1,561,249 

l,l6-.',660 

120,483,315 


70,000,000 


Total.'?, $2,465,275,954 

RE^■UME. 

Silver  Coinagft  from  1535  to  1844,  inclusive 

Gold  '"  "  "  "         

Copper  "  1811  to  1844  "         

Geuural  "  1845  to  1849,  both  inclusive 


§126,980,021  $5,566,876        $2,667,828,851 


$2.46.5,275.954 

126.986,021 

5.566,876 

70,1100,000 

Total  Coinsf^o  of  Me.xico  to  the  present  time,  or  in  314  years $2,667,828,851 

Or,  avoiding  fractions,  nearly  §8,500,000  yearly. 

TABLE  EXHIBITING  THE  PLACES  AND  THE  AMOUNT  OF  TAX  COLLECTED  AT  EACH,  ON  EVERY  MARK  OF 
SILVER,  DURING  THE  TEN  YEARS  FROM  18.35  TO  1844,  DESIGNED  TO  SHOW  THE  RELATIVE 
PRODUCTIVENESS  OF  THE  VARIOUS  .SILVER  DLSTRICTS  THROUGHOUT  THE  MEXICAN  KEPUBLIU. 


rLATKS    VVHK.IU: 

THF,  nii'os  roH 

TAX  HAS   KEEN 
COLLKCTF.D. 


Zacatecas 

Guaiiajualo 

San  Luis  I'otosi.. 

Pacliuca 

Guadalajara 

Mi^xico 

Durango 

GuadaUipeyCalvo. 
Pombreri'to.. . 
Cbiliuahuu  .. . 

Cosala 

Josns  Maria  .  . 

Parral 

Ziinapan 

Alaniu:^ 

Ilernioi-illo... . 

Rosario 

Muzatlan 

Oujaca, 

Tasco 


Hrodu.t  <.r  til. 
tax  froia  Ik:!.' 
to  I8M9,  botl 
imlu.-iv.i. 


annual  of  Sil- 
vorproducl  indnl- 
lars.  at  $8  25  per 
mark. 


Totals $937,882  78.5  «1,051.013  37. 1 

Deduct  decrease 

Uiff'-rencc  ill  favnrofiiKTeascd  yield  of  tax,and 
of  production  durinjf  the  bwt  period  of  5  years 


*  See  Report  of  the  Mexican  .Minister  of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Relations,  for  the  year  1846,  p.  139  of 
Z)o''um':nto.<i  .litslificntiro.i. 

t  The  actual  coinage  of  all  the  mints  in  the  Reptiblic,  in  1844,  amounted,  in  fact,  to  the  sum  of 
$13,732,801 ;  but  we  assume  $14,000,000  as  a  fair  annual  average  for  a  perion  of  several  years. 

%  See  Table  No.  1,  in  the  Report  of  the  Mexican  Minister  of  I'oreign  and  Domestic  Relations,  for  1846. 


MEXICO PRODUCTS    OF. 


99 


MEXICO. — Peoditcts  of  Sugar,  Cotton, 
Rice,  Indigo,  ttc. — Agriculture  is  about  to  as 
sume  in  this  cinmtry  its  natural  position  and 
importance.  Heret<.)fore  it  has  been  held  in 
but  a  secondary  conisideration.  The  cause  of 
this  was  that  land  was  plenty  and  the  popu- 
lation small  ;  but  with  the  increase  of  poj)u- 
lation  our- agricultural  and  horticultural  ne- 
cessities have  increased.  Our  laixls  have  also 
increased,  taking  into  the  Union  all  climates, 
embracing  those  similar  to  the  tropic  and  con- 
genial to  the  growth  of  tropical  fruits  and 
vegetation.  We  are  now  looking  Asiaward 
for  tea,  sugar,  canex,frui>s,  etc.  Some  of  these 
articles  can,  no  doubt,  be  found  much  nearer 
home,  and  can  be  obtained  at  but  little  cost  com- 
paratiielij.  I  therefore  offer,  for  the  benefit  of 
those  who  feel  an  interest  in  this  subject,  a 
few  agricultural  statistics,  collected  by  myself 
at  random,  during  the  late  Mexican  war,  while 
stationed  in  the  provmces  of  Tuspan  and  Chi- 
coDtepea  I  nmst  here  remark,  that  very  little 
attention  was  paid  to  agriculture  in  any  part 
of  Mexico  previous  to  their  independence,  or 
while  a  colony  of  Spain,  from  the  fact  that  the 
mother  country  cla?sitie(l  her  colonies,  some 
of  which  she  devoted  to  agricultural  pursuits, 
while  from  others  she  only  abstracted  the  pre- 
cious metals.  The  island  of  Cuba,  on  the  At- 
lantic side,  and  Chili,  on  the  Pacific,  were  en- 
couraged and  directed  by  the  Spanish  crown 
to  pursue  altogether  agriculture.  It  is  a  well- 
known  fact  that  both  Chili  and  Cuba  contained 
mines  of  copper,  silver,  aud  gold.  These  mines 
were  nut  allowed  to  be  worked ;  but  the  mines 
of  Mexico  and  Peru  were  extensively  worked. 
In  the  latter  departments  agriculture  was  for- 
bidden, so  much  so,  that  in  Peru  wheat  was 
not  cultivated,  but  it  was  supplied  from 
Chili ;  and  Mexico  was  supplied  in  coffee  and 
sugar  from  Cuba,  although  b.th  these  articles 
could  be  supplied  by  the  former  in  greater 
quantities  and  of  better  quality.  She  there- 
fore rendered  her  colonies  mutually  dependent 
on  each  other — in  fact,  keeping  the  natural 
resources  dormant.  Peru  possessed  naturally 
a  better  soil  and  climate  for  agriculture  than 
Chili ;  her  natural  manures  lay  in  mines  in- 
exhaustible, along  her  coast  and  on  her  hills; 
yet  she  was  not  permitted  to  use  them  abun- 
dantly. Mexico  possessed  naturally  a  better 
soil  than  Cuba,  yet  she  was  not  allowed  to  cul- 
tivate more  than  enough  to  yield  sparingly  to 
her  inhabitants ;  but  Cuba  was  taxed  in  the 
agricultural  productions  to  her  utmost  extent 
to  supply  Mexico.  The  natural  productions 
of  the  latter  were  never  fully  developed,  but 
she  was  left  to  herself,  and  to  run  wild  in  a 
prolific  natural  growth,  without  the  aid  of  art ; 
and  while  agricultural  instruments  were  plenty 
both  in  Chili  and  Cuba,  Mexico  was  destitute 
of  them,  and  the  native  was  left  his  machete 
only  to  scratch  up  his  prolific  soil. 

The  provinces  of  Tuspan  aud  Chicontepec 
are  blessed  with  all  climates.     While  we  find 


the  department  of  Chicontepec  very  warm, 
we  have  the  depMrtment  of  Tonticomatlan 
both  cold  and  warm.  But,  in  order  to  give  a 
better  itlea  of  these  provinces,  I  will  here  give 
their  boundaries.  They  are  boui  ded  on  the 
north  by  the  district  of  Tampico;  on  the  east 
by  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  ;  on  the  south  by  the 
districts  of  Papantla  (state  of  Vera  Cruz)  and 
Huanchinango,  (state  of  Puebla ;)  on  the  west 
by  th(!  district  of  Hugutla.  Its  greatest  ex- 
tent from  north  to  south  is  seventy  miles,  and 
from  west  to  east  sixty-five  miles.  It  extends 
sixty-five  m.iles  along  the  Gulf  coast.  Three 
rivers  empty  into  the  Gulf,  off  which  there  is 
a  good  anchorage ;  these  are  Tanguino,  Tus- 
pan, and  Cazonis.  On  the  latter  river  there  is 
a  French  settlement,  having  purchased  their 
lands  under  the  Mexican  law  encouraging 
emigration  and  settlement.  Tliey  are  em- 
ployed raising  "vanilla,  sarsaparilla,  sugar,  cot- 
ton, rice,"  procuring  Indian  rubber  from  the 
Palo  de  Ule,  or  caoutchouc,  which  grows  in 
great  abundance,  gum  copal,  etc.  These  are 
exported  to  France  by  way  of  Vera  Cruz. 
Tuspan,  the  beautiful  villa,  is  embraced  be- 
tween three  flower-clothed  hills,  and  is  built 
on  the  banks  of  the  river  of  the  s^ame  name, 
the  banks  of  which  are  covered  with  plants 
and  flowers  of  all  varieties ;  the  orchideje  and 
leguminosea  vex  the  air  with  their  delightful 
fragiance.  The  soil  and  climate  are  both  con- 
genial to  vegetation ;  the  river  abounds  in 
fish  ;  the  woods  resound  with  the  sweet  notes 
of  the  feathered  songster.  The  river  meanders 
through  a  soil  not  exceeded  in  richness  and 
productiveness  by  any  in  the  world ;  not  ex- 
celled by  any  of  the  West  India  islands  in 
its  tropical  productions.  The  guava  grows 
wild ;  so  do  the  lime  and  lemon.  Coffee,  cot- 
ton of  two  kinds,  the  tree  grape,  sugar  cane, 
rice,  cocoa,  tobacco,  vanilla,  indigo,  pimento, 
sarsaparilla,  are  the  indigenous  plants  of  this 
department.  The  forest,  plains,  banks  of 
streams,  and  the  river,  are  prolific  in  all  kinds 
of  woods,  flowers,  and  beautiful  birds.  The 
rich,  gaudy,  and  fragrant  plumera  fatigues  the 
air  along  the  upland  banks  of  the  river  by  its 
beauty  and  fragrance;  the  datura,  single  and 
double,  with  its  bell-lUce  blossoms,  clo}s  the 
senses  with  its  fragrance  ;  and  the  waters  are 
green  and  fragrant  with  the  leaves  and  blos- 
soms of  the  sea-side  daffodd,  lotus,  and  other 
aquatics.  In  this,  nature's  fiivored  spot,  the 
shades  of  night  are  scarcely  drawn  over  before 
the  ear  is  assailed  by  the  sweet  soft  notes  of 
a  feathered  songster,  which  come  floating  in 
almost  seraphic  strains  through  the  calm  soli- 
tude of  the  night ;  you  are  lulled  to  sleep  im- 
perceptibly, and  the  senses  become  dormant 
in  a  gush  of  fragrance  and  music.  The  morn- 
ing is  ushered  in  by  the  loud  scream  of  the 
cojoleto,  tir  tufted  purple  turkey,  and  the  noisy 
chichilaca  and  chattering  voluble  parrot. 
Every  tree-top  soon  has  an  occupant  of  the 
feathered  tribe,  making  the  air  melodious  with 


100 


MEXICO PRODUCTS    OF. 


their  songs ;  each  hour  brings  from  the  shady  [ 
recesses  of  the  forest  a  new  songster,  each ' 
day  and  month  its  own  plant,  and  eacli  month 
a  climate  which  vies  in  liealthiness  and  balmi- 
ness  with  its  predecessor,  buch  are  the  de- 
partments of  Tuspan  and  Chicontepec.  It  is 
of  the  productions  of  this  country  I  intend  to 
give  you  the  full  statit^tics. 

We  will  commence  with  sugar  cane.  This 
article  grows  in  great  abundance,  and  far  su- 
perior to  any  of  the  Cuba  varieties.  While 
the  Cuba  cane  requires  to  be  laid  every  three 
years,  this  will  continue  to  yield  in  good 
quantity  ten  or  twelve.  It  is  to  be  much  re- 
gretted that  the  mills  here  are  of  such  miser- 
able construction;  merely  mudeof wood, they 
Bimpl}'^  produce  from  the  cane  a  material  called 
peloncilta,  which  is  ilone  up  and  sent  away  to 
be  manufactured  into  sugar.  The  quantity  of 
peloncillato  the  almud,  or  ninety  yards  square, 
IS  about  seven  thousand  pounds.  I  think  this 
character  of  cane  would  answer  well  in  Florida 
or  Louisiana,  as  it  grows  wild  in  the  moun- 
tain districts  of  Uamatlan. 

The  tobacco  plant  grows  wild  throughout 
the  provinces  of  Tuspan  and  Chicontepec. 
This  article  is  a  government  monopoly,  and 
therefore  not  extensively  cultivated  by  private 
per-sons ;  yet,  in  its  wild  state,  it  is  superior  to 
the  Cuba  varieties.  Two  crops  of  tobacco 
could  easily  be  raised  per  annum  in  that  part 
of  Mexico,  and  at  much  less  expense  than  in 
any  part  of  the  United  States. 

The  country  and  land  is  well  adapted  to  the 
cultivation  of  cotton.  It  is  produced  abun- 
dantly, and  of  a  very  superior  (juality.  There 
are  found  here  two  species  of  cotton,  both  of 
long  sta[)le  — the  one  a  bush,  the  other  a  vine, 
which  is  very  prolific,  bearing  bolls  nearly  the 
•whole  year,  or  with  the  excejUion  of  one  or  two 
months.  In  the  careless  manner  it  is  cultivated 
and  cleanetl,  ninety  yards  square  produce  easily 
600  pounds  of  clean  cotton ;  but  I  have  no 
doubt,  by  proper  attention,  with  the  aid  of 
machuiery,  etc.,  this  amount  could  be  vastly 
increased.  I  would  recommend  to  our  south- 
ern cotton  planters  to  obtain  varieties  of  the 
seed,  and  try  them  in  their  plantations.  The 
staple  is  long  and  fine. 

Three  varieties  of  corn  are  raised,  and  two 
full  crops  in  one  year,  yielding  70  bushels  to 
the  20  varas,  or  about  85  yartU  square.  The 
varieties  are  soft  wliite,  hard  yellow,  and  pro- 
lific white,  besides  a  small  blue  corn,  of  a  very 
prolific  kind.  Bread  from  corn  is  the  jirinci- 
pal  food  of  the  people,  as  no  wheat  is  raised 
in  the  provinces.  Ninety  yards  scjuare  will 
yield  annually  140  bushels  of  corn. 

The  black  beans  of  the  famous  frigole  grow 
here  in  va--t  quantities,  and  of  a  quality  far 
superior  to  any  part  of  Mexico.  Every  one 
•who  has  ever  vi>-ited  any  part  of  Mexico  is 
■well  acfjuainted  with  the  famous  frigole  dish 
brought  on  the  breakfast  table  by  all  Mexi- 
cans. 


Rice  gi-ows  in  great  abundance,  and  of  a 
finer  qualify,  larger  in  grain,  and  wliifer,  than 
any  in  the  United  States  Ninety  yards 
square  yield  1,20<)  pounds  of  clean  hulled  rice  ; 
properly  cultivated,  there  is  no  doubt  it  would 
yield  much  more.  I  recommend  this  variety 
to  southern  planters. 

Indigo  grows  wild  in  every  direction,  but  its 
culture  is  entirely  neglected.  This  article 
could,  no  doubt,  be  profitably  cultivated,  and 
the  whole  of  the  United  States  could  be  sup- 
plied from  the  provinces  hi  Tuspan  and  Chi- 
contepec. 

Fustic,  well  known  in  commerce  as  a  dye- 
wood,  grows  in  the  extensive  forests  of  this 
province  in  great  abundance  and  vast  size. 
Quantities  are  yearly  shipped  to  France,  and 
from  thence  to  this  country.  It  could  be 
transported  direct  to  the  United  States  at 
much  less  expense,  and  would,  no  doubt,  be 
profitable. 

Pimento  grows  wild  e^verywhere,  and  is  ripe 
about  the  mouth  of  September. 

Sarsaparilla  is  indigenous,  and  grows  wild 
in  great  abiuidance,  and  can  be  obtained  all 
the  year  round. 

Every  rancbo  has  its  apiary,  and  honey  was 
in  great  abundance  and  cheap.  This  could, 
no  doubt,  be  made  a  profitable  business. 

Tl>eargave  Mexicanna,petat,  and  long-leaved 
macliette  grow  here  in  great  abundance,  and 
iiemp  is  made  from  them  equal  to  Jute  or 
Sisal.  This  ])art  of  Mexico  being  ucar  to  us, 
the  articles  could  be  obtained  here  better  and 
cheaper  than  at  Sisal  or  the  East  Inoies. 

Cocoa  grows  finely  and  of  much  better 
quality  than  that  fi\)m  Tabasco ;  but  owing  to 
the  port  of  Tuspun  not  being  one  of  entry,  this 
article  has  not  been  extensively  gathered  for 
exportation,  but  is  used  in  preference  to  all 
other  kinds  by  the  inhabitants. 

The  In<liau  rubber  tree  grows  in  great 
abundance,  and  the  gum  proiluced  from  it  is 
of  a  8Ui)erior  quality  ;  yet,  owing  to  the 
causes  stated  above,  but  little  is  gathered. 

Gum  copal  can  be  obtained  in  great  abun- 
dance from  the  tree  producing  it,  as  it  is  indi- 
genou.s  to  this  part  of  Mexico  ;  besides,  many 
other  gums  u^ed  in  commerce  can  be  and  are 
found  here  in  gre;it  quantities. 

The  vanilla  aromatica  grows  well,  and  those 
trees  adapted  to  its  culture  are  numerous. 
Tliis  plant,  being  a  parasite,  requires  for  its 
propixgation  trees  which  do  not  shed  their  bark 
— a  climate  warm,  and  regular  temperature  to 
cure  and  preserve  them.  It  is  used  to  flas'or 
ice  creams,  cakes,  candies,  soaps,  and  per- 
fumery. A  si)ecimeii  of  this  plant  can  be 
seen  at  the  National  Ctmservatory  ;  it  is  worth 
in  commerce  from  twelve  to  sixteen  dollars 
])er  pound.  A  few  vines  will  yield  this  quan- 
tity. It  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  produc- 
tions of  Mexico.  I  think  the  vine  could  be 
propagated  in  Florida  on  the  orange  tree. 
,     Oranges,  lemons,  plantains,  bananas,   and 


MANUFACTURING    INDUSTRY. 


101 


pine-applos  grow  in  great  abuiulance,  of  a 
fim^r  and  licttt'f  quality  thau  those  grown  in 
Cuba.  —  W.  D.  Porter. 

MANUFACTURINa    INDUSTRY.— 

TiiKOKY  OK  M.\XL'FACTUUES — TlIKIll    PllOCiaESS 

OliUJIN  AND  GhOWTII    OK    CoTTON  MaNUKAC- 

TURKS      IN     ALL     COUNTRIES UnITED    StATES 

Manukacturks — Southern  Manufactures. — 
Tliougli  every  nation  be,  in  fact,  primarily 
dependent  upon  its  soil  for  the  means  of  sup- 
port, none  can  be  said  to  be  purely  agricul- 
tural. Some  changes  or  modifications  will 
take  place  in  the  raw  material,  in  the  lowest 
state  of  society ;  and  even  where,  in  a  more 
advanced  period,  the  vast  proportion  of  the 
people  are  employed  upon  the  soil,  as  is  the 
case  in  the  north  of  Europe,  some  kinds  of 
manufactures,  however  rude,  will  still  gradu 
ally  grow  up. 

Many  of  the  great  trading  states  of  anti- 
quity were  also  great  manufacturing  ones. 
Indeed,  without  such  manufactures  any  very 
considerable  trade  could  not  be  conducted. 
Unless  it  be  the  "  carrying  trade."  It  is  in  the 
nature  of  manufactures  to  be  regardful  of  dis- 
tant and  foreign  marketa  The  home  demand 
is  ever  too  narrow,  for  whilst  one  agriculturist 
may  he  unable  to  supply  the  wants  of  more 
than  four  or  five  persons,  a  manufacturer  can 
as  easily  supply  those  of  a  hundred.  Great 
Britain,  the  greatest  commercial  power  on 
earth,  exports  no  raw  produce  other  than  sea- 
coal. 

In  the  most  polished  period  of  Greece  and 
Rome,  manufactures  were  regarded  as  essen- 
tially servile,  and  unworthy  the  attention  in 
any  way  of  freemen,  The  same  spirit  has 
come  down  to  us  in  many  parts  of  our  coun- 
try, and  is  with  difEculty  subdued.  It  was 
maintained  that  such  employments  were  hurt- 
ful to  the  strength  and  agility  of  the  human 
body,  and  to  its  capacity  for  enduring  the 
fatigues  of  war.  The  whole  field  was  re- 
atficted  to  slaves. 

Thers  are  various  modes  by  which  the 
higher  manufactures  may  be  introduced. 
They  may  be  by  a  gradual  improvement  and 
refinement  of  the  primitive,  rude  operations 
of  the  people,  or  the  imitation  of  the  more 
showy  and  splendiil  fabrics  of  other  countries, 
and  for  which  commerce  intnidncea  a  taste. 
In  the  first  case  may  l)e  classed  the  Chinese 
and  other  Eastern  products;  in  the  last,  the 
wool,  silk,  and  other  manufactures  of  Eng- 
land, (tc,  (fee. 

They  do  not  always  indicate  national  pros- 
perity, as  frequent  experience  has  shown, 
though  in  general  they  constitute  a  good 
criterion  of  it.  In  the  midst  of  the  most  de- 
structive foreign  wars,  the  greater  part  of  the 
manufactures  may  frequently  flourish,  says 
Adam  Smith,  and  on  the  contrary,  they  may 
decline  on  the  return  of  peace.  They  may 
flourish  amidst  the  ruin  of  their  country,  and 


begin  to  decay  on   the   return  of  its   pros- 
perity.* 

Manufactures  contribute  to  opulence  and 
luxury,  the  growth  of  cities,  and  their  splen-\ 
dors  ;  but  the  almost  incessant  concomitant 
is  dense  popul.ation,  and  all  the  evils  in  its 
train — poverty,  suffering,  ignorance  and  crime. 
These  occur  only  in  the  most  highly  advanced 
state,  and  are  dependent  much,  perliaps,upoa 
unwise  laws  for  their  intensity.  When  the 
manufacturing  spirit  reaches  this  point,  it  be- 
comes a  great  8<wial  and  political  evil. 

The  melancholy  spectacle  which  Great 
Britain  presents,  is  not  witiiout  its  warnings. 
It  is  j)08sible  to  stimulate  this  branch  of  in- 
dustry to  the  point  of  national  degradation. 
Mr.  Alison  furnishes  a  frightful  picture. 
"  Great  Britain,"  says  he,  "  is  to  be  regarded 
as  a  great  workshop,  which  diffuses  its  fabrics 
equally  over  the  frozen  and  the  torrid  zones  ; 
which  clothes  alike  the  negroes  of  the  West; 
Indies,  the  laborers  of  Hindostan,  the  free 
settlers  of  Canada,  the  vine  growers  of  the 
Cape,  and  the  sheep  owners  of  Xew-Holland 
and  Van  Diemen's  Land.  The  rapid  increase 
of  the  human  race  in  these  advanced  posts  of 
civilization  sustains  and  vivifies  our  empire, 
notwithstanding  all  the  burdens  consequent 
upon  our  political  situation  ;  and  in  spite  of 
the  prodigious  increase  in  the  power  of  ma- 
chinery, has  called  into  being  an  enormous  and 
perilous  manufacturing  po[)ulation. 

"  It  is  utterly  impossible  that  this  unparal- 
leled growth  of  our  manufacturing  industry 
can  co-exist  with  the  fiiin  foundatii^us  of  pub- 
lic prosperity.  Its  obvious  tendency  is  to 
create  immense  wealth  in  one  part  of  the 
population,  and  increased  nuiubersiu  another; 
to  coin  gold  for  the  master  manufacturer,  and 
to  multiply  children  in  his  cotton-mill ;  to  ex- 
hibit a  flattering  increase  in  the  expoits  and 
imports  of  the  empire,  and  an  augmentation 
as  appalling  in  its  paupers,  its  depravity,  and 
its  crimes." 

The  true  position  to  be  taken  undoubtedly 
is,  that  tlie  prosperity  of  no  country  can  be 
considered  permanent  and  stable,  which  is 
ifhollij  dependent  upon  any  single  one  of  the 
three  great  industrial  pursuits  of  commerce, 
agriculture,  or  manufactures,  but  that,  how- 
ever any  one  may  prevail,  the  others  must 
be  suffered  to  grow  up  by  its  side,  without 
discouragement.  In  the  natural  state  of 
things  tliey  will  so  grow  up  upon  a  secure 
and  imperishable  foundation. 

The  progress  of  manufactures  in  the  old 
European  states  has  been,  for  the  most  part, 
the  result  of  their  colonial  empires  establi.-hed 
in  the  eastern  and  western  worlds.  The 
markets  of  these  colonies  for  manufactured 
goods  were  limited  to  the  parent  state,  and 
they  were  prohibited  from  sending  their  raw 
produce  to  any  other  source,  or  to  work  it  up 


Sroiili's  Wealth  of  Natioas,  ii,  101, 


102 


MANUFACTURING    INDUSTRV, 


into  any  form  of  manufactures.  Of  the  whole 
exports  of  manufaotureil  goods  in  1836,  by 
Great  Britain,  somewhat  more  than  one  half 
were  to  iier  on'n  culonies. 

Befi)rH  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, (1699,)  the  Parliament  of  England  de- 
clared tliat  tlie  American  plantations  should 
ship  no  wool  or  yarn  manufactures.  This  was 
a  blow  at  their  infant  attempts  in  the  coarsest 
goods. 

In  1 7 1 9  it  was  declared,  that  the  existence  of 
manufactories  in  the  colonies  lessened  their 
dependence  upon  Great  Britain ;  in  1732, 
that  the  convenience  of  the  Americans  from 
the  plenty  of  beavers,  hare,  coney  wool,  and 
many  other  furs,  gave  them  such  advantages, 
that,  uiiltss  restrained,  they  would  soon  sup 
ply  all  the  world  w-ith  hats.  In  the  report  of 
the  Board  of  Trade,  the  same  year,  it  is  said 
New-England,  New  Ytirk,  Connecticut,  Rhode 
Island,  and  Pennsylvania,  liave  fallen  into  the 
matiufaciure  of  woollen  cloth,  for  the  use  of 
their  own  families  on.y,  and  linen  cloth; 
hemp  and  flax  they  manufacture  into  coarse 
clotli,  bags,  traces  and  halters ;  some  iron  is 
manufactured  in  Massachusetts;  also  a  boutity 
is  given  for  the  manufacture  of  duck  or  can- 
vas by  the  Assembly  ;  brown  hollands  are 
made,  al^o  small  quantities  of  cloth  for  s-hirt, 
ings,  paper  to  the  amount  of  £200  a  year ; 
nails,  bar  iron,  hollow  ware,  <fec. ;  ships  are 
built  for  the  French  and  Spaniards;  hats  are 
made  and  e.xported  to  Spain,  I'ortugal,  and 
West  India  Islands;  several  still-houses  and 
BUgar  leMneries  exist,  &c. 

In  I  his  alarming  state  of  things,  the  Board 
remark,  it  were  to  be  wished  that  some  ex- 
pedient might  be  fallen  upon  to  divert  their 
thoughts  Irom  undertakings  of  this  nature,  so 
much  the  rather,  because  ihese  manufactures 
may  be  carried  on  in  process  of  time  in 
greater  degree,  utdess  an  early  stop  be  put 
to  their  progress  1 

"  Prom  the  foregoing  statement  it  is  ob- 
servahle,  that  there  are  more  trades  carried 
on  and  manufactories  set  up  in  the  provinces 
on  the  continent  of  America,  to  the  north- 
ward of  Virgmia,  pi'ejudicid  to  the  trade 
and  niamifaciories  of  (lieat  Britain,  j)articu- 
larly  in  New-England,  than  in  any  other  of  the 
British  colonies."* 

In  1750,  the  Americans  were  forbidden  to 
work  in  iron  ;  and  Lord  Chatham  declared 
not  long  after  in  Parliament,  tliai  the  colonies 
of  North  America  had  not  even  the  right  of 
manufacturing  a  nail. 

During  the  revolution,  and  under  the  ar- 
ticles of  federation,  our  mainifacturing  sys- 
tem mado  but  little  progress,  tl  oiigh,  in  fact, 
such  articles  of  plain  construction  as  were 
necessary  to  our  uses,  were  made. 

In  1787,  while  the  National  Convention, 


•  McPhersou's  Annals,  Com, 


which  framed  the  Constitution,  was  in  session 
in  Philadelphia,  a  second  convention  met  in 
that  city,  of  the  "  Friends  of  American  man- 
ufactures." 

The  object  of  the  Convention  was  to  con- 
sider the  condition  of  this  branch  of  industry', 
so  much  affected  by  the  .system  of  duties  and 
imposts  which  prevailed  between  the  states. 

Tenche  Coxe,  of  Philadelphia,  made  a  re- 
port to  the  Convention,  in  which  he  urged  the 
establishment  and  encouragement  of  domes- 
tic maimfactures  with  verj'  great  ability, 
thus  connecting  himself  with  the  earliest 
movements  of  the  kind  in  the  Union.  He 
takes  a  survey  of  the  whole  subject  in  all  its 
lights,  and,  without  doubt,  supplied  much  of 
the  material  afterwards  used  by  Alexander 
Hamilton  in  his  celebrated  report  upon  the 
same  subject.  'J'he  enumeration  which  Mr. 
Coxe  makes  of  the  articles  then  manufiic- 
tured  in  the  country  has  no  little  interest : 
meal  of  all  kinds,  ships  and  boats,  malt 
liquors,  distilled  spirits,  potash,  gunpowder, 
cordage,  loaf  sugar,  pasteboard,  cauls  and 
pa|)er,  snuff,  tobacco,  starch,  cannon,  muskets, 
anchors,  nails,  and  many  other  articles  of 
iron,  brick,  tiles,  potter's  ware,  mill-stones, 
(fee,  cabinet  ware,  trunks  and  Windsor  chairs, 
carriages  and  harness  of  all  kinds,  corn  fans, 
ploughs,  <fcc.,  saddlery,  etc.,  boots,  shoes, 
leather,  hosiery,  hats  and  gloves,  wearing 
apparel,  coarse  linens  and  woollens,  and  some 
cotton  gootis,  linseed  and  fish  oils,  wares  of 
gold,  silver,  tin,  pewter,  lead,  brass  and  cop- 
per, clocks  and  watches,  wool  and  cotton 
cards,  printing  types,  glass  and  stone  ware, 
candles,  soap,  Ac,  Ac. 

"  The  encouragement  and  protection  of 
manufactures''  appears  among  other  things, 
in  the  preamble  of  the  first  tariff  act,  under 
the  present  Constitution,  1789;  and  in  1791, 
the  Secretiiry  of  the  Treasury,  Alexander 
Hamilton,  in  answer  to  a  call  from  the  House 
of  Representatives,  submitted  that  celebrated 
report  upon  manufactures  which  has  won  for 
him  the  title,  in  all  subsequent  times,  of 
"  father  of  the  American  Sytem." 

This  able  statesman  went  elaborately  into 
the  politico-economical  (picstinns  of  manufac- 
tures, weighing  with  nice  deliberation  their 
national  advantages  and  disadvantages,  and 
presenting  a  very  powerful  array  of  f.icts  in 
supfvorl.  of  his  positions.  The  ilivision  of 
labor ;  the  extension  and  use  of  machinery ; 
the  additional  employment  to  classes  in  the 
community  not  oniinaril}'  engaged  in  busi- 
ness ;  the  promotion  of  emigration  from 
foreign  countries ;  the  furnisliing  greater 
scope  for  diversity  of  talents  and  dispositions, 
which  discriminate  men  from  each  other;  the 
affording  a  more  ample  and  various  fiekl  for 
enterprise  ;  the  creating  m  some  instances  a 
new,  and  securing  in  all  a  more  certain  and 
steady  demand  for  the  surplus  produce  of  tha 


MANUFACTURING    INDUSTRY. 


106 


€oTl-  are  tlie  prominent  advantages  he  antici- 
pated from  manufactures.* 

Mr.  Hamilton  goes  afterwards  into  an  enu- 
meration of  wiiat  had  already  been  achieved 
in  America,  and  draws  from  it  the  most  flit- 
tering hopes  of  the  future.  He  thus  classifies 
the  manufacturing  product.';  of  that  period: 

1.  Of  Skitts: — Tunued  an<l  tamed  leather, 
dressed  skins,  shoes  and  bo<jts  and  slippers, 
harnesses  and  saddlery,  portmanteaux  and 
trunks  leather  breeches,  gloves,  muffs  and 
tippets,  parchment,  glue,  <fec. 

2.  Of  Iron : — Bar  and  sheet  iron,  nails, 
steel,  implements  of  husbandry,  stoves,  pots, 
and  other  household  utensils,  steel  work  of 
carriages  and  for  ship  building,  anchors, 
scales,  beams  and  weights,  tools  of  artificers, 
arms  of  different  kinds. 

3.  Of  Wood: — Ships,  cabinet-ware  and 
turners ;  wool  and  cotton  cards,  and  other 
machinery  for  manufactures  and  husbandry, 
niathematieal  instruments,  coopers'  wares, 
<fec. 

4.  Flax  and  Hemp  : — Cables,  sail-cloth, 
cordage,  twine  and  pack  thread. 

4.  Mineellaiieous  .---Bricks,  coarse  tiles  and 
potters'  wares,  ardent  spirits  and  malt 
liquors,  printing,  writing,  and  other  papers, 
hats  of  fur  and  wool,  <te,,  women's  stuff  and 
silk  shoes,  refined  sugars,  oil  of  animals  and 
seeds,  soap,  spermaceti  and  tallow  candles, 
copper  and  bra^s  wires,  distillers'  wares, 
sugar  retiners  and  brewers,  andirons  and 
other  household  utensils,  philosophical  ap- 
paratus, tin  wares,  carriages,  snuff  and  man- 
ufactured tobaccos,  starch  and  hair  pow- 
der, lamp  bUck  and  other  painters'  colors, 
gunpowder,  <tc. 

These  he  states  had  arrived  to  considera- 
ble maturity,  and  are  as  applicable  to  the 
eouthern  as  to  the  middle  or  northern 
states.  Great  quantities  of  coarse  c'oth, 
coating,  serges,  and  flannels,  linsey-wool- 
seys,  hosiery  of  wool,  cotton  and  thread, 
coarse  fustians,  jeans  and  muslins,  checked 
and  striped  cotton  and  linen  goods,  bed- 
ticks,  coverlets  and  counterpanes,  tow  lin- 
ens, coarse  shirtings,  sheetings,  towelling 
and  coarse  linens,  and  various  mi.\tures  of 
wool  and  cotton,  and  of  cotton  and  flax, 
were  made  in  the  household  way,  and  in 
many  instances  to  an  extent  not  only  suffi- 
cient for  the  supply  of  the  families  in  which 
they  were  made,  but  for  sale,  and  even  in 
some  cases  for  exportation.  It  is  computed 
that  in  a  number  of  districts  two  thirds, 
three  fourths,  and  even  four  fifths  of  all  the 
clothing  of  the  inhabitants  are  made  by 
themselves. 

Mr.  Hamilton  then  goes  into  the  question 
of  protection,  and  finally  into  an  enumera- 
tion of  the  materials  of  manufacture  abund- 
antly existing  in  the  country,  and  the  infant 

*  Am.  Statfi  Papers,  Finances,  voL  i.  124. 


attempts  in  some  of  them.  The  list  in- 
cludes iron,  copper,  lead,  coal,  wood,  skins, 
grain,  flax  and  hemp,  cotton,  wool,  silk, 
glass,  gunpowder,  paper,  ttc,  sugar  and 
chocolate,  <tc.,  itc. 

li\  the  year  1791,  according  to  the  report 
of  Albert  Gallatin,  made  in  1810  by  resolu- 
tion of  the  House  of  Representatives,  the 
first  cotton  mill  was  erected  in  Khode 
Island;  in  17i)5,  another  in  the  same  state, 
and  two  more  in  the  state  of  Massachusetts, 
in  1803  and  1804.  Before  1808  fifteen  in 
all  were  in  operation,  working  about  8,000 
spindles.  By  the  end  of  1800,  87  mills 
M'ere  being  or  had  been  erected,  requiring 
80,000  spindles,  and  with  a  ca])ital  employed 
of  §4,800,000.  The  amount  of  cotton  used 
was  3.600,000  lbs. ;  yarn  spun,  .$3,240,000 ; 
persons  employed,  4,000.  Many  of  the 
mills  were  also  engaged  upon  wool.  Mr. 
Gallatin  furnishes  the  result  in  14  woollen 
factories,  which  were  not  the  whole.  The 
cloths  are  re|)resented  as  superior  in  quality, 
but  inferior  in  apptai'ance  to  the  imported 
article  of  the  same  price. 

Mr.  Pitkins  states  the  first  cotton  factory 
in  the  United  States  was  established  by 
Samuel  Slater,  a  cotton  manufacturer  from 
England,  called  the  father  of  Ameiican  cot- 
ton manufactures,  and  that  President  AVash- 
inu-ion  delivered  his  speech  to  Congress,  in 
1790,  in  a  suit  of  broadcloth  from  a  factory 
m  Connecticut. 

In  1810,  according  to  Gallatin,  wood, 
leather,  &.C.,  soap,  candles,  spermaceti  oil, 
&c.,  flaxseed  oil,  refined  sugar,  eoar-se  earth- 
enware, snuff',  chocolate,  hair  powder  and 
mustard,  were  manufactured  in  quantities 
large  enough  to  sujjply  the  whole  consump- 
tion. 

He  names  a  number  of  others  supplying  a 
greater  or  less  part  of  the  whole  demand, 
some  then  but  in  early  progress ;  among 
the  last  were  paints,  &c.,  medicinal  drugs, 
salt,  japanned  ware,  calico  printing,  earthen 
and  glass  ware,  etc.,  &c. 

"  From  the  imperfect  sketch,"  says  Mr. 
Gallatin.  "  of  American  Manufactures,  it 
may  with  certainty  be  inferred  that  their 
annual  product  exceeds  one  hundred  and 
twenty  millions  of  dollars.  And  it  is  not 
improbable  that  the  raw  materials  used, 
and  the  provisions  and  other  articles  con- 
sumed by  the  manufacturers,  create  a  home 
market  for  agricultural  products  not  very 
inferior  to  that  which  arises  from  the  for- 
eign demand.  A  result  more  favorable 
than  might  have  been  expected,  from  a 
view  of  the  natural  causes  which  impede 
the  introduction,  and  retard  the  progress 
of  manufactures  in  the  United  States." 

The  census  of  1810  included  a  return  of 
the  manufacturing  system  of  the  Union,  ac- 
cording to  the  suggestion  of  the  Secretary, 
but  was  very  deficient,  from  the  haste  in 


104 


MANUFACTURING    INDUSTKY. 


which  the  items  were  obtained.  The  re- 
sults were  i^repared  and  digested  byTenche 
Coxe,  ajipointed  for  tliat  jnirj)Ose. 

The  uuuilier  of  cotton  mills  returned  was 
168,  with  'JH.UUit  spindles.  The  woollen  fab- 
rics at  that  period  were  principally  made  in 
families.  Of  wool,  cotton  and  tlax,  the  man- 
ufacture was  greatest  in  Kew-York,  includ- 
ing, of  course,  family  workmanship,  though 
Virginia  n)aDufactured  the  greatest  number 
of  yards ;  and  what  is  singular,  Virginia, 
the  two  Carolinas,  and  Georgia,  manufac- 
tured greatly  more  in  quantity  and  in  value 
than  the  whole  of  New-England  together, 
and  North  Carolina  produced  double  the 
number  of  yards  of  Massachusetts !  The 
whole  value  produced  in  these  articles  was 
estimated  at  $4u,000,000. 

During  the  war,  manufactures  received 
an  extraordinary  stimulus.  Capital  flowed 
in  upon  them.  On  the  restoration  of  peace, 
the  whole  immense  stock  of  foreign  manu- 
factures, for  some  time  accumulating,  was 
thrown  into  the  country,  and  sold  at  ruin- 
ous sacrifices.  It  was  well  worth  while, 
said  Mr.  Brougham,  to  incur  a  loss  upon  the 
first  exportation,  in  order,  by  the  glut,  to 
stifle  in  the  cradle  those  rising  manufactures 
in  the  United  Stales,  which  the  war  had 
forced  into  existence,  contrary  to  the  natu- 
ral state  of  things. 

The  history  of  the  cotton  manufacture,  in 
all  countries,  and  from  the  earliest  antiquity, 
possesses  the  highest  degree  of  interest,  and 
will  not  be  out  of  place  before  proceeding 
any  further  in  the  discussion  of  our  own 
manufactures.  In  India,  from  the  remotest 
times,  this  industry  has  been  prosecuted 
without  improvement  in  machinery,  but 
with  extraordinary  manual  facility.  Com- 
mon muslins  are  made  in  every  village. 
Those  of  Dacca  are  of  the  most  exquisite 
fineness,  and  are  used  by  the  lords,  and 
called  "webs  of  woven  wind."  The  impor- 
tation of  these  manufactures  into  Europe 
has  been  almost  entirely  arrested  by  tlie 
progress  made  there  in  the  same  fabrics. 
India  has  indeed  become  herself  an  extensive 
importer. 

In  China,  though  long  before  the  Chris- 
tian era  cotton  cloth  is  noticed,  not  before 
the  eleventii  century  is  it  supposed  to  have 
been  extensively  produced.  Tlie  opposition 
of  wool  and  linen  makers  retarded  the  ])ro- 
gress  until  the  close  of  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury, when  it  rapidly  advanced.  At  the 
present  day,  nine  tenths  of  the  jiopulation 
are  clothed  in  cotton.  Large  quantities  of 
the  wool  are  imported  into  China. 

The  cotton  manufacture  was  introduced 
into  Europe  by  the  commercial  states  of 
Italy,  about  tlie  year  1500;  from  Italy  it 
passed  to  the  Netheilands,  and  was  cari'ied 
over  to  England  early  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  by  Protestant  refugees.     In  1041, 


Manchester  is  mentioned  in  the  "Treasure 
of  Trathc"  as  engaged  in  this  industry. 

The  manufacture  was  greatly  improved 
by  John  Wilson,  of  Ainsworth,  in  a  vaiiety 
of  ways  ;  but  principally  in  dressing,  finish- 
ing and  dyeing. 

All  the  yarn  produced  was  by  the  one- 
thread  spinning  wheel,  the  only  machine 
then  used,  and  which  put  a  practical  check 
upon  manufactures.  In  weaving,  some  ad- 
vances had  already  been  made  by  the  fly- 
shuttle  ;  also,  a  great  imjirovement  in  card- 
ing, by  the  cylindrical  carding  engine. 

In  17 67,  a  great  revolution  was  effected 
bv  the  spinning-jenny,  invented  by  James 
Ilargreaves.  "The  progress  of  invention 
after  this  was  ra)iid  ;  for  when  it  Avas  seen 
that  with  the  aid  of  the  few  mechanical 
combinations  we  have  mentioned,  the  spin- 
ner had  been  able  to  increase  his  power  of 
oroduction  nearly  eighty-fold,  the  attention 
of  those  engaged  in  other  branches  of  man- 
ufacture was  awakened  to  the  possibdity  of 
introducing  changes  equally  beneficial  in 
their  peculiar  employments." 

Against  this  fearful  innovation  the  popu- 
lace, supported  by  the  old  process,  rose  up 
in  rebellion  and  riot,  and  destroyed  every 
machine  that  could  come  within  their  reach. 
Whilst  all  this  was  going  on,  a  humble 
barber  boy,  the  youngest  of  thirteen  children, 
in  Lancasliire,  Ridiard  Arkwright,  conceived 
the  itlea  that  the  sjiiuning  process  might  be 
greatly  improved.  \Yith  scarcely  any  science, 
and  no  means,  he  matured  a  plan  in  which, 
after  many  ilifficulties  and  trials,  he  obtained 
the  countenance  of  some  capitalists.  The  re- 
sult was,  in  1769,  the  "spinning-frame"  was 
patented,  for  the  discovery  of  which  tlie  author 
was  knighted,  and  for  which  he  is  immortal- 
ized. No  attempt  to  extend  the  principle  of 
the  frame  was  made  until  1810,  when  the 
throstle  was  introduced,  which  last  was  im- 
proved by  Ml-.  Dauforth,  an  American  spin- 
ner, and  Mr.  MontgonuM-y,  of  Great  Britain. 

The  next  great  invention  was  that  of  Sam- 
uel Ciimpt"n,  in  1775.  the  "mule jenny,"  which 
entirely  supersedes  Hargveave's  jenny,  being 
capable  of  producing  the  very  finest  yarns, 
which  the  otlier  could  not.  As  much  as  twen- 
ty guineas  the  pound  was  received  for  some, 
from  Tobago  cotton. 

Various  other  important  improvements  have 
from  time  to  time  been  introiluced  into  all  the 
departments  of  tliis  manufacture,  which  have 
increased  the  productive  power,  extended  the 
consumption,  and  tliniiuished  the  price  of  fab- 
rics to  an  inconceivable  extent. 

the  manufacture  of  muslins  began  in  Eng- 
land in  1785,  and  rapidly  extended.  Dimities 
were  produced  iu  the  nortli  of  England,  ging- 
liams  in  Lancashire,  cambrics  iu  the  samo 
place  and  in  Glasgow,  and  also,  in  the  last, 
the  bandana  handkerchiefs,  in  imitation  of 
those  of  the  East. 


MANUFACTURING    INDUSTRY. 


105 


About  1*?73,  cotton  calicoes  began  first  to 
be  fabricated  at  Blackburn,  ami  in  1805  the 

f)iuces  81)1(1  there  were  estimated  at  one  mil- 
ion,  but  the  process  of  hand-weaving  was  un- 
favorable to  tlieir  extension. 

It  was  in  1787  that  the  great  desideratum 
of  power-loom  weaving  was  supplied  by  the 
ingenuity  of  Mr.  Cartwright.  who  erected  a 
factmy  immediately  after.  In  this  he  was 
followed  by  others,  but  it  was  not,  perhaps, 
before  1SU5  that  the  power  looms  may  be 
said  to  have  gone  into  very  successful  opera- 
tion. The  struggle  with  the  hand  loom  weav- 
ers was  long  and  bitter. 

The  conversion  of  the  stocking  frame  into  a 
machine  for  weaving  point  lace  was  perfected 
in  1800,  and  the  manufacture  increa-^ed  with 
extraordinary  rapidity,  so  that  by  1823  the  pro- 
ductions of  France  and  the  Netherlands  were 
rivalled.  It  is  in  this  our  finest  Sea  Island 
cottons  are  used. 

The  cotton  manufiicture  was  introduced  into 
France  about  the  year  176.5,  and  the  yarns 
"were  at  first  brought  from  Turkey  in  a  dyed 
state.  The  progress  of  this  manufacture  and 
its  perfection,  though  considerable,  are  greatly 
behind  that  of  England,  except  in  the  articles 
of  dyed  goods  and  sewed  muslins.* 

S|)iniiiug  machmery  was  not  introduced 
into  Switzerland  until  1798.  Under  a  perfect 
system  of  free  trade  the  manufacture  of  cot 
ton  goods  has  progressed  steadily  and  exten- 
sively throughout  the  cantons,  which  exhibit 
the  utmost  industry  and  enterprise. 

Austria,  under  her  despotic  government,  has 
made  little  progress  in  manufactures.  Saxony 
has  a  population  favorable  for  their  successful 
prosecution. 

In  Prussia  the  industry  has  extended  very 
rapidly,  and  in  addition  to  the  large  quanti- 
ties of  cotton  wool  annually  spun,  immense 
amounts  of  yarn  are  received  from  England 
to  be  worked  up  into  cloths.  Some  of  these 
are,  it  is  said,  returned  to  England. 

Russia  is  also  a  vast  consumer  of  English 
yarns,  and  the  manufacture  has  been  advanc- 
ing in  that  country ;  the  same  may  be  re- 
marked of  the  Italian  states. 

We  have  already  furnished  a  sketch  of  the 
origin  and  early  progress  of  the  cotton  manu- 
facture in  the  United  States,  down  to  the  close 
of  the  last  war  with  Great  Britain.  We  re- 
sume from  that  period. 

The  national  debt  of  the  United  States  be- 
ing very  nearly  liquidated,  measures  began  to 
be  agitated  in  1831-2,  in  regard  to  the  reduc- 
tion of  the  then  existing  tariff.  The  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,  Hon.  Louis  McLane,  w-as  re 
quested  to  collect  the  statistics  of  the  manu- 
facturing .system  of  the  country,  and  report  to 
the  next  Congress.  From  the  haste  in  which 
thi<  duty  was  executed,  and  the  imperfect  re- 
turns, nothing  resulted  but  a  crude  mass  of 


minute  particulars,  embraced  in  two  volumes, 
which  no  one,  so  far  as  we  know,  has  ever  un- 
dertaken to  digest,  and  which  are  therefore  of 
no  practical  value. 

About  the  same  period  two  great  conven- 
tions were  heUl  in  tlie  United  States — the  one 
called  Tariff,  and  the  other  Anti-Tariff  Con- 
ventions. These  instructed  committees  to 
make  the  necessary  investigations,  in  order  to 
memorialize,  and  thus  influence  the  action  of 
Congress.  At  the  head  of  the  Free  Trade 
Committee  was  Albert  Gallatin. 

This  gentleman  proceeds  to  show  that,  in- 
dependently of  protection,  the  home  manufac- 
ture had  greatly  increased  in  the  proportion 
of  its  commodities  consumed  to  those  of  for- 
eign make.  He  remarks,  from  the  imperfect 
data  obtained  in  1810,  the  domestic  manufac- 
tures formed  from  two  thirds  to  three  quar- 
ters of  the  total  amount  of  manufactures  con- 
sumed. By  1823  the  domestic  had  increased 
between  121+  and  136  per  cent.,  and  the 
amount  of  foreign  manufactures  was  in  1824 
from  one  fifth  to  one  sixth,  whilst  in  1801  it 
was  one  third  to  one  quarter  of  the  whole 
amount  consumed.  This  showed  a  consider- 
able relative  increase  of  the  domestic. 

The  Tariff  Committee  confined  their  in- 
quiries to  the  states  of  Virginia,  Maryland, 
Maine,  Vermont,  New-Hampshire,  Massachu, 
setts,  Connecticut,  Khode  Island,  New-York 
New-Jeisey,  Pennsylvania,  and  Delaware. 

In  these  states  there  were  795  factories, 
with  a  capital  of  §4",000,000;  1,246,51)8  spin- 
dles, producing  10,642,001)  lbs.  yarn,  230.461,- 
900  yards  cloth,  and  consuming  77,657,316  lbs. 
cotton,  or  214,882  bales  cotton;  annual  value 
of  product,  §26,000,000.  A  further  capital  of 
§32,000,000  was  estimated  as  employed  in 
machine  shops,  bleacheries,  and  print  houses. 

In  the  southern  and  western  states  thirty 
establishments  were  returned  but  vaguely. 
Indeed,  it  was  said  the  manufacturers  every 
where  had  underrated  their  operations,  on  the 
fear  of  taxation,  etc. 

The  whole  annual  product  of  cotton  manu- 
factures in  1834,  Mr.  Pitkins  estimates  at  §40,- 
ooO.OOO,  including  tho?e  of  families,  not  era- 
braced  in  the  report  above,  and  correcting 
deficiencies;  and  in  1831  the  consumption  of 
the  raw  material  was  about  one  third  of  that 
of  Great  Britain,  equal  to  that  of  France,  and 
double  the  rest  of  Europe.*  • 

Previous  to  1825,  it  is  estimated  we  con- 
sumed often  two  millions  pounds  a  year  of 
raw  cotton  grown  abroad,  and  Mr  Woodbuiy, 
in  his  able  cotton  reptat  in  1836.  estimates 
the  whole  amount  of  raw  cotton  consumed  in 
the  United  States,  in  1835,  100,000,000  lbs.,  of 
the  value  in  goods,  varying  between  50  and  70 
millions  dollars,  45  to  50  midions  being  ia 
factories.  The  whole  import  of  foreign  cot- 
ton goods  at  the  same  tune  averaged  seveo 


*  This  in  1831.    Encyclop.  Brit. 


'Pitkius,46G, 


106 


MANUFACTURING    INDUSTRY. 


millions  a  year  above  the  exj^ort  of  the  same  I  ei-s  have  a  decided  advantage  over  the  Brit- 
kind  (if  floods.  ish  ;  the  experience  of  every  British  nianufac- 
In  1840,  the  census  returned  for  the  whole  turer  engaged  in  producing  this  description  of 
Union  gives  tlie  total  number  of  cotton  fac-  goods,  has  painfully  convinced  him  that  the 
tories,  1,24G ;  number  of  spindles,  2,284,631  ;   superior  quality  of  the  American  is  gradual- 


produi^t,  ^46,350,443;  capital  invested,  $51,- 
102,359;  one  third  of  this  amount  is  due  to 
Massachusetts,  one  sixth  to  Uhode  Island,  one 
ninth  to  Pennsylvania,  aud  one  twelfth  to 
KewHanipsliire.  Illinois,  Missouri.  Arkansas, 
Michigan,  Florida,  Wisconsin,  Iowa,  aud  Dis- 
trict of  Ciilumbia,  had  no  product. 

Since  that  period  the  consumption  of  cotton 
has  greatly  increased  in  all  the  northern  states, 
under  the  powerful  stimulus  of  the  tariff  of 
1842,  conti  lued  even  under  the  less  favor- 
able one  of  1846.  The  southern  states,  es- 
pecially North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and 
Georgia,  have  entered  much  more  largely  into 
manufactures.  Alabama  and  Florida  have 
followed,  the  same  of  Tenne.ssee.  The  increase 
of  cott'in  manufactures  in  the  valley  of  the 
Ohio  lias  been  extraordinary  within  the  past 
few  years. 

The  amazing  growth  of  Great  Britain  since 
the  beginning  of  the  century  has  been  the  re- 
sult of  her  manufacturing  system,  and  espe- 
cially of  cotton.  It  was  long  supposed  the 
Americans  could  not  compete  iu  this  latter 
manufacture,  from  the  high  price  of  labor 
•with  them,  and  Mr.  Hamilton  discusses  the 
question  as  early  as  1790.  We  have  seen 
that  the  manufacture  had  grown  up  in  1824, 
the  point  of  the  first  strictly  protective  tariff, 
to  a  considerable  stature  ;  the  low  value  of 
agricultural  products. and  cheapness  ol  raw 
material  counterbalancing,  no  doubt,  the  dif- 
ference iu  labor  and  interest.  Our  being  able 
to  sell  some  coarse  goods  in  England  evinces 
this.  Nor  is  it  to  be  suppo-sed,  that  in  the  ad- 
vance of  our  country  in  population,  the  pro- 
portion between  the  value  of  labor  in  the  two 
•wkll  be  so  far  removed.  It  is  but  natural  the 
United  States  should  become  a  great  manu- 
facturing country,  and  judging  from  the  past 
and  present  indications,  she  will  be  enabled 
to  supply,  with  her  manufactured  goods,  every 
nation  in  the  world. 

Mr.  Montgomery,  an  experienced  Engli.sh 
cotton  manutacturer,  having  visited  the  United 
States,  published,  in  1840,  an  able  work,  con- 
trasting our  factories  with  those  of  Great 
Britiir^,     He  says: 

"  The  amoimt  of  goods  produced  is  much 
greater  in  America  than  in  Gr^at  Britain,  hut 
the  hours  of  labor  are  somewhat  loMfi:er  in  the 
former  country.  The  cost  of  building.s,  ma- 
chinery, Ac,  is  a  great  deal  higher  in  America, 
as  well  as  the  general  rate  of  wages.  The 
Briti.sh  manufacturer,  upon  the  whole,  can 
produce  19  per  cent,  cheaper;  but' this  is 
more  than  neutralized  by  the  lower  price  of 
cotton.  In  every  description  of  goods  in 
which  the  cost  of  the  raw  material  exceeds 
that  of  production,  the  American  manufactur- 


ly  driving  him  from  every  foreign  market. 
Hitherto  the  British  have  enjoyed  a  monopoly 
of  fine  goods,  but  the  resources  of  the  Ameri- 
cans will  soon  enable  them  to  compete  suc- 
cessfully in  these.  They  will  adopt  a  more 
economical  method  of  getting  up  their  works, 
a  more  improved  system  of  management,  <tc, 
itc,  which  will  enable  them  to  compete  suc- 
cessfully with  the  British.  And,  indeed,  he 
says  the  manufacturers  here  can  afford  to  pay 
higher  wages  than  the  British,  because  they 
run  their  factories  longer  hours,  drive  their 
machinery  at  a  higher  speed,  from  which  they 
produce  a  much  greater  quantity  of  work,  at 
the  same  time  they  can  purchase  their  cotton 
at  least  one  penny  a  pound  cheaper,  and  their 
water  power  does  not  cost  above  one  fourth 
of  the  same  in  Great  Britain."* 

"  In  passing  through  the  streets  of  Constan- 
tinople," says  Mr.  Jas.  Lawrence  in  a  letter 
to  the  late  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  "  during 
a  stay  of  several  weeks  in  that  city,  in  the 
year  1848,  I  was  attracted  by  the  cry  of 
'  Americanas!'  '  Americanas!'  from  pedlars 
carrying  packs  of  cotton  goods  upon  their 
backs.  On  examining  the  goods  I  found  they 
were  of  British  manufacture,  which  led  me  to 
inquire  the  cause  of  their  being  hawked  about 
as  American  fiibrics.  My  informant  told  me 
that  a  few  years  before  some  American  cot- 
tons found  their  way  from  Smyrna  to  Con- 
stantinople, and  were  there  told.  Their  su- 
periority was  so  appreciated  by  the  consumers, 
that  since  then  the  pedlars,  in  order  to  obtain 
a  higher  price  for  inferior  fabrics,  whether  of 
British  or  foreign  manufacture,  are  obliged  to 
give  them  the  American  name."  The  same 
state  of  things,  Mr.  Lawrence  continues,  exists 
in  the  markets  of  Alexandria  and  Cairo.  In 
Asia  Minor  genuine  American  goods  are  sold. 
The  home  cons^umption  of  cotton  for  manu- 
factures has  increased  from  149.516  bales  in 
1826,  to  487,769  bales  in  1849-5t).  But 
these  are  not  favorable  years  for  comparison, 
as  the  following  figures  will  show,  though 
we  must  add  to  them  the  consumption  in  the 
southern  and  western  states  to  have  the  whole 
amount : 

COTTON    CONSUMED    BY    AND   IN    THE    HANDS   OF 
HOME    MANUFACTURERS. 


BALES. 

BALES- 

1849-50.. 

..487,769 

1837— R.. 

..246,063 

1848—9.. 

..518,039 

1836—7. . 

,  .222,540 

1847—8.  . 

..531,772 

1835—6.. 

..236,733 

1846—7.. 

.  .427,967 

1834—5.. 

,.216,H88 

1845—6.. 

.  .422,597 

1833—4.. 

..196,413 

>MoDtgomcry,  120, 138. 


MANUFACTURES    IN    THE    SOUTU    AND    WEST. 


107 


BALKS,  BAI,K9. 

1S44— 5 389,006       1832—3 194,412 

1843—4. . .  .346,744      1831—2 173,800 

1842—3 325,129       1830-31 182,143 

184.1—2 267,850       1829-30 126,512 

1840—4 297,288       1828—9 118,853 

1839-40 295,193       1827-8 120,593 

1838-9. . .  .276,018       1826— 7.  . .  .149,516 

In  the  soutJiern  and  western  states,  -where 
the  manufacture  has  only  lately  been  intro- 
duced, the  increase  has  been  from  75,000  bales 
in  1848  to  107,500  in  1850.  The  whole  num- 
ber of  mills  now  reported  in  these  states  is 
153,  working  242,830  spindles.  The  figures 
are  below  the  facts,  and  we  may  expect  iu  a 
few  years  to  see  this  profitable  branch  of  in- 
dustry monopolized  by  them. 

"  The  present  consumption  of  cotton  in  the 
United  States,"  said  Gen.  Talmadge,at  the  last 
fair  of  the  American  Institute  in  New- York, 
"is  estimated  at  500,000  bales  per  annum, 
■which  is  more  than  the  entire  crop  in  1824. 
This  does  not  include  a  vast  quantity  which 
goes  up  the  Mississippi,  Ohio,  and  also  out 
from  the  Tennessee  and  Cumberland  rivers, 
for  the  supply  of  the  mills  in  Indiana,  Ohio, 
Western  Virginia,  and  Pennsylvania.  There 
are  said  to  be  upwards  of  two  hundred  andffty 
COTTON  mills  south  of  Mason  tt  Dixon's  line : 
in  these  points  and  sources  of  consumption,  it 
is  believed  150,000  bales  are  used,  making  a 
total  not  less  than  650,000  bales  worked  up 
at  home.  The  quantity  of  cotton  goods  made 
in  the  United  States  is  estimated  at  720,000,- 
000  of  yards,  of  which  about  80,000,000  are 
exported,  leaving  640,000,000  for  home  con- 
sumption." 

We  conclude  with  a  few  remarks  from  the 
address  of  Dr.  Antisell,  at  the  same  fair,  re- 
gretting that  w*e  have  been  unable  to  examine 
the  other  manufactures  of  the  country  with 
the  same  mmuteness  as  cotton,  and  referring 
the  reader  to  our  published  volumes  for  a  vast 
variety  of  information  upon  the  subject  of 
cotton  and  its  manufacture  in  the  south,  the 
Union,  or  abroad  : 

Tlie  vastiiess  of  the  cotton  trade,  and  the 
suddenness  of  its  growth,  naturally  astonishes 
us.  It  is  the  agricultural  wealth  of  the  soutli- 
em  states.  It  would  be  well  to  recollect  that 
it  is  England's  manufacturing  wealth.  We 
export  nearly  five  sixths  of  all  we  grow  ;  in 
exact  numbers,  in  the  year  1848  : 

The  total  cotton  crop  was 2,726,596  bales. 

The exportofl849,as above.  .2,227,944      " 


which,  with  a  small  stock  on 

hand,  left  518,039  bales 

for  home  consumption. 

England  is  the  chief  buyer  of  the  raw  cotton, 
and  the  chief  manufacturer  of  cotton  prints,  and 
this  country  is  at  present  dependent  on  that 
island  for  the  chief  supply  of  cotton  piece 
goods.    The  British  export  of  cotton  goods  of 


all  kinds,  in  the  six  months  ending  June,  1849; 
was  596,37(1,322  yards,  of  which  the  greater 
quantity  came  to  this  country. 

There  is,  however,  some  comfort  exhibited 
by  the  returns  of  the  last  twenty  years :  from 
these  it  appears  that  the  imports  now  of  plain 
calicoes  are  one  half  what  they  were  in  18:J0, 
and  in  printed  calicoes  between  one  half  and 
one  third ;  so  that  our  cotton  manufactures 
are  gradually  increasing,  and  at  the  present 
time  represent  one  fifth  the  value  of  all  manu- 
factured goods. 

The  exports  of  cotton  manufacture  are  small, 
not  havmg  increased  of  late  years,  standing 
nearly  at  the  same  figure  as  in  1829  ;  so  that 
our  increased  supply  has  been  for  home  con- 
sumption, an  increasing  population  demand- 
ing it.     (See  Cotton  Manufactures.) 

MANUFACTURES — Inducements  for  m 
THE  South  and  West. — The  civil  arts  embrace 
the  three  great  pursuits  of  agriculture,  manu- 
factures, and  commerce  ;  and  these  are  so  inti- 
mately connected  and  interwoven,  that  in  wri- 
ting an  essay  upon  one,  we  must  necessarily 
have  frequent  reference  to  the  others.  They 
are  the  great  civilizers  of  the  nations  of  the 
earth,  and  where  they  flourish  most,  there  we 
may  expect  to  find  the  highest  state  of  moral 
improvement.  As  they  spread  and  extend 
from  country  to  country,  they  carry  with  them 
something  of  the  minds  of  those  who  conceived 
and  improved  them.  When  the  people  of  one 
nation  adopt  the  pursuits  of  anoth<rr,  they 
must  necessarily  adopt  the  ideas  and  reason- 
ing connected  with  those  pursuits ;  and  thus 
a  sympathy  is  established  between  nations 
who  were  before  strangers,  and  perhaps  ene- 
mies to  each  other.  By  the  intervention  of 
commerce  these  sympathies  are  cultivated, 
and  a  community  of  interest  is  established 
which  binds  together  the  whole  commercial 
world. 

Hence  it  will  be  perceived  that  any  impor- 
tant change  which  may  be  introduced  in  refer- 
ence to  either  of  these  three  great  pursuits 
must  be  felt  throughout  the  entire  commer- 
cial circle;  and  the  introduction  of  manufac- 
tures in  the  southwestern  states,  if  prosecuted 
upon  a  scale  commensurate  with  the  resources 
of  the  country,  will  constitute  a  new  era  in  the 
histoiy  of  the  civil  arts. 

In  considering  of  the  propriety  and  utility 
of  introducing  manufactiu'es  into  any  given  dis- 
trict, it  will  be  proper  to  take  into  view  every 
circumstance  that  can  in  any  wise  affect  the 
particular  pursuit  proposed  for  adoption.  The 
character  of  the  population,  the  climate,  the 
soil  and  its  products ;  the  particular  and  rela- 
tive location  of  the  country,  together  with  its 
mineral  and  other  natural  productions — .all 
these  and  many  other  subjects  will  naturally 
present  themselves  for  discussion  and  for  con- 
sideration. 

The  population  of  the  southwest,  governed 


108 


MANUFACTURES    IN    THE    SOUTH    AND    WEST. 


as  it  is  by  the  peculiar  institutions  of  the  states!  and  the  liberal  arts — the  refiners  of  man — 
in  this  re<^ion,  constitutes  the  most  prominent  would  abound  in  the  lanil. 
subject  of  considenitio  >,  and  claims  the  atten-  To  the  slaveholding  class  of  the  population 
tion  of  all  who  would  desire  to  form  a  just  of  the  southwest,  the  intro'uction  of  nianu- 
opinion  upon  the  subject  of  munufactures  in  j  factures  is  not  less  interesting  than  to  the  non- 
this  district.  The  free  population  of  the  south  i  slavehoMing  class.  The  former  possess  al- 
may  be  divided  into  two  classes,  the  slave-  most  all  the  wealth  of  the  country.  Tiie  pre- 
holder  ami  tiie  nnn  slaveholder.  I  am  not  servatiiai  of  this  wealth  is  a  subject  of  the 
aware  that  the  relative  numbers  of  these  two  highest  consideration  to  those  who  possess  it. 
classes  have  ever  been  ascertained  in  any  of  Wealth  may  be  divided  into  two  classes,  »(a/t{- 
the  states,  but  I  am  satisfied  that  the  non-    ml  and  artificial.     The  natural  wealth  of  a 


slaveholders  far  outnumber  the  slavehold 
ers ;  perhaps  by  three  to  one.  In  the  more 
southern  portion  of  this  region,  the  non-slave- 
holders possess,  generally,  but  very  small 
means,  and  the  land  which  they  possess  is  al- 
most universally  poor,  and  so  sterile  that  a 
scanty  subsistence  is  all  that  can  be  derived 
from  its  cultivation ;  and  the  more  fertile  soil, 
being  in  the  possession  of  the  slaveholder, 
must  ever  remain  out  of  the  power  of  those 
who  have  none. 

This  state  of  things  is  a  great  drawback, 
and  bears  heavily  upon  and  depresses  the 
moral  energies  of  the  poorer  classes.  Man 
requires  encouragement ;  the  desired  end 
must  appear  attainable,  or  he  will  in  time 
cease  to  strive  for  it.  80  it  is  with  these  peo- 
ple ;  the  acquisition  of  a  respectable  position 
m  the  scale  of  wealth  appears  so  difficult  that 
they  decline  the  hopeless  pursuit,  and  manv  of 
them  settle  down  into  habits  of  idleness,  and  be- 
come the  almost  passive  subjects  of  all  its  con- 


country  consists  of  the  soil,  forests,  minerals, 
streams,  etc.  Artificial  wealth  is  that  perma- 
nent accumulation  of  the  products  of  human 
labor  and  ftkill  which  retnains  after  the  hnme- 
diate  and  daily  wants  of  the  producer  are  sup- 
plied;  and  whatever  may  be  the  skill  and  ca- 
pacity of  a  community  to  produce  the  means 
of  human  comfort,  this  residuum  must  be  re- 
garded as  the  only  true  test  of  its  prosperity. 
Labor,  skill,  and  capacity  for  producing  do  not 
constitute  wealth  in  this  sense  of  the  term ; 
they  are  merely  the  means  of  its  acquisition. 
The  capacity  of  producing  may  be  very  great, 
and  much  labor  may  be  performed,  and  still 
an  individual  or  a  state  m.ay  not  increase  in 
wealth.  Nay,  so  far  from  it,  examples  may 
be  found  in  our  own  country  of  states  having 
become  poorer  by  a  steady  perseverance  in  an 
unwise  application  of  their  labor.  Such  is  the 
case  in  the  Athmtic  states  south  f)f  the  Poto- 
mac, as  I  think  will  be  granted  b}-  every  intel- 
ligent and  candid  individual  who  is  acquainted 


sequences.  And  I  lament  to  say  that  I  have  with  the  country,  and  I  think  it  will  be  ad- 
observed  of  late  j'ears  that  an  evident  date- 1  mitted  that  these  states  are  poorer  than  they 
rioration  is  taking  i^lace  in  this  part  of  the '  were  twenty  years  ago.     Tliere  is  a  small 


population,  the  younger  portion  of  it  being  less 
educated,  less  industrious,  and  in  every  point 
of  view  less  respectable  than  their  ancestors. 
Such  a  state  of  things  should  not  exist  in  the 
present  age,  in  such  a  country  as  ours.  It 
should  be  sufficient  to  challenge  the  attention 


increase  in  the  number  of  laborers,  and  there 
may  have  been  something  gained  iu  skill ;  but 
the  great  source  of  all  Avealth  in  an  agricultural 
country — the  soil — has  been  greatly  deteriora- 
ted and  dimiiished,and  it  may  be  affirmed  with- 
out the  fear  of  successful  contradiction,  that  no 


and  arouse  the  energies  of  the  philantiiropist '  country,  and  more  especially  an  agricultural 
and  the  patriot.  It  is,  in  an  eminent  degree,  1  one, can  increase  iu  wealth  while  the  soil  is  be! 
the  interest  of  the  slaveholder  that  a  way  to  coming  more  and  more  exhausted  every  year , 


wealth  and  respectability  should  be  opened 
to  this  part  of  the  population,  and  that  encou- 
ragement should  be  given  to  industry  and  en- 
terprise; and  what  would  be  more  likely  to 
afford  this  encouragement  than  the  introduc- 
tion of  manufactures?  Diversify  the  labor 
and  pursuits  of  the  country,  and  while  many 
■will  be  induced  to  enter  upon  these  new  pur- 
suits, and  become  industrious,  enterprising,  and 
useful  citizens,  a  market  will  be  opened  for 
the  produce  of  the  small  agriculturist,  who 
•will  also  be  stimulated  to  better  his  condition  ; 
and  not  many  generations  will  pass  away 
before  this  portion  of  the  southern  po])ulation 
will  rival  their  eastern  neighbors  in  enterprise 
and  industry. 


for  it  is  most  clear  that  sooner  or  later  an  ab- 
solute state  of  exhaustion  must  be  the  result, 
and  no  wealth  that  could  be  acquired  by  the 
sale  of  those  products,  the  growth  of  which 
had  caused  this  state  of  things,  could  compen- 
sate for  the  loss  of  the  soil. 

Why  are  not  the  sandy  pine  barrens  of  these 
states  settled  and  cultivated  by  a  prosperous 
and  intelligent  population  ?  It  is  certainly 
because  the  toil  will  not  rejiay  the  laborer 
with  bread.  Antl  when  the  once  fertile  hills  and 
valleys  of  this  region  shall  have  been  exhausted 
by  an  unwise  and  improvident  system  to  the 
same  state  of  sterility  as  the  pine  barrens,  they 
likewise  will  fail  to  reward  the  laborer  with 
the  means  of  subsistence,  and  must  be  deserted 


By  such  a  change,  the  wealth  and  moral  I  and  return  to  the  same  state  of  desolation  ;  a 
power  of  the  southwest  would  be  increased  state  of  desolation  the  more  fearful  because  it 
to  an  almost  indefinite  extent,  the  sources  of  speaks  of  better  days,  and  forces  upon  the 
human  comfort  would  be  gi'eatly  enlaiged,  1  mind  a  mournful  comparison  between  the 


MANUFACTURES    IN    THE    SOUTH    AND    "WEST. 


^ 


109 


present  and  the  past,  and  upon  the  passer-by, 
■with  all  then-  force,  the  lines  of  liyron  : 

"  Such  is  tlie  a-pect  of  this  shore ; 
'Tis  Greece,  but  living  Greece  no  more." 

Although  I  do  not  entertain  the  slightest 
apprehension  that  this,  the  fairest  ami  most 
delightful  region  of  our  continent,  will  ever 
be  reduced  to  such  a  state  of  desolation,  yet 
it  may  be  safely  affirmed  that  a  continu- 
ance in  the  unwise  and  improvident  system 
hitherto  pursued,  must  in  time  produce  the 
Btate  of  tilings  alluded  to. 

It  is  said  that  evils  sometimes  cure  them- 
eelves,  and  when  man  pursues  a  course  of 
folly  to  the  brink  of  ruin,  necessity,  sometimes 
performing  the  office  of  reason,  warns  him  of 
the  danger,  and  compels  him  to  change  his 
Course.  And  if  the  people  of  the  southwest 
do  not  voluntarily  abandon  their  present  sys- 
tem of  applying  all  their  labor  to  the  produc- 
tion of  a  few  agricultural  staples,  necessity 
■will  in  time  compel  them  to  do  that  which 
the  dictates  of  reason  and  common  sense 
fihould  long  since  have  taught  This  necessi- 
ty has  been  operating  for  many  years,  but 
still  the  people  seem  resolved  to  disobey  its 
mandates;  for  rather  than  submit  to  a  change, 
they  prefer  to  abandon  the  country  of  their 
fathers  and  of  their  own  birth,  and  seek  homes 
in  other  lands.  This  is  abundantly  proven 
by  the  census  of  the  year  1840,  whereby  it  is 
shown  that  the  increase  of  the  population  of 
the  whole  United  States  in  the  ten  preceding 
years  was  about  thirty-three  per  cent. ;  yet 
the  increase  in  Virginia  was  but  2.19  per 
cent.;  the  increase  of  North  Carolina  2.15  per 
cent.;  and  of  South  Carolina  2.21  per  cent. 
The  ratio  of  Georgia  was  sustained,  but  for 
the  reason  that  within  that  time  a  large  area 
of  new  territory  within  her  limits  was  being 
opened  for  settlement.  That  necessity  must 
be  strong  and  urgent  which  induces  thirty  one 
per  cent,  of  the  population  of  a  .state,  in  the 
short  space  of  ten  yeans,  to  break  all  the  so- 
cial anil  individual  ties  that  bind  man  to  the 
place  of  his  birth,  and  seek  his  fortunes  in  other 
lands.  It  may  be  questionerl  if  such  an  in- 
stance of  so  large  a  portion  of  the  population 
of  any  civilized  community  has  ever  been 
known  to  emigrate  in  so  short  a  period.  I  am 
aware  that  the  great  quantity  of  new  lands 
which  were  brought  into  market  in  the  south- 
west, operated  as  a  great  inducement  to  emi- 
gration, and  under  the  circumstances  of  the 
case,  constituted  the  principal  inducement. 
But  if  the  soil  in  the  old  states  had  been  prop- 
erly husbanded,  and  kept  up  to  its  primitive 
stivte  of  productiveness,  instead  of  being  re- 
duced to  a  state  of  sterility;  had  manufac- 
tures been  introduced  and  established,  so  as 
to  give  employment  to  the  surplus  labor  that 
was  not  requued  in  agriculture,  this  large 


drain  could  not  have  taken  place.  The  capi- 
tal invested  in  manufactures  cannot  be  readily 
transferred  from  one  country  to  iinother.  In 
most  of  the  leading  branches  the  fixtures  con- 
stitute a  larg(?pftrt  of  the  outlay,  and  cannot 
be  removed  without  great  loss ;  hence  when 
capital  is  once  invested  in  manufacturing,  it 
becomes  permanently  located,  and  gives  per- 
manency to  the  population.  This  view  of  the 
subject  is  sustained  by  reference  to  the  state 
of  Massachusetts.  With  a  population  pro- 
verbially enterprising,  and  much  more  crowd- 
ed thau  that  of  the  southern  states  ;  with  a 
soil  originally  greatly  inferior,  and  a  climate 
decidedly  unfriendly  to  agricultural  pursuits, 
she  still  shows  an  increase  of  twenty -one  per 
cent,  in  her  population,  while  in  the  same  time 
Virginia,  North  Carolina,  and  South  Carolina, 
only  show  an  increase  of  about  two  per  cent. 
And  it  must  also  be  remembered  that  within 
this  same  space  of  ten  years,  a  very  large 
quantit}^  of  the  finest  lands  in  the  northwest 
were  brought  into  market ;  lands  consisting  of 
plains  ready  for  the  plough,  located  near  the 
great  thoroughfares  of  navigation,  and  a  cli- 
mate suitable  to  the  agricultural  habits  of  the 
New-Englander.  With  such  temptations  and 
inducements  to  emigrate,  it  cannot  be  doubted 
but  that  as  large  a  proportion  of  the  popula- 
tion of  Massachusetts  would  have  changed 
their  homes  had  it  not  been  for  the  establish- 
ment of  manufactures  in  that  state.  Owing 
to  the  establishment  and  encouragement  of 
manufactures,  Massachusetts  has  retained  not 
only  the  wealth  which  has  been  produced  by 
the  labor  and  skill  of  her  population,  but  she 
has  kept  her  population  at  home,  contented 
and  prosperous,  while  Virginia  and  the  Caro- 
linas  have  been  great  losers  in  both.  For 
when  the  agriculturist  removes,  he  carries 
with  him  almost  every  thing  which  he  pos- 
sesses in  the  form  of  property,  except  his  land, 
and  that  is  usually  so  exhausted  that  it  vsould 
not  be  worth  transportation,  even  if  it  were  as 
portable  as  bank  notes. 

The  loss  of  wealth  and  population  is  not  the 
only  evil  attending  this  propeni^ity  to  emi- 
grate,— the  moral  and  social  condition  of  those 
who  remain,  as  well  as  tt  ose  who  remove, 
must  ever  be  disturbed,  and  more  or  less  re- 
tarded in  their  advancement  This  unsettled 
state  of  society  prevents  the  establishment  and 
encouragement  of  any  permanent  and  efficient 
system  of  common  schools.  And  here  again, 
by  reference  to  the  census  of  1810,  will  be 
seen  how  disadvantageously  these  southern 
states  compare  with  Massachusetts  and  other 
eastern  states  upon  this  vital  polic}'.  In  Mas- 
sachusetts nearly  ninety-nine  out  of  every  hun- 
dred persons  over  twenty  years  of  age  can 
read  and  write  ;  in  Virginia  but  about  eighty- 
two  out  of  every  hundred ;  in  North  Carolina 
but  about  seventy-three  out  of  every  hundred ; 
and  in  South  Caiolina  but  about  eighty-two 


110 


MANUFACTORES    IN    THE    SOUTH    AND    WEST. 


in  every  liundred  adults  can  read  and  write  * 
Such  facts  iv5  these,  one  would  suppose,  were 
sufficient  to  arouse  the  attention  of  the  citi- 
zens of  the  southern  states  to  an  inquiry  into 
the  cause  of  their  being  so  far  behind  the 
eastern  states  in  regard  to  education,  and  the 
general  diffusion  of  useful  knowledge  among 
the  ])oorer  classes. 

When  a  spirit  of  emigration  prevails  in  a 
country,  those  who  are  under  its  influence 
cease  to  feel  themselves  as  individuals  identi- 
fied with  the  community  in  which  they  live ; 
they  husband  all' their  resources  for  the  pur- 
pose of  enabling  them  to  remove  and  establish 
new  homes ;  and  they  will  not  enter  into  any 
schemes  for  the  improvement  of  either  the 
moral  or  physical  condition  of  the  country 
which  they  have  resolved  to  abandon.  This 
influence  extends  far  beyond  the  number  who 
actually  remove,  for  very  many  continue  to 
consider  their  removal  as  probable,  for  many 
years  together,  who  do  not  eventually  emi- 
grate ;  and  thus  their  moral  energies  are  para- 
lyzed, and  the  country  is  deprived  of  their 
usefulness.  Any  change  in  the  pursuits  of  the 
country  that  would  allay  this  spirit  of  emigra- 
tion, would  constitute  the  beginning  of  a  new 
and  better  state  of  things. 

If  manufactures  were  introduced  and  en- 
couraged, and  the  labor  of  the  country  sufli 
ciently  diversified,  so  as  to  give  employment 
to  every  variety  of  labor  and  skill,  the  popu- 
lation would  cease  to  look  for  new  countries. 
They  would  then  go  to  work  in  earnest  to  im- 
prove both  the  physical  and  moral  condition 
of  their  own  The  soil  would  be  improved  ; 
more  permanent  and  comfortable  habitations 
would  be  erected  ;  orchards  and  gardens  would 
be  planted  and  cultivated;  and  the  country 
would  be  redeemed  from  its  present  wasted 
and  barren  condition.  The  desire,  as  well  as 
the  means  of  education  would  be  increased, 
until  there  would  be  no  adult  freeman  found 
in  the  laud  who  could  not  read  the  constitu- 
tion of  his  country.  It  is  a  principle  in  man's 
nature  to  regard  with  partial  consideration 
the  things  of  iiis  own  production.  He  who 
improves  a  barren  soil  to  a  high  state  of  fer- 
tility, feels  an  interest  in  it  that  he  could  not 
enjoy  V>y  the  possession  of  a  soil  naturally  rich ; 
and  he  who  improves  and  embellishes  his  do- 
main by  the  cultivation  of  oicliards,  gardens, 
and  other  objects  of  taste  and  ornament,  derives 
a  ])leasure  from  their  use  and  observation  which 
is  unknown  to  the  stranger;  these  things  have 
been  assot^iated  with  the  most  rherisjied  ob 
jects  of  his  afTcctions,  until  they  have  become 
inseparable;  and  hence  the  love  of  home  and 
of  country  becomes  a  sacred  principle  in  the 
human  heart. 


and  (It 


*  I  have  ciilculated  these  estimales  from  tho  lublos 

in  the  Aiiiericun  Almanac  for  184.2.    I  cannot  an>wcr    ,•  *      i  "        n 

for  their  accuracy,  as  bullittle  reliance  can  be  phict-a  I  """  """>   seems  to  lose  all  self- respect,  and 
on  the  ceusuB  of  1840.                                                  i    .            .i       i  i     . 


Connected  with  this  subject  there  is  an- 
other class  of  the  population  of  the  southwest 
which  claims  much  consideration.  And  here 
I  may  be  permitted  to  remak,  that  in  my 
humble  opinion  the  institution  of  slavery  in 
the  United  States  is  destined  to  produce  more- 
extensive  results  in  the  improvement  and 
amelioration  of  the  condition  of  the  human 
family  than  perhaps  any  other  event  that  has 
happened  since  the  Christian  era.  Africa, 
sunk  into  a  state  of  barbarism  by  reason  of 
the  unfriendliness  of  her  climate,  could  never 
have  been  redeemed  from  her  degraded  con- 
dition in  any  other  way  than  by  transporting 
her  children  to  some  country  where  they 
could  be  brought  in  contact  with  civilization, 
and  be  made  to  learn  its  arts.  This  may  ap- 
pear to  be  a  harsh  mode  of  redemption,  but 
who  that  is  acquainted  with  the  present 
tnoral  condition  of  these  people  can  doubt  but 
the  race  has  been  greatly  improved  by  its 
transportation  hither  ?  And  though  not  edu- 
cated in  the  schools  of  literature,  they  are 
instructed  in  most  of  the  substantial  arts  of 
civilization ;  and  sufficiently  enlightened  to 
understand  and  appreciate  the  principles  of 
the  Christian  religion.  There  is  perhaps  no 
instance  of  a  people  in  an  absolute  state  of 
barbarism  who  have  made  greater  advances 
towards  a  state  of  civilization  in  the  same 
length  of  time  than  have  the  African  race  of 
this  country.  "^ 

Without  the  agency  of  slave  labor,  cotton  for 
exportation  would  never  have  been  grown  to 
any  considerable  extent  in  the  United  States. 
It  may  be  even  doubted  whether  it  would 
ever  have  been  of  sufficient  importance  to 
stimulate  the  inventive  genius  of  Whitney  to 
the  construction  of  the  cotton  gin ;  and  the 
primitive  mode  of  extracting  the  seed  by  the 
Angers  might  have  been  handed  down  to  the 
present  generation  to  enliven  the  fireside  of 
a  winter's  evening  with  a  cotton  picking 
frolic. 

But  with  the  aid  of  slave  labor,  the  price 
of  tlie  raw  material   has   been   reduced   to 
about  one  tenth  of  its  former  value  in  the 
space  of  half  a  century ;  which,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  the  improvement  of  machinery,  hjis 
also  reduced  the  price  of  cotton  cloth  in  an 
equal  ratio;  thus  putting  it  in  the  power  of 
the  poor  of  every  country  to  procure  clothing 
for   at  least   one    tenth   part    of  the    former  i 
prices.     If    effects  could   be   traced    to   their  I 
true  causes,  I  doubt  not  but  that  it  would  be  j 
discovered  that  the  improved  condition  of  the  \ 
poorer  classes  in  every  civilized  country  was 
as  much  indebted  to  the  reduced  rates  in  the 
price  of  clothing  as  to  any  other  one  cause 
whatever.     No  physical  want  is  so  degrading 
to  the  human  family  as  the  want  of  clothing; 
nakedness  and  rags  are  the  badges  of  poverty 
'    '    -radation  evi-ry  whore ;  in  this  condi- 


1  becomes  the  dependent  and  passive  instru  ■ 


MANUFAOTORES   IK   THE   SOUTH   AND   'WEST. 


Ill 


ment  of  liira  wbo  has  courage  to  use  bim. 
But  clothe  him  iu  comfortable  and  tasteful 
raiment,  and  you  impart  to  him  a  new  spirit; 
he  holds  up  his  head,  looks  his  oppressor  iu 
the  face,  and  boldly  demands  his  rights. 

It  is  by  the  agency  of  slave  labor,  also,  that 
the  United  States  have  become  the  second 
j  commercial  nation  of  the  earth,  and  by  the 
same  agency  they  are  destined  ere  long  to 
become  the  first.  But  before  this  preeminent 
I  position  can  be  attained,  a  division  of  this 
labor  must  take  place,  and  a  portion  of  it 
must  be  directed  to  manufacturing  purposes. 
The  southwest  will  then  as  far  outstrip  every 
other  country  in  the  manufacture  of  cotton, 
as  she  has  hitherto  done  iu  the  growth  of  the 
raw  material.  This  is  a  proposition  that  does 
not  appear  as  yet  to  have  been  considered 
by  the  people  of  the  southwest;  but  has  evi- 
dently not  escaped  the  con-sideration  of  the 
people  of  Great  Britain.  They  foresee  that 
if  slave  labor  should  be  directed  to  manufac- 
turing, that  our  cotton  crop  would  no  longer 
be  sent  to  their  mills ;  and  if  they  should 
still  continue  to  control  the  crops  of  other 
countries,  they  could  not  compete  with  the 
slave  labor  of  the  southwest;  for  we  could 
undersell  thera  in  every  market  in  the  world, 
not  excepting  their  own  home  market.  Hence 
the  interest  which  Great  Britain  and  France 
evinced  in  relation  to  the  annexation  of  Texas. 
It  was  their  policy,  and  a  wise  policy  on 
their  part,  to  prevent  the  people  of  the  United 
States  from  extending  their  territory  over  the 
fine  cotton  region  of  Texas,  and  thereby  mo- 
nopolizing much  the  greater  portion  of  the  pro- 
fitable cotton-growing  district  of  the  conti- 
nent. Hence  likewise  the  pt)licy  of  England 
in  becoming  the  champion  of  liberty  in  every 
part  of  the  world;  and  though  covered  with 
the  mantle  of  philanthropy,  the  disguise  is 
too  thin  to  conceal  the  true  objects  of  her 
designs. 

Cotton  being  the  great  and  leading  staple 
of  the  southwest,  the  manufacture  of  the  raw 
material  by  the  lalxjr  of  this  district  becomes 
a  subject  of  the  first  importance.  And  the 
first  question  is,  whether  the  labor  and  re- 
sources of  this  region  are  reasonably  adequate 
to  the  end  proposed.  By  reference  to  the 
census  of  1840,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  num- 
ber of  slaves  then  in  the  United  States  was 
about  two  million  five  hundred  thousand. 
This  population  doubles  in  about  twenty- 
five  years;  thus  in  the  year  1805  the  slave 
population  will  be  five  millions,  and  in  the 
year  1890  it  will  reach  ten  millions.  This 
population  cannot  emigrate,  but  must  remain 
within  its  pre-^ent  limits.  Anyone  acquainted 
with  the  country  must  be  satisfieil  that  so 
great  a  number  of  laborers  cannot  be  profit- 
ably employed  in  agriculture,  and  long  be- 
fore the  number  reaches  ten  millions  the 
country  will  become  so  exhausted  and  occu- 
pied, that  property  in  slaves  must  become  of 


little   or  no  value,  unless  some  othf-r  than 
agricultural  employment  is  found  f(tr  them. 

To  one  who  is  acquainted  with  the  (=outh-  / 
western  states,  it  is  known  that  except  in  the  ' 
state  of  Texas,  nearly  all  the  good  and  fer- 
tile uplands  in  the  cotton  region  have  been 
reduced  to  cultivation;  and  although  there 
is  a  large  quantity  of  the  poorer  uplands, 
and  a  considerable  quantity  of  bottf>m  land 
that  may  yet  be  brought  into  cultivation,  yet 
from  the  rapid  deterioration  of  the  lands  now 
under  cultivation,  and  the  necessity  of  in- 
creasing the  quantity  cultivated  in  grain  to 
supply  the  increasing  population,  it  is  fair  to 
conclude  that  the  cotton  crop  east  of  Texas 
has  nearly  reached  its  maximum  ;  and  that 
three  millions  of  bales  might  be  assigned  as 
the  limit.  And  allowing  one  and  a  half  mil- 
lion of  bales  (which  is  probably  too  much) 
for  Texas,  we  shall  limit  tlic  cotton  crop  of 
the  United  States  to  four  and  a  half  million 
of  bales.  Now,  according  to  the  most  reliable 
data  that  I  have  been  able  to  procure,  it 
would  require  not  exceeding  seven  hundred 
thousand  laborers  to  spin  and  weave  four 
million  five  hundred  thousand  bales  cotton 
into  plain  cloth.  The  number  thus  taken 
from  agricultural  labor,  compared  to  the  num- 
ber of  slaves  estimated  for  the  year  1890, 
bears  so  small  a  proportion  to  the  ten  mil- 
lions that  it  would  scarcely  be  missed  out  of 
the  field.  The  white  population  would  afford 
abundant  material  for  the  supply  of  those 
branches  of  the  manufactures  that  require 
education  and  skill.  Thus  it  will  be  .-^een 
that  in  the  article  of  labor  the  country  will 
afford  it  in  the  greatest  abundance  without 
at  all  interfering  with  other  branches  of  in- 
dustry ;  nay,  so  far  from  it,  by  thus  drawing 
oft"  a  portion  of  the  labor,  the  price  of  slaves 
will  be  sustained,  and  other  industrial  pursuits 
will  be  benefited  by  sustaining  the  prices  of 
their  products. 

Thu*,  I  think  it  must  be  admitted  on  all 
hands,  that  the  article  of  labor  is  now  abun- 
dant in  the  southwest ;  and  for  the  reasons 
before  stated,  this  abundance  must  increase 
more  rapidly  here  than  in  any  other  country. 
And  a  further  reason  in  favor  of  this  proposi- 
tion is  found  in  the  fact  that  in  every  other 
country  a  portion  of  the  more  prosperous 
laborers  escape  from  the  necessity  of  labor- 
ir)<;,  and  thus  keep  down  the  increase ;  but 
every  slave  is  a  laborer,  and  ruust  ever  re- 
main so,  and  so  long  as  this  population  con- 
tinues to  increase,  so  long  must  the  number 
of  laborers  increase. 

Another  important  consideration  connected 
with  this  subject  is  the  price  of  labor  in  the 
southwest.  1  have  frequently  heard  it  said 
that  manufactures  couKl  not  succeed  in  this 
country,  owing  to  the  high  price  of  h\hui:  A 
female  operative  in  the  New-England  cotton 
factories  receives  from  ten  to  twelve  dollars 
per  mouth ;  this  Ls  more  than  a  female  slave 


112 


MANUFACTURES    IN   THE    SOUTH    AND   TVEST. 


generally  hires  for  in  the  soutliwest.  But 
■without  entering  into  a  comparison  of  the 
present  nominal  price  of  labor  in  this  and 
other  countries,  it  is  sufticient  to  say  that 
■whatever  the  price  may  be,  none  can  produce 
any  given  article  as  cheap  with  hired  labor 
as  he  who  owns  it  himself.  In  the  latter 
case  the.labor  is  so  much  capital  in  hand,  and 
it  is  not  80  much  a  question  with  the  owner 
■whether  he  can  produce  a  yard  of  cloth,  or 
any  other  given  article,  as  low  as  it  can  be 
produced  in  England  or  in  Massachusetts,  but 
■whether  by  applying  his  labor  to  the  produc- 
tion of  the  cloth,  or  other  article,  he  can  make 
it  more  profitable  than  be  can  by  using  it  in 
agriculture.  It  matters  nothing  to  him  bow 
low  others  can  produce  the  article,  he  can 
produce  it  lower  still,  so  long  as  it  is  the  best 
use  that  he  can  make  of  his  labor,  and  so 
long  as  his  labor  is  worth  keeping.  It  is 
upon  this  principle  that  the  southwest  is  des- 
tined to  monopolize  the  manufacture  of  the 
whole  cotton  crop  of  the  United  States.  But 
I  have  heard  it  frequently  asserted  that  the 
slaves  were  not  sufficiently  intelligent  to 
make  useful  and  profitable  operatives  in  cot- 
ton mills  ;  this  is  an  assumption,  as  I  believe, 
made  by  those  who  possess  but  little  know- 
ledge of  the  negro  character.  It  is  a  fact 
•well  established  that  negroes  learn  black- 
smithmg,  carpentering,  boot  and  shoe-making, 
and  in  short  all  the  handicraft  trades,  with 
as  much  facility  as  white  men ;  and  Mr.  Deer- 
ing,  of  Georgia,  has  employed  slaves  in  his 
cotton  factory  for  many  years  with  decided 
success. 

It  would  no  doubt  be  true  that  grown  ne- 
groes taken  from  the  field  would  be  found 
awkward  and  clumsy  in  the  labor  of  the 
cotti)n  mill;  but  slaves  put  into  the  factories 
when  young,  and  raised  up  to  that  employ- 
ment, would  make  the  mo?t  efficient  and  re- 
liable operatives  that  could  b<!  fuund  in  any 
country.  They  would  be  efficient,  because, 
raised  and  retained  at  the  same  business 
throughout  their  lives,  they  would  become 
most  thoroughly  capable :  they  would  be  more 
reliable,  because  they  would  have  no  right  to 
prescribe  the  hours  for  working;  there  would 
be  no  striking  for  higher  wages ;  and  they 
would  have  no  right  to  leave  the  employment 
at  pleasure,  as  is  the  case  with  free  laborers. 
These  would  be  eminent  advantages  in  favor 
of  those  who  employ  this  species  of  labor. 

Another  great  advantage  which  this  coun- 
try possesses  over  all  others  in  reference  to 
the  manufacture  of  cotton,  is  found  in  the  fact 
that  it  possesses  the  raw  material  at  prime 
cost :  in  most  cases  it  would,  no  doubt,  be  de- 
livered to  the  manufacturer  at  less  cost  than 
is  now  incurred  in  transporting  it  to  the  point 
of  exportation.  Thus  the  cotton  would  be  de- 
livered to  the  mills  in  this  country  for  about 
an  average  of  ten  per  cent,  less  than  it  could 
be   delivered   at  Lowell,  in  Massachusetts. 


All  other  things  being  e(]ual,  this  of  itself 
would  be  an  advantage  that  no  country  could 
work  against  for  a  continued  series  of  years. 
The  southwest  would  possess  also  an  ad- 
vantage in  the  prices  of  provisions;  this  would 
be  especially  the  case  in  the  valley  of  the 
Mississippi.  It  is  not  at  all  improbable  that 
the  building  of  cotton  mills  in  various  parts  of 
the  country  would  stimulate  the  smaller  fai'm- 
ers  to  grow  provisions  sufficient  to  feed  the 
operatives,  thus  affording  provisions  as  well  as 
cotton  at  prime  cost.  But  if  this  source  should 
fail,  the  great  bread  and  provision  growing 
region,  watered  by  the  Mississippi  and  its 
tributaries,  could  furnish  the  operatives  of  the 
southwest  with  bread  and  other  provisions  at 
a  much  less  cost  than  can  ever  be  furnished 
to  the  operatives  of  New-  England. 

Supposing  fuel,  water  power,  and  other  ap- 
pliances necessary  for  carrying  on  the  work, 
to  be  equal  to  other  countries,  it  cannot  be 
doubted  by  any  that  the  southwest  can,  if  she 
will,  monopolize  the  manufacture  of  all  the 
cotton  which  she  will  or  can  produce. 

But  the  people  of  the  southwest  should 
not,  nor  will  they  be  satisfied  with  a  mono- 
poly of  the  article  of  cotton.  This  region  of- 
fers immense  facilities  for  the  rearing  of  sheep; 
there  are  large  districts  of  country  in  the  south 
that  have  hitherto  been  considered  as  useless, 
by  reason  of  their  sterility — these  are  admi- 
rably adapted  to  sheep  husbandry.  They  are 
generally  the  most  healthy  parts  of  the  country, 
and  if  encouragement  were  given  to  wool  grow- 
ing, the  nonslaveholding  part  of  the  population 
would  be  furnished  with  a  most  pleasant  and 
profitable  pursuit.  The  lands  would  cost  lit- 
tle or  nothing,  and  with  almost  no  means  at 
all,  any  individual  could  in  a  few  years  get 
up  a  respectable  flock.  This  would  enlarge 
the  capacity  of  the  country  to  sustain  its  in- 
creasing population,  and  keep  within  its  lim- 
its a  physical  and  moral  power  necessary  for 
the  preservation  of  the  peculiar  institutions  of 
the  south — a  policy  that  should  never  be  lost 
sight  of  by  the  slaveholder.  But  an  induce- 
ment must  be  afforded  before  these  non- 
slaveholders  can  be  persuaded  to  embark  in 
this — to  them — new  pursuit.  They  are  a 
class  of  men  who  possess  but  little  enterprise 
or  foresight ;  they  are  not  over-fond  of  labor, 
and  must  be  well  convinced  that  they  will  be 
rewarded  before  they  will  agree  to  work. 

The  subject  is  one  of  sufficient  importance 
to  engage  the  attention  of  the  Legislatures  of 
the  states,  and  if  no  better  mode  could  be  sug- 
gested, we  would  submit  the  proposition  of 
giving  a  bounty  upon  wool  sufficient  to  stimu- 
late its  production.  This,  aided  by  a  demand 
that  would  be  created  by  the  establishment  of 
manufactures  in  the  interior  of  the  country, 
would  give  an  impulse  to  this  great  branch  of 
industry ;  one,  in  whatever  light  it  may  be 
considered,  of  the  utmost  importance  to  the 
country.    This  is  a  business  that  must  neces- 


MANUFACTURES   IN   THB  SOUTH   AND   WEST. 


113 


sarily  have  a  small  beginning,  but  sheep  are 
of  rapid  growth  and  increase,  and  with  pro- 
per eucourageiUL'iit,  the  growth  and  manufac- 
ture of  wool  wouKl  constitute  a  large  item  in 
the  wealth  and  commerce  of  the  country.  It 
would  very  soon  begin  to  stop  the  great  drain 
upon  us  for  coarse  woollens  and  blankets  for 
negro  clothing.  These  articles  would  be  made 
with  a  view  to  the  particular  uses  for  which 
they  were  designed,  and  would  therefore  be 
better  than  those  obtained  from  abroad. 

The  benefits  to  be  derived  by  the  non-slave- 
hokling  part  of  (he  ])opulation,  would  perhaps 
be  of  more  importance  than  any  other.  By 
opening  to  them  a  profitable  employment,  you 
give  them  the  means  of  procuring  wealth  and 
moral  respectability,  and  thereby  raise  up  in 
the  heart  of  the  country  a  population  which 
will  be  the  pride  and  boast  of  the  nation.  In- 
stead of  emigrating  out  of  your  borders,  they 
will  remain  the  physical  and  moral  bulwark 
of  southern  institutions. 

The  same  causes  that  favor  the  manufacture 
of  cotton,  will  bear  upon  the  article  of  wool ; 
but  the  south  can  never  acquire  the  same 
monopoly  in  this  as  in  the  article  of  cotton. 
If,  however,  this  district  should  prosecute  the 
growing  of  wool  to  the  extent  of  its  capacity, 
and  should  only  manufacture  to  the  extent  of 
its  growth,  the  business  would  become  of  great 
importance,  and  would  add  much  wealth  to 
the  community. 

Iron  is  an  article  that  abounds  in  many 
parts  of  the  southwest,  and  is  destined  to 
constitute  one  of  its  great  staples.  Slave  labor 
is  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  production  and 
manufacture  of  this  article.  The  demand  for 
iron  is  daily  increasing  throughout  the  civil- 
ized world,  but  in  no  part  perhaps  more  than 
Ih  the  United  States.  It  may  be  assumed 
that  the  system  of  internal  improvements,  by 
means  of  railways,  will  be  adopted  through- 
out the  entire  country;  tlie  demand  for  this 
object  alone  will  be  large,  almost  beyond  cal- 
culation. The  introduction  of  cotton,  woollen, 
and  other  manufactures,  will  also  greatly  in- 
crease the  demand  for  iron.  Add  to  these  the 
increasing  demand  incident  to  the  growth  of 
the  west  for  iigricultural  and  other  purposes, 
and  it  will  be  perceived  that  the  production 
and  manufacture  of  iron  is  scarcely  inferior 
to  any  other  branch  of  industry,  and  it  should 
be  the  policy  of  the  south,  without  delay,  to 
use  every  reasonable  means  for  the  encourage- 
ment and  development  of  this  great  source  of 
■wealth. 

Cotton,  wool,  and  iron  may  be  regarded  as 
the  three  great  staples  of  the  southwest.  But 
there  is  so  close  a  relation  between  these  and 
many  other  branches  of  manufactures,  that  the 
establishment  of  any  one  or  more  of  them  upon 
an  extensive  scale  would  draw  after  them 
others,  perhaps,  not  thought  of  in  the  begin- 
ning; thus  not  only  affording  employment  to 
all  the  labor  of  the  country,  but  imparting 
VOL   U. 


value  to  all  the  natural  products  of  the  land. 
The  minerals,  the  streams,  and  the  forests, 
would  all  be  found  to  be  the  great  sources  of 
wealth,  and  the  possessor  of  many  a  barren 
spot  would  be  surprised  at  his  good  fortune. 
But  of  all  the  classes  to  be  benefited  by  such 
a  change,  the  agriculturist  would  come  in  for 
the  largest  share,  and  it  is  for  them  and  their 
interests  that  these  important  changes  are  pro- 
posed. The  country  and  its  destiny  is  in  their 
hands ;  they  have  at  their  disposal  more  ample 
means  of  producing  wealth,  and  for  the  pro- 
motion of  human  comfort,  than  has  ever  been 
bestowed  upon  any  other  land  or  people. 
They  have  reached  an  important  crisis  in  their 
own  history,  and  it  would  be  prudent  that 
they  should  take  a  retrospective  view  of  the 
past,  and  examine  their  present  condition,  for 
the  purpose  of  enabhng  them  to  form  a  just 
estimate  of  the  future. 

In  looking  into  the  history  of  the  south  and 
southwest  since  the  earliest  settlement,  we 
find  that  the  almost  entire  labor  of  the  coun- 
try has  been  applied  to  agriculture,  and  that 
the  surplus  products  have  been,  up  to  within 
a  few  years  past,  almost  entirely  shipped  to 
foreign  markets.  The  country  seems  to  have 
labored  under  the  impression  that  wealth 
could  be  acquired  only  by  drawing  it  from 
other  countries.  Acting  upon  this  principle, 
they  have  gone  on  from  year  to  year  pro- 
ducing cotton,  tobacco,  and  grain  for  exporta- 
tion, until  their  best  lands  have  become  ex- 
hausted, and  they  find  themselves  as  poor  in 
all  the  appliances  of  comfort  as  they  were 
many  years  past.  The  price  of  the  crops 
being  returned  to  the  country  in  articles  of 
daily  consumption,  the  proceeds  of  each  year's 
crop  is  consumed  without  leaving  any  thing  to 
be  added  to  the  wealth  of  the  community; 
^nd  the  only  increase  to  be  found  in  the  ele- 
ments or  means  to  procure  wealth,  consists  of 
the  increase  of  slaves — an  increase  in  no  way 
connected  with  the  exportation  of  produce, 
but  would  have  been  the  same,  or  in  all  prob- 
ability greater,  if  all  the  produce  had  been 
consumed  at  home. 

If  one  unacquainted  with  the  present  con- 
dition of  the  southwest,  were  told  that  the 
cotton  growing  district  alone  had  sold  the  crop 
for  fifty  millions  of  dollars  per  annum  for  the 
last  twenty  years,  he  would  naturally  con- 
clude that  this  must  be  the  richest  community 
in  the  world.  He  might  well  imagine  that 
the  planters  all  dwell  in  palaces,  upon  estates 
improved  by  every  device  of  art,  and  that 
their  most  common  utensils  were  made  of  the 
precious  metals;  that  canals,  turnpikes,  rail- 
ways, and  every  other  improvement  designed 
either  for  use  or  for  ornament,  abounded  in 
every  part  of  the  land  ;  and  that  the  want  of 
money  had  never  been  felt  or  heard  of  in  its 
limits.  He  would  conclude  that  the  most 
splendid  edifices  dedicatetl  to  the  purposes  of 
religion  and  learning  were  every  where  to  be 

8 


lU 


MANUFACTUKES   IN'THE   SOUTH   AND   WEST. 


found,  and  that  all  the  liberal  arts  had  here 
found  their  reward  and  a  home.  But  what 
■would  be  his  surprise  when  told,  that  so  far 
from  dwelling  in  palaces,  many  of  these  plant- 
ers dwell  in  habitations  of  the  most  primitive 
construction,  and  these  so  inartificiallj  built 
as  to  be  incapable  of  i)rotecting  the  inmates 
from  the  winds  and  rains  of  heaven ;  that  in- 
stead of  any  artistical  improvement,  this  rude 
dwelling  was  surrounded  by  cotton  fields,  or 

{)robably  by  fields  exhausted,  washed  into  gul- 
ies,  and  abandoned ;  that  instead  of  canals, 
the  navigable  streams  remain  unimproved,  to 
the  great  detriment  of  transportation ;  that  the 
common  roads  of  the  country  were  scarcely 
passable;  that  the  edifices  erected  for  the  ac- 
commodation of  learning  and  religion  were 
frequently  built  of  logs,  and  covered  with 
boards ;  and  that  the  fine  arts  were  but  little 
encouraged  or  cared  for.  Upon  receiving 
this  information,  he  would  imagine  that  this 
■was  surely  the  country  of  misers — that  they 
had  been  hoarding  up  all  the  money  of  the 
■world,  to  the  great  detriment  of  the  balance 
of  mankind.  But  his  surprise  would  be  great- 
ly increased  when  informed,  that  instead  of 
being  misers  and  hoarders  of  money,  these 
people  were  generally  scarce  of  it,  and  many 
of  them  embarrassed  and  bankrupt.  Upon 
■what  principle  could  a  stranger  to  the  coun- 
try account  for  this  condition  of  things  ?  How 
could  he  account  for  the  expenditure  of  the 
enormous  sum  of  one  billion  of  dollars  in  the 
short  space  of  twenty  years  ?  Indeed,  I  think 
it  ■would  puzzle  the  most  observing  individual 
in  the  country  to  account  for  so  strange  a  re- 
sult. 

It  is  true  that  much  has  been  paid  for  pub- 
lic lands  within  this  period  of  twenty  years, 
but  the  price  of  two  crops  would  more  than 
cover  that  account.  The  purchase  of  slaves 
and  private  lands  should  not  be  taken  into  the 
account,  because  the  money  paid  for  these 
should  have  remained  in  the  couutry,  except 
that  poition  paid  for  the  slaves  purchased  out 
of  the  CO  i  ton  region,  which  is  inconsiderable 
■when  compared  to  the  number  brought  into 
it  by  emigrants;  and  as  to  the  natural  in- 
crease of  the  slaves  in  the  cotton  region,  that 
has  no  relation  to  the  subject. 

What,  then,  has  become  of  the  other  nine 
hundred  millions  of  dollars  ?  Much  of  it  has 
been  paid  to  the  neighboring  states  for  pro- 
visions, mules,  horses,  and  implements  of  hus- 
bandry ;  much  has  been  paid  for  clothing  and 
other  articles  of  manufacture,  all  induced  by 
tlie  system  of  applying  all,  or  nearly  all  the 
labor  of  the  country  to  the  production  of  one 
6taj)le  only,  and  by  neglecting  the  encourage- 
ment of  manufactures.  No  mind  can  look 
back  upon  the  history  of  this  region  for  the 
last  twenty  years,  and  not  feel  convinced  that 
the  labor  bestowed  in  cotton  growing  during 
that  period  has  been  a  total  loss  to  this  part 
of  the  country.    It  is  true  that  some  of  the 


neighboring  states  hare  been  benefited  to  some 
extent,  and  it  has  served  to  swell  the  general 
commerce  of  the  nation  ;  the  manufacture  of 
the  raw  material  has  given  employment  to 
foreign  capital  and  to  foreign  labor,  and  has 
also  served  to  swell  the  volume  of  foreign 
commerce.  But  the  country  of  its  production 
has  gained  nothing,  and  lost  much ; — it  has 
lost  much  because  it  has  not  kept  its  relative 
position  in  the  rapid  march  of  improvement 
which  marks  the  progress  of  other  countries; 
and  more  than  all,  in  the  transportation  of  its 
produce,  it  has  transported  much  of  the  pro- 
ductive and  essential  principles  of  the  soil, 
which  can  never  be  returned,  thereby  sap- 
ping the  very  foundation  of  its  wealth. 

No  country  has  ever  acquired  permanent 
wealth  by  exporting  its  unmanufoctured  pro- 
ducts; and  if  any  such  case  could  be  found  in 
histoiy,  the  experience  of  the  southwest  would 
furnish  satisfactory  testimony  that  the  expor- 
tation of  the  commodities  produced  here,  tends 
rather  to  impoverish  than  enrich  the  country. 
With  the  experience  and  the  lights  of  the  pa«t 
before  them,  it  would  seem  to  be  madness  to 
persevere  in  a  course  so  detrimental  to  their 
interests.  If,  when  the  prices  of  the  leading 
staples  were  much  better  than  they  are  likely 
to  be  for  the  future,  and  when  the  lands  were 
more  fertile  and  productive  than  now,  this 
system  proved  unprofitable  and  ruinous,  what 
jope  is  there  that  the  result  of  the  future  will 
be  better  ?  Nay,  is  it  not  quite  certain  that 
2ach  succeeding  year  will  accelerate  the  pro- 
Ijressive  deterioration,  until  a  state  of  irre- 
deemable ruin  will  ensue  ? 

The  time  has  arrived  when  this  subject 
should  be  brought  to  the  considei'ation  of 
every  individual  in  the  country,  and  all  the 
facts  bearing  upon  it  should  be  collected  and 
stated  with  fidelity.  If  the  legislatures  will 
not  move  in  this  work,  lot  societies  be  formed 
for  the  purpose  of  collecting  facts,  and  collat- 
ing them  for  public  use.  Let  a  survey  and 
census  be  taken  of  some  of  the  older  states, 
showing  the  quantity  of  laufl  now  in  cultiva- 
tion, compared  to  the  quantity  cultivated  of 
some  given  period  that  has  passed;  the  quan- 
tity of  land  that  has  been  cultivated,  .and  now 
abandoned  by  reason  of  its  exhaustion;  the 
comparative  productiveness  of  the  soil  now  in 
cultivation,  with  tlie  soil  formerly  cultivated; 
also  the  quantity  of  productive  soil  not  cleared 
and  brought  into  cultivation,  and  the  capacity 
of  the  state  to  increase  its  productions,  either 
of  cotton  or  grain. 

Let  it  be  shown  also  -what  number  of  the 
inhabitants  are  nou  slaveholders,  and  the  pros- 
pects of  this  class  in  regard  to  their  future 
condition  in  the  country.  Let  facts  be  also 
collected  in  regard  to  the  minerals,  forests, 
water  power,  and  the  number  of  laborers  that 
might  be  spared  from  the  field  without  detri- 
ment to  the  agricultural  pursuits.  Add  to 
this  all  proper  fiicts  connected  with  the  cost 


MANUFACTURES   IN   TUE   SOUTH   AND   WEST. 


115 


of  erecting  buildings,  and  the  purchase  of 
machiutTj  for  manufacturing  both  cotton  and 
■wool.  Let  the  number  of  hands  and  the  cost 
necessary  to  produce  any  given  quantity  of 
fabric  be  ascertained ;  and  cause  the  whole, 
when  properly  and  fairly  digested,  to  be  pub- 
lished in  the  most  popular  form,  that  they  may 
be  read  by  the  whole  community.  Such  a  col- 
lection of  facts  would  afford  more  light  upon 
the  subject  of  political  economy  than  all  the 
books  that  have  been  written  upon  the  sub- 
ject, from  the  time  of  Adam  Smith  to  the 
present  day. 

To  the  foregoing  might  be  added  another 
class  of  facts,  that  would  go  far  to  explain 
what  has  become  of  a  large  portion  of  the 
monc3'  that  has  been  earned  by  the  labor  of 
the  south  and  southwest — I  mean  those  facts 
connected  with  the  transportation  of  the  raw 
material  to  a  market,  and  the  amount  of  the 
manufactures  composed  of  that  raw  material, 
that  has  been  returned  to  and  consumed  by 
the  producer.  This  is  a  branch  of  the  subject 
that  should  be  carefully  inquired  into,  and 
stated  in  terms  that  could  be  understt)od  by 
all.  It  should  be  separated,  if  possible,  from 
all  political  considerations,  so  that  the  mind 
of  every  individual  may  be  free  to  act  on  it 
without  prejudice.  It  is  a  self-evident  propo- 
sition, that  the  transportation  of  an  article 
adds  nothing  to  its  intrinsic  value.  Its  vol- 
ume, quality,  and  properties  remain  the  same 
as  tliey  were  before  the  act  of  transportation. 
A  barrel  of  flour  or  pork  transported  from 
New-Orleans  to  Liverpool  contains  no  more 
nutriment,  nor  can  it  contribute  more  to  the 
support  of  human  life  and  comfort  in  Liver- 
pool than  in  New-Orleans.  Now  it  will  be 
perceived,  that  if  this  flour  and  pork  should 
be  consumed  in  Liverpool  by  one  who  is  em- 
ployed in  the  manufacture  of  cotton  cloth,  and 
this  cloth  should  be  sent  to  this  country  to  be 
consumed  by  the  cotton  grower,  and  the  cloth 
could  have  been  manufactured  here  with  the 
same  amount  of  labor  as  at  Liverpool ;  then 
the  whole  of  the  time,  labor,  and  capital  em- 
ployed in  tlie  transportation  of  the  cotton, 
flour,  and  pork  to  Liverpool,  and  the  reship- 
ment  of  the  cloth  to  this  country,  is  a  clear 
loss,  at  least  to  the  United  States. 

The  only  objection  that  can  be  raised  to 
this  proposition  is  predicated  upon  the  assump- 
tion that  the  labor  employed  in  the  manu- 
facture of  cloth  in  this  country  might  have 
been  more  profitably  employed  in  agricul- 
ture. So  far  from  this  being  the  case,  how- 
ever, the  interest  of  the  agriculturist  would 
be  promoted  by  withdrawing  this  labor  from 
the  field,  and  to  that  extent  keeping  down 
the  overproduction  of  the  raw  material.  The 
capital,  skill,  and  labor  employed  in  this 
transaction,  are  not  only  lost  to  this  country 
but  to  the  whole  human  family ;  for  as  it 
has  been  shown  that  nothing  has  been  pro- 
duced by  the  operation,  the  volume  of  those 


things  necessary  to  human  comfort  has  in  no 
way  been  increased.  In  making  this  asser- 
tion, we  do  not  forget  that  those  employed  in 
this  transportation  have  been  supported  by 
their  labor,  but  this  does  not  alter  the  case ; 
for  as  their  labors  were  unproductive,  it 
would  have  been  the  same  to  the  balance  of 
the  world  if  they  had  raised  the  amount  by 
contribution  from  the  producer  and  consumer 
of  tho  articles  transported.  This  is  the  great 
evil  under  which  the  southwest  labors.  She 
is  yearly  wearing  out  her  soil  in  the  produc- 
tion of  one  great  staple,  which  has  become 
ruinously  low  in  price  by  reason  of  its  great 
supply.  She  parts  with  this  staple  at  prime 
cost,  and  purchases  almost  all  her  necessary 
appliances  of  comfort  from  abroad,  not  at 
prime  cost,  but  burdened  with  the  profits  of 
merchants,  the  costs  of  transportation,  duties, 
commissions,  exchange,  and  numerous  other 
charges,  all  of  which  go  to  support  and  en- 
rich others  at  her  expense.  This  is  the  true 
reason  that  she  is  growing  poorer  while  the 
rest  of  the  world  is  growing  rich,  for  it  is 
easy  for  the  world  to  enrich  itself  from  such 
a  customer  on  such  terms. 

If  she  were  wise,  she  would  cease  to  carry 
on  a  traflic  in  which  she  always  has  beeu 
and  always  must  be  a  loser  ;  she  will  set  np 
for  herself,  and  instead  of  parting  with  the 
products  of  all  her  labor  to  support  the  bal- 
ance of  the  world,  she  will  manufacture  her 
own  clothing,  and,  not  stopping  at  this,  pro- 
ceed to  manufacture  the  whole  of  her  crop, 
and  thereby  draw  upon  the  world  for  a  por- 
tion of  her  former  losses. 

If  the  proper  statistical  information  could 
be  obtained,  we  have  no  doubt  but  it  would 
be  found  that  the  capital  and  labor  expended 
by  the  southwest  in  the  transportation  of  its 
cotton,  and  the  return  of  the  manufactured 
article  for  consumption  within  the  last  twenty 
years,  would  amount  to  a  sum  sufficient  to 
erect  buildings,  purchase  machinery,  and  put 
into  successful  operation  a  sufficient  number 
of  cotton  mills  to  manufacture  all  the  cotton 
that  she  grows. 

Supposing  the  south  should  be  convinced 
that  she  has  hitherto  pursued  an  erroneous 
and  ruinous  policy,  and  resolves  to  change, 
an  important  inquiry  then  arises  in  regard 
to  the  source  from  which  the  means  can 
be  obtained  to  enable  her  to  introduce  in  a 
reasonable  time  the  contemplated  reform. 
Upon  this  head  it  may  be  observed  that  a 
change  in  the  policy  of  a  country  which  in- 
volves so  many  important  and  vital  consider- 
ations should  be  introduced  graduall}^  so  as 
to  prevent  sudden  revulsions  from  taking 
place  in  the  long  established  pursuits  of  the 
community.  The  beginning  should  be  small, 
so  as  to  prevent  the  outlay  of  too  nmch 
capital  at  a  time  when  it  would  be  diOieult 
to  procure  the  requisite  number  of  skilful 
operatives  to  make  the  investment  profit- 


IIG 


MANUFACTURES    IN    THE    SOUTH    AND    WEST 


able.  But  notwithstanding  the  change  should 
be  gradual,  yet  a  well  digested  system  of  in- 
crease and  enhiignnent  should  be  adopted 
in  the  beginning,  and  never  departed  from. 

Let  such  planters  as  are  desirous  of  the 
introduction  of  manufactures,  instead  of  in- 
vesting the  net  income  of  their  crops  in  land 
and   slaves,  appropriate  it  to  the  purposes  of 
manufacturing,  and,  by  uniting   the    surplus 
means  of  a  number  together,  an  association 
miglit  be  formed  with   sufficient   means   to 
commence  the  work  in  every  important  dis- 
trict in  a  very  short  time.     Instead  of  send-  [ 
ing  their  young  slaves  to  the  field,  send  them 
to  the  cotton  mill  to  be  instructed  as  opera- 
tives.    If  such  a  course  were  adopted  and  ! 
adhered  to,  every  year  would  add  accelerated  ! 
strength  to  the  enterprise.     The  manufactur- 
ing establishments  wi>uld  soon  begin  to  sup- 
port themselves.      Every  year  would  bring 
an  increase  of  operatives  to  the  mills,  and  by 
adhering  to  a  system  like  this,  a  few  years 
■would    insensibly   produce    a    change    that 
■would  astonish  mankind,  and  this,  too,  ■with- 
out lessening  the  agricultural  products  of  the 
country,  or   doing   violence   to   any  of  the 
established  pursuits  of  the  community.     By 
adopting  a  course  like  this,  the  whole  scheme 
could  be  carried  out  upon  the  means  and  re 
sources  of  the  southwest,  the  establishments 
■would  go  into  operation  free  from  debt  and 
incumbrance,  and   all  the   profits  would  be- 
long to  the  country,  free  from  the  demands 
of  foreign  capitalists.     Two  hands  employed 
in  the  mills  could  spin  and  weave  the  cotton 
produced  by  three;  this  would  add  about  two 
hundred  per  cent,  to  its  value,  which  would 
be  a  clear  gain  to  the  country.      I  assume  it 
to  be  a  clear  gain,  for  the  reason  that  I  be- 
lieve in  a  few  years  the  cotton  crop,  in  its 
raw  state,  would  bring  as  much  money  to 
the  planters  and  the  country  at  large  as  it 
■would  have  done  providing  this  system  had 
not  been  introduced.     It  would,  in  time,  be 
the  means  of  affording  a  home  market  for  all 
the  cotton  produced :   this  would  make  the 
market  price  more  pemiauent  and  satisfiic- 
tory,  for  the  reason  that  the  price  would  not 
depend  upon  and  be  influenced  by  so  many 
contigeucies  as  at  present.     Tiie  character  of 
the  crop,  and  the  amount  of  stock  on  hand, 
could  always  be  e.stimated.     This  would,  to 
a  great  extent,  prevent  the  spirit  of  specula- 
tion, which  has  so  often  prevailed  in  regard 
to  the  article  of  cotton,  and  which  has  ever 
been   attended  with   most  disastrous  conse- 
quences.    In  a  word,  we  should   control   the 
cotton  trade  of  the  world,  and  would  have  it 
in  our  power  to  establish  the  prices  at  rates 
that  would  always    be  remunerating  to  the 
producer  of  both  the  raw  material  and  the 
manufactured  article. 

In  contemplating  the  results  of  these  pro- 
positions, th'-y  ajipear  more  like  air-built  cas- 
tles than  substantial  effects  flowing  from  or 


produced  by  adequate  causes.  But  at  the 
risk  of  being  pronounced  a  dreamer,  we  will 
take  a  glance  at  some  of  the  rcsul's  which 
may  reasonably  be  expected  from  the  intro- 
duction of  manufactures  into  the  southwest 
And  first  of  all,  the  value  of  the  cotton,  in 
case  it  .should  all  be  manuHicturcd  in  the 
country,  will  be  increased  at  least  two  hun- 
dred percent.;  and  instead  of  fifty  millions 
of  dollars,  we  .shall  produce  annually  one 
hundred  and  fifty  millions ;  and  if  the  crop 
should  ever  reach  four  and  a  half  millions  of 
bales,  and  the  prices  of  the  raw  material 
and  the  manufactured  articles  should  range 
as  at  present,  the  annual  produce  would 
amount  to  the  enormous  sum  of  three  hun- 
dred millions  of  dollars  per  annum.  Thus 
the  article  of  cotton  alone,  to  say  nothing  of 
other  productions,  would,  to  use  a  figurative 
expression,  establish  the  centre  of  gravity  for 
the  commercial  world  in  the  southwest. 

Instead  of  being  drained  of  her  substance 
by  every  other  people,  the  current  would  be 
reversed,  and  wealth  would  flow  into  her 
coffers  from  all  the  nations  of  the  earth; 
then,  indeed,  her  planters  miglit  dwell  in 
castles,  upon  estates  improved  and  embel- 
lished by  every  device  of  art ;  the  exhausted 
and  abandoned  fields  would  be  reclaimed 
and  redeemed  from  sterility;  her  swamps 
would  be  drained,  and  her  rivers  confined 
within  their  banks,  with  great  advantage  to 
the  health  of  the  country ;  the  facilities  of 
travelling  and  transportation  would  be  im- 
proved and  enlarged  to  an  extent  commensu- 
rate with  the  utmost  demand  ;  and  the  south 
and  southwest  would  become,  what  by  na- 
ture and  the  aid  of  art  they  are  destined 
to  be,  the  richest  and  fairest  portion  of 
the  whole  earth.  But  the  benefits  of  such 
a  change  will  not  be  confined  to  the  south- 
west ;  even'  other  part  of  the  country 
would  participate  in  her  prosperity,  and 
more  especially  the  west  and  northwest. 
This  mighty  region,  which  will  ere  long  num- 
ber fifty  millions  of  human  beings,  must  be 
most  intimately  connected  with  the  south- 
west, whether  in  prosperity  or  adversity. 
The  southwest  is  the  legitimate  market  for 
the  bread,  provisions,  and  stock  of  this  re- 
gion. The  northwest  could  be  supplied  at 
cheaper  rates  with  all  the  articles  of  manu- 
factures produced  in  the  southwest,  than  she 
could  be  from  either  New-England  or  any 
foreign  market ;  for  this  one  reason,  if  no 
other,  that  the  transportation  would  be 
cheaper,  and  for  the  further  reason  that,  by 
purchasing  in  the  market  where  she  sold  her 
own  produce,  much  would  be  saved  in  the 
w^ay  of  exchange  and  commissions. 

It  may  be  asked,  where  could  a  market  be 
found  for  the  enormous  quantity  of  fabrics  to 
he  produced  from  four  million  five  hundred 
thousand  bales  of  cotton  ?  By  reference  to 
the  ratio  of  the  increase  of  population  in  the 


MANUFACTURES    IN    THE    SOUTH    AND   -WEST. 


117 


United  States,  it  will  be  found  tliat  our  popu- 
lation doubles  in  about  twenty-four  years  ; 
and,  assuming  that  we  have  twenty  millions 
now,  our  population  will  amount  to  eighty 
millions  in  the  year  1896,  a  period  that  will 
arrive  within  the  lifetime  of  many  men  who 
are  now  thirty  years  of  age.  This  increase 
of  population  will  be  quite  equal  to  the  in- 
a-ease  in  the  growth  of  cotton ;  and  we  shall 
continue  to  have  perhaps  about  the  same 
quantity  for  exportation  to  foreign  countries 
that  we  export  at  present ;  but  this  quantity 
being  greatly  increased  in  value  by  being 
manufactured,  our  external  commerce  in  this 
article  will  be  more  than  doubled,  while  our 
internal  commerce  will  be  enlaiged  almost 
beyond  human  conception;  for  the  closest 
investigation  cannot  at  present  discover  the 
many  new  souices  of  commerce  which  will 
from  time  to  time  develop  themselves  in  a 
country  so  new  and  so  extensive  as  the 
United  States,  and  especially  the  great  west- 
ern division. 

}    In  every  point  of  view  (save  that  it  affords 
■iio  revenue  to  .the  government)  the  internal 
commerce  of  the  country  is  vastly  more  im- 
;portant  than  the   external   or   foreign   com- 
l  merce.     The   capital,   labor,   and   skill   em- 
j  ployed  in  the  transportation  belongs  to  the 
tcountry,  and    constitutes    a    portion    of   its 
fwealth ;   and  the   profits   derived  from    the 
transportation,  as  well   as   the   commissions 
and  profits  of  the  dealers  in  this  commerce, 
all  go  to  the  support  of  our  own  citizens. 
[By  establishing  manufactures  in  the  country, 
a  market  will  be  afforded  for  many  articles, 
■which  from  their  perishable  nature,  or  owing 
to  their  great  weight  or  bulk  compared  to 
their  value,  cannot  become  the  objects  of  a 
foreign  or  distant  comjuerce.     Many  articles 
of  this  class  would  be  found  profitable  to  the 
producer,  and  highly  convenient  and  useful 
to  the  consumer.     But  at   present,  for  want 
of  a  demand,  this  source  of  employment,  com- 
fort, and  wealth  is  lost  to  the  country. 

In  this  class  of  products  may  be  mentioned 
the  products  of  the  forest,  summer  fruits, 
hay,  potatoes,  and  many  other  articles  pro- 
duced at  a  considerable  distance  from  towns 
and  navigable  streams.  Every  manufactur- 
ing establishment  would  open  a  new  market, 
and  become  the  centre  of  a  commercial  cir- 
cle ;  and  by  changing  these  perishable  and 
heavy  articles  by  the  process  of  consumption 
and  reproduction  into  a  more  permanent  and 
valuable  form,  they  would  be  made  suitable 
to  enter  into  a  more  distant  commerce.  And 
thus  employment  would  be  given  to  labor, 
and  all  the  means  of  comfort  and  of  wealth 
would  be  produced  in  districts  hitherto  lying 
waste  ancl  unproductive.  In  a  government 
like  ours  in  form,  extending  over  so  large  a 
country,  a  country  so  strongly  marked  and 
divided  by  its  physical  conformation  and 
diversity  of  climate,  it  is  of  great  importance 


that  every  encouragement  should  be  given  to 
internal  cominerce.  By  promoting  this  great 
interest,  the  local  and  provincial  prejudices 
always  so  liable  to  grow  up  between  districts 
having  but  little  intefcourse  are  prevented. 
Each  portion  of  the  country  will  be  made  to 
feel  its  dependence  upon  the  other,  a  commu- 
nity of  interest  will  be  establi-hed,  and  a 
general  sympathy  pervade  the  whole  nation 
as  one  family.  Thus  our  political  institutions 
will  be  greatly  strengthened,  and  many  of 
the  causes  which  have  hitherto  disturbed  the 
harmony  of  the  country  will  cease.  Our 
population  will  become  more  Americanized. 
In  throwing  off  our  dependence  upon  other 
countries  for  the  supply  of  our  physical 
wants,  we  shall  become  more  independent  in 
our  manners  and  modes  of  thinking,  and  the 
same  great  causes,  which  give  us  the  control 
of  the  commerce  of  the  world,  will  enable  us 
to  impress  upon  other  nations  our  manners 
and  customs.  Tlie  spirit  and  piiilosopby  of 
our  political  institutions  will  follow  our  com- 
merce wherever  it  prevails ;  and  more  than 
all,  under  the  guidance  of  Providence,  we 
shall,  through  the  agency  of  our  supremacy  in 
foreign  commerce,  do  much  to  establish  the 
Christian  religion  throughout  the  earth. 

Possessing  a  territory  extending  from  the 
Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  with  Europe  and 
Africa  on  the  east  and  southeast,  and  Asia 
and  Australia  on  the  west  and  southwest, 
and  our  coasting  trade  from  east  to  west, 
passing  all  around  South  America,  we  occupy 
a  position  upon  the  globe  w'hich  plainly  indi- 
cates our  superior  advantages  over  all  other 
nations  of  the  earth.  But  these  advantages 
must  be  cultivated  and  improved,  or  they 
will  not  be  available  in  giving  to  our  country 
that  proud  pre-eminence  over  .all  others  that 
she  is  capable  of  attaining.  The  first  step 
towards  the  attainment  of  this  object  is  the 
encouragement  of  manufactures,  by  which 
means  we  shall  not  only  render  ourselves 
independent  of  all  other  countries  for  the 
supply  of  most  of  our  wants,  but  we  shall 
soon  begin  to  afford  large  supplies  to  other  \ 
nations.  In  using  the  term  encouragement,  I  i 
have  no  reference  to  that  kind  of  encourage-  ' 
meut  which  may  be  given  by  the  acts  of  the 
general  government  by  a  protective  tariff; 
that  branch  of  the  subject  belongs  to  the 
statesman,  and  with  him  I  desire  to  leave  it. 
But  I  mean  that  kind  of  encouragement  which 
it  is  in  the  power  of  the  people  to  give,  simply  , 
by  a  division  of  labor.  This  is  the  great  prin-  i 
ciple  which  lies  at  the  foundation  of  the  w  hole 
subject.  Experience  shows  that  every  agri- 
cultural product  that  can  be  successfully  pro- 
duced iu  the  United  States  can  be  increased 
far  beyond  the  demand;  this,  in  time,  reduces 
the  prices  so  low  that  it  checks  the  produc- 
tion, and  the  demand  for  labor  being  also 
checked,  much  labor  is  thrown  out  of  em- 
ployment ;  and  it  has  beeu  the  case  for  many 


lis 


MANUFACTURES    IN    THE    SOUTH   AND    WEST. 


years  that  there  has  been  an  over-production 
of  all  the  leading  staples  at  the  same  time, 
leaving  in  the  country  very  many  individuals 
without  adequate  and  constant  employment. 
This  is  a  great  evil ;  it  is  not  only  a  source 
of  individual  suffering,  but  greatly  endangers 
the  safety  and  morals  of  society. 

From  my  own  observation,  I  am  satisfied 
that  withm  the  scope  of  my  acquaintance,' 
I  have  perceived  more  unhappiness  arising' 
from  the  want  of  constant  and  profitable  em- 
ployment, for  five  years  past,  than  from  all 
other  causes  put  together.  If  the  pursuits 
of  the  country  were  sufficiently  diversified, 
this  evil  would  be  removed.  It  is  not  in  the 
power  of  the  laborer  who  is  out  of  employ- 
ment to  introduce  new  pursuits ;  he  is  desti- 
tute of  the  means  to  enable  him  to  do  so.  But 
when  it  is  discovered  in  any  district  of  country 
that  from  over-production  the  leading  pursuits 
fail  to  remuuerate  tlic  labor  engaged  in  them, 
some  other  pursuit  should  be  introduced  to 
an  extent  that  would  relieve  the  established 
.pursuits  from  over-production.  This  could  be 
leffected  throughout  the  country  by  the  form- 
lation  of  agricultural  societies  in  every  county, 
Iwhose  duty  it  should  be  to  collect  all  proper 
■information  connected  with  the  labor  and 
products  of  the  country;  and  whenever  it  was 
ascertained  that  any  pursuit  was  becoming  un- 
profitable by  over-production,  or  other  causes, 
it  should  be  their  further  duty  to  procure  in- 
formation in  regard  to  a  substitute,  and  when 
a  substitute  should  be  selected  and  adopted, 
the  means  should  be  raised  to  aid  in  its  in- 
troduction. In  this  way  a  great  variety  of 
employments  would  in  time  be  established, 
greatly  to  the  benefit  and  advantage  of  the 
whole  community.  By  this  means  many ' 
new  sources  of  employment  and  wealth 
•would  be  discovered  and  developed,  and 
more  permanency  would  be  imparted  to  the 
standard  value  of  the  old-established  pur- 
suits; and  revulsions  would  consequently 
become  less  frequent. 

Such  is  the  nature  of  the  encouragement 
required  for  the  introduction  of  manufactures 
and  a  division  of  labor  ;  it  is  that  kind  of  en- 
couragement which  is  derived  from  the  sym- 
pathy and  countenance  of  society ;  for  with- 
out this  encouragement,  nothing  shoit  of  great 
capital  and  indomitable  industry  iuul  perseve- 
rance will  secure  success  to  any  new  enter- 
prise. The  community  must  first  be  enlight- 
ened upon  the  subject ;  the  public  mind  must 
be  convinced  by  facts  aud  arguments,  and  (jld 
prejudices  removed,  before  it  can,l>e  brought 
to  sympathize  with  any  scheme  which  pro- 
poses a  change  in  the  established  pursuits  of 
the  cotnmunity.  There  is  a  spirit  of  conser- 
vation in  business,  as  well  as  in  morals  and 
politics,  which  is  ever  upon  the  watch,  and 
prompt  to  condemn  every  innovation;  and 
woe  to  him  against  whose  projects  these  con- 
servatiflts  prophesy  1    They  have  much  pride 


of  opinion,  and  if  they  predict  a  failure,  they 
will  labor  to  sustain  their  judgment  by  every 
means  short  of  violence.  Success  would  im- 
plicate their  judgment  and  foresight,  and  con- 
sequently they  have  something  at  rij^k  ;  they 
denominate  the  innovater  a  castle-builder 
wanting  in  judgment,  aiid  pronounce  his 
schemes  visionary  and  impracticable.  By 
such  practices  the  unfortunate  projector  is 
brought  into  disrepute ;  he  loses  the  confi- 
dence of  the  community,  and  without  great 
pecuniary  and  mor.al  resources  he  nuist  fail ; 
and  with  his  failure  the  cause  in  which  he  en- 
gages is  injured. 

Let  it  not  be  said  that  prophecy  has  ceased. 
There  are  many  prophets  in  the  land,  whose 
predictions  a  wise  man  will  not  disregard ; 
for  they  prophesy  evil,  in  J  set  themselves  at 
work  to  produce  the  result.  Hence  the  im- 
portance of  preparing  the  way  for  the  intro- 
duction of  manufactures  by  enlightening  the 
public  mind  by  every  practicable  means.  The 
public  prints  are  not  sufficient ;  the  living 
minds  of  the  people  must  be  brought  to  act 
upon  each  other  by  and  through  the  agency 
of  associations  ;  and  without  this  no  sympathy 
can  be  diffused  among  them  upon  this  great 
subject,  and  no  concert  of  action  can  be 
effected. 

Before  the '  public  mind  can  be  prepared 
for  tlie  encouragement  of  manufactures  in  the 
southwest,  it  must  be  taught  a  new  system  of 
private  and  political  economy.  Under  the 
present  system  the  opinion  generally  prevails 
'|that  nothing  but  money  constitutes  wealth; 
^nd  many  seem  to  suppose  that  the  best  test 
^f  prosperity  is  indicated  by  the  gross  sum 
jor  which  the  crop  is  sold,  with  but  little 
reference  to  the  cost  of  its  production.  In  all 
fny  ac(|uaintance,  I  have  met  with  very  few 
planters  who  estimated  the  depreciation  of 
their  soil  as  any  thing  in  the  cost  of  producing 
a  crop,  notwithstanding  they  were  every  few 

f'  ears  compelled  to  purchase  land  to  supply 
he  place  of  that  which  they  had  worn  out. 
Those  who  act  upon  this  system  rarely  ever 
do  any  thing  to  improve  their  land  ;  are  un- 
willing to  appropriate  sufficient  labor  to  the 
production  of  a  sufficient  supply  of  grain  and 
provisions;  and  never  doubt  the  proposition 
that  if  they  can  buy  an  article  cheaper  than 
they  can  make  it,  that  it  would  be  great  folly 
to  produce  it  themselves.  This  proposition 
appears  plausible  in  theory,  and  might  be 
true  perhaps,  if  the  true  cost  of  protlucing 
the  article  could  lie  correctly  calculated  ;  as 
well  as  the  inconvenience  of  procuring  a  sup- 
ply from  abroad,  anil  the  detriment  to  busi- 
ness arising  from  the  want  of  an  abundant 
and  constant  supply,  with  many  other  con- 
siderations which  are  rarely  brought  into  the 
estimate.  But  however  plausible  the  theory 
may  appear,  it  is  quite  certain  that  it  is  de- 
ceptive aud  unsound ;  or  the  calculations  of 
the  cost  of  producing,  and  purchasing  the  sup- 


MANUFACTURES    IN    THE    SOUTH    AND    WEST. 


119 


ply,  are  not  coirectljr  made.  For,  except  in 
some  peculiar  locations,  and  under  peculiar 
circumstances,  experience  bas  proven  that  the 
system  is  almost  universally  ruinous  in  prac- 
tice. This  is  a  strong  illustration  of  the  ne- 
nessity  of  a  division  of  labor,  even  upon  a 
single  plantation.  For  the  application  of  all 
the  labor  of  the  plantation  to  the  production 
of  one  staple,  is  a  violation  of  this  principle, 
which  seems  to  be  a  law  of  nature  governing 
all  her  works. 

The  variety  of  soil,  of  climate,  of  mountain 
and  plain,  and  in  fine  the  great  variety  of 
human  capacity  and  of  human  wants,  all  indi- 
cate the  observance  of  this  principle.  And 
when  civilized  man  shall  cease  to  observe  it, 
he  must  return  to  his  primitive  state  of  bar- 
barism ;  and  even  then  he  cannot  exist  with- 
out in  some  degree  conforming  his  pursuits  to 
this  principle.  Labor  is  man's  destiny  upon 
earth ;  none  can  escape  from  it  in  some  form 
or  other ;  nor  have  they  the  moral  right  to  do  so. 
Neither  have  any  part  of  the  human  family 
the  natural  right  to  appropriate  to  themselves 
more  than  their  share,  to  the  exclusion  of 
others. 

By  a  law  of  man's  nature,  a  certain  amount 
of  bodily  exercise  is  made  necessary  to  the 
development  of  his  faculties,  and  the  enjoy- 
ment and  preservation  of  health.  This  exer- 
cise was  not  intended  to  be  wasted  in  un- 
profitable pursuits ;  but  was  designed  to  be 
appropriated  to  the  production  of  things  use- 
ful to  human  comfort,  aud  to  the  improvement 
of  man's  ox)ndition.  It  is  only  by  such  an 
appropriation  that  civilized  man  has  emerged 
from  a  state  of  barbarism ;  and  by  such  means 
only  can  a  state  of  civilization  be  sustained ; 
for  when  that  requisite  quantum  of  human 
exercise  which  is  necessary  to  sustain  health, 
shall  be  wasted  or  thrown  away  upon  un- 
profitable objects,  the  advance  of  civilization 
must  not  only  be  checked,  but  it  must  suffer 
decay,  in  a  ratio  commensurate  with  the  waste 
and  misapplication  of  human  exercise.  Al- 
though mau  was  undoubtedly  designed  and 
constituted  for  a  state  of  civilization,  it  is 
nevertheless  an  artificial  state,  and  must  be 
governed  by  human  laws  ;  and  among  other 
civil  rights,  it  is  most  clear  that  the  laborer 
should  be  protected  in  the  enjoymont  of  his 
honest  acquisitions. 

It  is  also  clear  that  for  the  purpose  of  de-' 
fining  and  securing  civil  rights,  that  the  natu 
ral  wealth,  consisting  of  the  soil,  the  forests, 
minerals,  &c.,  should  be  appropriated,  and 
become  the  objects  of  individual  property  and 
control.  By  keeping  these  propositions  in 
view,  we  must  perceive  that  in  time,  as  the 
population  of  a  country  increases,  and  new 
generations  spring  up,  a  portion  of  the  people 
must  be  destitute  of  either  natural  or  artificial 
wealth,  aud  are  necessarily  dependent  on  those 
who  possess  the  wealth  of  the  country  for 
employment  aud  support.    Now,  if  we  sup- 


]iose  that  all  the  established  and  known 
peasants  of  the  countiy  are  fully  supplied 
with  l:ibor,  and  no  more  can  be  admitted 
without  endangering  the  means  of  existence 
to  those  already  employed,  then  that  portion 
of  the  population  who  are  so  unfortunate  as 
to  be  out  of  employment,  must  starve  or  emi- 
grate ;  and  thus  a  limit  would  be  fixed  to  the 
increase  of  population.  This  is  not  a  mere 
liypothesis,  for  history  affords  many  instances 
in  point.  This  result  can  be  prevented  as 
long  as  new  pursuits  can  be  introduced  that 
will  reward  the  laborer  with  the  means  of 
subsistence.  If,  in  such  a  case,  a  part  of  the 
corn  produced  was  sent  to  another  country  to 
buy  clothing,  and  this  clothing  could  be  made 
by  the  surplus  and  unemployed  laborers  at 
home,  it  is  quite  plain  that  such  a  change 
would  afford  relief  to  the  extent  of  the  com 
thus  retained  in  the  country.  Or,  if  a  coun- 
try in  such  a  condition  procured  corn  from 
abroad  by  the  exchange  of  its  manufactures, 
which  were  produced  to  the  full  extent  of  the 
demand,  if  some  other  article  of  manufacture 
could  be  produced,  which  could  be  exchanged 
for  com,  this  would  likewise  afford  relief  to 
the  extent  which  such  manufacture  could  be 
exchanged.  In  this  case  it  will  be  perceived 
that  the  principle  upon  which  the  relief  is 
founded,  is  the  withdrawing  of  the  employ- 
ment of  foreign  labor,  and  increasing  the  de- 
mand at  home  by  the  introduction  of  new 
pursuits.  By  thus  dividing  the  labor  of  a 
community,  and  diversifying  the  pursuits, 
provision  may  be  made  for  an  almost  indefi- 
nite amount  of  population.  And  the  conclu- 
sion naturally  follows,  that  the  more  divided 
and  diversified  the  pursuits,  the  more  diversi- 
fied will  be  the  intelligence  of  a  community,  for 
every  new  pursuit  brings  with  it  the  science 
or  knowledge  connected  with  it,  thus  redeem- 
ing the  laboring  classes  from  ignorance,  as 
well  as  from  poverty. 

This  is  an  important  consideration  in  a 
government  like  ours,  which  is  founded  upon 
the  intelligence  and  virtue  of  the  people; 
these  constitute  not  only  the  basis,  but  the 
superstruction  also;  these  are  improvable 
qualifications ;  aud  with  proper  culture  and 
encouragement  may  be  perpetuated  through- 
out all  time,  aud  so  long  may  our  free  institu- 
tions abide.  But  suffer  these  to  fall  into  de- 
cay, and  the  republican  government  of  the 
United  States  must  cease  to  exist,  except  in 
history,  where  it  will  be  pointed  out  as  a 
splendid  failure  in  an  effort  made  by  a  few 
l)hilanthropists  to  redeem  man  from  iguorance 
and  tyranny. 

The  foregoing  views  have  been  more  par- 
ticularly apphed  to  the  Atlantic  aud  Gulf 
states,  which  may  be  denominated  the  cotton 
region  ;  but  in  their  general  application,  tliey 
are  intended  for  the  whole  of  the  slaveholding 
district  of  tlie  Union.  Kentucky,  Tennessee, 
Arkansas  and  Missouri  may  be  denominated 


120 


MANUFACT0RES   IN    THE    SOUTH    AND    WEST. 


the  provision  and  iron  region  of  the  southwest,  i 
From  the  character  of  their  cUmate  and  soil, 
tiieir  agricultural  pursuits  are  more  varied ; 
tney  cannot  be  said  to  have  any  decided  and 
fixed  staple,  except  in  some  small  districts, 
and  consequently  as  their  population  increases, 
they  will  more  naturally  diversify  their  pur- 
suits. Situated  between  the  south  and  tlie 
north,  their  location  is  a  most  happy  one  for 
the  distribution  of  their  great  leading  pro- 
ducts; and  when  our  population  shall  reach 
eighty  or  a  hundred  millions,  as  it  must  before 
the  present  generation  shall  all  have  passed 
away,  the  middle  states  will  become  the  rich 
est  and  most  interesting  portion  of  the  Union ; 
the  great  internal  commerce  of  the  Union 
■will  tiud  its  centre  here,  and  cities  and  markets 
will  be  established,  equalling,  and  perhaps 
surpassing,  those  situated  upon  the  sea  coast. 
Besides  the  article  of  provisions,  this  region 
■will  be  able  to  produce  and  manufacture  the 
articles  of  iron,  hemp  and  tobacco  cheaper 
than  they  can  be  any  where  else  produced ; 
and  by  reason  of  advantage  of  location,  these 
articles  can  be  distributed  in  every  direction 
as  from  a  common  centre,  with  less  cost  of 
transportation  to  the  consumer.  Here  like- 
wise will  centre  the  arts  and  refinements  of 
civilization,  which  will  give  the  distinctive 
tone  and  coloring  to  the  American  character. 
Such  predictions  may  appear  rash  to  many, 
but  before  they  are  coDden:incd  as  visionary 
and  false,  I  respectfully  invite  an  attentive 
examination  of  the  map  of  the  United  States, 
with  a  careful  inquiry  into  the  natural  re- 
sources of  each  and  every  state  and  territory 
east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  After  such  an 
examination,  let  it  be  imagined  that  the  valley 
of  the  Mississippi,  includnig  Texas,  contains  a 
population  of  one  hundred  millions,  and  that 
two  fifths  of  this  population  is  situate  west  of 
the  Mississippi  river,  and  I  think  it  will  be 
admitted  that  the  eastern  cities  can  no  longer 
control  the  commerce  and  finances  of  this 
mighty  region ;  and  this  is  a  state  of  things 
not  so  remote  but  that  many  now  living  may 
realize  it,  for  in  seventy  years  from  this  time, 
if  our  population  should  continue  to  increase 
at  a  ratio  equal  to  the  seventy  years  past,  it 
will  reach  over  one  hundred  and  fifty  milhons. 
Such  is  the  destiny  that  awaits  the  southwest, 
if  her  population  should  have  the  foresight 
and  wisdom  to  improve  the  means  tliat 
nature  and  her  peculiar  institutions  have 
placed  in  her  power.  But  if  she  blindly  ad- 
heres to  her  old  system  of  applying  all  her 
labor  to  the  production  of  but  one,  or  a  few 
articles,  thereby  exhausting  her  natural 
wealth  and  receiving  nothing  that  is  substan- 
tial and  permanent  in  its  stead,  she  must 
lose  all  the  advantages  of  her  position  and  of 
her  vast  resources,  and  the  eastern  states 
must  continue  to  increase  their  manufactures 
until  they  shall  monopolize  both  the  raw  ma- 
terial and  the  fabric.    And  thus,  the  absurd 


system  of  transporting  the  raw  material  to  a 
great  distance,  at  a  great  expense,  to  get  it 
manufactured,  will  be  perpetuated.  And  a 
bushel  of  corn  grown  in  tlie  west  for  ten  cents, 
must  continue  to  be  sent  to  the  east  at  the 
cost  of  from  thirty  to  forty  cents,  to  feed  the 
operatives ;  and  after  giving  employment  to 
the  eastern  population,  and  paying  a  large 
profit  on  eastern  capital,  and  to  eastern  mer- 
chants, the  manufactured  article  will  be  re- 
turned to  the  west,  charged  with  transporta- 
tion and  other  expenses,  to  be  consumed  and 
paid  for  in  part  with  corn  at  ten  cents  per 
bushel,  and  other  western  produce  at  corre- 
sponding prices.  The  whole  process  is  so  ab- 
surd and  preposterous  when  fairly  stated,  that 
we  can  scarcely  believe  in  its  present  existence, 
although  the  whole  country  is  engaged  in 
cai'rying  it  on  every  day. 

There  is  another  consideration  connected 
with  the  perpetuation  of  this  system.  As 
the  lands  become  more  and  more  exhausted 
in  the  older  and  more  northern  parts  of  the  \ 
slaveholding  districts,  slave  labor  will  become  j 
less  and  less  valuable ;  it  will  therefore  press  ' 
south  and  southwest,  and  their  places  will  be 
filled  by  white  laborers,  thus  insensibly  nar- 
rowing the  limits  of  the  slave  district,  until 
the  whole  of  this  population  will  be  crowded 
into  a  comparatively  small  area  in  the  ex- 
treme south.  This  result  of  all  others  should 
be  avoided  if  possible  by  the  slaveholders ; 
for  it  would  in  every  way  tend  to  lessen  the 
value  of  their  property,  and  would  sooner  or 
later  verify  the  prediction  of  the  eccentric 
statesman  of  Roanoke,  that  instead  of  the 
slaves  running  away  from  the  master,  the 
master  would  run  away  from  his  slaves. 
As  the  country  fills  up  with  a  more  crowd- 
ed population  in  the  non-slaveholding  states, 
free  labor  by  degrees  will  press  upon  the 
northern  limits  of  the  slaveholding  states, 
and  gain  a  footing  within  its  borders.  This 
will  be  a  different  race  from  the  southern  non-  i 
slaveholder;  these  will  be  people  who  are  \ 
inured  to  habits  of  industry  and  enterprise; 
they  will  bring  the  means  to  purchase  the 
worn-out  fields,  and  they  will  go  to  work  to 
restore  them  to  fertility  by  their  own  industry 
and  skill ;  they  will  not  use  slave  labor,  and 
all  the  land  thus  purchased  .and  occuj>ied  will 
be  so  much  taken  from  the  occupation  of 
slaves ;  for  it  may  be  safely  assumed  that 
when  the  shaves  have  once  progressed  south, 
they  will  never  return  to  the  north  .again. 

This  process  has  already  commenc  d,  and 
some  of  the  northern  counties  of  Virginia  are 
beginning  to  attract  the  attention  of  their 
northern  neighbors,  whose  settlement  here 
will  no  doubt  be  beneficial  to  this  particular 
district.  But  if  this  emigration  should  be- 
come considerable,  it  must  in  time  greatly 
affect  the  value  of  slave  property  in  the 
south. 

Thus  I  have  endeavored  to  suggest  to  the 


MANUFACTURES INFLUENCE    OF    ON    GROWTH    OF    CITIES. 


121 


public  mind  such  arguments  as  have  occurred 
to  me  upon  tliis  important  subject.  I  have 
endeavored  to  sliow,  that  the  agricultural 
system  hitherto  pursuetl  in  the  south  and 
southwest  has  proved  ruinous  to  the  country 
by  exhausting  the  soil,  and  thereby  rendering 
it  every  year  less  and  le?s  capable  of  produ- 
cing the  appliances  of  human  want  and  hu- 
man comfort ;  and  that  it  has  a  tendency  to 
divitie  the  population  into  two  classes,  widely 
differing  from  each  other  in  many  important 
respects  ;  that  to  these  and  other  causes  must 
be  assigned  the  reason  of  the  small  increase 
of  tiie  population  of  the  older  southern  states 
for  the  ten  years  preceding  the  year  1840, 
and  the  great  want  of  education  among  the 
poorer  classes.  On  the  otiier  hand,  I  have 
endeavored  to  show  some  of  the  effects  which 
may  be  expected  from  the  introduction  of 
manufactures  into  the  southwest ;  among 
which  I  have  supposed  that  the  moral  con- 
dition of  the  people  would  be  improved,  and 
that  by  diversifying  the  employments  of  the 
country,  the  means  of  human  comfort  would 
be  greatly  increased,  and  that  all  classes  of 
the  population  would  share  in  these  benefits  ; 
that  the  value  of  the  exports  would  be  greatly 
enlarged  by  the  process  of  manufacturing,  and 
that,  instead  of  a  constant  drain  from  the 
country  of  the  products  of  all  its  labor  and 
soil,  that  wealth  would  flow  into  it  from  every 
part  of  the  world.  I  have  called  the  atten- 
tion of  the  south  and  southwest  to  the  rapid 
increase  of  labor  in  this  region,  and  the  ne- 
cessity of  finding  profitable  employment  for 
it;  and  have  taken  the  liberty  of  suggesting 
a  plan  of  introducing  manufactures  by  de- 
grees, as  well  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  a 
shock  to  the  established  pursuits  of  the  coun- 
try, as  to  avoid  the  creation  of  a  state  of  in- 
debtedness. These,  with  various  other  topics, 
I  have  desired  to  impress  upon  the  mind  of 
the  people  of  the  southwest.  Many  of  these 
topics  are  no  doubt  familiar  to  many,  nor 
could  they  be  otherwise  to  those  who  reside 
in  the  country,  but  we  sometimes  become 
familiarized  with  evils  until  we  cease  to  ob- 
serve them,  and  in  such  cases  a  friendly  sug- 
gestion may  be  useful.  My  principal  object 
in  this  essay  has  been  to  arrest  the  attention 
of  the  people  of  the  southwest,  and  to  invite 
them  to  the  consideration  of  a  subject  inti- 
mately connected  with  their  prosperity.  My 
conclusions  may  not  in  every  instance  be  cor- 
rect, and  although  they  would  seem  to  be  fair 
deductions  from  the  facts  stated,  yet  the  un- 
foreseen events  and  changes  which  time  alone 
can  reveal,  may  produce  results  very  different 
from  those  which  I  have  supposed.  Be  this 
as  it  may,  the  amelioration  of  the  condition 
of  the  human  family  is  among  the  great  du- 
ties of  man,  and  to  promote  this  object  we 
are  called  to  act  upon  the  lights  before  us ; 
we  are  not  permitted  to  penetrate  the  future, 
and  to  predict  with  certainty  the  result  of 


any  liuman  policy.  Nevertheless,  it  is  oar 
duty  to  march  onward,  guided  by  the  lights 
of  reason  and  experience,  trusting  the  events 
to  an  overruling  Providence. 

If  this  humble  eflbrt  should  in  any  way  be 
the  means  of  directing  the  attention  of  the 
people  of  the  southwest  to  the  subject  of 
manufacturing,  and  of  inducing  them  to  ex- 
amine the  several  topics  which  I  have  en- 
deavored to  present  for  their  consideration,  I 
trust  that  individuals  possessing  more  capa- 
city, as  well  as  more  time  and  means  for  pro- 
curing correct  information,  will  take  the 
matter  in  hand,  and  afford  to  the  country  the 
benefit  of  their  talents  and  observation.  It 
will  be  in  the  power  of  such  individuals  to 
confer  a  lasting  benefit  upon  the  country,  and 
place  their  names  among  those  of  its  bene- 
factors. 

MANUFACTURES —- IxFLUENCE  of  on 
THE  Gkowth  ok  Cities. — Cannelton,  In- 
diana.— We  are  indebted  to  Hamilton  Smith, 
Esq.,  the  distinguished  manufacturer  of  the 
West,  and  the  man  who  is  doing  more  at  this 
moment  for  advancing  the  manufacturing  and 
general  prosperity  of  this  great  region  than 
perhaps  any  other  in  the  nation,  for  a  copy  of 
his  elaborate  pamphlet,  prepared  by  request, 
upon  the  mineral,  coal,  and  manufacturing 
facilities  of  Cannelton,  Indiana.  We  have 
examined  it  with  much  interest,  as  many  of 
the  particulars  included  have  from  time  to 
time  been  presented  by  the  author  through 
our  Review,  and  as  there  are  many  more 
which  are  deserving  of  the  widest  circulation 
and  study.  The  attention  of  capitalists  in  par- 
ticular should  be  directed  to  this  quarter, 
which  promises  them  the  mo.st  prolific  re- 
turns. Extensive  cotton  factories  are  in  con- 
struction, and  the  coal  mines  are  in  control  of 
a  company  who  solicit  capital.  The  great 
mill  of  which  a  wood-cut  representation  is 
given  in  the  pamphlet  is  intended  for  10,800 
spindles  and  372  looms;  it  is  287  feet  long 
and  65  feetwide  ;  towers  106  feet  high.  The 
attic  (220  feet  by  40  feet)  is  lighted  by  win- 
dows in  the  gable-ends.  Corner-stone  laid 
May  21,  1849. 

"This  town  was  laid  out  in  1835,  and  set- 
tled by  colliers  under  the  supervision  of 
Rhodes  and  McLane.  In  1836  the  American 
Cannel  Coal  Company  was  formed,  which 
owes  its  origin  to  the  late  General  Seth  Hunt, 
of  New  Hampshire  ;  a  man  whose  intelligence 
was  only  equalled  by  the  energy  of  his  cha- 
racter, and  who,  in  connection  with  Messrs, 
Hobart,  Williams  and  Russell,  then  wealthy 
capitalists  of  Boston,  purchased  a  large  tract 
of  land,  consisting  of  about  7,000  acres,  and 
made  several  entries  to  the  coal  strata.  The 
capital  stock  of  this  company  is  §500,000. 
From  400,000  to  500,000  bushels  of  coal  are 
mined  here  per  annum.  The  site  of  this  town 
is  on  a  bend  of  the  Ohio,  and  embraces  over 


121 


MANUFACTURES INFLUENCE    OF    ON    GROWTH    OF    CITIES. 


1,000  acres  between  the  river  and  the  coal  i 
hills.  The  landing  is  very  fine.  The  prin- 
cipal improvements  and  growth  of  Cannelton 
have  taken  place  witliiu  the  last  twelve 
months.  Its  population  is  now  somewhere 
between  1,200  ami  1,500  persons. 

"  A  large  first  class  hotel,  containing  over 
70  sleeping-rooms,  is  now  being  constructed,  j 
and  will  be  ready  for  occupation  by  the  last  of  j 
May.  Besides  the  saw  and  grist-mill  of  J.  C. 
Porter  tt  Co ,  referred  to  on  the  map,  the  i 
cotton-mill  company  have  already  in  opera- 
tion a  fine  sttam  planing-mill,  and,  connected 
with  the  same  power,  several  circular  saws, 
turning-lathes,  etc.  The  establishment  of  Mr. 
Z.  W.  Merrithew,  for  the  manufacture  ofi 
sliaved  shingles,  is  also  worthy  of  notice.  A 
short  distance  above  Castlebury  Creek,  and  , 
upon  the  bank  of  the  river,  Messrs.  Ross,  Tal- 
bott  &  Co.  are  erecting  a  large  saw  and  flour- ' 
ing-mill.  Just  below  the  mouth  of  Dozier 
Creek  Mr.  Thomas  M.  Smitli  is  about  building 
another  saw-mill.  A  building  has  already 
been  erected  by  Messrs.  Smith  and  Badger 
for  a  foundry,  but  is  not  yet  in  operation. 
The  tin,  copper  and  sheet  iron  establishment 
of  J.  S.  Thayer  &  Brother  is  well  known  to 
the  community.  Recently  our  friend  Beacon 
has  commenced  the  manufacture  of  brick,  and 
in  a  short  time  will  be  ready  to  fill  all  orders 
in  this  respect.  We  have  some  eight  or  ten 
stores  of  different  kinds,  and  a  full  supply  of 
professional  gentlemen.  We  have  bakers. 
Butchers,  shoemakers,  tailors  and  milliners." 

We  take  from  the  pamphlet  the  follow- 
ing statistical  facts,  showing  the  prodigious 
advances  of  manufacturing  towns,  which 
ehould  furnish  to  the  people  of  the  south  in 
particular  the  most  salutary  lessons.  Let  us 
take  the  old  cities  of  Charleston  and  Savan- 
nah, and  ask  why  they  have  so  long  been  as 
it  were  stationary,  while  every  thing  around 
is  in  motion  ?  By  the  introduction  of  an  ex- 
tensive system  of  manufactures,  it  would  be 
easy  to  advance  the  population  of  these  cities 
two-fold  in  a  single  decade.  We  believe 
their  citizens  are  now  beginning  to  perceive  it. 

"  The  causes  of  the  growth  of  modern  cities 
are  the  concentration,  or  assemblage  in  certain 
localities,  of  the  materials,  or  the  most  useful 
materials,  which  afford  labor  for  the  hand  of 
industry,  and  from  tlie  products  of  which  the 
growing  wants  of  mankind  are  supplied. 

"  To  sustain  this  position,  we  submit  the  fol- 
lowing concise  statements,  showing  the  causes 
of  the  growth  and  progress  of  tlie  several 
cities  and  towns  respectively  mentioned  : 

"  Birmingham,  England.  —  This  city  in 
1801  had  a  population  of  73,670,  in  1831  of 
140,986,  in  1839  an  estimated  population  of 
190,000,  and  at  the  present  time  of  probably 
not  less  tlian  250,000.  Its  opulence,  celebrity 
and  magnitude  are  ascribabie  to  tlie  iron, 
atone  and  coal  with  whicli  the  district  abounds. 

"  Bolton,  England. — The  rapid  growth  and 


prosperity  of  this  town  dates  from  l770-'80. 
Its  population  in  1773  was  5  60-1 ;  in  1801, 
18,583  ;  in  1811,  25,551 ;  in  1821,  32,973;  in 
1831,43,397.  It  is  a  seat  of  cotton  manu- 
facture, and  the  birth-place  of  Arkwright 
Its  growth  is  attributed  to  its  command  of 
coal,  being  situated  in  a  coal  district 

"Bradford,  England. —  Township  consists 
of  1,680  acres;  population  in  1801,  6,393;  in 
1821,  13,00-1;  m  1831,  no  less  than  23,233, 
and  since  that  period  has  increased  still  more 
rapidly.  Its  growth  is  owing  to  its  manu- 
factures, which  are  facilitated  by  its  unlimited 
command  of  coal  and  its  abundance  of  iron. 

"Burnley,  England. — Population  in  1801, 
3,305;  in  1821,0,378;  in  18-11,  54,192.  A 
manufacturing  town.  Cause  of  growth,  abun- 
dance and  cheapness  of  coal  found  in  the 
vicinity,  with  a  good  supply  of  freestone,  slate, 
itc.     The  town  is  built  mostly  of  freestone. 

"  Bury,  England. — A  large  manufacturing 
town,  consisting  of  4,360  acres.  Population 
in  1821,  13,480;  in  1841,  77,490.  In  the 
parish  of  the  same  name,  and  which  includes 
this  town,  are  extensive  quarries  of  building 
stone,  and  nhie  wrougJit  coal  mines. 

"  Carlisle,  England.  —  A  manufacturing 
town,  supplied  with  coal  from  places  varying 
from  twelve  to  twenty  miles  distant.  Popula- 
tion in  1801, 10,221 ;  in  1821, 15,486 ;  in  ]  841, 
36,084. 

"Charleroy. — An  important  manufacturing 
town  in  Belgium,  situated  in  the  centre  of  the 
great  coal  basin  of  Charleroy.  In  1 836  it  had 
seventy-two  mines  in  active  operation,  pro- 
ducing 900,000  tons  of  coal  per  annum. 
Iron  abounds,  and  also  quarries  of  marble 
and  slate.  Its  furnaces  give  employment  to 
3,000  men,  and  during  the  winter  season 
4,000  men  are  employed  in  making  nails. 
Its  coal,  iron  and  stone  have  made  it  what  it  is. 

"  Derby,  England. — A  mancfacturing  town, 
with  both  water-power  and  coal.  Population 
in  1841,  35,015  ;  in  1811  it  was  only  13,043. 

"  Durham,  England. — In  1821  this  city  had 
a  population  of  10,282  ;  in  1831,  only  10,520. 
About  this  time  extensive  collieries  were 
opened,  and  the  population  immediately  in- 
creased, so  that  m  1840  the  number  of  its 
inhabitants  was  put  down  at  40,000.  Previous 
to  this  it  was  one  of  the  dullest  cities  in  the 
kingdom.    Stone,  lime,  coal  and  iron  abound. 

"  Huddcr.tficld,  England.  —  The  township 
consists  of  3,950  acres,  and  had  a  population 
in  1801  of  7,208,  in  1831  of  19,035.  The 
population  of  the  parish  in  1840  was  esti- 
mated at  40,000.  It  is  one  of  the  principal 
seats  of  the  woollen  manufacture,  and  stands 
in  the  midst  of  a  rich  coal  field.  There  is 
also  an  ample  supply  of  water-power. 

"  Johnston,  Scutland.— The  rise  of  this  town 
has  been  more  rapid  than  any  other  town  in 
Scotland.     The  ground  on  which  it  stands  be- 
gun, for  the  first  time,  to  be  fued,  or  let,  on 
i  building  leases,  in  1781,  when  it  contained 


MANUFACTURES,  COTTON PROGRESS    OF    IN   THE    U.    8. 


128 


only  ten  persons.  Its  population  in  1840  is 
Bet  down  at  7,000.  Its  growtii  is  owinjij  to 
the  introduction  of  nianuflictures,  it  being 
Bituatcd  on  a  fine  water-power.  It  has  several 
foundries  and  machine-shops,  and  near  the 
town  tire  four  collieries. 

"Leeds,  Englancl-f-^  celebrated  manufac 
turiug  town,  and  the  great  centre  of  the 
■woollen  cloth  trade.  Population  of  the  town 
in  1831,  '71,602.  Its  eminence  is  owing 
partly  to  its  advantageous  situation  in  a  fer- 
tile country,  intersected  witluivers,and  partly 
to  its  possessing  inexhaustible  beds  of  coal. 

"  Leigh,  England. — A  manufacturing  town, 
with  a  population  in  1841  of  22,229.  In  1834, 
according  to  Mr.  Baines,  upwards  of  8,000 
persons  were  employed  in  spinning  and  weav- 
ing cotton  and  silk,  both  by  hand  and  power- 
looms.  Its  industry  and  growth  is  promoted 
by  its  abundance  of  coal  and  lime. 

"  LoK'cN,  Massachusetts.  —  Population  in 
1820, 200  ;  at  the  present  time,  35,000.  Cause 
of  growth,  its  great  water-power. 

"  iMicrence,  Massachusetts. — Present  popu- 
lation, 1,500.  Four  or  five  years  ago  it  was  but 
a  school  district.  Its  water-wheels  have  graded 
streets,  and  lined  these  with  splendid  edifices, 
on  alluvial  land  so  poor  that  it  would  not 
average  a  crop  of  fifteen  bushels  of  corn  to 
the  acre  without  artificial  enrichment. 

"  Manchester,  New-Hampshire,  \Q  1835  was 
a  small  hamlet;  in  1840  a  few  mills  had  in- 
creased its  population  to  about  3,000 ;  it  is 
B^id  to  contain  now  about  17,000  souls. 
Although  it  is  in  a  hilly  and  barren  country, 
and  receives  its  materials  and  sends  its  pro- 
ducts over  about  sixty  miles  of  railroad,  it 
is  still  growing  with  rapidity,  because  it  has 
the  motive-power  of  the  Merrimac. 

"  Manhcester,  England. — The  great  centre 
of  the  cotton  manufacture  in  Great  Britain, 
and  the  jirincipal  manufiicturing  town  in  the 
world.  Manchester  and  Salford  are  separated 
by  tlie  small  river  Irwell,  and  form  one 
town,  covering  3,000  acres.  The  population 
of  the  town  and  suburbs,  including  Salford, 
in  1801,  was  95,313;  in  1831,  239,388;  and 
in  1841  was  estimated  at  360,000.  Manu- 
facturing has  made  Manchester.  The  steam- 
engine,  with  other  improved  machines  for 
•working  up  cotton,  have  made  its  manufac- 
tures, and  the  coal  from  the  inexhaustible  coal- 
field, on  tlieedge  of  which  the  city  is  situated, 
has  fed  the  engine.  Hence  the  modern  growth 
of  Manchester  is  ascribable  to  its  coal. 

" Mcrthyr-Tgdnil,  8.  Walea.  —  Population 
27,460  in  1881 ;  in  1841,  34,977.  It  is  re- 
markable for  its  iron  works,  and  is  wholly 
indebted  for  its  prosperity  to  its  rich  mines  of 
coal,  iron  ore  and  limestone.  Towards  the 
middle  of  the  last  century  it  was  an  insignifi- 
cant village,  and  in  1755  the  lands  and  mines 
for  several  nides  around  the  village,  the  seat 
of  the  great  works  now  erected,  were  let  for 
ninety-nine  years  for  £200  a  year. 


"  Newcastle  -  upon  -  Tyne.  —  Population  in 
1831,  53,013;  in  1841  estimated  at  05,000. 
It  owes  its  importance,  if  not  its  existence,  to 
its  convenient  situation  as  a  place  of  shipment 
for  the  coal  wrought  in  its  neighborhood. 

"  Pitt.fburg,  I'ennsglvania. — The  popula- 
tion of  Pittsburg  for  each  decennary  period 
from  1800  was  1,505,  4,768,  7,248,  12,542, 
21,115.  With  its  dependencies  it  has  a  pre- 
sent population  of  about  100,000  ;  and  al- 
though it  has  lost  the  greater  part  of  its  trans- 
portation and  commercial  business,  it  is  now 
growing  more  rapidly  than  ever.  The  copper 
ore  of  Lake  Superior,  the  lead  of  Illinois,  the 
wheat  of  Michigan,  the  cotton  of  Tennessee, 
and  even  the  iron  and  sand  of  Missouri,  are 
transported  to  and  combined  by  the  power 
that  lies  in  the  Pittsburg  coal. 

"  Oldham,  England. — A  large  manufactur- 
ing town,  chiefly  cotton.  Population  in  1841, 
42,594.  In  1760  it  comprised  only  about 
GO  thatched  tenements.  In  1839  it  had  two 
hundred  manufactories,  set  in  motion  by  a 
steam-power  equal  to  2,942  horses,  and  em- 
ploying 15,391  hands.  It  has  an  abundant 
and  immediate  supply  of  excellent  coal. 

"  Rochester,  Neiu-  York.  —  Population  in 
1820,  1,502;  in  1830,  9,269;  in  1840,  20,191. 
It  owes  its  great  advantages  and  rapid  growth 
to  its  vast  water-power,  created  by  the  falls 
in  the  Genesee  river. 

"  Shcjield,  England. — Noted  for  its  hard- 
ware, cutlery,  etc.  Population  of  the  parish 
in  1801,  45,755;  in  1831,  91,092;  and  in 
1841,  110,801.  Its  manufactures  are  exten- 
sive, and  known  the  world  over.  Coal  and 
iron  have  made  the  city. 

"  Wolverhampton,  England. — This  town,  or 
rather  the  district  including  the  town,  com- 
prises 16,630  acres.  Its  population  in  1831 
was  67,514.  In  1841  the  population  of  the 
town  alone  was  36,189.  Wolverhampton, 
and  the  places  in  its  vicinity,  owe  their  rapid 
rise  to  the  mines  of  coal  and  iron-stone. 

"  Other  illustrations,  such  as  Pottsville, 
Cumberland,  Wheeling,  Pomeroy,  etc.,  might 
be  adduced,  but  those  already  given  are  be- 
lieved to  be  suflicieut  to  indicate  the  tendency 
of  men  at  the  present  time  to  cluster  around 
and  build  their  homes  in  such  localities  as 
afford  them  the  great  staples  and  materials 
upon  which  they  may  bestow  their  labor,  and 
for  which  they  may  receive  the  largest  rates 
of  compensation." — Cannelton  Economist. 

MANUFACTURES.— Progress  of  t 
Cotton  Manufacture  in  the  Uniteo  Statfs* 
— We  copy  from  the  last  number  of  the  ^'Drij 
Goods  Reporter"  the  organ  of  the  manufac- 
turing interest,  published  in  New- York,  the 
following  condensed  and  interesting  account 
of  tlie  progress  of  the  cotton  manufacture  in 
the  United  States  during  the  last  twenty- 
three  years.  The  reader  will  perceive  that 
the  greatest  amount  of  increase  has  actually 


124 


MANUFACTURES,    COTTON    ANB   W'OOL,    AT   THE    SOUTH. 


occurred  durin"  the  existence  of  the  present 
tai-iff,  thus  lefuting  all  the  pretenses  that  the 
cotton  manufacturing  interest  is  suffering  for 
want  of  adequate  protection  in  the  shape  of 
a  prohibitory  tariff,  giving  it  the  monopoly  of 
the  American  market: 

Siii:— I  have  thought  it  might  be  interest- 
ing and  important,  both  to  your  subscribers 
and  the  public  generally,  to  bring  before  them 
at  the  present  time  the  following  statistical 
information,  comprising  the  annual  consump- 
tion of  cotton  in  the  United  States  for  the 
past  twenty-three  years,  and  the  exports  of 
the  domestic  manufactured  cottons  for  nearly 
the  same  period,  which,  at  one  view,  shows 
the  progressive  increase  of  these  exports,  and 
the  far  more  remarkable  increase  of  the  an- 
nual consumption  of  the  cotton  manufactured  ;  slave   labor   throughout  our  limits  to  these 


Being  an  increase  of  consumption,  from  the 
three  years  first  named  to  the  last  named,  of 
280  per  cent,  in  twenty-three  years ;  or  say 
the  average  of  12  per  cent,  per  annum.  This, 
it  will  be  understood,  is  exclusive  of  the  an- 
nual consumption  in  the  cotton  -  growing 
states,  where  the  incr^se  may  have  been 
even  larger.    (See  Cotton.) 

MANUFACTURES.— Extension-  of  Cot- 
ton AND  Wool  Factories  at  the  South. — 
We  have  been  favored  by  the  author  (K 
Steadman,  of  Tennessee)  with  a  very  able 
and  instructive  paper  upon  this  subject,  which 
we  regret  our  inability  to  publish  entire,  but 
from  which  we  shall  freely  extract.  Mr. 
Steadman   recommends   the    application    of 


In  1838-39.. 270,018 
1839-40.. 295,193 
1840-41.. 297,288 
1841-42.. 207,850 
1842-43.. 325,129 
1843-44..  340,744 
1844-45..  388,000 
1845-46.. 422,397 
1846-47.. 427,907 
1847-48.. 531,772 
1848-49..  5 18,039 


goods  in  tiie  United  States.     And  I  prop 
to  add  such  commentary  as  the  examination 
of  these  statistics  has  brought  to  my  mind. 

I  begin  with  the  apparent  annual  consump- 
tion of  cotton  in  bales  for  the  years  respect- 
ively named : 

Balea. 
In  1826-27.. 149,510 

1827-28.. 120,593 

1828-29.. 118,853 

1829-30.. 120,512 

1830-31.. 182,142 

1831-32.. 173,800 

1832-33..  194,412 

1833-34..  190,413 

1834-35.. 216,888 

1835-30..  230,733 

1830-37..  222,540 

1837-38.. 246.063 

Total  of  23  years  being 6,281,868 

These  quantities  do  not  include  the  cotton 
con.sumed  in  the  cotton-growing  states  them- 
selves, whicii,  for  the  year  ending  1st  Sep- 
tember, 1848,  was  estimated  at  75,000  bales, 
and  1st  September,  1849,  110,000,  thus  mak- 
ing the  real  consumption  of  raw  cotton  in  the 
United  States  for  the  years  ending  1st  Sep- 
tember, 1848,  606,772  bales;  1st  September, 
1849,  628,039. 

Before  proceeding  to  the  statistics  of  ex- 
ports, let  us  look  at  some  of  the  prominent 
facts  exhibited  by  the  foregoing  table  of  an- 
nual consumption. 

Bales. 
In  1826-27  the  consumption  stated  is  149,516 
1827-28  "  "         120,593 

1828-29  "  "         118,853 

Making 388,902 

Averaging  per  annum. . .  .129,654 

In  1846-47  the  consumption  stated  is  427,967 
1847-48  "  "         531,772 

1848-49  «  "         418,039 


Making 1,447,778 

Averaging  per  annum. . .  .492,593 


purposes.  In  this  we  heartily  agree,  such 
labor  having  been  found  most  advantageous 
wherever  adopted. 

STATISTICS     OF    A    COTTON    AND    WOOLLEN    MILL 

OF  5,000  spindles;  §100,000  capital. 

In  order  that  the  reader  may  fully  under- 
stand us  as  we  go  along,  we  will  here  lay  be- 
fore him  an  estimate  of  one  year's  operation 
of  the  proposed  cotton  and  woollen  mill  of 
five  thousand  spindles,  with  eighty-eight  cot- 
ton and  twenty-four  woollen  looms  for  manu- 
facturing osnaburgs,  sheetings,  yarns,  jeans, 
and  linsey,  the  estimated  cost  of  which,  in- 
cluding lot,  buildings  and  machinery,  ready 
for  operation,  is  $100,000. 

The  contemplated  mill  will  an- 
nually   make    the    following 

amount  of  goods: — 1,710  doz- 
en of  assorted  yarns  per  day, 

which  in  three  hundred  days 

will  amount  to  513,000  dozen, 

weighiug  7|-  oz.  each,  ■which 

are  now  worth  by  wholesale 

9  cents  per  dozen  ;  making  in 

the  whole $46,170  00 

Twenty-f»ur  osnaburg  looms  will 

make  37^  yards  each  per  day, 

which  in  three  hundred  days 

will    make     27u,OUO     yards, 

weighing  ^}lb.  per  yard,  worth 

lljj  cents,  amounting  to 31,050  00 

Sixty-four    looms    for   weaving 

sheetings,  will  eacii  make  33^ 

yards   per  day,  weighing  2| 

yards  to  the  lb.,  which  in  three 

hundred     days     amounts     to 

640,000  yards,  at  8;i  cents  per 

yard 52,800  00 

Twelve  linsey  looms  will  make 

37^  yards  each  per  ilay,  mak- 
ing   in    three   hundred   days 

135,000  yards,  weighing  '{  lb. 

to  the  yard,  which  is  worth, 

plain  and  colored,  on  an  aver- 


MANUFACTURES,    COTTON    AND   WOOL,    AT   THE    SOUTH. 


125 


age,  30  eta.  per  yard,  amount- 

ing  to 40,500  00 

Twelve  jean  looms  will  make 
28  yards  per  day,  and  in  three 
hundred  days,  100,800  yards, 
weijihing  1  lb.  to  the  yard, 
worth,  plain  and  colored,  40 
cents  per  yard,  amounting  in 
three  hundred  days  to 40,320  00 


Total  products  per  annum,  $210,840  00 

The  above  result  will  cost  for  cotton,  wool, 

labor,  and  incidental  chai'ges  in  manufactur- 
ing, as  follows : 

Cotton  required,  766,200  pounds, 
delivered  at  the  mill,  includ- 
ing all  charges,  at  10  cents  per 
pound,  amounts  in  the  whole 
to 176,620  00 

Wool  required,  157,837-1  lbs.  deli- 
vered at  tlie  mill,  including  all 
charges,  at  31  ^  cents  per  lb., 
amounts  in  the  whole  to 49,324  00 

Wood  required,  2,000  cords  de- 
livered at  the  mill,  including 
all  charges,  at  $1.75  per  cord, 
amounts  to 3,500  00 

Labor  to  manufacture  the  above 

goods,  amounts  to 25,725  00 

Commissions,  freights  and  char- 
ges, to  include  all  costs  of  sale 
at  10  per  cent.,  amounting  to. .      21,084  00 

Interest  on  $30,000  capital  ne- 
cessary to  be  invested  in  stock, 
on  an  average  one  year  with 
another,  at  7  per  cent,  per 
annum,  amounts  to 2,100  00 

Insurance  on  buildings,  machin- 
ery, and  stock,  $100,000,  at 
2.i  per  cent 2,500  00 

Depreciation  on  the  value  of  ma- 
chinery, worth  .$75,000,  5  per 
cent, 3,750  00 

Incidental  expenses,  which  is  the 
cost  of  oil,  leather,  starch,  dye- 
Btuffs,  &c 6,000  00 


Total  expenses $190,603  00 


every  man  may  calculate  for  himself  the 
amount  paid  to  each  description  of  operatives, 
and  form  his  own  conclusions  as  to  its  suflS- 
ciency. 

TABLE  OF  LABOR. 

8  Boys,  per  annum,  $50  00  each,     $400 

106  Women          "  112  50  "      11,926 

23  Men                "  260  00  "  6,750 

1  Engineer         "  600  00  «  600 

1  Carpenter      "  -150  00  "  450 

1  Jdachinist       "  GOO  00  "  600 

4  Overseers       "  600  00  "  2,400 

1  Clerk               "  600  00  "  600 

1  Superintendent,  l,5uO  00  "  1,500 

1  Agent,  1,600  00  "  1,500 


Total  prohts $20,237  00 

In  addition  to  the  styles  of  goods  mentioned 
in  the  above  estimates,  a  portion  of  the  ma- 
chinery and  labor  can  be  profitably  employed, 
and  no  doubt  will  be,  in  the  manufacture  of 
cottonades,  bed-tickings,  stripes,  checks,  and 
plaids. 

In  the  table  of  expenses  will  be  found  an 
item  of  $25,725  for  labor.  This  item  em 
braces  all  the  labor  necessary  to  carry  on  the 
mill,  or  that  is  in  any  way  connected  with  it. 
For  the  satisfaction  of  those  who  are  not 
familiar  with  the  subject,  we  have  made  the 
following  analysis  of  that  item,  in  order  that 


147 


$25,726 

These  are  the  amounts  proposed  to  be  paid, 
and  tiiey  contemplate  that  eacli  person  boards 
himself  or  herself,  as  the  case  may  be. 

No  question,  we  presume,  will  be  raised  in 
regard  to  the  liberaUty  of  any  of  the  above 
items,  except  for  the  labor  of  the  106  women 
and  the  23  men..  The  wages  allowed  the 
women,  it  will  be  seen,  is  $112.50  per  annum, 
which,  for  fifty  weeks,  deducting  two  weeks 
for  holidays  and  lost  time,  amounts  to  two 
dollars  and  twenty-five  cents  per  week.  The 
wages  allowed  the  23  men,  who  are  mostly 
common  hands,  is  $250,  which,  for  fifty- 
weeks,  amounts  to  five  dollars  per  week. 

"  In  Lowell,  labor  is  paid  the  tair  compensa- 
tion of  80  cents  a  day  for  men,  and  *2  a  week 
for  women,  while  in  Tennessee  the  average 
compensation  for  labor  does  not  exceed  50 
cents  per  day  for  men,  and  $1.25  per  week 
for  women.  Such  is  the  wisdom  of  a  wise 
division  of  labor." 

We  will  now  briefly  recapitulate  the  ad- 
vantages we  have  enumerated  in  favor  of 
manufacturing  here  : 

766.200  pounds  of  cotton  costs  us 
one  cent  per  pound  less  than 
the  northern  manufacturers. . 

157,837^  pounds  of  wool  costs 
one  and  a  half  cents  per  pouud 
less  than  the  northern  manu- 
facturers   

Five  per  cent,  on  the  value  of 
the  goods,  worth  $210,840. . . 


$7,662  00 

2,367  50 
10,670  00 


Sum  total  of  advantage $20,699  50 

It  will  be  seen  that  we  have  here  repre- 
sented an  advantage  in  favor  of  southern 
manufactures  of  over  20  per  cent.,  and  from 
the  facts  in  our  possession,  we  cannot  believe 
the  estimate  extravag.int.  We  have  now  be- 
fore u-i  a  very  able  work  written  by  Hamil- 
ton Smith,  Esq.,  of  Louisville,  Ky.,  on  this 
subject,  in  which  he  demonstrates  tliat  loca- 
tions on  the  Oliio  river  liave  an  atlvantage 
over  the  northern  establi>hments  of  21.J  per 
cent. ;  and  as  a  matter  of  course,  an  establish- 


126 


MANUFACTURES,   COTTON   AND   WOOL,   AT   THE   SOUTH. 


ment  here  in  tlie  immediate  neighborhood  of 
the  cotton  fields  would  have  a  still  greater 
advantage.  Mr.  James  Montgomery — the 
author  of  several  standard  works  on  the  man- 
ufacture of  cotton  in  Europe  and  America, 
and  very  high  authority  on  all  subjects  con- 
nected with  manufacturing — recently  made 
tlie  following  statements  of  the  advantages  of 
the  south  and  west  for  manufacturing,  after 
having  made  a  personal  examination  of  their 
facilities.     He  says : 

"  I  have  read  Gen.  James'  pamphlet,  and 
the  pamphlets  written  by  Mr.  Gregg,  on  the 
comparative  advantages  of  the  south  for  man- 
ufacturing ;  and  yet,  after  all  I  have  read  on 
the  subject,  I  may  say  with  the  Queen  of 
Sheba,  half  the  truth  has  not  yet  been  told. 
Cheap  living,  and,  of  course,  low  wages — 
cheap  cotton,  coal  and  iron,  constitute  the 
great  elements  of  success  in  the  introduction 
and  prosecution  of  the  cotton  manufacture. 
No  country  in  the  world  possesses  these  ele- 
ments in  a  degree  equal  to  the  southern  and 
southwestern  sections  of  the  United  States. 
Great  Britain,  with  her  cheap  coals  and  iron, 
stands  at  the  head  of  all  nations  in  point  of 
■wealth  and  commerce.  She  is  now  making  a 
desperate  effort  to  introduce  cheap  living,  but 
she  can  never  introduce  cheap  cotton.  The 
northern  states  can  never  equal  the  south  in 
either  of  the  above-named  elements." 

The  cotton  crop  of  Tennessee  amounts  to 
200,000  bales,  averaging  450  pounds.  This 
will  give  us  90,000,000  pounds  per  annum, 
the  average  price  of  which  is  supposed  to  be 
about  6^  cents.  The  value  of  the  crop,  then, 
is  ?-5,850,'i00.  To  produce  this  amount  of 
cotton  would  require  1,440,000  acres  of  land, 
averaging  250  pounds  to  the  acre  in  cotton. 
The  average  value  of  these  lands  cannot  be 
less  than  ^\o  per  acre,  which  gives  us  a  cap- 
ital of  ?21, 000,000  invested  in  land  alone. 

To  cultivate  this  amount  of  land  will  re- 
quire 51,4:^0  able-bodied  hands,  each  tending 
seven  acres  of  cotton,  producing  2.50  pounds 
to  the  acre.  If  we  value  them  at  8500  each, 
which  would  be  a  low  estimate,  we  find  a 
capital  invested  in  slaves  to  produce  this  cot- 
ton of  ?  2  5, 7 15,000. 

To  these  items  we  must  add  the  amount  of 
capital  invested  in  mules,  horses,  ploughs,  and 
all  other  farming  implements,  estimated  at 
about  .$2,095,000,  makmg  the  total  amount  of 
capital  employed  to  produce  the  90,000,000 
pounds  of  cotton,  $50,000,000. 

To  manufacture  the  90,000,000  pounds  of 
cotton  into  cloth  would  require  500,000  spin- 
dles, with  all  the  preparations  for  weaving, 
the  cost  of  which,  including  the  powers,  (water 
or  steam.)  sites  and  buildings,  would  be 
$10,000,000. 

In  addition  to  this  $10,000,000,  which 
would  all  bo  consumed  in  the  erection  of 
buildings,  purchase  of  sites  and  macliinery, 
there  would  be  required  the  sum  of  ?2,500,000, 


upon  which  to  operate  in  the  purchase  of 
material,  payment  of  operators,  ttc,  which 
would  run  up  the  amount  of  capital  neces- 
sary to  §12,500,000. 

the  90,000,0u0  pounds  of  cotton  will  make 
225,000,000  yards  of  doiviestics,  the  cotton 
yielding  two  and  one  half  yards  to  the  pound. 
The  average  price  of  these  domestics  is  not 
less  than  7^  cents  jier  yard,  which  would 
make  the  aggregate  value  of  the  goods  manu- 
factured from  the  cotton  crop  of  Tennessee, 
§1G,«75,000. 

To  operate  the  above  amount  of 

machinery,     25,000    common 

hands,  embracing  men,  women 

and   children,   would    be   re- 
quired, at  an  annual  expense 

of    $8,125,000.      Also,    1,000 

men,  machinists,  overseers  and 

superintendents,  at  an  annual 

expense  of  §750,000,  making 

the  cost  of  the  labor §3,875,000 

The  incidental  expenses,  embrac- 
ing repairs,  oil,  leather,  starch, 

&c.,  would  amount  to 1,500,000 

Five  per  cent,  to  be  set  apart  as 

a  sinking  fund,  to  cover  the 

wear  and  tear  of  machinery, 

buildings,  &c 500,000 

Insurance,     2.J     per    cent,    on 

§10,ooO,000~ 250,000 

Ten  per  cent,  upon  the  value  of 

the  goods,  to  cover  commis- 
sions, freights  and  losses,. . . .       1,685,50 
Cost   of  90,000,000   pounds    of 

cotton  delivered  at  the  mill, 

say  63  cents  per  pound 6,075,000 

Making  the  annual  expenses,  §13,885,500 

If  we  deduct  this  bill  of  expenses  from 
the  value  of  the  goods  produced  as  above, 
(§16,875,0(10,)  we  have  an  annual  profit  of 
§2,989,500,  or  twenty-four  per  cent,  upon  the 
capital  of  §12,500,000. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen,  that  while  the  agri- 
culturists who  produce  this  cotton  make  but 
11^  per  cent,  upon  their  capital,  the  manufac- 
turers who  convert  it  into  fabric  clear  24  per 
cent,  or  a  fraction  over  double  the  amount 
upon  their  capital.  Are  there  any  so  blind 
as  not  to  see  the  advantages  of  the  system  ? 

Slavery  axd  MAxrFAtTnuNG. — We  now 
approach  a  subject  fraught  with  the  most  im- 
portant consequences  to  the  people  of  the 
slaveholding  states,  and  which  should  com- 
mand their  strious  consideration. 

The  events  of  the  last  three  years  must 
have  satisfied  eveiy  intelligent  man  that  the 
institution  of  slavery  in  the  United  States  has 
already  reached  the  limits  of  expansion — that 
its  further  extension  is  a  ])hysical  impossibil- 
ity. We  have  heretfifore  been  excluded  from 
the  territory  north  of  the  line  of  the  Missouri 
compromise,  and  the  admission  of  California 


MANUFACTURES,   COTTON   AXD   WOOL,   AT  THE   SOUTH. 


12Y 


closes  the  door  to  any  hope  of  extension  of 
skveiy  thuie.  The  intermediate  territory  is 
said  to  be  unfit  for  slave  hibor ;  that  both  cU- 
niate  and  s^oil  are  opposed  to  it;  and  that,  as 
a  coiisc(juenee,  it  can  never  go  there. 

Wiiat,  then,  has  the  south  to  hx)k  to,  or  to 
hope  fori  The  north  is  rapidly  fiUing  up; 
the  demand  for  labor  is  great ;  capital  is 
abundant,  and  population  is  pouring  in.  They 
already  have  the  preponderance  of  political 
power  in  the  national  governnitnt,  and  hold, 
as  it  were,  our  political  destinies  in  the  hollow 
of  their  hand.  There  is  free  territory  enough 
to  make  fifteen  or  twenty  new  states,  while 
the  south  can  only  look  to  the  three  or  four 
states  to  be  formed  out  of  Texas,  to  balance 
the  fearful  reinforcement  to  the  opponents  of 
our  institution. 

That  the  north  has  the  power  to  oppress, 
and  if  disposed,  to  crush  us,  no  one  will  deny; 
and  the  question  is  not  whether  they  can  do 
it,  but  whether  they  will  exercise  the  power 
it  is  acknowledged  they  possess.  Under  such 
circumstances  it  becomes  the  interest,  ay,  the 
duty  of  every  southern  man  to  inquire  if  the 
south  cannot  be  placed  in  a  position  to  repel 
assaults  upon  her  institutions,  in  the  event 
they  ever  should  be  made. 

The  south  has  for  a  long  series  of  years 
permitted  the  fostering  care  of  the  general 
government  to  be  extended  to  the  domestic 
manufactures  of  our  country.  She  has  per- 
mitted herself  to  be  taxed  to  support  the 
manufacturing  systems  of  the  north,  to  her 
own  direct  fiisadvautage,  in  order  that  our 
country  might  be  as  independent  of  other  na- 
tions for  her  supplies,  as  federal  legislation 
could  make  her.  She  has  thus  aided  in  in- 
creasing the  wealth  and  population  of  the 
northern  states,  and  developing  their  re- 
sources, until  they  have  outgrown  her  control, 
and  now  threaten  her  dearest  right-,  if  not 
her  very  existence. 

Under  these  circumstances,  the  true  policy 
of  the  south  is  distinct  and  clearly  marked 
She  must  resort  to  the  same  means  by  which 
power  has  been  accumulated  at  the  north,  to 
secure  it  for  herself.  She  must  embark  in 
that  system  of  manufacturing  which  has  been 
60  successfully  employed  at  the  north.  We 
bold  the  raw  material,  and  if  we  will  but  go 
into  its  manufacture,  we  can  control  the 
■world.  All  civilized  nations  are  now  depend- 
ent upon  our  staple  to  give  employment  to 
their  machinery  and  their  labor,  and  tliey 
cannot  do  without  it.  If,  then,  we  manufac- 
ture a  large  portion  of  it  ourselves,  we  reduce 
the  quantity  for  export,  and  the  competition 
for  tliat  remainder  will  add  greatly  to  our 
•wealth,  while  it  will  place  us  in  a  condition 
to  dictate  our  own  terms.  The  manufactories 
■will  increase  our  population  ;  increased  popu- 
lation and  wealth  will  enable  us  to  cliain  the 
southern  states  proudly  and  indi.-isolubly  to- 
gether by  railroads  and   other  internal  im- 


provements; and  these  ■works,  by  affording 
speedy  con>munication  from  point  to  point, 
will  prove  our  surest  defense  either  against 
foreign  aggression  or  domestic  I'evolt. 

Our  slave  population  is  every  day  increas- 
ing upon  us  in  greater  ratio  than  the  white, 
and  it  is  only  by  some  system  that  will  en- 
courage the  emigration  of  a  white  population 
to  us,  that  we  can  hope  to  keep  up  the  equi- 
librium of  the  two  races. 

We  have  seen  that  this  manufacturing  sys- 
tem will  induce  emigration  to  us  ;  that  it  will 
add  both  to  our  commercial  and  political 
power,  and  above  all,  it  will  enable  us  to  de- 
tend  successfully  those  rights  guaranteed  to 
us  by  the  constitution ;  and  if  the  evil  day 
should  ever  come  when  the  south  shall  be 
satisfied  that  she  cannot  remain  in  the  Union 
upon  equal  terms,  or  with  safety  to  her  insti- 
tutions, it  will  place  her  in  a  condition  to 
maintain  her  separate  nationality.'* 


*A  correspondent  of  the  JVcwYork  Herald  having 
visited  the  Saluda  Factory,  near  Columbia,  S.  C, 
thus  comments  upon  the  use  of  slaves  for  manufac- 
tories : 

"The  factory  in  question  ($100,000  capital)  em- 
ploys 98  operatives,  or  I'iS  including  children.  They 
are  all  slaves ;  and  a  large  proportion  of  them  ara 
owned  by  the  company.  The  mill  runs  5,000  spm- 
dles  and  120  looms.  The  fabrics  manufactured  are 
heavy  brown  shirting  and  southern  stripe,  a  coarse 
kind  of  colored  goods  for  house  servants.  The 
superintendent  is  decidedly  of  the  opinion  that  slave 
labor  is  cheaper  for  cotton  manufacture  than  free 
white  labor.  The  average  cost  per  annum  of  those 
employed  in  this  mill,  he  says,  does  not  exceed  $75. 
t^laves  not  sufficiently  strong  to  work  in  the  cotton 
fields  can  attend  to  the  looms  and  spindles  in  the 
cotton  mills ;  and  most  of  the  girls  in  this  establish- 
ment would  not  be  suited  for  plantation  work.  We 
dislike  the  idea  of  drawing  a  comparison  between 
the  labor  of  the  fair  and  virtuous  daughters  of  the 
north  and  that  of  the  blacks  of  the  south  in  the  cot- 
ton mills.  It  is  unpleasant  to  put  them  on  the  same 
footing  even  in  the  cotton  mills,  though  one  mill  may 
be,  in  Massachusetts,  exclu^-ively  occupied  by  the 
amiable,  industrious,  intelligent,  and  educated 
daughters  of  the  old  Bay  State,  and  the  other  may 
be,  in  South  Carolind,  worked  by  negro  slaves.  We 
regret  it ;  we  have  that  sort  of  respect  for  the  sex  of 
our  own  race,  which  makes  it  painful  to  bring  them 
to  the  same  level  with  the  colored  races,  though  both 
may  be  employed  in  the  same  service.  At  the 
best,  the  work  in  a  cotton  mill  is  consumptive  of 
lungs  as  well  as  cotton.  We  have  been  through 
the  mills  of  Lowell  and  other  places  in  the  north  : 
the  general  appearance  of  the  female  operatives  is 
neat  and  cleanly,  but  their  prevailing  complexion 
is  an  unhealthy  pallor.  Not  many  die  at  the  mills, 
because  they  are  young,  and  when  they  fall  sick, 
they,  if  possible,  return  home.  But  the  life  of  an 
operative  in  a  cotton  mill  is  a  consumptive  busiaesa 
at  best. 

'•  .Mr.  Graves  is  of  the  opinion  that  the  blacks  cm 
better  endure  the  labor  of  the  cotton  mills  than  the 
whites.  The  slaves  in  this  factory,  male  and  female, 
appeared  to  be  cheerful,  well  fed,  and  healthy.  The 
mill  has  been  worked  by  slave  operatives  (ro<iuiring 
ouly  one  white  overseer^  for  two  years  past,  and  the 
result,  we  are  informed,  is  in  favor  of  slave  oper^ 
fives  : 

Average  cost  of  a  slave  operative  per  annum,  $75  00 
"         "  white  operative, at  least,. .   llC09 


Difference,...  S'll  00 

Or  over  thirty  per  cent,  saved  in  the  scat  of  labor 
alone." 


128 


MANUFACTURES — COST   OF   STEAM   AND   "WATER   POWER. 


MANITFACTURES.— Relative  Cost  of 
Steam  and  Water  Power. — In  a  pamphlet 
recently  issued  at  Louisville  on  "  The  Rela- 
tive Cost  of  Steam  aud  Water  Power  ;  the  Il- 
linois Coal  Fields,  and  the  Advantages  offered 
by  the  West,  particularly  on  the  Lower  Ohio, 
for  Manufacturing,"  there  is  much  information 
grouped,  establishing  the  superiority  of  steam 
over  water  power,  fur  machinery  on  a  large 
scale.  We  extract  so  much  as  will  give  the 
argument,  supported  by  figures. 

We  deem  the  present  a  suitable  time  to  in- 
troduce the  subject  to  our  readers,  in  view  of 
the  establij^hmeuts  now  iu  progress  in  the 
south  and  west  for  manufacturing.  Among 
the  cotton  mills  lately  put  in  operation,  under 
favorable  auspices,  is  one  at  Tuscaloosa,  Ala- 
bama, owned  by  the  "  Warrior  Manufacturing 
Company."  When  the  building  is  filled,  as  it 
■will  soon  be,  it  will  contain  at  least  6,000 
spindles  and  150  looms.  The  .working  has 
begun  with  a  less  quantity,  but  orders  are  in 
process  of  execution  at  the  north  for  the  entire 
amount.  Steam  is  used,  from  coal  taken  from 
the  inexhaustible  bed  in  the  vicinity.  W^hite 
labor  is  alone  employed  in  the  establishment. 

The  satisfaction  given  by  the  starting  of 
this  mill  has  encouraged  other  investments  of 
the  same  kind ;  aud  we  learn  that  a  wealthy 
citizen  of  Tuscaloosa  county  has  closed  a  con- 
tract for  machinery  to  be  delivered  next  fall 
on  estimates  of  $50,000,  himself  the  sole 
owner.  Companies  have  been  formed,  and 
others  will  follow,  imder  the  general  charter 
law  of  the  state  for  such  objects.  Individuals 
have  only  to  specify^  in  writing  the  name, 
capital,  and  purposes  of  their  company,  ta  se- 
cure the  privileges  of  incorporation — the  in- 
strument to  be  recorded  iu  the  office  of  the 
clerk  of  the  county  court. 

But,  we  did  not  intend  to  dwell  on  the 
prosiaects  of  any  one  place  in  the  manufactur- 
ing enterprise.  Our  object  mainly  was  to 
show  that  steam  was  preferable  to  water  as 
a  motive  power  for  cotton  mills.  To  this  end, 
we  quote  from  the  pamphlet  alluded  to,  which 
is  based  on  calculations  for  the  country  on  the 
Ohio,  but  not  less  applicable  to  other  sections 
where  coal  may  be  obtained  cheaply,  as  in 
Alabama. 

Here  arc  the  promised  extracts : 

A  cotton  mill  of  ten  tiiousand  spindles  will 
turn  out  two  tons  of  goods  a  day— say  six 
hundred  tons  per  annum ;  100  j)ounds  of  cot- 
ton will  average  89  pi)ui)ds  of  cloth  ;  066  tons 
of  cotton  are  therefore  required  by  the  mill; 
1,206  tons  cost,  aside  from  dray  age,  (a  con- 
siderable item,)  f  2,5;32  in  transportation  be- 
tween the  mills  and  where  the  goods  are  sold. 
Aside  from  the  extra  cost  of  water  power,  this 
mill  would  require  a  capital  of  not  over 
$250,000 — perhaps  $200,000  would  be  suf- 
ficient. This  item  then  is  1  or  1^  per  cent. 
on  the  capital  invested.  Mr.  Montgomery,  iu 
Lis  work  (published  in  1840)  on  the  compar- 


ative cost  of  manufactming  in  England  and 
America,  says: 

"The  attention  of  manufacturers  iu  New- 
England  has  been  for  some  time  directed  to 
the  advantages  of  steam  as  a  means  of  pro- 
pelling machinery,  the  advantages  of  a  goo 
location  being  considered  equal  to  the  extra 
ejcpense  of  steam  power." 

Another  important  item  of  expense  avoided 
by  a  steam  factory,  is  that  of  heating  the  mill, 
llr.  Montgomery  gives  the  average  cost  of  this 
at  $467.80  per  annum  for  a  mill  of  say  4,000 
spindles.  Six  hundred  dollars  per  annum  may 
then  be  put  down  as  cost  of  heating  a  n)ill  of 
10,000  spindles.  And  it  is  not  only  necessary 
that  the  atmosphere  in  the  mill  should  be  at 
the  proper  degree  of  temperature  but  of  the 
proper  dampness,  so  that  the  threads  shall  run 
smoothly.  Both  purposes  require  a  large  part 
of  the  fuel  and  machinery  used  in  a  steam 
mill. 

The  foregoing  are  not  all,  but  are  the  most 
important  difliculties  attending  the  use  of 
water  power  for  cotton  and  woollen  Victories. 
Most  of  the  difficulties  are  found  wherever  this 
power  is  applied ;  and,  as  a  general  rule  among 
engineers,  at  any  position  where  coal  can  be 
had  at  ten  cents  a  bushel,  steam  is  as  cheap 
as  water  power  at  its  minimum  cost.  Such  is 
the  theory.  The  facts  seem  to  be  beyond  this  ; 
for  in  New-England,  where  water  power  is  so 
abundant,  the  largest  cotton  factories  now 
being  erected  are  to  have  steam  as  a  motive 
power :  of  this  character  are  the  Naumkeag 
mill  at  Salem,  aud  that  at  Portsmouth ;  the 
first  of  40,000,  and  the  last  of  50,000  spindles, 
and  these  are  the  largest  in  the  world.  At 
Fall  River,  Bristol,  and  Newport,  steam  fac- 
tories are  in  successful  operation.  Tlie  fine 
goods  of  the  Bartlett  steam  mills  at  Newbury- 
port  have  a  wide  reputation.  The  recent 
erection  of  the  Jaiues  Mill  at  the  same  ])lace, 
shows  the  success  of  the  former;  and  within 
the  last  year  the  escape  steam  of  a  new  mill 
ar  Lowell  is  drowning  the  noise  of  the  falls  ofi 
the  Merriinac.  Let  it  be  remembered  that 
coal  in  New-England  costs,  on  an  average, 
twenty-three  cents  per  bushel 

As  before  stated,  the  water  power  at  Lowell 
now  costs  $5  a  spindle ;  $50,000  of  capital  is 
to  be  invested  in  power  to  run  a  mill  of  10,000 
spindles. 

The  interest  on  this  per  annum  is.  . .  .$3,000 
Now  add  the  cost  of  heating  the  mill..  600 
And  the  cost  of  transportation 2,632 


And  you  have  one  side  of  the  equation 
as  against  steam $6,182 

I  cannot  fix  with  precise  accuracy  the  steam 
jiower  and  fuel  required  for  a  mill  of  10,000 
spindl<-s.  The  only  authority  before  me  gives 
tills  estimate  f<ir  one  of  3,700  spindles,  with 
the  necessary  machinery  for  preparing   the 


MANUFACTURES — COST   OF   STEAM  AND   "WATER   TOWER. 


129 


cotton  and  manufacturing  the  cloth.  A  high- 
pressure  engine  of  40  horse  power^ength  of 
stroke  4  feet,  diameter  of  cylinder  1  foot — 
makes  40  single  or  twenty  double  strokes  per 
minute;  three  or  four  round  boilers,  15  feet 
long  by  2^^  feet  in  diameter,  requiring  200 
gallons  of  water,  and  consuming  If  chaldrons 
(45  bushels)  of  bituminous  coal  per  day — 
pressure  of  steam  sixty-eight  pounds  to  the 
square  inch.  To  do  double  the  work  does  not, 
as  I  am  told,  require  double  the  power,  and 
nothmg  like  double  the  fuel.  This  estimate 
was  made  eight  or  nine  years  since ;  within 
that  time  very  important  improvements  have 
been  made  in  the  application  of  steam  power 
and  the  use  of  fuel ;  and  pi-obably  I  may  safely 
say  that  an  engine  of  90  horse  power,  requir- 
ing 80  bushels  of  coal  a  day,  is  sufiScient  for 
the  mill  of  10,000  spindles. 

Then  80  bushels  coal  for  300  days, 

at  23  cents  per  bushel §5,520  00 

Add  salary  of  engineer 500  00 


§6,020  00 

Showing  an  advantage  in  favor  of  steam, 
from  coal  at  twenty-three  cents  a  bushel,  of 
$112  per  annum.  The  cost  of  an  engine  of  90 
horse  power,  boilers,  belting,  pipes,  <fca,  not 
required  for  the  purposes  specified  in  the  other, 
would  be  probably  not  over  §9,000,  while  the 
cost  of  communicating  the  water  power  to  the 
^.--naachinery  would  be  at  least  §17,000.  Mont- 
gomery, in  the  work  already  quoted  from, 
states  the  cost  of  two  water  wheels,  equal  to 
eighty  horse  power,  including  gearing,  gates, 
shafting,  belting,  (fee,  at  §17,000.  The  Tre- 
mont  and  Suffolk  mills  at  Lowell  contain 
12,000  spindles,  make  coarse  goods,  and  have 
six  water  wheels,  the  cost  of  each  wheel  be- 
tween §3,000  and  §3,500,  entirely  exclusive  of 
the  cost  of  excavating  and  walling  up  the 
branch  canals  to  and  from  the  mills. 

It  is  a  mooted  question  which  will  last  the 
longer,  the  wheels  or  the  engine ;  but  give 
§3,000  to  equal  the  difference,  and  there  is  the 
interest  of  §5,000  to  add  to  the  advantage  be- 
fore stated. 

After  refen-ing  to  the  cost  of  working  cotton 
mills  in  Great  Britain  and  the  New-England 
states,  and  pointing  out  the  reduced  scale  of 
expenses  in  the  coal  region,  the  author  of  the 
pamphlet  presents  the  following 

SDMMART 

0/  the  advantages  of  manufacturing  cotton 
where  the  seams  of  the  Illinois  coal  jield  are 
cut  by  the  lower  Ohio. 

We  have  the  following  data  as  elements  of 
the  calculation : 

A  mill  of  10,000  spindles  will  consume  G66 
tons  of  cotton,  make  600  tons  of  clotii,  and 
use  24,000  bushels  of  coal,  2,530  gallons  of 
VOL.  II. 


oil,  and  46,000  lbs.  starch  per  annum ;  it  will 
require  of  operatives  25  men  and  boys  and 
20U  females,  whose  wages  will  average  the 
Lowell  prices — say  males  80  cents  per  diem, 
and  females  §2  dollars  per  week,  besides  board, 
or  males  §6,000,  females  §20,800-per  annum. 
The  average  prices  of  board  at  Lowell  are 
per  week  tor  males  §1  75,  and  for  females  $1 
25 — or  total  per  annum  $17,375. 

It  is  safe  to  assume  that  the  prices  of  board 
on  the  lower  Ohio  would  be  one  third  less  than 
at  Lowell,  where  a  sirloin  of  beef  costs  from 
15  to  16  cents  the  pound,  potatoes  from  60 
cents  to  one  dollar  per  bushel,  and  most  of  the 
other  articles  of  food  in  the  same  proportion. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  the  rents  of  the 
boarding  houses  at  Lowell  are  regulated  by  a 
"sliding  scale,"  and  are  dependent  on  the  gen- 
eral prices  of  food  ;  sometimes  these  have,  as 
is  said,  been  entirely  abated,  and  the  boarding- 
house  keepers  have  received  gratuities  from 
the  corporation,  so  as  to  make  a  livingwithout 
changing  the  prices  of  board ;  and  it  is  fair, 
therefore,  to  include  the  cost  of  board  as  a  pai't 
of  the  wages  paid  by  the  corporations. 

We  have  before,  on  page  22,  aver- 
age saving  in  cost  of  transporta- 
tion and  interest  on  difference  of 
capital §44,182  SO 

Add  difference  of  one  third  in  cost 

of  board  on  §17,375 5,791  06 

Add   difference  of  19   cents  per 

bushel  on  24,000  bushels  coal..       4,560  00 


Total  saving  per  annum 54,533 


Deduct  §1  50  per  ton,  supposing 
the  goods  are  to  be  sold  at 
Louisville,  St.  Louis  or  Mem- 
phis    900  00 

§53,638  86 
If,  to  save  all  cavil,  we  deduct  3 
per  cent,  to  cover  interest,  in- 
surance and  commission  on  sales 
at  these  cities  on  4,000,000 
yards  at  8  cents— or  §320,000,       9,000  00 

$44,633  86 

If  lard  oil  is  used,  we  have  the  advantage 

of  15  cents  per  gall. ;  but  if  the  use  of  sperm 
oil  is  continued,  we  pay  an  advanced  price  of 
15  cents  per  gall.,  or  §379  50.  We  should,  how- 
ever, save  about  1  cent  per  lb.  in  price  of  starch, 
or  §460;  and  in  flour,  wood,  gas  (or  lard  oil 
for  lamps)  probably  §600  per  annum. 

We  have  a  clear  saving  of  over  22  percent, 
on  §200,000,  which  is  an  ample  capital. 

I  am  informed  by  those  who  have  the  means 
of  knowing  the  fact,  that  the  average  dividends 
declared  on  cotton  mills  controlled  in  Boston 
have  bt-en  fourteen  per  cent,  for  the  last  five 
years ;  but  I  am  not  advised  of  the  amount  of 
9 


130 


MAKTJFACTfKE    OF    SHOES    AT   THE    SOUTH. 


earnings  in  these  mills  that  has  been  atkled  to  '  larger  portion  of  these  shoes,  it  is  helieTeil,  is 
surplus  funds,  or  invested  in  new  niacbiuery,  ,  made  in  Boston;  thatvtry  city  which  sets  the 
improvements,  property,  or  new  stocks.  |  laws  of  the  United  States  at  defiance,  in  order 

As  tht- new  city  of  Lawrence  is  growing  ■with  1  to  prevent  southern  gentlemen  from  re-cap- 
magical  rapidity,  and  new  cotton  mills  are  in    luring  their  slaves. 

progress  of  erection  all  over  the  New  England  "  Now  what  is  to  prevent  us  in  this  city 
eeabi'ard,  notwithstanding  the  changes  in  the  i  from  manufacturing  all  the  shoes  which  may 
tariff  and  the  desperate  struggles  of  the  Eng  'be  wanted  to  supply  our  own  state  ?  ^e 
lish  nlan^lfi^cturer  to  drive  us  out  of  foreign  '  hare  the  same  facilities  that  they  have  in  Bos- 
markets,  (so  desperate  that  brown  cottons  have  i  ton  for  carrying  on  the  business  by  wholesale, 
been  sold  cheaper  at  Calcutta  than  their  cost  j  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that,  provided  the 
in  Manchester ;)  and  as  we  know  that  the  bank  '  merchants,  who  now  import  so  largely,  could 
and  railroad  dividends  in  New-England  will  obtain  tlu'ir  supplies  at  home,  they  would 
average  8  per  cent,  it  will  not  be  considered  I  greatly  prefer  it.  ^lany  of  them,  it  is  be- 
an over-estimate  to  put  this  average  on  our ,  lieved,  own  property  in  the  city,  and  are 
capital  to  the  savings  above  ;  or  116,000  plus  j  otherwise  interested  in  its  prosperity.  They 
§44,6.33  86=560,633  80,  or  over  30  per  cent.  I  know  that  by  offering  additional  means  of 
dividends,  to  be  reasonably  expected  from  oar  !  employment,  they  add  to  the  population  of 
mills.  j  the  city,  and  that  every  addition  of  an  inhabi- 

If  the  wiaatJWiMm  of  advantages  is  taken  and  1  tant  increases  the  value  of  their  property, 
added  to  20  per  cent  average  of  earnings  of  We  will  not  take  into  the  account,  at  present, 
eastern  mills,  (and  it  is  believed  that  this  cal-  those  merchants  from  the  country  who  pass 
culation  would  be  nearer  the  truth,)  the  esti-  by  Richmond  without  stopping,  and  go  to  the 
mated  profits  here  would  be  so  enormous  that  north  for  their  supplies.  We  "will  only  sup- 
•western  men  could  scarcely  be  brought  to  be-  pose  that  the  ready-made  shoes  imported  into 
lieve  the  accuracy  of  the  calculations  without  this  city  from  the  north,  and  sold  here,  were 
the  severest  tests  of  experience.  manufactured  in  Richmond — what   a  great 

Several  months  since,  and  before  these  arti-  addition  would  it  be  to  the  means  of  em- 
cles  were  written,  I  sent  the  results  to  a  friend  '  ployment !  How  many  boys  and  females 
and  practical  manufacturer  of  cotton  on  the  |  would  fiml  means  of  earning  their  bread,  who 
Ohio.  His  answer  was  this  :  "  An  Irish  la-  are  now  suffering  for  a  regular  supply  of  the 
borer  once  wrote  home  to  his  friends  that  he   necessaries  of  life  ! 

got  meat  for  his  meals  three  times  a  week.  "  We  have  no  means  of  ascertaining  how 
'  Why,  you  lying  dog,'  said  his  employer,  '  do  '  much  of  the  two  miUions,  which  we  have  sup- 
you  not  get  meat  three  times  a  day,  and  every  1  posed  to  be  sent  from  Virginia  to  the  north- 
day  ?'  '  Yes,'  said  the  laborer,  '  but  I  want  |  em  cities,  and  invested  in  ready-made  shoes 
mv  friends  to  come  and  join  me  ;  meat  three  '  for  the  Virginia  market,  actually  goes  from 
tiines  a  week  will  bring  them  here,  but  if  I '  Richmond.  We  will  confine  our  remarks, 
promise  it  three  times  a  day  they  won't  be-   therefore,  to  the  Si 50,000  sent  by  the  single 


lieve  a  word  of  it' " 

Another  practical  manufacturer  in  the  west 
■writes  to  me  that  the  calculations  are  substan- 
tially correct,  and  the  results  within  the  truth, 
but  that  a  model  mill,  on  the  Lowell  system, 
is  required  to  convince  the  western  capitalists 
of  these  truths. 

MANUFACTURE  OF  SHOES  AT  THE 
SOUTH. — Amounts  wnicn  might  be  gained 

TO  us  nV  ABANDONING  THE  I.MPORTTS  OF  SuOES, 

<tc. — There  are  now  many  shoe  factories  in 
operation  or  going  up  at  the  south.  The 
Richmond  Dispatch  thus  speculates  upon  the 

^subject : 

"It  has  been  estimated  that  ready-made 

[shoes,  to  the  value  of  not  less  than  five  mil- 
lions of  dollars,  are  annually  imported  into 

[the  several  southern  states  from  the  north. 


house,  already  alluded  to.  Let  us  see  ho^w 
many  persons  these  would  give  employment 
to,  if  made  in  Richmond. 

"  We  see  it  stated  that  a  case  of  shoes  ave- 
rages in  the  northern  shoe  markets  840.00; 
so  that  this  house  imports,  annually,  3,750 
cases  of  shoes.  As  each  case  contains  sixty 
pair  of  shoes,  the  whole  number  of  cases  con- 
tain 225,000  pair,  or  450,000  shoes.  We  are 
not  aware  how  many  shoes  a  good  workman 
can  average  a  day,  but  we  will  suppose  three 
shoes.  Allowing  three  hundred  working  day8 
to  the  year,  a  good  workman  couhl  make  at 
this  rate  nine  hundred  in  that  space  of  time. 
To  make  the  whole  number,  then,  it  would 
require  five  hundred  good  workmen,  and  all 
these  workmen  would  be  fed  and  clotlied  here 
at  home.  We  say  nothing  of  the  females  em- 
ployed in  stitching  and  binding,  but  their  num- 
'  We  are  not  aware  of  the  quantity  taken  in  ber  would  be  considerable,  ami  they  too  would 
Virginia,  but  we  have  no  doubt  it  is  very  '  be  fed  and  clothed  in  the  city. 


large,  since  one  house  in  this  city  (so  we  learn) 
imports  annually  to  the  amount  of  f^lOo.dun. 
"We  regard  it  as  highly  probable  that  the  state 
of  Virginia  imports  from  the  north,  annually, 
Bhoes  to  the  v:due  of  $2,000,000.     Much  the 


"  Hy  the  exercise  of  a  proper  economy,  this 
§150,(i()()  would  be  kept  at  home,  for  the  em- 
ployment of  our  own  pe<ip]e.  Let  us  see  how 
much  of  our  own  merchandise  and  ))roduce 
these  five  hundred  workmen  would  take. 


MANUFACTURES GREAT    RRITAIN. 


in 


""We  will  allow  to  each  ■workman  twelve  I 
dollars  a  year  for  clothing.    This  is  a  very  luo-  ^ 
derate  allowance;  far  within  the  mark,  we  are 
convinced.     Yet  it  will  answer  our  purpose  I 
for  the  present.     Now  here  would  be  80,UOO  , 
to  be  di.stributed  aiuoug  our  merchants  for  dry  , 
goods,  and  among  our  tailors  and  sempstresses 
for  work.     How  many  of  these  latter  would  it , 
feed  ?     Again,  the  food  consumed  by  each  of  j 
these  workmen  would  amount  to  at  least  8100, 
giving  §50,000  more  to  be  distributed  amontr 
our  bakers,  grocers,  millers,  &c.     This  of  itself 
would  form  no  inconsiderable  item  ;  but  when 
we  take  into  considerixtion  the  number  of  idle 
hands  it  would  set  in  motion,  its  importance 
grows  upon  us.     We  say  nothing  of  the  lodg- 
ing of  these  persons,  nor  of  the  sheets,  blankets, 
counterpanes,  bedsteads,   &c.,  affording   em- 
ployment and   profit   to  merchants,  needle- 
women, cabinet-makers,  upholsterers,  etc,  nor 
of  the  crockery  and  hardware,  and  other  ne- 
cessaries which  they  would  be  compelled  to 
use.     Upon  a  fair  average,  we  think  that  if 
these  shoes  were  manufactured  here  in  Rich 
mond,  it  would  cause  an  additional  expendi- 
ture here  of  at  least  ?250,000,  besides  giving 
employment  to  seven  or  eight  hundred  per- 
sons.    J5ut  this  one  house,  it  must  be  recol- 
lected, does  but  a  small  portion  of  the  shoe 
importing  business,  comparatively.     We  have 
no  doubt  that  the  annual  sums  expended  in 
this  manner,  reach,  if  they  do  not  exceed, 
$500,000,  and  that  the  employment  of  it  in 
the  way  indicated  would  add  to  the  expendi- 
ture in  the  city  8  or  900,000  dollars,  giving 
employment  to  more  than  2,000  persons. 

"  That  the  whole  wants  of  the  city  of  Uich- 
mond  and  its  customers  might  very  well  be 
supplied  at  home,  we  have  not  the  slightest 
doubt.  That  it  is  time  for  Virginia  to  think 
of  doing  some  such  thing,  the  high-haudeJ 
measures  lately  adopted  in  Boston  sufBciently 
prove.  As  long  as  we  are  dependent  upon 
these  people,  they  will  insult  us  at  pleasure. 
Let  us  cut  loose  from  them,  thus  far  at  least." 

MANUFACTURES,  GREAT  BRI- 
TAIN.— Manufacturing  Peouress  of  Great 
Britain  in  Cotton,  Wool.  Flax  and  Linen, 
Silk,  etc.,  witu  PEODUfTiONS  and  Peksons 
E.MPLOYED. — Returns  have  just  been  pub- 
lished, in  compliance  with  an  order  of  the 
House  of  Commons  of  the  15th  August,  1850, 
on  the  motion  of  Mr.  Pilkington,  the  member 
for  Blackburn,  which  possess  very  great  in- 
terest as  an  authentic  record  of  several  of  the 
most  important  branches  of  our  national  in- 
dustry. We  published  in  our  last  the  sum- 
maries of  the  returns  under  each  branch  of 
manufacture  for  the  United  Kingdom,  to- 
gether with  a  summary  of  the  whole ;  and 
this  week  we  publish  the  details  of  the  same 
for  the  counties  of  England  and  Wales,  by 
which  the  localities  of  the  various  manufac- 
tures in  that  part  of  the  kingdom  may  be 


better  understood.  These  are  the  most  com- 
plete series  of  returns  ever  is.sued,  of  the 
nundjer  and  power  of  the  factories  in  the 
textile  manufactures,  with  the  number,  age, 
and  se.\  of  the  persons  employed  in  them. 
Tiiey  are  not  in  exactly  the  same  form  as  the 
returns  made  in  ISJ'i,  which  are  to  be  found 
m  the  volume  of  "Tables  of  Revenue,  Popu- 
lation, and  Commerce"  for  that  year.  We 
cannot,  therefore,  compare  the  two  series  at 
all  points.  But  in  the  most  important  par- 
ticulars they  correspond,  and  thus  we  are 
able  to  institute  a  comparison,  and  to  show 
the  remarkable  progress  that  has  been  made, 
in  the  space  of  sixteen  years,  in  these  great 
departments  of  industry.  To  a  very  consid- 
erable proportion  of  our  readers  it  will  be  in- 
teresting to  trace  the  advances  made  in  the 
branches  with  which  they  themselves  may 
be  directly  or  indirectly  connected,  and  to 
compare  the  several  branches  among  each 
other.  Of  course,  these  returns  apply  only  to 
the  operations  carried  on  in  factories,  and 
under  the  inspection  of  the  factory  inspectors, 
and  they  do  not,  therefore,  include  the  auxil- 
iary branches  of  the  manufactures,  such  as 
hand-loom  weavers,  dyers,  manufactm'ers  of 
lace,  hosiery,  &c. 

Cotton  Factories,  United  Kingdom. — In 
1834  the  number  of  cotton  factories  was 
1,-304;  in  1850  it  was  1,932;  increase,  628 
factories,  or  48  per  cent. 

In  the  hands  employed  there  was  a  some- 
what greater  increase :  namely,  from  220,134 
in  1834,  to  330,924  in  1850 ;  increase,  110,790, 
or  50  per  cent. 

The  increase  in  the  steam  and  water-power 
employed  in  the  cotton  mills  is  much  greater. 
These  particulars  are  not  given  in  the  returns 
published  by  the  Board  of  Trade  for  1834, 
but  they  were  furnished  by  the  factory  in- 
spectors to  Mr.  Edward  Baines,  for  his  "  His- 
tory of  the  Cotton  Manufacture,"  published  at 
the  beginning  of  1835,  and  we  extract  them 
from  that  work,  (p.  394.)  In  1834,  the  horse- 
power was  30,853  of  steam,  and  10,203  of 
water — total,  41,056  horse-power.  In  1860, 
the  horse-power  was  71,005  of  steam,  and 
11,550  of  water — total,  82,555  ;  being  an  in- 
crease of  100  per  cent. 

The  number  of  spindles  used  in  the  cotton 
manufactures  was  not  given  in  any  returns  of 
the  factory  inspectors  in  1834;  but  it  was 
estimated  by  Mr.  E.  Baines,  on  a  comparison 
of  the  authorities  of  Burn,  Kennedy,  &c.,  at 
9,333,000,  (p.  383.)  In  1850,  the  number  was 
20,977,017  ;  being  an  increase  of  102  per 
cent. 

The  number  of  power-looms  was  estimated 
by  Mr.  Baines,  in  1834,  at  100,000  ;  it  is  given 
in  1850  as  249:627:  increase,  149,027,  or  150 
per  cent.  In  1834  there  were  believed  to 
be  250,000  hand-loom  weavers ;  we  have  no 
means  of  stating  the  number  in  1850. 

The  import  of  cotton  wool  increased  from 


132 


MANUFACTURES — GREAT   BRITAIN. 


303,fi56,837  lb-.,  in  1833,  to  755,460,008  lbs. 
in  1849;  being  an  increase  qf  451,812,163 
lbs.,  or  148  per  cent* 

Thus,  as  mii.'lit  have  been  expected  from  the 
improvements  in  maciiinery,  and  the  speeding 
of  the  machines  since  1834,  the  increase  in  the 
bands  employed  is  less  tlian  the  increase  in 
the  steam  and  water  power,  or  in  the  spin- 
dles, and  this  again  is  less  than  tlie  increase 
in  the  cotton  wool  consumed.  The  increase 
of  hands  lias  been  50  per  cent.,  of  steam  and 
■water-power  100  per  cent,  of  spindles  102 
per  cent.,  of  power  looms  150  per  cent.,  and 
of  cotton  wool  consumed  148  per  cent.  Thus 
the  extent  of  the  manufacture  has  immensely 
increased ;  but,  owing  to  the  mechanical  im- 
provements, the  productiveness  of  each  work- 
man, and  of  the  machinery,  has  increased  far 
more ;  of  course,  the  consumer  gains  greatly 
by  the  reduction  that  necessarily  takes  place 
in  the  price  of  the  manufactured  article ;  the 
consumption  increases,  and  this  reacts  upon 
and  increases  the  manufacture. 

We  give  the  particulars  in  a  tabular  form : 

Increase 
In  1834.  In  18,50,  per  cent. 

Mills 1.304  1,932  ....48 

Persons  employed 220,134  330,9J4  ....50 

Steam-power,  thiirses).. 30,853  7l,0i  5  (      ,„„ 

Watur-power,  (do.) 10,203  11,550  i  '■'  " 

Spindles 9,333,0110  ....20,977.017  ...102 

Power-looms 100,000 249,027  ...150 

Cotton  wool  import- 
ed, lbs 303,656,837  ...755,409,008  ...148 

The  principal  seats  of  the  cotton  manufac- 
ture are  slmwn  by  the  numbers  of  factory 
operatives  in  ditfereut  countries.  Out  of 
the  whole  number  of  330,924,  there  are 
found  215,983  in  Lancashire,  35,772  in  C^-ve- 
shire,  18,691  in  Yorkshire,  22,759  in  Lan- 
arkshire, and  7,884  in  Renfrewshire;  the 
rest  are  scattered  over  other  parts  of  the 
kingdom. 

Woollen  and  Worsted  Factories. — In 
1834,  these   two  branches  of  manufacture. 


which  are  kindred,  yet  distinct,  were  put 
together  under  the  general  head  of  "  wool." 
They  are  now  given  separately.  In  1834, 
there  were  1,322  mills;  in  1850,  there  were 
1,497  woollen  mills,  and  501  worsted  mills- 
total,  1,998;  increase,  676  mills,  or  51  per 
cent 

The  hands  employed  were,  in  1834,  71,274; 
in  1850,  there  were  74,443  employed  in  the 
woollen  mills,  and  79,737  in  the  worsted  mills 
—total,  154,180;  increase,  82,906  hands,  or 
116  per  cent 

There  is  no  document  of  authority,  so  far 
as  we  know,  giving  the  steam  or  water-power 
of  the  mills,  or  tlie  number  of  spindles  em- 
ployed in  eitiier  branch  of  this  manufacture, 
m  1834.  The  quantity  of  foreign  and  colonial 
sheep's  wool  retained  for  home  consumption 
in  1833,  was  39,065,620  lbs.;  in  1849,  the 
quantity  imported  was  75,100  833  lbs.  of 
sheep's  wool,  and  1,655,300  lbs.  alpaca 
wool— total,  76,756,133  lbs.,  of  which  12,- 
324,415  lbs.  sheep's  wool,  and  126,082  lbs. 
aljiaca  wool,  was  re-exported  ;  leaving  for 
home  consumption,  64,305,836  lbs.  of  both 
kinds.  Increase  since  1833,  25,239,016  lbs., 
or  64  per  cent  There  are  no  materials  for 
stating  the  quantity  of  British  wool  consumed 
at  the  two  periods.  Mr.  M'CuUoch  estimates 
the  quantity  of  British  wool  used  annually 
(eight  or  ten  years  since)  at  110,000,000  lbs. ; 
but  we  cannot  offer  any  opinion  on  the  com- 
parative quantities  in  1833  and  1849 ;  though 
it  may  be  said  that  the  increase  cannot  be 
any  thing  approaching  to  the  increase  in  for- 
eii>;n  and  colonial  wool. 

It  appi-ars,  then,  that  the  increase  in  the 
number  of  mills  in  the  woollen  and  worsted 
manufactures  since  1834,  is  51  per  cent;  the 
increase  in  the  hands  employed  116  jiercent. ; 
and  the  increase  in  the  consumption  of  foreign 
and  colonial  sheep's  wool,  which  forms  less 
tlian  one  half  the  wool  consumed,  is  64  per 
cent. 

We  give  the  facts  in  tabular  form,  thus : 


Milla. 


WnoM»n.             Worsfd.  Tmal        per  ct 

.1,322 1,497  501  1,998  ..   ..51 


Persons  employed 71,274  7-1,443  79,737 154,180 

Steam-power,  (h(.rsei>) —     13,4.')5  9,890  ....23.345 

Water-power,  (do.) —     B,(iP9  1,fi25 10,300 

Spindles —     1,595,278 875,8,30  ....2,47l,li  8 

Power-looms --     9.4.39  32,017 42,050 

Foreign  and  colonial  wool  consumed,  lbs...  39;O0G,O2O  64,305,030  —      — 


.64 


The  woollen  mills  are  scattered  over  a 
greater  number  of  counties  in  England,  Scot- 
land, and  Iivhind,  than  any  other  description 
of  mills ;  but,  of  74,443  hands  employed, 
there  are  found  40,611   in  Yorkshire,  8,816 


•  In  this  and  all  tho  subseqent  compJir'sons  of  im- 
ports, &<-.,  we  takH  the  years  1833  and  1849,  in  onlcr 
to  liave  an  interval  of  sixtei-n  years,  which  is  ihe 
interval  between  the  factory  returns;  the  trade 
accounts  lor  the  year  1650  are  not  yet  made  up. 


in  Lancashire,  6,043  in  Gloucestershire,  2,867 
in  Wiltshiie,  and  2,175  in  Somersetshire. 

Of  tlie  wor.sted  mills,  by  very  far  the  larg- 
est number  are  in  Yoik.^^hire.  Out  of  79,737 
hands  employed,  7o,905  are  in  this  county, 
chiefly  in  the  parishes  of  Bradford,  Halifax, 
Keiglitley,  and  Bingley. 

The  increase  that  has  taken  place  in  the 
worsted  manufacture  since  1834,  has  been 
much  greater  than  in  the  woollen  manufacture. 


MANUFACTURKfc — GREAT   BRITAIN. 


1S0 


Flax  and  Linen  Factories. — In  18:U,  there 
were  347  flux  mills;  in  1850,  there  were  ;593; 
increase,  16,  or  12  per  cent. 

But  the  hands  employed  were  33,283  in 
1834,  and  68,434  in  1850;  increase,  35,151, 
or  105  per  cent. 

The  raw  material  imported,  flax  and  tow, 
or  codila  of  flax  and  hemp,  was,  in  1833,  1,- 
159,633  cwts. ;  and  in  1850,  it  was  1,806,786 
cwts. ;  increase,  677,153  cwts.,  or  60  per  cent. 

Inc 
In  1334.     In  18-.0    per  ct. 

Mills 347  308  12 

Persons  employed 33,283  68  434  105 

Steam-power,  (horses) —  10,9Ua  — 

Waier-powLT,  (horses)  ....  —  3.387  — 

Spinilles —  965,(i.31  — 

Power-looms —  1.141  — 

Flax,  &c.  imported  (cwts.).  1,129,633  1,80(5,780  00 

In  this  manufacture  both  Scotland  and 
Ireland  have  the  advantage  over  England  ; 
whereas,  in  1834,  England  had  nearly  as 
many  hands  employed  in  the  trade  as  both 
Scotland  and  Ireland.  In  England,  out  of 
19,001  hands  employed,  11,515  are  in  York- 
shire, and  2,724  in  Lancashire.  In  Sc(jtlaud, 
out  of  28,312  hands  employed,  16,264  are  in 
Forfarshire,  4,300  in  Fifeslnre,  and  2,899  iu 
Aberdeen.  In  Ireland,  out  of  21,121  hands 
employed,  11.657  are  in  Antrim,  (Belfast,) 
and  4,336  in  Down.  The  .soil  of  Ireland  ap- 
pears to  be  peculiarly  favorable  to  tlie  linen 
manufacture,  which  has  exi:^ted  in  Ulster  fur 
centuries.  Until  lately,  however,  the  spinning 
by  machinery  was  chiefly  carried  on  in  Eng 
land  and  Scotland  ;  but  an  amazing  start  has 
been  made  in  Ireland  in  this  respect ;  in  1834 
only  3,6SI  hands  were  employed  in  flax  mills 
in  Ireland,  and  in  1850  the  number  was  21,- 
121 ;  being  an  increase  of  17,440  hands,  or 
474  per  cent,  in  sixteen  years. 

Silk  Factories. — In  1834,  the  number  of 
silk  mills  was  263;  in  1850,  it  is  277;  in- 
crease, 14  mills,  or  5  per  cent. 

The  number  of  hands  employed  was  30,682 
in  1834,  and  42,544  iu  1850  ;  increase,  11,862 
hands,  or  39  per  cent. 


The  quantity  of  waste  silk  retained  for 
home  consumption  in  1833,  was  4,417, 62t 
lbs.,  and  iu  1850  it  was  4,618,132  lbs.;  in- 
crease, 100,504  lb.s  ,  or  2  per  cent.  The  im- 
port of  thrown  silk  was  229,119  lbs.  in  1833, 
and  614,689  lbs.  in  1849 ;  increase,  168  per 
cent. 

Inc 

In  IM4  In  ISiO     perct 

Mills 263  277          5 

Persons  employed 30,082  42,.')44        39 

?teiini-powiT  (hor.-^es)   ....         —  2,8.')8        — 

Water  jiower        "      —  P53        — 

Spindles —  ],22.5,.560        — 

Power-looms —  6,ii92        — 

Silk  (raw)  imported,  lbs.  ..4,417,027  4,.518,132         2 

Do.  (thrown)  do  2-29,119  614,659      168 

The  chief  seats  of  the  silk  factories  are  in 
Cheshire,  Lancashire,  Derbyshire,  Warwick- 
shire, and  Yorkshire. 

General  Summary. — The  view  given  of  our 
manufiictiiring  industry,  in  the  several  de- 
partments of  our  textile  manufactures,  by 
comparing  the  returns  of  1850  with  those  of 
1834,  is  extremely  satisfactory.  The  number 
of  mills  has  increased  within  the  last  sixteen 
years  from  3.236  to  4,330,  or  34  per  cent. ; 
and  the  number  of  per-sons  employed  in  them 
from  355,373  to  596,082;  being  an  addition 
of  240,709  operatives,  or  68  per  cent. 

In  England  and  Wales,  the  persons  em- 
ployed were  295,629  in  1834,  and  495,707  in 
1850 ;  being  an  increase  of  200,078,  or  67  per 
cent. 

In  Scotland,  the  persons  employed  were 
50,180  in  1834,  and  75,688  in  1850;  being  an 
increase  of  25,508,  or  51  per  cent. 

In  Ircl.nnd,  the  persons  employed  were 
9,564  in  1834,  and  24,687  in  1850  ;  being  an 
increase  of  15,123,  or  158  per  cent. 


PERSONS    EMPLOYED    IN  MILLS. 

In  1834  In  IMO 

In  England  and  Wales ....  295,029  49-5,707 

In  Scot  and 50,180  7.%6SS 

In  Ireland 9,-564  24,037 

Total 355,373  586,082 


Inc 
per  ct 

6T 
51 

158 

68 


MILLS   IN   THE   UNITED    KINGDOM,    1850. 


England  and  Walea 

Mills 3,699 

Spindles 22,859  010 

Power  looms 272,586 

Moving  power.  Steam  (horse*) 91,610 

"  Water        "        1S,2U 


Scotland 

Ireland 

Total 

550 

91 

4,330 

2,2.56,408 

532.303 

25.638,716 

28,811 

2,517 

298.916 

13,857 

2,646 

lUo,ll3 

6,004 

1,886 

26,104 

The  entire  moving  power  of  steam  and 
water  is  equal  to  134,217  horses,  which, 
reckoning  the  power  of  a  horse  to  be  equal  to 
5^  men,  .shows  an  aggregate  much;inical  power 
used  in  the  textile  manufacture  of  the  United 
Kingdom  e(iual  to  73S,lu3  men.  If  we  add 
the  596,1182  human  beings  employed  in  direct- 
ing this  machinery,  it  would  appear  that  the 
factories  of  the  kingdom  employ  a  power 
equal  to  1,334,275  persons,  besides  miuistoring 


to  the  support  of  many  hundred  thousands  of 
persons  in  dependent  and  auxiliary  branches 
of  manufacture  and  trade. 

Only  one  other  point  calls  for  attention, 
namely,  the  ages  and  sexes  of  the  factory 

j  operatives.  In  1834  there  were  under  13 
years  of  age  27,774  boys  and  29,681  girls — 
total,  56,455 ;  in  1850,  there  were  under  13 
years  21,137  boys,   and  20,638   girls— total, 

Uo,775  ;  showing  a  decrease  oi  6,637  boys,  aud 


134 


XEW-OKLEAXS. 


9,043  girls— total,  15,680,  or  28  per  cent.  Tlie 
effect  of  the  Factory  Acts  has,  therefore,  been 
greatly  to  reduce  the  quantity  of  juvenile 
labor  in  the  mills.  This  is  considered  Iby  pome 
an  advantage ;  but  in  order  to  be  sure  of  that, 
we  ought  to  know  how  the  children  ■who  are 
excluded  from  the  mills  are  employed  or 
engaged.  The  number  of  males  from  13  to 
18  years  of  age  was  43,482  iu  1834,  and 
67,8^64  in  1850 ;  increase,  24,382,  or  56  per 
cent. 

In  1834,  the  number  of  females  from  13  to 
18  years  of  age  was  64,726,  and  above  18 
years  of  age,  103,411— total,  168,137.  In 
1850  no  distinction  was  made,  as  all  females 
above  13  years  of  age  are  subject  to  the  same 
regulations  ;  their  number  was  329,577  ; 
showing  an  increase  above  1834  of  161,440, 
or  96  per  cent. 

The  number  of  males  above  18  years  of 
age  was  87,209  in  1834.  and  157,866  in  1850; 
showing  an  increase  of  70,567,  or  81  per  cent. 

There  has,  therefore,  been  a  decrease  of  28 
per  cent,  in  the  number  of  children  employed 
between  1834  and  1850;  an  increase  of  56 
per  cent,  in  males  from  13  to  18  years  of  age ; 
an  increase  of  96  per  cent,  in  femules  above 
13  years  of  age;  and  an  increase  of  81  per 
cent,  in  the  male  adults.  Balance  of  increase 
on  the  aggregate,  68  per  cent. 

PERSONS    EMPLOYED    IN   MILLS,  1834  AND    1850. 

Increase  or 
decrease 
In  1834  In  1850  per  cent 

Children    under     13 

years  of  ap;e 56,4.55  40,775  28  decrease 

Males  from  13  to  18..  43,482  67,864  5t)  iucre.ase 

Females  aljove  13. . .  16!S,137  329,577  96  decrease 

Males  above  18 37,299  157,866  81  increase 

355,373      596,082      68  increase 

Lancashire  and  Yorkshire  are  the  two 
great  manufacturing  counties,  and  the  follow- 
ing are  the  number  and  classes  of  factory 
operatives  found  in  them  respectively: 

Operatives  in                             In  Lancasliire  In  Yorkshire 

Cotton  mills 215,<183  18,691 

Woollen"     8,816  40,611 

Worsted"    ],h21  70,905 

Flax         "    2,724  11,515 

Silk          «    8,2u8  1,688 

237,552  143,410 

It  may  throw  some  additional  light  on  the 
progress  of  our  matmfactures  and  commerce, 
if  we  state  that,  in  the  year  1833,  the  real  or 
declared  value  of  British  and  Iri'-h  produce 
and  manufactures  exported,  was  £39,(167,347, 
and  in  1849,  it  was  £58,848,042— increase, 
£19,18(1,695,  or  49  per  cent. 

The  shipping  engaged  in  the  foreign  trade 
of  the  United  Kingdom  in  1833,  was  2,648,841 
tons  entered  inwartls,  and  in  1849,  it  was 
6,071,269  tons— increase,  3,422,428  tons,  or 
125  per  cent. 


Thus  our  manufactures  and  commerce  are 
advancing  together  ;  and  all  the  fiji;ure3  we 
have  given  afi'urd  a  very  gratifying  view  of 
the  industrial  resources  and  prospects  of  the 
country. 

NEW-ORLEAXS. 

"  The  Iradc  and  profit  of  the  city 

Cousisteth  of  all  nations." 

In  relation  to  the  subject  before  us — the 
City — we  would  occupy  a  few  pages  here,  as 
we  have  occuj)ied  over  antl  over  again  pages 
in  the  past.  It  is  so  fruitful  a  theme — so  full 
of  interest — so  likely  to  excite  enthusiasm 
and  to  warm  up  the  fancies  of  the  verie.st 
sleeper,  that  one  may  safely  approach  and 
touch  it.  Poetry  and  plain  matter  of  fact 
appear  to  have  harmonized  for  once  and 
blended  into  sn  attractive  union.  Shall  we 
regard  the  sluggish  old  "  ocean  stream,"  which 
is  winding  by  us,  leaving  our  levee,  leviathian- 
like,  in  its  pathway  to  the  great  deep?  It 
has  been  working  its  way  onward,  that  old 
river,  farther  than  our  fancy  may  trace  it — 
through  all  climes  and  lands  and  peoples — 
from  where  its  remote  source,  a  sleeping 
lake,  deep  set  in  impenetrable  shades,  on 
mountain  heights,  beyond  all  haunts  of  civil- 
ized life,  mirrors  savage  and  unchased  beast, 
— it  has  worked  itself  on,  "  father  of  all 
waters,"  among  mountains 

"  Where  rolls  the  Oregon,  and  hears  no  sound 
Save  his  own  dashings," 

through  glades,  over  crags  and  precipices — 
now  gaining  breadth,  now  tapering  and  con- 
strained again,  then  rushing  impetuously  for- 
ward— here  showing  limpidiy  a  beV)bIed  bot- 
tom, there  deepened  and  frowned  upon  by 
heights  rising  upon  heights,  rugged  and 
snow-capped — onward,  gaining  in  strength 
and  in  vigor,  as  kindred  waters  meet  and 
blend  and  sweep  on  together,  leaving  the 
savage,  the  intractable  forest  and  its  inmates, 
to  be  cheered  by  sounds  of  busy  nations  of 
toiling  men  as  the  ocean  nears  at  last. 

Shall  we  regard  the  metropolis  which  the 
picture  shows  in  the  distance  ?  Does  it  not 
carry  us  back  to  times  long  past  and  memories 
of  them  we  would  not,  no  never,  lose  ?  There 
were  classic  days  then,  when  all-hearted  and 
chivalrous  Frank  struggled  with  tl)e  sivage, 
and  won  a  home  amid  wastes  and  wildernesses 
here,  anil  cherished  in  his  dreams  fond  visions 
of  success  so  hardly  and  so  seldom  won. 
Bienville,  Iberville,  D'Abadie,  Baron  of  Caron- 
delet,  or  even  further  still,  La  Salle!  Vene- 
rated names — ye  have  struggled  here — here 
your  toils,  your  defeats  and  your  triumphs — 
but  where  are  ye  now  ? 

Let  the  gloomier  times  of  Spani.«h  domina- 
tion come.  We  see  O'Rciliy  iu  military  power 
high  overall, — an  armed  soldiery  to  crush  a 
feigned  rebellion.    O'Reilly   magistrate,  the 


NEW-ORLEANS. 


18S 


noble  sons  of  Louisiana  are   victims  of  his  1  place  to  which  fifty  men  had  been  scut  the 


tyranny  ;  O'Reilly  law-giver,  the  province 
changes  its  institutes  and  its  forms,  and  the 
customs  of  Paris  yield  to  the  statutes  of 
Alphonso;  a  new  government  but  not  a  new 
people.     These  times  too  are  all  past, 


preceding  year,  fur  clearing  the  gnmud,  but 
was  opposed  by  the  officers  who  shared  the 
command  with  him,  and  who  were  sustiiiued 
by  the  commissary,  General  Hubert,  as  well 
as  by  tlie  directors  of  the  company.     A  con- 


And  they,  the  relics  of  those  times  ;  the  |  siderablo  rise  of  the  river  whicli  covered  the 
antiquated  structures  which  ruin  has  not  |  land,  the  advantages  of  which  were  bein" 
whoUv  seized  from  us— there  are  such  here  ; 
we  would  not  change  them,  rude  peasant 
cabins  tliough  they  be.  Cathedral  or  chapel 
of  unclassic  architecture,  no  matter,  old  Time 
has  marked  and  associated  his  iucidents  with 
them  all. 

But  these  are  panoramic  scenes,  and  pic- 
ture hurries  picture  on.  Tiie  First  Consul, 
Bonaparte,  trafficking  for  Louisiana,  his  policy 
had  gained  Init  his  power  could  not  hold; 
Jeffer.son   in  fierce   strife  of  hostile  parties ; 


iscussed,  determined  for  a  moment  the 
question.  The  adversaries  of  the  project  of 
Bienville  gave  as  a  reason,  that  the  colony 
liad  not  the  necessary  means  of  erecting  the 
dykes  with  which  it  would  be  necessary  to 
surround  this  settlement.  Hubert  wished  the 
seat  of  government  to  be  established  at 
Natchez.  L'Archambault,  Yillardoaud  Legas, 
whose  views  were  rather  commercial  than 
agricultural,  did  not  wish  to  leave  the  shore 
of  ihe  sea,  and  recommended  the  east  coast  of 


Wilkinson  and  Claiborne  and  Burr  and  Living-  \  the  Bay  of  Biloxi.  This  opinion  prevailing,  a 
ston,  and  that  man  of  iron  who  won  immor- '  detaclunent  was  sent  there  to  build  houses 
tal  honor  at  Chalmette  ;  our  population  so  ,  and  barracks.  This  place  was  called  ZS'e-w 
blended,  native  and  foreign — all  the  earth  ^  Bdoxi,  to  distinguish  it  from  the  first  settle- 
represented  ;  our  commerce  growing  beyond  I  ment,  which  was  afterwards  called  Old 
comparison.     Is  there  no  incident  or  romance  |  Biloxi.* 

in  all  of  this  ?  Three  years  after  this,  1722,  Bienville  being 

Such  is  New-Orleans,  as  full-fledged  fancy  j  then  at  Mobile,  wrote  to  the  ministry  com- 
flies  ;  but  there  are  those  who  see  it  not  thus  j  plaining  of  the  position  at  Biloxi,  and  showing 
— men  afar  off,  with  opaque  glass,  discerning  ,  the  advantage  of  one  selected  on  the  Missis- 
nought  but  marsh  and  miasma,  drear  abodes  i  sippi  river.  We  translate  this  dispatch  : 
of  vice  and  discomfort,  blackened  warehouses  ]  "  I  have  had  the  honor  of  giving  the  Coun- 
and  mired  ways.  Let  them  come  here,  and  we  j  cil  information,  by  my  last  letters,  as  to  the 
will  point  them  to  the  old  river  and  to  the  entrance  of  the  river,  and  of  assuring  it  that 
levee,  to  the  old  city  and  the  new,  to  struc-  j  vessels  drawing  less  than  thirteen  feet  of 
tures  which  want  no  magnificence,  to  quays  j  water  can  enter,  full  sail,  without  touching, 
which  know  no  rest,  and  they  will  warm  with  i  and  that  it  will  not  be  difficult  to  make  the 
us  in  the  scenes  we  will  show  them  ere  they  j  pass  practicable  for  larger  vessels,  as  the 
leave  again.  j  bottom  is  soft  and  moving.     I  would  have 

But  pardon,  reader,  what  has  been  random  j  commenced  operations  there  before,  if  the 
wandering.  We  are  not  inextricably  lost,  engineers  specially  charged  with  such  work 
and  return  with  no  great  reluctance  to  plain  had  been  of  the  same  opinion  ;  but  they  are 
sober  matter  of  fact,  which  after  all  is  more  \  occupied  altogether  with  those  of  Biloxi, 
seHsible.  I  which,  I   believe,   we    will    be    obfiged    to 

Whatever  we  thought  could  interest  in  re-  j  abandon.  If  we  continue  to  make  our  dis- 
lation  to  this  city,  its  history,  its  commerce,  its  !  charges  there,  the  settlement  of  the  colony 
life,  manners,  statistics,  etc.,  as  our  numbers  j  will  be  retarded,  and  we  must  make  great 
were  issued,  we  published  during  the  last  |  outlays  on  account  of  the  distance  from  Ship 
fifteen  months,  and  there  is  abundance  for  |  Island,  which  is  five  leagues  from  the  main 
reflection  in  what  we  have  published.  Little  i  laud  where  we  are  settled.  We  are  obliged, 
on  this  head  remains  at  this  moment,  but  the  ■  in  order  to  discharge  the  vessels,  to  send  out 
subject  grows  and  is  not  likely  to  be  ex- j  lighters,  which  on  their  return  cannot  approach 
hausted  soon.  j  the  land  nearer  than  three   quarters   of    a 

At  all  events,  having  perused  the  lately  league.  Then  we  must  sent  out  boats  to  dis- 
published  works  of  Mr.  Gayarre,  we  noted  charge  these  lighters,  and  these  boats  are 
some  things  of  which  there  is  but  little  general  grounded  a  rifle-shot  from  shore.  The  Council 
knowledge,  and  which  we  doubt  not,  if  trans-  will  thereby  know  of  what  importance  it  will 
lated,  would  be  deemed  acceptable  anywhere. ;  be  for  all  the  vessels  from  France  to  enter  the 
What  we  have  in  mind  are  the  allusions  to  ,iver,  where  they  may  be  discharged  in  two 
the  early  days  of  the  city,  the  site  of  which, :  days.  I  have  sent  thither  two  ships,  one  of 
it  would  appear,  was  not  much  regarded  at '  three  hundred,  and  the  other  of  four  hundred 
first,  except  by  that  wonderfully  sagacious  [  tone,  and  they  have  gone  in  full  sail.  I  would 
man  Bienville.  We  introduce  a  passage.  i  have  done  the  same  with  others  which  have 
Bienville  wished,  1719,  to  remove  the  seat: ju^t  arrived,  if  precise  orders  had  not  beea 

of  government  to  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi, , . 

on  the  present  site  of  New-Orleans,  at  the  |  *  Hist.  Louis,  par  Chas.  Gayarrii, 


136 


NEW-ORLEANS. 


given  for  discharging  these  ressels  at  Bi- 
loxi.'* 

In  the  year  1760  the  following  -was  a  faith- 
ful pictuie  of  the  most  important  part  of  the 
city,  the  public  structures,  etc. : 

The  .situation  of  the  public  buildings  at  this 
time — 1760 — was  as  follows:  The  old  Bar- 
racks were  between  Royal  and  Bourbon,  Tou- 
louse and  St.  Louis  streets.  The  old  Govern- 
ment House  occupied  the  ground  now  com- 
prised between  Customhouse  and  Royal 
streets.  Chartres  street  stopped  at  Bienville 
street,  and  led  to  the  Government  House.  The 
new  Government  House,  m  1760,  was  at  the 
corner  of  St.  Louis  and  Levee,  towards  Tou- 
louse, and  took  up  about  one  third  of  the  square, 
but  its  front  on  St.  Louis  street  took  up  one 
half  of  the  square.  At  the  opposite  corner 
was  the  Intendance.  The  present  Hospital 
street,  or  Bayou  road,  came  no  nearer  to  the 
river  than  Royal  street,  whore  it  ended  in  the 
Army  Hospital,  which  extended  to  Quartier, 
Ursuline,  Levee  and  Royal. — 2d  vol. 

From  a  very  eccentric  volume,  published 
some  years  ago,  which,  with  not  a  little  that 
is  wild  and  whimsical,  contains  much  that  is 
sensible  and  interesting,  we  take  the  liberty 
of  transcribing  a  page  or  two.  The  pictures 
■which  will  be  given  are  truly  drawn,  and  so 
far  as  we  give  them  may  be  relied  upon. 
Willi  the  extracts  the  reader  will  permit  us 
to  retire.  And  first  we  have  an  introduction 
to  the  city : 

''  By  whatever  route  the  traveller  ap- 
proaches New-Orleans,  whether  by  the  river, 
the  sea  or  lake,  the  feature  which  first  attracts 
Lis  attention  is  its  Levee,  where  one  may  meet 
■with  the  products  and  the  people  of  every 
country  in  any  way  connected  with  commerce 
than  its  upper  or  most  southern  extremity. 

"Levee  is  a  French  word,  of  priuiary  im- 
portance ■within  the  state  of  Louisiana :  it 
pervades  its  statute-book,  and  is  daily  heard 
■within  its  halls  of  justice.  '  There  is  little  or 
no  laud,'  says  Judge  Porter,  'on  the  banks  of 
the  river,  within  this  state,  if  we  except  an 
inconsiderable  quantity  in  the  neighborhood 
of,  and  above  Baton  Rouge,  which  would  not 
be  covered  with  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi 
in  the  spring  months,  were  it  not  for  the  arti- 
ficial embankment  which  the  industry  of  man 
has  raised  to  exclude  thuni.'  Tiius  the  Dutch 
are  not  the  only  people  who  have  -wou  their 
domam  from  the  watery  element.  The  state 
of  Louisiana,  when  we  consider  its  recent  ex- 
istence, the  paucity  of  its  population,  and  that 
population  sparsely  scattered  over  a  large 
extent  of  country,  has  done  more  than  Hol- 
land :  yet  we  overl(X)k  the  wonder  which  lies 
at  our  own  door,  to  lose  ourselves  in  admira- 
tion of  the  not  greater  wonder  three  thousand 
miles  off. 

"  The    traveller    from   the   north,  as    he 


•  llist.  Louis,  I. 


i  touches  the  region  of  the  orange  and  cane,  of 

I  smiling  plantations,  bounded  in  the  back- 
ground by  dense  Jbrests,  and  stretching  on- 
ward to  a  seemingly  illimitable  extent  towards 

;  the  south,  and  looks  down  upon  the  planter's 
mansion,  the  cluster  of  white  cottages  hard  by, 
the  slave  at  his  daily  task,  and  the  mounted 
overseer,  as  one  would  look  down  from  a  bal- 
cony upon  the  busy  street  below,  appears 
first  to  be  made  conscious  that  the .  Missis- 
sippi, the  father  of  waters,  the  receiver  of  so 
many  mighty  rivers,  is  here,  near  the  close  of 
its  course,  where  its  stream  is  most  rapid, 
controlled  by  the  puny  hand  of  man, — that 
the  ocean-stream  upon  whose  bosom   he   is 

'  floating,  here  restricted,  hemmed  in,  and  di- 
rected, sweeps  down  to  the  sea  over  an  artifi- 
cial ridge,  and  that  he  is  passing  through  a  huge 
aqueduct,  which  raises  the  dweller  upon  w^ater 
above  the  dweller  upon  land  !  Here  the  waves 
do  indeed  bound  beneath  him  as  a  steed  that 
knows  his  rider,  yet  the  traveller  sees,  ad- 

I  mires,  and  forgets.  But  if  he  forgets  the 
whole,  he  cannot  forget  tlw  part :  when  once 
seen,  once   remarked,  he   cannot  forget   the 

]  Levee  of  New-Orleans,  the  storehouse  of  the 

I  great  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  the  receptacle 
of  the  products  of  a  hundred    climes,  of  a 

]  country  extending  from  the  frigid  (o  the  torrid 
zone,  illimitable  in  resources  as  almost  illimit- 

;  able  in  extent ;  the  goal  of  a  thousand  steam- 

;  boats,  and  of  more  than  a  thousand  merchant- 

]  men ;  the  exchange,  the  place  of  purchase, 
of  sale,  and  of  barter  ;  the  huckster's  shop,  the 

,  news-room,  and  the  Prado  of  the  greatest  ex- 
porting city  in  the  world." 

j  We  have  the  following  graphic  sketch  of 
the  Levee  and  of  the  scenes  constantly  pre- 
sented upon  it : 

"  The  Levee  of  New-Orleans  is  one  contin- 
ued landing-place  or  quay,  four  miles  in  ex- 

'  tent,  and  of  an  average  breadth  of  one  hun- 
dred feet.     It  is  fifteen  feet  above  low  water 

!  mark,  or   that  st:ige  of  the   river  when  its 

j  waters  retire  wholly  within  their  natural  bed; 

I  and   six  feet  above  the  level  of  the  city,  to 

'  which  it  is  graduated  by  an   easy   descent. 

'  Like  the  river  it  margins,  it  holds  a  serj)en- 
tine  course,  advancing  or  receding,  as  the  Mis- 

t  sissippi  encroaches  upon  the  city,  or  falls  off 
towards  the  opi)osite  bank.  It  is  constructed 
of  deposit,  a  lioh  alluvion  swept  from  the 
north,  and  held  in  suspension  by  the  waters 
of  the  Mississip]n  until  their  rapidity  is  checked 
by  a  sudden  citauge  of  direction,  or,  swollen 
to  overflowing,  they  spread  over  the  adjiicent 
swamps,  again  to  retire,  and  again  to  bless 
the  land  they  have  visited  with  an  increase  of 
soil.  The  deposit  is  so  great,  and  the  con- 
sequent formation  of  now  land  so  rapid,  im- 
mediately in  front  of  that  portion  of  the  quay 
which  is  most  used  for  the  purposes  of  com- 
nierce^  that  it  has  within  a  few  years  become 
neces.san-  to  build  piled  wharves,  jutting  out 
from  fifty  to  one  hundred  feet  into  the  riven 


NETV-ORLEANS, 


13Y 


The  now  formation,  •which  is  governed  as  to 
its  locality  by  wliat  may  well  bo  termed  the 
freaks  of  tlie  Mississippi,  is  called  "  butture  ;" 
and  when  it  has  progressed  to  such  an  extent 
as  to  be  left  bare  by  the  retiring  water  at  its 
lowest  !-tage,  is  lield  capable  of  ownership:  a 
sort  of  j)roperty  which  has  given  birth  to  an 
indefinite  amount  of  long-continued,  intricate, 
and  vexatious  litigation,  dating  from  the  first 
appearance  of  the  late  Edward  Livingston 
in  the  courts  of  Louisiana  up  to  the  present 
moment." 

The  Hat-boat  commerce  of  the  city  is  thus 
portrayed : 

"And  here  one  may  see  what  New-Orleans 
was  before  ihe  application  of  steam  to  navi 
gation.  Hundreds  of  long,  narrow,  black, 
dirty-looking,  crocodile-hke  rafts  lie  sluggishly, 
without  moorings,  upon  the  soft  batture,  and 
pour  out  their  contents  upon  the  quay :  a 
heterogeneous  compound  of  the  products  of 
the  Upper  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries. 
These  rafts  or  flat-boats,  as  they  are  technical- 
ly called,  are  covered  with  a  raised  work  of 
scantUng,  giving  them  the  appearance  of  long, 
narrow  cabins,  built  for  the  purpose  of  habita- 
tion, but  designed  to  protect  from  the  weather 
a  cargo  often  of  the  value  of  from  three  to 
fifteen  thousand  dollars.  They  are  guided  by 
an  oar  at  the  stern,  aided  with  an  occasional 
dip  of  two  huge  pieces  of  timber,  which  move 
on  either  side  like  fins,  and  float  witli  the 
stream  at  the  rate  of  three  miles  the  hour. 
Such  was  the  carriage  of  the  products  of  the 
up-country  twenty  years  ago !  Their  number 
Las  not  been  diminished  by  the  introduction 
of  the  steamboat.  It  is,  indeed,  a  natural, 
simple,  and  cheap  mode  of  transportation ;  and 
as  long  as  the  Mississippi  passes  with  such 
rapidity  from  its  source  to  its  embouchure  in 
the  gulf,  the  traveller  will  meet  with  these 
unsightly  masses  floating  on  its  bosom,  swayed 
to  and  fro  by  its  currents,  counter-currents,  and 
eddies,  often  shifting  end  for  end,  like  some 
species  of  shell-fish,  and  not  unfrequently,  like 
the  crab,  preferring  the  oblique  to  the  forward 
movenunt.  Yet  hundreds  are  at  times  sunk 
by  sudden  squalls,  and  of  the  many  freighted 
in  the  up-country,  perhaps  not  more  than  two 
thirds  ever  reach  New-Orleans.  The  insur- 
ance offices  look  upon  them  as  very  unsafe 
bottoms. 

"Of  the  many  which  lie  before  me,  grounded 
upon  the  batture,  some  are  filled  with  fat  cat- 
tle, whose  lowing  discourses  eloquently  of  the 
distant  pastures  of  the  north.  The  states  of 
Kentucky,  Indiana,  Illinois, Missouri,  Arkansas 
and  Louisiana,  and  the  republic  of  Texas, 
annually  seud  more  than  twenty  thousand 
bead  of  horned  cattle  to  this  market.  Ar- 
kansas, Missouri  and  Texas  raise  numerous 
herds,  which  run  wild  over  their  extensive 
prairies,  and  are  tamed  and  caught  with  salt. 
Kentucky,  with  greater  progress  in  the  arts 
of  husbandry,  pastiirea  and  stalls  its  beef, 


which  consequently  bears  off"  the  palm  for 
size,  condiiitin  and  general  excellence.  Others 
are  freighted  with  horses,  mules,  and  sheep; 
corn  ill  sacks  or  in  bulk,  and  upon  tlie  cob — 
a  method  of  transportation  which  has  its  ad- 
vantages, what  is  lost  in  stowage  being  gained 
in  protection  from  must  and  rot. 

"Here  is  a  boat  stowed  with  apples,  in- 
ferior enough  in  quality,  cider  cheese,  pota- 
toes, butler,  chickens,  lard,  hay — coarse,  the 
rank  growth  of  a  virgin  soil — all  offered  for 
sale,  in  the  mass  or  by  the  lot.  Pork,  alive, 
in  bulk,  in  barrels,  fresh,  salted,  smoked,  of  all 
sizes  and  conditions  ;  the  corn-fed  fatness  of 
Ohio,  and  the  leau  acorn-growth  of  Illinois. 
Were  Judaism  to  prevail,  where  would  be  the 
greatness  of  Ciiiciuuati  ?  Flour  from  Virginia 
and  Ohio,  old  and  new,  sweet  and  sour;  the 
leading  breadstuff",  yet  the  mc.st  fickle  in  price : 
cotton  from  Arkansas  and  Mississi|>pi,  lumber 
from  Tennessee,  whiskey  from  Missouri,  to- 
bacco from  Kentucky,  twice  foundered,  twice 
drenched,  to  be  here  dried,  cured  anew,  dis- 
guised and  re-packed,  close  the  list. 

"  But  the  men  who  make  these  things  of 
wood  their  dwellings;  who  launch  them  upon 
the  Ohio,  the  Illinois,  the  Upper  Mississippi, 
the  Missouri,  the  Arkansas,  and  the  Cumber- 
land, with  all  their  tributaries,  and  guide  them 
to  this  their  final  resting-place,  should  not  be 
forgotten.  They  are  a  distinct  class  of  beings, 
livers  on  the  water,  known  and  designated  as 
'boatmen  of  the  Mississippi,'  an  expression 
which  embraces  all  that  is  strong,  hardy, 
rough,  and  uncouth,  with  much  that  is  savage, 
wild,  and  lawless.  They  cannot  be  supposed 
to  have  been  born  in  habitations  constructed 
for  so  temporary  a  purpose,  yet  the  conge- 
niality of  their  dispositions  with  their  situation 
and  employment  mightjustify  one  in  suspecting 
that  their  mothers,  like  Antonia  Perez,  often 
visited  the  scenes  of  their  husband's  labors." 

The  steamboat  landing: 

"  '  That  part  of  the  c^uay  which  is  pecu- 
liarly characteristic  of  New-Orleans,'  I  mean 
the  steamboat  landing.  Here  all  is  action: 
the  very  water  is  covered  with  life  Huge 
vessels  float  upon  its  bosom,  which  acknow- 
ledge none  of  the  powers  of  air,  and  wait  no 
tide.  One  is  weighed  down  to  the  guards 
with  cotton — a  freight  of  three  thousand 
bales — one  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  dol- 
lars! Twenty  more  lie  side  and  side,  laden 
with  the  same  precious,  gambling,  national, 
ruinous  commodity.  The  twenty-tirst  has 
just  arrived,  and  is  puflSng,  blowing,  and 
wheeling  in  the  stream,  seeking  a  mooring. 
She  is  covered  all  over ;  a  mountain  of  cot- 
ton! Does  its  consumption  keep  pace  with 
its  growth  ?  What  will  be  the  effect  of  bring- 
ing into  cultivation  all  the  productive  land  of 
Mississippi,  Arkansas,  Alabama,  Louisiana, 
and  Texas?  Terra  ingens  ct  interminata! 
The  southerner  may  well  tremble  for  the 
future :  a  market  glutted  without  the  possi- 


138 


NEW-ORLEAXS. 


bility  of  a  recovery  from  the  surfeit.  Tlie  '  head  to  salute  the  petting  sun.  Tlmt  custom 
planter  can  never  grow  silk;  that  requires  a  speaks;  the  mos'  ignorant  sailor  umkaytands 
poor,  dense,  wliite  population;  and  he  can  it;  and,  as  he  sei^s  the  siiade  cover  the  hull, 
never  grow  wine,  for  liis  soil  will  produce  and  creep  upward  till  the  colors  of  his  country 
none  hut  an  inferior  grape,  which  will  not  are  alone  batlied  in  light,  while  all  beneath  is 
cover  the  cost  of  slave  labor.  dark,  his  better  feelings  gush  forth  in  worship 

"  Huge  ]>iles,  bale  upon  bale,  story  above  without  form, 
story,  cover  the  Levee.  A  gang  of  negroes  is  :  "I  have  chosen  this  hour  to  visit  that  por- 
still  adding  to  a  heap  of  ten  thousand,  un-  tion  of  the  quay  -which  is  appropriated  to 
guarded,  unprotected;  the  winds  fan  it,  the  j foreign  and  coastwise  shipping,  because  it  is 
rains  beat  upon  it,  the  sun  bleaches  it,  the  !  at  this  hour  that  the  wharf  partially  changes 
bagging  and  the  rope  rot  and  fall  off;  a  con- 1  its  character,  and  assumes  the  appearance  of 
eignee  at  Liverpool,  who  is  accustomed  to '  a  prado.  The  dull,  dusty,  dirty  routine  of 
handle  the  commodity  so  preciously,  would  business  is  the  same  throughout  its  whole  ex- 
run  stark  mad  with  imagining  one  half  of  tent.  The  interminable  chant  of  the  negro, 
what  is  here  to  be  seen.  with  its  full,  sonorous  chorus,  is  here  supplied 

"  Pork  without  end.  as  if  Ohio  had  emptied  by  the  hearty  '  Heav-yeoup  I'  of  the  sailor; 
its  lap  at  the  door  of  New-Orleans.  Flour  by  and  the  cotton-bale,  tobacco-hogshead,  and 
the  thousand  barrels;  rolled  out  upon  the  '  whiskey-barrel  yield  to  bales  of  foreign  and 
quay,  heaped  up,  pounced  u[)on  by  the  in- '  domestic  manufactures,  pipes  of  wine,  and 
Bpector,  who  pierces  each  through  and  through    crates  of  ware. 

with  a  long  hollow  tube,  well  calculated  to  j  "  The  shipping  stretches  away  from  the 
bring  away  his  perquisites.  A  large  area  is  point  at  which  I  stand  as  far  as  the  eye  can 
covered  with  these  two  products  of  the  up-  j  reach,  two  miles  in  extent,  three  tiers  deep, 
couutry,  and  still  appears  seemingly  undi-  ]  with  their  heads  to  the  current,  curving  with 
minished,  althongh  the  seller,  the  buyer,  and  the  river — a  beautiful  crescent.  The  bosom 
the  drayman  are  busy  in  the  midst  of  it,  of  an  American  heaves  with  honest  pride  as 

"  Here  is  a  boat  freighted  with  lead  from  he  looks  upon  the  city,  and  this  its  chiefest 
Galena :  another  brings  furs  and  peltry  from  '  ornament — the  work  of  only  thirty  years  ! 
the  head  waters  of  the  Missouri — three  thou- '  The  last  of  surdight  has  disappeared  ;  the 
sand  miles  to  the  northwest!  When  I  con- !  merchant,  weary  with  the  day's  activity, 
template  the  vast  region  of  country  which  is  ;  thoughtful,  stooping,  his  eyes  bent  upon  the 
now  just  opening  to  cultivation,  and  of  which  ;  ground,  hurries  homeward,  calculating  his 
New-Orleans  is  the  natural  mart,  I  iind  it  im- '  profits.  "  Y-augh  !  y-augh !  y-angh !"  a  gang 
possible  to  set  limits  to  the  city's  future  in- ,  of  negroes,  ever  merry — there  is  not  a  surer 
crease  ;  how  can  I  resist  the  conclusion  that  test  of  happiness  than  uniform  hilarity.  Next 
at  some,  and  not  very  distant  day,  northern  come  some  half  dozen  sailors,  in  tarred  hats, 
products  will  be  here  collected  in  such  quan- '  clean  check  shirts,  white  trousers  and  slippers, 
titles  as  will  reduce  its  present  great  staple  of  |  They  have  just  arrived,  have  just  received  the 


export  to  an  inferior  rank  in  mercantile  im 
portance  ?" 

The  ship  Levee  at  twilight : 

"  The  sun  is  just  dipping  into  the  west,  and 
the  broad  bosom  of  the  Mississippi  is  bright 
•with  its  departing  rays,  which  dance  upon  its 


little  money  due  them,  and  are  just  starting 
into  the  city  with  a  sober  gait,  and  an  honest, 
open  face,  to  see  life,  and  get  rid  of  their  sea.- 
legs. 

"  There  is  no  twilight  at  the  SOth  degree 
north  latitude.     That  sweetest  of  the  sister- 


eurface,  as  upon  a  mirror  quivering  in  the  ,  hours — that  hovering  between  light  and  dark- 
breeze.  The  busy  hum  of  life  is  hushing  to'ness,  in  summer  so  mild,  in  winter  so  brilliant, 
repose,  the  whole  scene  grows  mellow,  and   at  all  seasons  of   the  year  so  trauqudlizin 


man,  with  all  of  nature,  puts  on  a  softer  aspect 
with  the  closing  in  of  night.  A  light  south 
"wind  comes  gently  from  the  gulf,  scented  with 
the  sea.  All  that  man  has  done,  and  all  that 
man  is,  is  before  me.  The  merchantman  and 
the  steamship  tell  the  whole  story  of  art,  of 
science,  and  of  luxury;  of  discovery  and  in- 
vention ;  of  the  interchange  between  nations, 
imparting  knowledge,  harmonizing  manners, 
creating  refinement ;  of  the  exchange  of  the 
products  of  distant  climes,  supplying  nature. 


to  those  whose  feelings  have  been  set  on 
edge  by  the  past  day's  homely  labors,  is  here 
unknown  ;  and  already  the  stars  begin  to 
twinkle  forth,  one  by  one,  bright  and  unob- 
scured  by  vapor.  New  -  Orleans,  though 
lapped  in  swamp,  possesses  a  pure  atmos- 
phere." 

The  habitation  of  the  dead, — for  this  is  life, 
— to  die : 

"  New-Orleans  has  five  cemeteries ;  of  these 
the  Catholic  and  two  Protestant  are  unicjue  in 


and  feeding  artificial  wants ;  of  all  that  has  '  plan  and  method  of  interment.  Each  is  in- 
been  since  1492.  The  Cathedral  bells  are  closed  with  a  brick  wall  of  arched  cavities  or 
chiming  to  vespers;  the  flags  of  every  nation —  !  ovens,  as  they  arc  here  called,  made  jtist  large 
our  own.  the  English,  the  French,  the  Spanish, !  enough  to  admit  a  single  coffin,  and  raised, 
the  Dane,  the  Russian,  the  Swede,  the  Hoi-  j  tier  upon  tier,  to  a  height  of  about  twelve 
lander,  the  Free  Cities — are  run  to  the  mast- 1  feet,  with  a  thickness  of  ten. 


KEW-ORLEANS CUSTOM-HOUSE   REVENUES,    AC. 


139 


"  The  whole  inclosure  is  divided  into  plats, 
with  gravel  paths  intersecting  each  other  at 
right  angles,  and  is  densely  covered  with 
tombs,  built  wholly  above  ground,  and  from 
one  to  three  stories  in  height.  This  method 
of  sepulture  is  adopted  from  necessity,  and 
burial  under  ground  is  never  attempted,  ex- 
cepting in  the  'Potters'  Field,'  where  the 
stranger  without  friends,  and  the  poor  with 
out  money,  find  an  uncertain  rest,  the  water 
witli  which  the  soil  is  always  saturated,  often 
forcing  ti  e  coffin  and  its  contents  out  of  its 
narrow  and  shallow  cell,  to  rot  with  no  other 
covering  than  the  arch  of  heaven. 

"  The  cemetery  in  which  I  now  stand  locks 
as  if  modelled  after  a  growing  city.  The 
tombs  have  an  air  of  freshness  about  them 
which  betrays  their  newness — nothiug  seems  of 
yesterday ;  the  peculiarity  of  their  structure, 
their  close  juxtaposition  filling  the  plats  like 
blocks  of  buildings,  the  well-gravelled  paths 
between,  the  wall  about  tlie  whole,  with  its  nu- 
merous receptacles  for  the  dead  rising  story 
above  story,  check  the  fancy,  and  almost  per- 
suade the  visitor  to  believe  he  stands  in  the 
midst  of  a  panorama  of  what  the  great  mart 


which  feeds  it  is  to  be.    Even  the  little  slabs 
of  black  and  white  marble,  affixed  like  door- 


,jlates  to  the  mouths  of  the  tombs,  carved  with 
the  names  of  their  occupants,  giving  dates  of 
birth  and  death,  help  out  the  illusion— they 
were  all  so  young,  one  can  hardly  believe 
them  to  be  of  the  dead  !  Yet  that  fact  tells 
a  world  of  sorrow,  and  discourses  more  elo- 
quently than  could  the  most  gifted  tongue,  of 
the  true  character  of  that  city,  which  here  fiads 
its  final  resting-place — its  comparative  new- 
ness, its  advantages  of  trade,  the  great  influx 
of  aspiring  youth,  the  periodical  visit  of  the 
destroyer ;  the  periodical  passing  away  of 
thousands  in  the  bloom  of  life,  while  more 
than  thousands  rush  in  to  fill  their  places, 
again  to  pass  away — again  to  be  more  than 
supplied  by  new  adventurers  :  thus  running  a 
continual  round;  a  race  after  death,  while 
New-Orleans,  unchecked,  strides  onward  to- 
wards the  goal  of  its  destiny.  Is  man,  with  all 
his  intellect,  a  play-thing  in  the  hands  of  fate  ? 
Mephistopheles  would  laugh  till  his  sides 
cracked  amid  the  tombs  of  the  cemeteries  of 
New-Orleans." 


NEW-ORLEANS. — Custom-House  Revenues,  &c. 


EXPENDITURES    ON    THE    NEW-ORLEANS    CUSTOM- 
HOUSE   EDIFICE. 

In  1807-8-9 819,200  GO 

In  1820 80,081  33 

In  1840 5,500  00 

$104,181  33 

MINT   AT    NEW-ORLEANS. 

Buildings,  machinery,  contingent 

expenses,  and  machinist,  (fee.  .$507,463  55 

Officers  and  clerks 118,860  51 

Laborers 152,306  72 


$778,630  78 


MARINE    HOSPITAL    AT    m'dONOUGH. 

Expenditures  thereon $88,121  07 

I  append  to  these  topics  of  local  interest 
a  statemeut  of  the  mileage  allowed  to  mern- 
bers  of  Congress,  at  different  periods,  and  in 
the  aggregate . 

First  Congress,  ending  3d  March, 

1790 $325,202  97 

Fifteenth    Congress,   ending   od 

March,  1819 •   626,242  50 

Twenty-ninth    Congress,   ending 

3d  March,  1847 1,309,437  00 

Aggregate  mileage  of  members  of  Con- 
gress, from  the  First  to  the  Twenty-ninth 
Sessions,  both  inclusive,  $19,100,445  48. 


LAND   OFFICE,   NEW-ORLEANS. 


Rnte  per  cent  of  exp. 
on  amt,  of  receipta. 


ExceB3  of  exp. 
over  receipts 


Receipta.                       Expenditures.  Net  Receipta 

1821 $4H,200  00 $733  4G .$47,466  54 1.5'2 

1822 100,132  03 1.904  67 98,227  30 1.90 „  "IT  „„ 

laoi  .         432  25 1.783  93 412.94 $l,3ol  G8 

18-24 l.noooo ...        1,000  00 

182.5 500  00 83131 166.26 

1826 746  37 1,514  92 203.07 

1827 134,45100 4,31()  93 130,134  07 3.21 

1828 2.93179 — — 

1829 400  00 1.0(^00 2.i2.00 

1830.... 9,10137 1,823  09 7.278  28 20.03 

1831 13,910  00 2,519  73 11,390  27 18.11 

1832 1,552  75 1,070  58 470  17 00.30 


331  31 

768  55 


2,931  79 
608  00 


140  NEW-ORLEAXS — CUSTOM-HOUSE    REVEXUES,    iC. 

EECEIPTS  AND    EXPESDIXCEES    OF  PUBLIC  LANDS,  FROM  MARCH  4,  1T89,  TO  JUNE  30,  1845. 

ReceipU. 

Keceipls  during  said  period $127,144,320  67 

Expenditures  ' 

Pertaining  to  Oenerat  Land  Office §1.877,574  24 

'•        to  l«iirveys 3.y41,l'Jl  28 

On  account  of  private  land  claims 4-22,9:t-2  64 

For  sundry  purposes  pertaining  to  lands l,'J7:t,72i)  40 

For  survpyors  general,  repayments  and  patents 1,174, 1 :t3  58 

Wi-C'jllineoiis • 51.000  34 

ReliituiK  to  treaties  for  Indian  lands 44,599,902  15 

Under  tiie  Convention  with  France,  of  the  SOth  April,  1803,  &c.,  for  Louisiana. .  15,000.000  00 

For  interest  on  stock  thereupon  issued 8,.i'J9,353  43 

Under  treaty  with  Spain,  of  iuth  February,  1819,  for  the  Floridas 5,000,001)  00 

For  interest  of  stock  thereupon  issued 1,4^9,7(58  66 

Amount  of  3  and  5  per  cents.,  estimated  upon  the  proceeds  of  public  lands 
within  iheir  border.^,  and  paid  to  tlie  stales  for  aiding  them  in  internal  im- 
provements, in  consideration  of  the  U.  S.  not  having  paid  ta.<es  on  ihe  public 

land!?,  &c 3,361,847  63 

Amount  of  proceeds  of  public  lands,  paid  to  the  several  stales  and  territories, 
under  the  Act,  4th  September,  1841 543,858  79-67,265,909  14 

Net  proceeds $39,878,411  53 

OPERATIONS    OF   N.  O.    CUSTOM-HOUSE   FROM    1801    TO  JUNE    SO,    1847,    BOTH    INCLUSIVE. 

ReceipU.  •  'B 

Duties  on  merchandise $47,132,567  03 

"      on  Alediterranean  fund 217,.V25  32 

"      on  tonnage 608,8()7  05 

Passports  and  clearances 20,410  00 

Light  money 240,348  39 

Fines,  penal'iie?,  nnd  forfeitures 182,494  31 

Surplus  of  official  eraolumentj. 45.279  19 

Unclaimed  merchandise 10,076  95 

Marine  hospital  money 131,300  81 

Amount  received  from  captors,  being  net  proceeds  of  prize  vessels  and  goods.  3,495  37 — 48,658,370  42 

Disbursements. 

Debentures  i«=ued.  and  drawbacks  on  foreign  merchandise  exported 11,688,664  81 

Drawback  on  Mediterranean  fund 24,973  39 

"          on  domestic  refined  sugar  exported 138,7.38  16 

Bounties  on  .^^alted  provisions  and  fish 944  55 

Expenses  attending  prosecutions 40,703  90 

Total  tontmi-'i'  and  liirht  money 35.213  86 

All  other  duiir-refuadod 957,584  33 

Expenses  of  collection 2,802,e87  94—15,689,800  94 

Net  revenue $32,968,569  48 

Statement  of  the  Receipts,  Expenditures,  Net  Revenue,  and  excess  of  expenses  of  Collection 
of  all  the  Custom-houses  in  the  Union,  from  March  4,  1798,  to  June  30,  1846. 

Receipts. 

Duties  on  merchandise $1,120,320,705  08 

"      on  Mediterranean  fund 8,703,.530  30 

"      on  tonnage 7,121. .531  9'2 

"      on  passports  and  clearances 4,57.023  70 

"      on  light  money 1,222.348  93 

Fines,  penalties,  and  forfeitures 1,949.323  19 

Unclaimed  merchandise 153.979  81 

Interest  received  on  treasury  notes 90.340  01 

Custom  charges  on  Rritish  vessels 1,932  95 

.Sales  of  revenue  cutters 10,444  17 

Deben'  ures  over  issued 221  03 

Burpius  of  official  emoluments 303,242  48 

Expenses  on  collection  of  the  revenue,  and  allowances  to  vessels  em- 
ployed in  the  tl.slicries  overpaid ^37  40 

Marine  hospilHl  money 2,549,400  95 

Amount  received  from  captors,  being  net  proceeds  of  prize  vessels  and 

goods 218,822  14 

Amountfor  lands  set  off  to  the  U.  S.ou  account  of  bonds,  &c 5,101  42—1,143,114,952  17 


NEW-ORLEANS — VITAL   STATISTICS.  141 

Expcnditurea. 

Debenture  issued,  and  drawback  on  foreign  mercbaudise  exported 193.105  577  56 

Drawback  on  Mcdilcrrunenn  fund 1.041  aCi2  98 

"            domustic  distilled  spirits  exported 1,154,920  41 

"                  "          refined  sugar  exporled 2,862,795  70 

"                 "          manufactured  snuff  exported 20,547  26 

Allowances  to  vessels  employed  in  the  fisheries 8,634.175  96 

Bounty  on  suit  provisions  and  pickled  fish 721.51)2  48 

Expenses  aui-nding  prosecutions 644,558  43 

Interest  i)uid  on  trt-asury  notes 45  f"M  42 

Duties  reiundtd  on  iincli;inH'd  merchandise,  insolvencies,  &c 5,205  21 

"               on  Mediterranean  fund 46  08 

"  under  the  Act  to  remit  duties  on  goods  destroyed  by  fire 

in  New-York 176.307  75 

Duties  refunded  on  railroad  iron 3,324,047  17 

"               on  nil  other  articles 10,219.t'()4  30 

"               on  total  tonuage  and  light  money 1 10.261  02 

Total  expenses  of  collection 46,527,t;25  78—  268,594,824  51 

Net  revenue $874,520,127  66 

Net  revenue §882,894,038  05 

Deduct  excess  of  expenses  of  collection 8,373  910  39 

True  amount  of  net  revenue $874,520,127  66 

NEW-ORLEANS.— Vital  Statistics. 

Our  friend,  Dr.  Fenner,  of  tliis  city,  -who  has  been  preparing  some  able  and  mo.«t  laborious 
articles  for  the  Medical  Journal  upon  Yellow  Fever,  furnishes  the  following  statistics.  They 
are  taken  frum  the  books  of  the  Charity  Hospital,  which  he  considers  "the  most  extensive 
fever  hospital  in  the  world :" 

ADMISSIONS    IN   THE    CHAHrTY   HOSPITAL. 


1841.                         ■?  tlg.5"K4  •^  <  mOZfi            H 

Intei-mittent  Fever...     3  27     35      39      28      65  181  151  18  66  93  12      794 

Yellow  Fever ______  _  174  642  252  87  8  1,113 

1842. 

Intermittent  Fever...  45  29     35      39     45    124  160  169  144  140  110  61  1,092 

Remittent  Fever 4—1        3        4        8  12  34  41  35  11  3      155 

Yellow  Fever —  —       1     —     —     —  47  247  93  23  —  —     410 

1843. 

Intermittent  Fever. . .   31  30     35      31      19     40  70  98  128  136  149  76      843 

Remittent  Fever 1  —     —        1      —        9  40  75  49  12  8  10     205 

Yellow  Fever —  —     —     _     _     —  23  188  365  351  111  15  1,053 

1844. 

Intermittent  Fever...   66  49     41      32     44      75  176  258  255  261  216  116  1,589 

Remittent  Fever 2  4       2        1        4     24  30  47  67  65  5  3      244 

Yellow  Fever 2  2     —     —     —        1  1  1  68  52  25  —      152 

1845. 

Intermittent  Fever...     7  75     67      44      79    112  145  96  279  196  189  124  1,403 

Remittent  Fever 2  1     —        1      U      17  38  34  33  17  —  —      154 

Typhoid  Fever 7  6       5        2      10        8  11  14  18  20  15  23      139 

Yellow  Fever 1  —     —     —     —     —  —  —  —  —  —  —          1 

1-46. 

Intermittent  Fever. . .   79  58    75      76     85    138  214  227  359  376  310  81  2,078 

Remittent  Fever 3  3       5—76  2  9  22  36  7  3      103 

Typhoid  Fever 30  13       7        5      10      12  14  17  5  7  23  52      195 

YeUow  Fever —  _____  _  —  29  83  32  4      148 

J  847. 

Intermittent  Fever...  144  117     98    153    140    211  223  74  53  258  380  341  2,192 

Remittent  Fever 4  1       4       9      17      38  69  64  25  12  18  8      269 

Typhus  and  Typhoid.  40  23     54    180    231    389  64  3  1  10  160  347  1,502 

YeUow  Fever _  _     _     —     —       5  148  1,611  777  219  49  2  2,811 

Whole  number  of  diseases  admitted  into  the   Hospital,  1841,  4,380;  of  fevers,  1,991. 

1842,  4,404;  of  fevers,  1,758.     1843.5,013,2,222.  1844,5,846,2,207.     1845,6,136,1,763. 

1846,  8,044,  2,003.     1847,  11,890,  6,901  fevers. 


142 


KE^V-ORLEAKS VITAL   STATISTICS. 


XEW-ORLEAXS.— ViTAi-  Statistics,  etc.  I 
— The  iivorage  age  at  death,  in  the  northern  ] 
cities  (doubtless  owing  in  a  great  measure  to 
the  large  mortality  in  infantile  life)  is  from 
nineteen  years  nine  months  to  twenty  years 
three  month? ;  and  in  soine  of  the  cemeteries, 
where  destitute  foreigners  from  the  crowded  ' 
city  of  Boston  are  buried,  it  is  reduced  to  1 3.49. 
In  the  south,  where  it  is  so  much  more  favor- ' 
able  to  infantile  life,  the  average  age  is  much  ] 


greater.  In  Charleston,  tlie  average  age  at 
death  is  near  thirty-six.  In  Vera  Cruz  24.6, 
and  in  the  City  of  Mexico  27.7  ;  while  in  New- 
Orleans,  the  averai^e  age  at  death  for  the  last 
year  was  26.<>9,  and  in  a  series  of  years  the  ag- 
gregate of  all  the  cemeteries  was  22.63.  But 
to  show  the  different  influence  of  our  climate 
upon  the  various  classes  of  the  population,  the 
following  table  was  constructed  at  great  labor, 
(being  all  the  data  it  was  possible  to  procure  :) 


Cemeteries.  enSed. 

Catholic  cemetery 1841 — '4, 

Protestant  do 1841— '9, 

Potter's  Field  do 1841— '6, 

Cypress  Grove  do 1841— '8, 

St.  Vmcentde  Paul  do 1842— '6, 

St.  Patrick's  do 1841— '7, 

Jews'  do 1847— '9, 


Tot.  No. 

deaths. 

442 

Ratio  av. 

age  at  death, 

26  y.  3  m.  1  d. 

No.  above  No.  above  Gen. 

eighty,   one  hun.       av. 

51          10         22.63 

1,445 

24      9 

1 

16            1 

8,566 

23    10 

4 

33           9 

906 

23 

1,152 

20      5 

14 

16           2 

1,287 

19      1 

70 

14      1 

"Of  all  countries  on  record,  the  rural  parts 
of  England  and  Massachusetts  ai'e,  probably, 
most  favored  with  respect  to  infantile  life ;  and 
yet,  in  Massachusetts  forty  per  cent.,  and  in 
England  forty-seven  per  cent,  die  while  they 
are  going  through  the  process  of  development, 
and  before  they  enter  upon  self-sustaining  life, 
in  their  sixteenth  year.  In  New-Orleans  we 
have  not  the  data  to  institute  an  exact  com- 
parison at  these  ages,  but  very  near  it ;  and  we 
find  that  here  only  36.98  per  cent,  die  under 
twenty.  In  this  city  data  of  all  kinds  arc  very 
defective  ;  we  have,  nevertheless,  been  able  to 
construct  a  chart  to  show  the  real  value  of  life 
here  at  successive  ages,  and  at  different  peri- 
ods of  the  year.  It  is  too  lengthy  for  this  re- 
port We  may,  however,  state  that  it  shows 
the  extremely  mild  character  of  the  climate 
at  all  periods  of  life  under  twenty  and  above 
fifty,  and  during  all  months  of  the  year,  and 
that  the  chief  fatality  occurs  from  twenty  to 
forty,  (the  ages  of  the  emigrating  population,) 
and  the  period  the  latter  part  of  summer. 
Notwithstanding  all  this,  the  following  state- 
ment shows,  that  we  have  a  larger  proporl  ion- 
ate  population  at  the  productive  age,  tliat  is, 
from  twenty  to  fifty,  than  the  most  favored 
parts  of  the  world.  Thus,  in  the  United 
States,  there  are  3,708  ;  in  Louisiana,  3,753 ;  in 
Eugland,  4,028 ;  in  New-Orleans,  4,924.* 

MORTALITY  OF  NEW-ORLEANS,  1849. 

AGGREGATE  OK  ALL   THE    AGES    KNOWN    OF  THE 
MORTALITY  OF  1849. 

White.  Colored. 

Male.  Female.  Mule.  Female.  Total. 

1  mo., 300     179         74      65         018 

1  yr 248  225    84   57    614 

5yr8. 367  336    98  102    903 

•  Dr.  Barton  i<  wrong  in  atlacliing  .nny  inijxirliincc 
to  this,  as  a  few  momuutt:'  relluctlou  will  salisiy  him. 


White. 
Male.  Female. 

lOyrs., 154  117 

20yrs., 255  139 

Soyrs., 1,352  435 

40yis., 1,125  330 

50yrs., 561  159 

60yrs., 222   84 

70yrs., 102   37 

SOyrs 38   81 

90yrs.,.  . . . 


100  yrs., 
lOSyrs.,... 

IlOyrs., 

130  yrs...... 

Unknown,.. 


14 
4 


Colored. 
Male.  Female.  Total. 
36      35         342 

58 

78 

61 

59 

48 

34 

19 

15 

13 


78 

126 

87 

54 

28 

19 

13 

11 

2 

1 


1 
1 

813  338   325  206 


530 

1,991 

1,603 

833 

382 

192 

101 

48 

29 

1 

1 

1 

1,862 


Total, 9,862 

PLACE  OK  BIRTH. 

Foreign, 3,569 

United  States, 505 

Louisiana, 29 

New-Orleans 774 

Unknown  (including  negroes), 4,985 

UNKNOWN. 

As  to  age, 1,682 

"    disease 645 

"     country, 4,985 

"     residence,  either  as  to  length,  or  what 

part  of  the  city,  etc.,  so  few  as  to  be  useless. 

BURIALS  AT  THE    CEMETERIES. 

Protestant 371 

Catholic 986 

Cypress  Grove 182 

Odd  Fellows', 6 

St.  Vincent  de  Paul, 2,438 

St.  Patrick's, 1,145 

Potter's  Field 1,451 

Charity  Hospital, 2,304 

Lafayette 981 


NEW-ORLEANS IMPORTS    FROM   THE    INTERIOR. 


143 


NEW-ORLEA.NS. — Imports  from  the  I.nterioe,  for  Ten  Years,*  from  the  Ist  Sep- 
tember TO  THE  3  1st  August,  in  each  yeak. 


11850-1.  1849-50.'  1848-9.  1  1P47-8     1846-7. (1845-6.1844-5. 1843-4.  1842-3.  ;i841-2. 


ARTtrLBS. 


Apples bl)l3. 

Bacon  .asst.  casks,  &c. 

Bacon. .  bbls.  &  boxes 

Bacon  Hams.     ..hhds. 

Bacon  in  bulk lbs. 

Bairjrintr pieces. 

Bale  Rope coils. 

Beans bbls. 

Butter kegs. 

Butter bbls. 

Beeswax bbls. 

Beef.... bbls.  &.  tierces. 

Beef,  dried lbs. 

Buffalo  Robes.,  packs. 

'La.  &  Mi bales. 

Lake " 

N.  Al.  &  Ten.    « 
Arkansas.. . .     " 


O 

f^  I  .Moiiif,'omery,  &c.  " 

o      Mobile « 

Q     Florida " 

(.Texas " 

Corn  Meal bbls. 

Corn  in  ears " 

Corn,  shelled  ...  sacks 

Chee.** boxes 

Candles " 

Cider bbls. 

Coal,  western '• 

Dried  Peaches " 

Dried  .Apples " 

Fla.xseed tierces. 

Flour bbls. 

Furs  .lihds^  bxs.,bbls. 

Feathers bags. 

Hemp bales. 

Hides 

Hay bales. 

Iron,  Pig tons. 

Lard hhds. 

Lard tcs.  &  bbls. 

Lard. kejis. 

Lime,  western. . .  .bbls 

Lead pigs 

Lead,  bar kegs 

Lead,  white " 

Molasses bbls 

Oats bbls.  &sks 

Onions bbls. 

Oil,  linseed " 

Oil,  castor " 

Oil,  lard " 

Piekles. . .  .kegs  &  bbls. 

Potatoes " 

Pork tcs.  &  bbls 

Pork boxes 

Pork hhds. 

Pork  in  bulk Ib.s. 

Porter  and  Ale.... bbls 

Packing  Varu reels. 

Skins,  Deer packs 

Shot kegs. 

Susar hhds. 

Sugar bbls. 

Soap boxes. 

Shingles 

Staves 

Tallow bbls. 

Tobacco,  loaf. hhds 

Tobacco,  chew.... kegs, 

Tobacco bales. 

Twine bundles 

Whiskey b'ls. 

Window  Glass. .  boxes. 
Wheat.. bbls.  &  sacks 


548(18 

37244 

54987, 

4S(5(i2 

38336 

320  6l 

9274' 

28941 

321.56' 

44478 

193.35 

19831' 

23oi)i'()| 

209045 

21701)0, 

72:104 

5S.321 

729411 

107224; 

86104 

93322 

42361 

9307 

131.57 

549t)7 

510.58 

57972 

2720 

1772 

2144 

230' 

367 

481 

48066 

6.5271 

70590 

15300 

48219 

203011 

1.55 

358 

23 

6181.56 

474411 

811205 

14399 

109n2 

15781 1 

2368-21 

249683 

217078] 

62793 

44890 

46733 

18051 

17501 

9839 

24473 

23647 

25325 

11091 

10601 

50f;5 

9252 

6088 

113.56 

3ti62 

5187 

12097! 

42526 

42719 

2957111 

1298932 

1114897 

17063121 

78894 

62809 

54287 

80748 

55306 

28302 

245 

903 

1189 

700000 

600000 

315000 

2685 

934 

469 

4168 

2065 

24951 

204 

217 

11881 

1  1941106 

591986 

10131771 

1289 

444 

2001 

3645 

5900 

3939 

25116 

34702 

198.56 

140338 

43542 

30.570 

48281 

56258 

54241; 

152 

20 

413 



215 

790' 

115570 

228019 

214362 

151931 

302361! 

2754.-^5 

37738 

32060 

10410 

325.505 

415400 

508.557 

629 

631 

949 

1930 

5979 

7795 

184483 

189813 

155807 

479741 

325795 

266559 

14279 

13024 

6898 

178 

1098 

1409 

4145 

2091 

2628 

17157 

14712 

8842 

893 

243 

639 

162922 

166003 

146116 

286084 

5431)94 

550t;43 

198C 

15695 

18279 

1231 

13068 

lf499 

39518, 
451191 


396121  2(;775| 
36932  25213 


2ij.515i  43969,  678031  26443 
12892.  19563i  1656e|  13505 


18539  145181  12092 

381140  425163,  492700 

7682  60982;  9(ll"i01 

.':  62(11 

245361 

51384i 

872; 

1109 

53968J 

49000 

55 

883144  4538421 

13734   4356 

227561  211.502  222( 

64294  35279  34876 


74325 

20485 

45213 

1156, 

6981 

50260' 

56100 

14' 


.5(1678 

16585, 

44172, 

14941 

1200 

62231! 

98200, 

11131; 

'6531.5 

14276 


10857;  16379  63561 
4208  16966  5884 
10007  2345  4249, 
47.543  881.591  3905 
509.583  6197.56  35,-^573' 
17063121  1083465  238651(1  il(;(il20 


52S62,  57429 

16750,   8496 

344 1   477 

320000  356500 

385j   3009 

1173   5761 

4393    962 

7069581617675 

4111   328 

25941   3498 


21584 

476621 

619341 

701 

459 

216031 

30366]! 

149201 


60231- 

98342 

95231 

1151 

143 

117077 

275076 

5994 


7  606966  650129 


10513895 

384 

4190 

1119 

2044 

125755 

18675 

94S4 

5(H)00 

9000<)0( 

6UU 

64030 

41 

220 

3156 

157741 

164-28 

88797 


787 

9203 

159460j 

467217; 

7960 

23271 

1199 

5401 

505 

161861 

356480 

14201 
1586243 110273680  13.564430 


1291 
11686 


o7392 

1U461' 

135 

262800 

137 

930 

823 

837985 

637 

4607 

30980 

112913 

71270 

1083 

45 

107639 

334969 

838' 

785394 

1431 

7853 


91710  132363 


804 
4131 
1375 
4435 
14391 
17395 
9930 
700(101 


lC38j 

2211; 

1301 
4377' 
125.592 
5679, 
6520 
80000 


349-' 
3333 
136 
5258 
128112 

5580 
60(t0( 


58833' 

7185 

3637 

1439 

2573 

648 

142888 

302170 

9452 
8450700 
13.63 
2193 
1784 
3992 
82011 

436! 

147(1(10 


6OOOOOO;  3800000,  2t)00000 


4S621 

60304 

2021 

153 

2118 

117753 

48S7 

57508' 


5622; 

52335 

2315 

33 

2067 

125029 

575 

238911' 


435' 

55882 

6390 

118 

2264 

135333 

4260 

149181 


269386 
6979 
1135 
2379 
2606 
1316 
107058 
369001 

9988 

(740752 

231 

1180 

4364 

3103 

93109 

3633 

1300O 


200000015679000 

6(i5Nl   8 


55588 
3930 
1001 
1283 
1265.53 
380.5 


72896 

3040 

1105 

734 

117104 

2>-'31 


83581 

350000 

111324 

(i76n(l 

70061 

30319 

39(i; 

14641 

32(5741 

58200; 

1915' 

6^f^244 

19.533 

19»-246 

231031 

I2I23I 

12830i 

251.59, 

7917, 

]. 39686 

39(l964i 

390911 

5170 

385 

281000 

474 

1758 

2181 

5333121 

699| 

5403; 

46274; 

1178631 

37296i 

207j 

167 

60078' 

245414 

62331 

732125 

788 

888| 

1050861 

1442()2; 

7499' 

13.56 

3385 

2413 

218 

53779 

216960 


19i'70l 

1203821 

10(121(^1 

836f'4 

7619, 

l8Kil 

500 

1911 

49363 

55610 

5445 

(■.277(;9 

I3^;34! 

I(i!l334 

218351 


1358R1 

145.3798 

89721 

80932 

8878 

18530 

894 

985 

17.549 

514001 

5135 

824045 

14280 

191410 

30511 


475961 

129161 

18170 

37()0 

16.5354 

3(50(ir.2 

12.51^3 

3913 

1419 

22778H 

1112 

889 

4273 

50250' 

539 

4568 

38062 

7C)490 

3513 

100 

212j 

119717! 

373341 

37(J7| 

639269 

851 

30| 

648521 

130432 

04431 

2-60I 

2757; 

2047 

11.54 

56.587 

412928! 


10687 

3381 

15328 

54151 

25.5058 

4275.52 1 

3502I 

1201, 

10261 

255568' 

718j 

958 

13480 

521175' 

363 

1484 

14873 

4.5957 

28059 

211 

1433 

104540 

3078711 

11591 

571949; 

701 

50l 

061831 

120430 

4614 

13.56 

4976 

1818 

445 

48060| 

204643! 


9220 

288109 

60307 

63307 

10993 

11791 

284 

343 

17455 

60812 

3122 

583.328 

8967 

118629 

16734 

4565 

2831 

5101 

6023 

240675 

338709 

2710 

3593 

1130 

140582 

863 

1115 

863 

439688 

1837 

1737 

1211 

26169 

20166 

322 

74 

18207 

366694 

830 

472556 

1084 

592 

69104 

63281 

3338 

305 

3666 

140 

26201 
244442 


6741   88001   23711   946 
4079600  7792000  681475o'4051800 


861 
110 
27291 
4105 


604 
1164 
1939 
4714 


93288  51816 


1050 
1465 
1496 
1588 


514 
2099 
3219 
3416 


65036  50920 


60761      73991      26271      1932 

l44fM1f!'  3fil.5(;i'  14:(:00'  114000 

250000(1'  136267^'  1 16.54001  425000 


R33i'49    40378R 


782Si 

T1493| 

5309 

3799 

1951 

97651 

3071 

64:npl 


73231 
82435 
76951 
477l| 
20991 
869471 
2(06 
860 1 4' 


0995 

5071 

92509 

67555 

4902 

3618 

3008 

3298 

1903 

1175 

83597 

63345 

2342 

2761 

is-xf: 

348S6 

*  For  the  Commerce  of  1851-2,  see  Appendix. 


144 


NEW-ORLEANS — EXPORTS. 


NEW-ORLEAXS. — Exports  of  Flour,  Pork,  Bacon,  Lard,  Beef,  "Whisket,  Coex,  foe 
Two  Years,  from  1st  September  to  SIst  Algcst. 

, '■ lSoO-51. , 

ports  Finur,  Pork,  B:icon,  I.arJ,  Beef,  Wliiskey,  Corn, 

barrels  barrels  Ulids  kegs  barrels  bble  sacks 

New- York 72,584  55.849  9,856  209,825  3,055  1,381  160,728 

Boston 88,925  77.806  6,503  224,833  13,435  2,242  32,461 

Philadelphia 418  5,538  2,703  41,045  421  268  9,477 

Baltimore 13,421  1,843  32  585  955  1,542          

Charleston 6,175  1,003  2,872  2,769  119  11,514  23,978 

Othcrcoastwise  ports. 150,960  22,890  19,972  40,046  3,785  60,383  150,125 

Cuba 206  970  1,613  122,208  71         94,193 

Other  foreign  ports  ..264,150  15,200  919  06,u85  20,674  62  64,420 

Total 583,418     192,737       46,241      738,950       42,415       07,392       535,382 

In  the  above,  the  exports  to  Mobile,  itc,  via  the  Pontchartrain  Railroad  and  New  Canal, 
we  included. 

2. — Exports  of  Flour,  Pork,  Bacok,  Lard,  Beef,  Whiskey,  and  Corn,  for  Three 
Years,  from  1st  September  to  3  1st  AuGUsr. 

, 1849-50. s 

^■^.fjjj;*   PORTS     ', ■■',"•  Flour,  Pork,  Baron,  Lard.  Beef,  Wlnskey,  Corn, 

.T^  i        barrels  barrels  lihds  kegs  barrels  bbia  eacka 

New-York 8,025  202,708  28,031  372,451  8,404  1,104  9,377 

Boston 65,694  157,380  8,142  306,689  17,003  698  41,558 

Philadelphia 500  17,186  5,256  80,087       171         

Baltimore 202  34,036  4,895  72,290  3,391  1,279         

Charleston 2,034  4,059  4,246  2,098  229  8,057  1,501 

Other  coastwise  ports.  107,264  20,395  10,423  24,975  6,151  33,289  65,023 

Cuba 366  1.200  1,359  109,524  10        

Other  foreign  ports  ...   27,065  33,213  2,577  586,735  21,654  306  338,648 

Total 211,750      470,237      64,929   1,554,849      55,842      44,904      456,057 

In  the  above,  the  exports  to  Mobile,  <fec,  via  the  Pontchartrain  Railroad  and  New  Canal, 
are  included. 

3. — Exports  of  Cotton  and  Tobacco  from  Xew-Orleans,  for  Five  Years — commencing 
1st  September  and  ending  31st  August. 


, COTTON,  BALFS. 1  / TOBACCO,  HHDS. » 

WHITHER  exported     ISfrfl-fil  184.t-fiO  1848-4'J  1S47-I8  184h-47  ISoO-Sl  184i»-3U    1848-49  1847--18  1846-47 

Liverpool 562.'JT7  378  ln.5  C03.455  C10,C18  307,810  C.457  0.662    6.120  8  706  3,374 

London —  1:167  305      48  6,1'J2  6,723    5,362  10.008  5,173 

Glasgow  nml  Greenock..  15,418  10  8 .7  27.533  27.996  10,598      

Cowes,  Falmouth,  &c...     4,678  3,741  11,237  6,270  6.102  574  3,435    2,535  1,153  1,148 

Cork,  Belfast,  &c 3,' 69  2,488 810      -i— 

Havre 123,fi67  112,1.59  139  910  123.856  90.1i'3  059  718    6,998  2,2ni  1159 

Bordeaux 1,164  l,i(l6  3.424  3  178  330  517  579    1,450  128  242 

Mars<-ill.-s 4,131  3,6  8  11,313  8.659  3,323  3,0U6  759    2,192  2,625  2,096 

Nant7„C<!tto,  and  Rouen.  030      5,275  1,963      

Amsterdam 489       1,831      

Rolterdam  and  Ghent...     1.468  572  2  659  304  .595  712         824 75  568 

Bremen                l'-2  905  1,801  12,137  8.716  4,369  7,071  7.719    4  841  5  2.52  4,446 

Anlwern  isLc           10.366  11.994  24.338  14.170  2  912  .570  2.244    1.077  3371  1,652 

Hambuiz 3,235  li2  5  321  7.091  7.4G6  75  573         80  239  403 

GotlenbufK      '     8.180  5.021  7.3i  3  4.887  4  376  941  1.365    1.041  945  949 

Suainand  Gibraltar  ....  41.018  40  296  42.823  32,565  17.705  7,4.54  4,726    5,020  7,692  11,795 

l/avaua,  Mexico,  &c...       565  2.292  16  328  25.468  9.376      617      

Genoa,  Trieste,  &.e 42,537  36,302  41614  45.228  20,542  5,613  5,874    3,845  3,388  5,046 

OlhwiorciVn  ports!  !*.'.'.   11,143  G.490  9.304  ]3!o,57  6.579  816  1..175       882  975  1,008 

New-York                            52.398  84  891  67.611  67.578  53,187  10.087  11.305    7.318  9.573  5.458 

Boston  ....'...'...'.".'....  82,540  109.089  111,.584  143.989  75,546  1,594  1,169    1,089  1,619  2,664 

Proviileneo.U.i. "..'.' . —  360  1,566  470      

Pbiladelpl.ia              ....  14.867  15.610  18  486  16,213  13,582  1,118  1,291    1,4:6  1,369  2,779 

Baliimore 2,511  4,017  4  959  12.328  7.288  754  277       885  200  301 

Portsnioulh •'>  "33  3.491 

Other  coastwise  ports...           1  230  511  3.132  1.437  291  337       135  228  115 

Western  Stales 500      23i.O  1,500  2,500 

Ti,tal 997,458  838,5911,167,303  1,201,897  724,508  54,501  57.955  52,896  00,304  50,37 


NEW-TORK   A^^)   NETV-ORLEAXS EECEIPT3    OP  BREADSTUFFS. 


145 


pQTTQfJ    p  fl  T  Trn. 

WHITHER   EXPORTED     1850-51  IM9-B0        1848-49        1847-4S 

Creat  Britain 582,373  397J89    645,018     fi54,0H3 

Frauce 13(1,302  117,413    154,047     140,%8 

North  of  Europe 47,786      25,1'JC      Gl,t)()2      50,056 

So.  of  Kurope  and  Chmn.  84,120      84,950    100,765    104,751 

Coastwise 152,817  i213,843    205,811    252,039 

Total 997,458  838,591 1,167,303  1,201,897 


-TOBACCO,  HHDS.- 


l>'4fi-47  IS'.')0-61  184y-50    184«-4'.t     l«4"-48      184ri-47 

385,368  13,223  16,820    14.017    19.867     9,695 

95,719  4,182  2,0.')6    10,640      4,954      3.497 

26,297  9,393  12.725     7,039    10.475     8,018 

57,623  13,8.J9  11,975    10,347    12,1.79    17,849 

159,501  13,844  14,379    10,8-53    12,969    11.317 


724,508   54,501    57,955    52,896   60,364   50,376 


4. — Exports  of  Si'gar  and  Molasses,  from  New-Orleans,  for  Two  Years,  (up  the  river 
excepted,)  from  1st  of  September  to  31st  of  August. 


WHITHER  E.XPOP.TED  Sugar, 

hhds. 

New- York 13,595 

Philadelphia 10,264 

Charleston,  S.  C 3,517 

Savannah 1,702 

Prov.  and  Bristol,  R.  I — 

Boston 733 

Ballimore 3,670 

Norfolk,  Richmond,  and  Peters-  )  .  rj-o 

burg,  Va \  ' 

Alexandria,  D.  C 552 

Mobile 3,840 

Apalachicola  and  Pensacola 1,071 

Other  ports 1,131 

Total 44,147 


-1850-51.- 


-1849-50.- 


Sugar, 

Molasses, 

Molasses, 

Su£ar, 
hfids. 

Su^ar, 

barrels. 

hlids. 

barrels. 

barrels. 

I.hds. 

barrels.' 

655 

509 

22,646 

42.523 

2,229 

2,078 

42,776 

867 

— 

7,735 

18,344 

3,074 



14.636 

660 

9 

7,031 

5,014 

683 



10,. ^31 

89 

— 

2,981 

1,981 

300 

62 

4,279 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

247 

37 

27 

— 

2,172 

3,929 

961 

— 

2,792 

237 

— 

2,802 

8,101 

2,225 

— 

13,432 

2,266 

254 

3,469 

8,644 


118 
636 


2,313 

631 
10,398 
4,578 
3,677 


6,600 


882 


649  — 

52,876  1,526 

1,830  460 

873  1,602 


30 


6,134 

600 
8,850 
5,  70 
3,237 


67,024        92,720      13,M2        4,742      112,674 


5. — Monthly  arrivals  of   Ships,  Barks, 

Brigs,    Schooners,    and  Steamboats    for 

Three  Years,  from  1st  of  September  to 
31st  of  August. 


-1850-51.- 


months.       i  j3  a 

n  a  » 

September....  31  22  12 

October 49  17  18 

November 77  34  40 

December 61^  39  43 

January 08^  48  29 

February 42  34  38 

March 88  32  34 

April 54  21  27 

May 50  29  31 

June 43  21  16 

July 34  13  17 

August 18  10  10 

Total 615  320  315 


54 

17 

136 

175 

32 

15 

131 

152 

66 

13 

2.30 

259 

64 

12 

219 

40S 

67 

15 

227 

330 

71 

13 

198 

311 

90 

17 

261 

326 

79 

17 

198 

272 

53 

24 

187 

243 

50 

18 

148 

1.59 

47 

'17 

128 

152 

31 

12 

81 

125 

704    190  2,144 

1848-49. 

2,918 

September....  27  9  11  32 

October 45  23  24  33 

November 96  47  44  37 

Becember 87  67  60  45 

January 71  62  47  50 

February iDl  62  39  39 

March 70  61  53  54 

April 132  56  34  53 

May 74  32  19  43 

June 40  22  25  31 

July 12  19  10  21 

August 2  12  9  18 

Total 757  462  375  456 

VOL.  IL 


7 

86 

164 

13 

138 

215 

14 

238 

288 

10 

2.59 

381 

11 

241 

325 

10 

251 

313 

15 

2.53 

321 

11 

286 

2.57 

15 

•183 

191 

8 

126 

153 

12 

74 

135 

10 

51 

130 

136 

2,186 

2,873 

-1846-47.- 


«  «  ea  m  M  H  m 

September....  37  12  19  42  7  117  141 

October 78  30  31  80  7  226  177 

November 67  35  63  63  9  237  281 

December 72  45  62  43  8  230  .337 

January 78  64  91  99  6  338  346 

February 42  34  63  85  5  229  298 

March 83  53  72  105  1  314  317 

April 86  41  45  86  6  264  293 

May 77  51  87  166  11  392  284 

June 51  38  54  101  19  263  251 

July 53  30  52  07  16  218  174 

August 45  18  24  52  14  123  123 

Total 769  451  663  989  109  2,981  3,022 


NEW- YORK  AND  NEW-ORLEANS.— 
Receipts  of  Breadsttffs. — The  following  is 
a  most  interesting  table,  in  showing  how  New- 
York  is  increasing  her  annual  receipts  of 
western  produce,  and  how  she  already  com- 
pares with  New-Orleans  : 


Receipts  at  New-Orleans  by 
rirer,  in  1848.  1849,  a*i  1850, 
to  September  31—3  years. 

Flour 2,312,121 

Pork 1,5.30,817 

Beef. 200,901 

Wheat 852,407 

Com 9,758,750 

Other  grains. .     5,350,151 

Bacon 135,622,515 

Butter 6,215,970 

Cheese 8,955,880 

Lwd 292,110,060 

10 


Receipts  at  the  Hudson  Rirer 
by  canals,  in  IS**",  1S4'1,  anrf 
18AD.  to  close  ot  navigation — 3 
years, 

bbis 8,636,207 

bbls 211,018 

bbls 264,072 

bufh 8,798,759 

bush 11,178,228 

bush 11,210,239 

lbs 26.364,156 

lbs 61,69.%'i64 

lbs 97,596,032 

lb8 27,137,173 


146 


KEW-OKLEANS RECEIPTS    FROM   THE    INTERIOR. 


NE  W-ORLE  ANS.— Eeceipts, 

FROM    THE    ISTEKIOE. 


Articles 

Apples,  barrels 

Bacon,  assorted  casks,  «tc. . 

Bacun,  bhls.  aud  boxes 

Bacon,  hams,  bbls 

Bacon,  in  bulk,  lbs 

Bagging,  pieces 

Bale  rope,  coils 

Beans,  barrels 

Butter,  kegs 

Butter,  barrels 

Beeswax,  bbls 

Beef,  bbls  and  tierces 

Beef,  dried,  lbs 

Buffalo  robes,  packs 

'La.  and  Mi.,  bales. . . , 

Lake 

N.  Ala.andTenn 

Arkansas , 

Montgomery,  &c 

Mobile 

Florida , 

^  Texas , 

Corn  meal,  barrels 

Corn,  in  ears. 

Corn,  shelled,  sacks 

Cheese,  boxes 

Candles,  boxes 

Cider,  barrels -i 

Coal,  -western 

Dried  peaches 

Dried  apples 

Flax  seed,  tierces 

Flour,  barrels 

Furs,  blids.,  bxs.,  and  bdls. 

Feathers,  bags 

Hemp,  bales 

Hides 

Hay,  bales 

Iron,  pig,  tons 

Lard,  lihiJs 

Lard,  tcs.  and  bbls 

Lard,  kegs 

Lime,  western,  barrels.. . . 

Lead,  pigs 

Lead,  bar,  kegs 

Lead,  white 

Molasses,  barrels 

Oats,  bbls.  and  sacks 

Onions,  bbls 

Oil,  linseed 

Oil,  castor,  bbls 

Oil,  lard 

Pickles,  kegs,  aud  bbls . . . 

Potatoes,  bbls 

Pork,  tcs.  and  bbls 

Pork,  boxes 

Pork,  hhds , 

Pork,  in  Inilk,  lbs 

Porter  and  ale,  barrels. . 

Packing  yarn,  reels 

Skins,  deer,  packs 


1850-51, 


1850-51 

54,808 

48,602 

9,274 

44,478 

235,000 

72,304 

107,224 

4,236 


Shot,  kegs 2,044 

Sugar,  hogsheads 125,755 

Sugar,  barrels 18,675 

Soap,  boxes 9,484 

Shingles 50,000 

Staves 9,000,000 


Tallow,  baiTcls 6,164 

T.tbacco,  leaf,  hogsheads 64,030 

Tobacco,  chewing,  kegs 4,115 

Tobacco,  bales 220 

Twine,  bundles 3,156 

Whiskey,  barrels 157,741 

54,967  1  Window  glass,  boxes 16,428 

2,720 1  Wheat,  bbls.  aud  sacks 88,797 

230  i 

48  066  '  KKCEIPTS    BT   THE     NEW   CANAt,   NEW-ORLEANS. 

15,300  Statement   of  Produce  received  in   the  New 

155  Basin,  for  the  year  ending  Aug.  31,  1851. 

618,156   Cotton  bales 40,329 

14,399  Lumber,  yellow  pine  and  cypress, 

236,821        feet 33,107,000 

62,793  Wood— oak,  ash,  and  pine,  cords...       27,828 

18,051    Bricks 24,000,000 

24,473   Sand,  barrels 197,600 


11,091 

9,252 

8,662 

42,526 

1,298,932 

78,894 

80,748 

245 

"700,000 

2,685 

4,168 

204 

941,106 

1,289 


115,570 

151,931 

37,738 

325,505 

629 

1,930 

184,483 

479,741 

14,297 

478 

4,14.5 

17,157 

893 

.      102,922 

.       286,084 

1,980 

1,231 

.10,513,895 

384 

4,190 

1,119 


Shells,  barrels 52,200 

Charcoal,  barrels 110,600 

Tar,  barrels 2,23^ 

Shingles 2,392,000 

Laths 3,160,000 

Staves 632,000 

7,800 

3,094 

10,250 

15,799 

549 

3,955 

70 

95» 

Et 

35 

632 

•758 

22 

205 

95 

30 

970 

772 

51 

6 

1,480 

24,900 


Sash  and  doors,  pairs 

Spirits  turpentine,  barrels 

Rosin,  barrels 

Salt,  sacks 

Cotton  gins 

Hides 

Corn  nitlls 

Domestics,  bales 

3,645  I  Sheep  skins,  bales. 

25,116  I  Hay,  bales I. . . 

140,338    Buckets,  dozens 

48,281    Tobacco,  leaf,  boxes 

152  I  Merchandise, boxes 

Moss,  bales 

Cotton  seed,  bags 

Wool,  bags 

Sugar,  hogsheads ■ 

Molasses,  barrels 

Fish,  barrels 

Camphene,  barrels 

Knees 

l^ickcts  •  •  •  •  •  •  • 

Clap-boards.'.'.".'.*.".'.'.'..' .' 43,900 

Gunny  bags,  bales 135 

Hoop  poles 40,000 


Horned  cattle. 

Pork,  barrels 

Beeswax,  boxes.. . . 

Paper,  bundles 

Castor  oil,  cans. . . . 

Lime,  barrels 

Hemp,  bales 

Lime,  casks 

Cement,  barrels. . ., 
Plaster,  hogsheads. 


200 

95 

1 

61 

81 

1,002 

20 

129 

150 

12 


NEW-ORLEANS RECEIPTS    AXD    EXPORTS    OF    COTTON. 


U1 


VALUE    OF    TRODUCE   OF   TUE    IXTERIOK. 

A  Table  shon-ing  the  receipts  of  the  principal 
articles  from  the  interior,  durinfj  the  i/car 
ending  31«<  August,  1851,*  with  their  esti- 
mated average  and  total  value. 


ARTICLES. 

Apples bbls. 

Bacon . .  PssM.,  luls.&  cks. 

Bacon,  assorted . . .  boxes. 

Bacun  Hams.. lids. &  tcs. 

Bacon  in  bulk pds. 

Bagjring pieces. 

Bale  Kope coils. 

Beans bbls. 

Butter.. kegs  and  firkins. 

Butter bbls. 

Beeswax " 

Beef « 

Beef tierces. 

Beef,  dried pounds. 

Buffalo  Robes pks. 

Cotton bales. 

Corn  Meal bbls. 

Corn  in  ear " 


Amount.  Average. 
54,808  $3  00 
48,002  CO  0(1 
9,t.74    30  00 


44,478 

235,1)00 

7-2,304 

107,224 

4,236 

54,9(37 

2,720 

230 

36,164 

11,902 

15,:f00 

1.55 

995,036 

3,662 

42,526 


60  00 

7 

12  50 

7  50 

5  00 

5  00 

25  00 

4.")  00 

10  00 

15  00 

70  00 


Value. 

$174,424 

2,910,120 

278,220 

2.60«680 

16,4.50 

903  800 

804,180 

21,180 

274,835 

68,1 '00 

10,350 

36  ,640 

178,8(10 

1,071 

10,850 


49  00  48,756,764 


Corn,  shelled sacks.  1,298,9.32 

Cheese boxes.  78,894 

Candles "  80,748 

Cider bbls.  245 

Coal,  western "  700,000 

D'd  App's  &  Peach's   "  6,8.53 

Feathers bags.  3,645 

Flaxseed tierces.  204 

Flour bbls.  941,106 

Furs. .  .bds.,  bds.,  & bxs.  1,'2S9 

Hemp bales.  25.116 

Hides 140,.3.38 

Hay bales.  48,281 

Iron,  pig tons.  152 

Lard bbls.  &  tcs.  115,570 

Lard kegs.  151,931 

Leather bundles.  8,490 

Lime,  western bbls.  37,738 

Lead pigs.  325,505 

Lead,  bar..  ..kegs  &  bxs.  629 

Lead,  white kegs.  1,930 

Molasses,  (est'dcp)..gls.l0,500,000 

Oats.! bbls.ifcsks.  479,741 

Onions bbls.  14,279 

Oil.  liasced "  178 

Oil,  ca.<!tor "  4,145 

Oil,  lard "  17,157 

rotatoes "  162,'J22 

Pork tc?.  febbls.  286,(j84 

Pork boxes.  1.980 

Pork hhds.  1,231 

Pork,  in  bulk pds. 10,513.895 

Porter  and  Ale bbls.  384 

Packiuf:  Yarn reels.  4,190 

Skin*,  deer packs.  1,119 

Skins,  bear "  7 

Shot kegs.  2,044 

Foap boxes.  9.4S4 

Staves M.  9,000 

Sugar,  (est'd  crp).  ..hds. 

Spanish  Moss bales. 

Tallow bbls. 

Tobacco,  leaf. hds. 

Tobacco,  strips " 

Tobacco,  stoma " 

Tabacco,  chewing.... kegs 

and  boxes 4,115 

Twine.,  bundles  &.  boxes.  3,1.5*3 

Vinegar bbls.  89 

Whiskey "  157,741 

Window  Glass  —  boxes.  16,428 

VVhe.at bbls.  &  sks.  88,797 


3  00 

90 

1  30 

3  50 

6  00 
3  00 

50 

3  00 
35  00 
12  00 

4  50 

18  00 
1  00 

3  00 
25  00 

24  00 

4  00 

25  00 
1  50 
3  20 

20  00 

7  00 
25 

1  00 

2  00 
35  00 
50  00 

26  00 

2  00 
12  00 
25  00 
60  00 

5 
10  00 
7  00 
25  00 
15  00 
25  (10 

3  00 
35  00 


SxATEifENT   OF   THE    RECEIPTS  AXD  ExPORTS 

OF  Cotton  and  Tobacco  at  the  Port  of  New- 
Orleans  IN  EACH  YEAR,  FROM  1822-23  TO 
1848-49,  A  Period  OF  IVknty-seven  Years.* 

, COTTON. \ 


211.303    60  00  12,678.U 


10.986 

38.273 

1,688,608 

276,129 

484,488 

735 

350,000 

20,559 

127,575 

2,448 

4,234,977 

8i:0,UOO 

452.088 

140,338 

144.843 

3,800 

2,773,680 

607,724 

212,250 

56,607 

1,041,616 

12.580 

13,510 

2,625.000 

479,741 

28,558 

6  230 

207,250 

446,082 

325,844 

3,4;!3,008  j  1828-29. 

49,.500 

73,860 

578,264 

3,840. 

29.330 

27,975 

105 

51,100 

28,452 

315,000 


Receipts 

1822-23 $161,959  ... 

1823-24 141,524  ... 

1824-25 20(5,358  ... 

1825-26 248,981  ... 

1826-27 336,573  ... 

1827-28 295,853  ... 

1828-29 268,639  ... 

1829-30 362,977  ... 

1830-31 429,392  ... 

1831-32 345,646  ... 

1832-33 403,833  ... 

183.3-34 467,984  ... 

1834-35 536,172  ... 

1835-36 495,442  ... 

1836-37 605,813  ... 

1837-38 742,726  ... 

1838-39 578,514  ... 

1839-40 954,445  ... 

1840-41 822,870  ... 

1841-42 '740,155  ... 

1842-43 1,089,642  1,088,870 

1843-44 910,8.54  895,375 

1844-45 979,238  984,616 

1845-46 1,053,633  1,064,857 

1846-47 740.669  724,508 

1847-48 1,213,805  1,201,807 

1848-49 1,142,383  1,167,302 

1849-50 . .    837,723  838,591 

Total.. §17,114,696  $16,883,307 

, TOBACCO. X 

E.vporta  Receipts 

1822-23 $16,292     $28,624 

1823-24 25,262     25,910 

1824-25 17,759     16,849 

182.5-26 18,242     18,231 

1826-27 29,684     26,540 

1827-28 29,443      35,098 


Export* 

$171,872 
143,843 
203,914 
259,681 
326,516 
304,073 
367,736 
351,237 
423,942 
358,104 
410.524 
461,026 
536,991 
490,495 
688,969 
738,313 
679,179 
949,320 
821,288 
749,267 


24,637   25,288 


5,974  6  (10 
6,164  24  00 
52,830  120  00 
9,100  150  00 
2,200    20  00 


30  00 
10  10 
6  00 
8  00 
5  00 
2  00 


Other  rarious  articles,  estimated  at. . 


35,844 

147,930 

6,327,600 

1,365,000 

44,000 

123,450 

31.560 

534 

1,201,928 

82,140 

177,.59t 

5,0011,000 


Total  value dollars  106.924.083 

Total  in  1849-00....  96,897  873 

Total  in  1848-49. . . .  81.989,(392 

Total  in  1847-48 ....  79,779,151 


•  For  1851-52,  see  Appendix. 


1829-30 32,438 

1830-31 32,098 

1831-32 31,174 

1832-33 20,627 

1833-34 25,871 

1834-35 35,059 

1835-36 50,558 

1836-37 28,501 


18.37-38., 


28,028 
33,872 
35,056 
23,637 
26,210 
33,831 
41,604 
35,821 


1838-39 28,153 

1839-40 43,827 

1840-41 53,170 

1841-42 67,555 

1842-43 92,509 

1843-44 82,435 

1844-45 71,493 

1845-46 72,896 


37,588     35,555 


30,852 
40,436 
54,667 
68,058 
89,891 
81,249 
68,679 
62,045 


1846-47 55,588  50,376 

1847-48 55,882  60.364 

1848-49 52,335  52,896 

1849-50 60,304  57,955 


Total $1,191,374 


$1,196,622 


•  For  1851-52,  see  Appendix. 


148 


NE'W-OBLEA>'S TABLE    OF   MORTALITT. 


Upon  the  Fupposition  that  the  average 
value  of  cotton  and  tuljacco  for  the  twenty- 
seven  years  above  stated  may  be  fairly  esti- 
mated at  810  per  bale  for  the  former,  and 


$70  per  hogshead  for  the  latter,  it  would  give 
a  total  value  for  these  two  articles  alone  of 
$^778,306,370. 


CO     e 


"3  73 


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ons. 

city  up  to  Burgundy  street. 

of  the  city,  between  the  canals  Caror 
he  central  parts  of  the  city,  ditched,  dr 

undation  from  Sauve  Crevasse,  extendi 

1 

nd  Improvements  in  tlie  City  and  Neif 

a 

M 
>. 

■a 

a 
s 

9 

is 

1 — Canal  Carondelet  cleaned  out. 

6— Crevasse. 

7 — First  pavements  commenced. 

n_Wonden  sidewalks  and  curbing  removed,  and  replaced  with  st 

7-20 — Large  inclosures  of  the  batture.t 

4— Gormley's  Canal  and  Basin  dug  about  1824-28. 

4-32 — Extensive  paving  done. 

5_28— Melpomene  Canal  adapted  from  a  natural  drain,  clcanc 

ened. 
1 — A'iolent  storm  inundated  back  part  of  the  city,  to  Daiiphin  stri 
2-3.') — The  Bank  Canal  of  the  Second  Municipality  dug  to  the  lak 
2-34 — Extensive  paving. 

5_3C)_Forest  growth  cut  down  in  rear  of  city,  First  Municipality. 
6— Draining  machine  on  Bayou  St.  John,  drained  the  section  in 

Municipality. 
7,  October— Violent  storm  inundated  the  rear  of  the  city.    D: 

1 

S  J3 

ysical  Alterations 

li . 

III 

gSg 

continued  their  operati 
4 — Violent  storm  inundated  the 
5-50— That  section  of  the  re.ar 

Bank,  in   the  rear  of  t 

forest  growth  removed. 
9,  May  and  June— Extensive  in 

up  as  Carondelet  street 

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'p:-c 


NEW-ORLEANS COMMERCE. 


149 


NEW-ORLEANS.— Health.— There  are 
causes  iiillueiicinj^  our  meteorological  coudi- 1 
tion,  whicli,  in  a  proper  estimate  of  our  clim- 
ate, we  canuot  overlook.  I  allude  to  the  great 
modifying  power  of  large  inland  bodies  of\ 
water  upon  it.  I  am  indebted  to  my  friend, 
Professor  Forshey,  for  the  interesting  comput- ' 
ation.  The  whole  area  of  the  state  of  Louis- 
iana is 48,972  sq.  m. 

Of  this— 

Marsh  alluvion,  west  of  delta, 

(or  Vermilion  River) 2,880      " 

Mississippi  delta,  south  of  Red 

River  (Lyc-ll"s  limit  of  delta)..  12,51-i      " 
Mississippi  delta,  north  of  Red 

River  (within  Forshey's delta).   3,420      " 
Red  river  alluvion  above  Avoy- 
elles    1,650      " 


Ouachita  alluvion,  above   Bccuf 

River 900  sq.  m. 


Making  an  aggregate,  including 

flat  lakes,  of 21,370      " 

All  this  is  not  constantly  under  water,  but 
it  is  so  more  or  less,  and  constantly  subject  to 
it.  This  does  not  include  the  alluvious  of  the 
smaller  streams,  and  some,  he  admits,  may 
have  been  reclaimed  by  levees.  He  further 
states,  that  of  the  whole  ^Uuvion,  there  is 
uncultivable  more  than  half,  say  12,000  square 
miles,  including  shallow  lakes. 

You  see,  then,  that  about  one  eighth  of 
the  state  is  constantly  under  water,  and  that 
more  than  two  fifths  of  it  are  subject  to  inun- 
dation. 


NEW-ORLEANS.— Commerce,  1850-51. 


MONTHLY   ARRIVALS    OF   FLAT-BOATS. 


MONTHS. 


September 12  5  3 

OclobiT 2  3  8 

November 3  4  7 

December 27  3  22 

January 72  3  28 

February 19  4  9 

March 35  6  111 

April 10  7  44 

May 11  11  40 

June 21  3  16 

July 2  6  2 

August 4  3  8 

Total 218  58  298 


2 

11 

9 

13 

2 

28 

12 

27 

15 

9 

29 

5 

32 

3 

17 

10 

o 

13 

4 

33 

80 

3 

^^ 

119 

10 

70 

1 

2 

179 

27 

7 

132 

10 

1 

109 

7 

65 

14 

40 

17 

47 

104 


10      941 


COMPARATIVE    PRICES    OF    FLOUR    AT    NEW-ORLEAXS    ON    THE    FIRST   OF    EACH    MONTH,    FOE 

FIVE    YEARS. 


September $4  62^  a  5  12ii  4  50 

October , 4  UO    a  5  12^15  00 

November 4  25    a  5  25  j  4  75 

December 4.50    a  5  12^5  00 

January 4  25    a  5  00  !  5  00 

February 4  25    a  5  00  j  5  12i 

March 4  00    a  4  75     5  25 

April 4  00    a  4  87^1  5  62^ 

May 4  121  a  5  00  !  5  37i 

June 3  75    a  4  75  |  6  75 

July 3  25    a  4  75    5  50 

August 4  00    a  5  25:400 


l8.(8-49. 

5  75  I  4  00  a 
5  62i|  5  00  a 
5  50  5  4  75  a 
.S  50  4  62i  a 
5  62i  4  25  a 
5  75  i  4  I2i  a 
4  ^  a 
4  121  a 

3  87i  a 

4  50  a 
3  87i  a 
6  00  a 


6  00 
G  75 

6  75 

7  37i 
7  25 
6  75 


4 

75  I 

5 

25  j 

5 

12i 

5  00 

4  75 

5  00 

5 

25 

5  00  1 

5 

00 

5 

25 

S 

00 

7 

50  1 

4  75 

4  00 

5  25 
5  121 
5  50 

4  75 

5  00 
5  25 
4  25 
4  25 
4  25 
4  00 


G  00  I 
5  00 

5  021 ! 

6  01) 
6  00 
5  25 
5  75 
5  8"! 
5  25 

4  75 

5  00 
4  021 


184G47. 

3  50  a 

4  00  a 
h  00  a 
4  871  a 

4  371  a 
C  00  a 

5  50  a 

6  00  a 

5  75  a 

6  75  a 
6  00  a 
4  00  a 


4  00 

4  62 

5  50 
5  37 

5  251 

6  50 
C  25 
6  25 

6  50 

7  50 
7  00 
5  50 


COMPARATIVE    PRICES  OF    MESS    AND    PRIME    PORK. 

Mess,  1850-51.  Prime,  1850-51.  Mess,  1840  50. 

September §10  25    a  10.50(850    a    9001925    a    950 

Octobiv 10  25    a  10  37^'  8  75    a    9  00  I  9  75    a  10  00 

November 1125    a  12  00^8  25    a    8  75  !  9  37i  a    9  50 

December II  37^  a  U  75  !  8  12i  a    8  50  |  9  37i  a    9.50 

January 1175    a  i2  00     9  Oil    a      —     110  50    a  11  00 

February 12  50    a  13  00    10  50    a  11  00     9  25    a    9.50 

March 12  50    a  13  00    11  00    a  11  50      9  50    a  10  00 

j^pril     13  00    a  13  50   10  75    a  11  25  ,  9  37J  a    9  G'JJ 

Mav 14  00    a  14  75    11  75    3  12  251950    a    975 

June 44  50    a  14  75  J2  00    a  12  60     9  75    a  10  00 

July 14  00     a  14  3711-00     a  12  50  |     —      a  12  00 

August 15  00    a  15  25  i  12  50    a  13  00  111  60    a  11  75 


8  25 
8  371 


8  'J5  a 
8  50  a 
8  00  a 
7  371  a 
7  371  a 
7  37     a 

7  75    a 

8  25    a 

9  50 


8  371 
8  50 
8  50 
8  75 

7  62i 
7  50 

7  50 

8  00 
8  50 


a    9  75 


150 


XE-W-ORLEAXS — COMMERCE. 


COMPARATIVE   TRICES    OF    CORN,   IN   SACKS. 

1M849, 


September. 

October 

November., 
December . . 
.lanuiiry. 


iaw-51. 
.Cents.  53    a 


Febriiury ro 


March 

April.. 

May... 

June.. . 

July... 

August 


I84'j  r*. 
3.5  a 
42  a 
50  a 
46    a 


f.5 

_ 

CS 

45 

58 

50 

58 

50 

54 

76 

nl 

64 

57 

75 

60 

75 

52  a 

4S  a 

52  a 

42  a 

35  a 

34  a 

30  a 

20  a 

30  a 

50  o 

50  a 

50  a 


84-'«8. 

50  <t 

50  a 

41  a 

45  a 

54  a 

40  a 

36  a 

30  a 

22  n 

32  a 

33  (I  39 
36  a  42 


1846-47. 

36  o  40 


60 
58 
60 
55 
80 
75 
80 
55 
65 
65 
40 


65 
75 
70 
60 
90 
97 
95. 
70 
80 
75 
55 


FOREIGN  EXPORTS  AT  NEW-ORLEANS. 

AMERICAN    PRODUCE. 

American  Vessels  to  Foreign  Countries. 

Third  quarter,  1850 86,078,S97 

Fourtl)  quarter,  1 R50 7,983,399 

First  quarter,  1851 11,431,425 


UNITED  STATES  BRANCH  MINT. 

Statement  of  the  Deposits  and  Coinage  ot  the 
Branch  'Mint,  New- Orleans,  from  the  \st 
of  August,  1850,  <o  the  31s<  of  July,  1851, 
mclusive : 

GOLD    DEPOSITS. 


i<irst  quarter,  iftoi  - VoZal^ci  I  California    gold 

Second  quarter,  1851 l-,6_J,rfbb  ,      ^^^^^j.^^ $8,152,878 


S3S.022,e«»  °^Si:^£^i 


Foreign  Vessels  to  Foreign  Countries. 

Tliird  quarter,  1850 82.103,1 1^ 

Fourth  quarter,  1850 2,719,728 

First  quarter,  1851 7,692,659 

Sccoud  quarter,  1851 3,449,90ff 


815,965,404 

Coastwise. 

Tliird  quarter,  1850 §2,859,567 

Fourth  quarter,  1 850 6,177,1 28 

First  quarter,  1851 11,707,593 

Second  quarter,  1851 6,484,624 


132,758  3-: 


->^8,285,637  14 


SILVER    DEPOSITS 

Silver  extracted 
from  Califor- 
nia Gold 857,571  61 

Other  silver  bul.   764,513  64 

Total  silver  dep't 


$822,085  25 


827,228,912 

Total  Foreign 63,988,013 

«      Coastwise 27,228,912 

Grand  total 881,216,925 

FOREIGN    PRODUCE. 

American  Vessels  to  Foreign  Countries. 

Third  quarter,  1850 $55,192 

Fourth  quarter,  1850 158,316 

First  quarter,  1851 91,313 

Second  quarter,  1851 83,445 


Total  value  of  gold  and  silver 

deposits $9,107,722  39 

GOLD    COINAGE,    1850-51. 
Pii-ees.  Value. 

Double  Eagles,  333,500-86,670,000 

Eagles 149,600     1,495,000 

Half  Eagles....  33,000  165,000 
Quarter  Eagles.204,000  510,000 
Gold  Dollars . .  1 54,000        1 54,UOO 


-88,994,000 


8388,265 

Foreign  Vessels  to  Foreign  Countries. 

Tliird  quarter,  18,50 814,616 

Fourth  ([uartcr,  1S50 18,255 

FirBt  quarter,  1851 13,140 

Second  quarter,  1851 11,674 

57,686 
Grand  total 8445,950 


SILVER   COINAGE. 

Pieces.  Value. 

Dollars 3,000     83,000 

Half  Dollars....  1,71 2,000  856.000 
Quarter  Dollars.    276,000     69,0()0 

Dime.'^ 580,000 

Half  Dimes 1,030,000 

Three  Cent  Pes.    600,000 


63,000 
51,500 
18,000 


4,151,000 81,050,500 


Total  coinage..  .5,025,000 


810,044,500 


IMPORTS  OF  SPECIE  AT  NEW-ORLEANS   FOR   FOUR 
YEARS  FROM  IsT  SElTEMItER  TO  31  ST  AUGUST. 

1850-51 $7,937,119 

1849-50 3,792,662 

1848-49 2,501,250 

1847-48 1,845,808 

1846-47 6,680,050 


NEW-ORLEANS COMMERCE. 


151 


DIEKCT   IMPORTS    OF    COFFEE,   SUGAR,    AND    SALT 
AT   NEW-ORLEANS. 

1860  51,        1849-SO.         1848-43. 

Coffee,  Havana,  bags 10,307  20,627  1(5,341 

Coffee,  Rio,  baus 274,1590  2iJ5,(ll3  29'J,l-2'.) 

Sugar,  Havana,  boxes 29,'2!)3  18,843  14,775 

Salt,  Liverpool,  sacks 420,838  468,932  508,r)l7 

Salt,  Turk'8  laid,  &C.,  bush. 419,686  683,183  249,001 

FOREIGN  COMMERCE  OF  NEW-ORLEANS. 

TONJAGK    CLEARED. 

July  to  Septetnbcr,  1850. 

No.  of  vessels.        Totin»ge, 

American  for  foreign  ports.  .109     44,549  63 

Foreign 52     19,866  96 

Coastwise 199     57,442  30 


306  121,858  94 

October  to  December,  1850. 
American  for  foreign  ports.  .114    53,946  18 

Foreign 66     20,937  40 

Coastwise 275     76,789  20 

455  151,672  78 

January  to  March,  1851. 

American  for  foreign  Dorts.  .188     85,747  51 

Foreign '. 119     53,761  56 

Coastwise 424  121,362  03 


731  260,871  15 

April  to  June,  1851. 

American  for  foreign  ports.  .234  108,715  82 

Foreign 88     34,383  15 

Coastwise 329     97,579  68 


651  240,678  72 

RECAPITULATION. 

Totalthird  quarter,  1850...  360  121,858  94 

"      fourth      "  "      ...455  151,672  78 

«      first  "        1851. ..731  260,871  15 

«     second     "  "     ...651  240,678  72 


2,197  775,081  69 

Total  to  June,  1851 775,081  69 

The  year  previous 773,783  19 


Difference 1,298  50 


TONNAGE  ENTERED. 

July  to  September,  1850. 

No.  of  vessels.        Tonnage. 

American  from  foreign  ports.  61     16,176  94 

Foreign 42     14,347  29 

Coastwise 205     63,083  40 


308     93,607  62 
October  to  December,  1850. 
American  from  foreign  ports.  158     61,487  57 

Foreign 106     40,827  33 

Coastwise 303  124,5S5  02 


567  226,899  92 
January  to  March,  1851. 
American  from  foreign  ports.  178     64,104  41 

Foreign 97     45,207  51 

Coastwise 365  125,032  82 


640  234,344  79 
April  to  June,  1851. 
American  from  foreign  ports.  146     53,368  22 

Foreign 88     36,617  58 

Coastwise 305  123,189  65 


539  213,175  50 

RECAPITULATION. 

Total  third  quarter,  1850 308     93,007  68 

"      fourth     "  «     ...567  226,899  92 

«     first        «         1851..,. 640  234,344  79 
"     second    "  "     ...539  213,175  50 

2,054  768,028  04 

Tot^to  June,  1851 768,028  04 

The  year  previous 763,634  58 


Difference 4,393  41 

The  arrivals  at  New-Orleans,  for  the  last 
five  years,  have  stood : 

Schoo-  Steara  Steam 
Ships.  Barks.  Brigs,  ners.    Ships   Total,  noats. 

1846-7 764  451  663  989  109  2,981  3,022 

1847-8 955  509  462  795  206  2,927  2,977 

1848-9 .757  462  375  45li  13G  2,186  2.873 

1849-50 654  363  362  666  147  2,192  2,784 

1850-51 615  320  315  704  190  2,144  2,918 

A  gradual  decline  will  be  observed  in  al- 
most every  description  of  vessels.  Tiie  flat- 
boat  arrivals  during  1850-51  were  1,261; 
also  a  decline,  as  will  be  seen  by  om^  previous 
volumes. 


Comparative  Arrivals,  Exports,  and  Stocks  of  Cotton  and  Tobacco  at  New- Orleans,  for  ten 
years,  from  \st  September  each  year  to  date. 


COTTON— BALES. 


TOBACCO— HHDS. 


Years.  Arrivals  Exports.  Stocks.  Arrivals,  Exports.  Stocks. 

1850-51 99.5,036 997,458 15,390 64,030 54,501 23>t71 

lS49-,50 837,723 838,,591 16,612 60.304 57,955 14,842 

1848-49 1,142,382 1,167,303 15,480 52,335 52,898 13,'«)3 

1847-48 1,213,805 1,201,897 37,401 55,882 60,364 14,851 

1846-47 740,669 724.,508 23,493 55,588 50,376 22,336 

1845-46 1,053,633 1,0.54,8,)7 6,332 72,896 62,045 17,924 

1844-45 979,2.38 984.616 7,550 71,493 68,679 7,673 

1843-44 910,854 895„'575 12.934 82.435 81,249 4.859 

1843-43 1,089,648 1,088,870 4,700 92,.5n9 €9,891 4,873 

1841-42 740,155 749,267 4,428 67,555 C8,03ti 2,255 


152 


N^W-ORLEANS — FOREIGN    COMMERCE   AND    BANKING    CAPITAL, 


Comparative  prices  of  Middling  to  Fair  Cotton  at  New-Orleans,  on  the  first  of  each  month,. 

during  a  period  of  Five  Years,  together  with  the  Total  Receipts  at  New-Orleans,  and  tJie 
Total  Crops  of  the  United  States. 


.,  9i  a  IH 5i 


IBSO-Sl. 
Ceuts. 

Ssptember. 9    a  11 

October 13J  a  13| 9J  a  12  5i  a  7 

November 13i   a  14i 9}  a  11  5     a6, 

December 13|-   a  14  10^  a  llj 5^  a  G^ 

Jauuary' 12J  a  \i\ lOi  a  lU 6i  a  6^ 

February 12i  a  13J lli  a  r4 C|  a  71 

March 10^  a  13  10|  a  12i 6^  a  7i 

April lOi  a  12J 10^  a  12 6^  a  7^ 

May 9i  a  Hi 11|  a  13  Oi  a  7^ 

Juno 8J   all  lU  a  13i 7    a  8J 

July 8     a  lOi 11}  a  13i 7    a  8} 

August 7    a    91 12^  a  131 »    a  — 


B-49.  1S47-48.  1846-47. 

nt».  Cents,        ^^  Cems. 

a  — lOJ  a  12 7ia   9 

10    a  11  8f  a  10 

81 9    a  101 


61  a 


a 


n. 


61  a  7 
6A  a 
5  a 
51  a 
51  a 
6|  a 


9    a  l«i 

10    a  IH 

m  a  13 

91a  11 

7| lOJ  a  11| 

61 lOJ  a  Hi 

7i 91  aUJ- 

7i 9i  a  lOJ 

71 101  a  12 


Bales.  Bales.  Bales.  Bates,  Bates, 

Receipts  at  New-Orleans.  1,053,633 797,387 1,100,636 1.188,733 707,324 

Crop  of  Uuitcd  States. . . .  2,350,537 2^96,706 2,700,000 2,350,000 1,800,000 

CoTTtparative  Prices  of  Sugar  on  the  Levee,  on  the  first  of  each  month,  for  Five  Years. 


Cents. 

September 41  a 

October... 4i  a 

November 5     a 

December 3    a 

January 31  a 

February 3i  a 

March 31  a 

April 3i  a 

May 3    a 

June > 3 J  a 

July 3J  a 

August 41  a 


3 

a 

6f 

4 

a 

6| 

3 

a 

6 

3 

a 

6 

2i 

a 

5 

21 

a 

5 

Cents 

2i  a 

41 

21  a 

4* 

3  a 

41 

21  a 

41 

21  a 

41 

2J  a 

5 

21 


21  a   5  2J  a   51 21  a 


7-48.  1646-47, 

iits,  CenU. 

a  7f 41  a  7i 

a  71 61  a  9 

a  51 
a  5 
a  5 
51 


51  a  7 
41  a  7, 
5    a7e 
5    a  7^ 
5i 


21  a  5  2}  a  51 21  a  5  5J  a  7i 

21  a  5  2J  a  51 

3|  a  5J 2J  a  5 

4    a  6  .. 


4i  a  6} 3    a   51 


2i  ^    4} 21  a   4J. 


IJ  a  4J 5     a  7J- 

11  a  41 5"    a  75 


2J  a  4i. 


Comparative  Prices  of  Molasses  on  the  Levee,  on  the  first  of  each  month,  for  Five  Years. 


September 20    a  32 10    a    20  15    a  20  28    a  32  15-  a 

October 20    a  32 10    a    20  17    a  21  28    a  32 20    a 

November 25    a  251 24    a    241 231  a  24 221a  23  26    a 

December 23i  a  24  20.1  a    20} 191a  20  19i  a  191 23 


January 18  a  24  17  a  191. 

February 23  a  271 15  a  20i. 

March 22  a  30  12  a  21i. 

April    25  a  33 10  a  21. 

May    25  a  32 10  a  23. 

j,j„e'    25  a  30 21  a  27. 

juty .....22  a  30  25  a  33. 

August..: 20  a  28 20  a  33. 


NEW-ORLEAXS. — Importance  of  In- 
creasing HER  Foreign  Commerce  —  Her 
Banking  Cai-ital. — Mr.  President,  I  now  pass 
to  another  subject  of  great  interest  to  New- 
Orleans,  and-  one  intimately  connected  with 
the  progress  and  completion  of  railroads  in  the 
valley  of  the  Mississippi.  One  of  the  chief 
drawbacks  to  New-Orleans  is  the  absence  of 
an  import  trade ;  and  why  are  we  without  im- 
ports (  Why  is  it,  that  a  city  exporting  eighty 
or  ninety  millions  of  dollars  annually,  is  so  in- 
significant in  that  important  branch  of  com- 
merce ?  Because  of  the  remoteness  and  un- 
certainty of  our  market — our  being  without  a 
speedy,  rapid,  and  cheap  communication  with 
the  interior  country  that  seeks  New-Orleans  as 
a  market  for  its  agricultural  pEoductloas.  It  is 


191. 
211. 
19 
19 


17    a    171 241  a 

17    a    19  27    a 

15    a   21  29    a 

15    a    21  25    a 

,26    a 


..121  a    18  12    a    10 

..12    a    181 15    a   20 20    a 

8    a    18  15    a    20 26    a 


10    a    20  15    a    20 


,28    a 


22' 
25 
26i 
234 


in  our  power  to  make  New-Orleans  a  large  im- 
porting city,  by  carrying  out  the  objects  of  this. 
Convention,  and  facilitating  accesss  between- 
New-Orleans  and  every  portion  of  the  valley 
of  the  Mississippi,  which  is  tiibutary  to  our 
trade ;  and  without  r^ilroads  this  communica- 
tion cannot  be  established  to  compete  success- 
fully with  the  active  enterprise  of  our  northern 
rivals.  Under  present  and  past  circumstances, 
this  city  could  not  pretend  to  carry  on  import- 
ing extensively,  when  in:ports  from  those 
countries  we  trade  with,  were  such  here,  were 
either  cut  off  by  distance  from  the  country 
that  would  become  customers  for  tliese  imports- 
by  delays  or  uncertain  navigation ;  or,  whea 
these  facilities  were  at  command,  the  gooda 
imported  had  either  become  unsaleable  or  ua- 


NEW-ORLEANS FOREIGN    COMMERCE    AND    BANKING    CAPITAL. 


153 


fashionable,  leaving  the  importer  the  alterna- 
tive of  waiting  for  tiie  return  of  another  sea- 
son, at  the  expense  of  interest  and  multiplied 
expenses,  which,  under  any  circumstances, 
takes  away  all  cliance  of  profit.  But,  build 
the  proposed  railroads,  place  it  within  our 
power  to  travel  to  Nashville  in  twenty  hours, 
Memphis  in  twenty  hours,  and  all  the  impor- 
tant points  of  the  eastern  valley  of  the  Ohio 
and  Mississijipi  in  a  like  quick  time,  and  our 
own  western  borders  and  Texas  in  a  few  hours, 
then  New-Orleans  will  be  a  city  of  imports, 
the  produce  of  this  rich  agricultural  empire 
will  flow  into  her  lap,  not  as  a  mere  place  of 
transit,  but  to  be  exchanged  for  the  productions 
of  other  countries;  then  will  New-Orleans  be- 
gin the  fulfilment  of  her  destiny,  and  become 
renowned  and  famous  among  the  cities  of  the 
world. 

I  propose  to  illustrate  the  advantages  of  an 
importing  trade  over  one  of  mere  export.  We 
all  know  that  the  agencies  employed  in  re- 
ceiving, selling,  and  shipping  fifty  thousand 
bales  of  cotton  are  very  small,  and  yet  fifty 
thousand  bales  of  cotton,  at  present  cost,  would 
produce  §  1  ,.500,000.  Suppose  the  proceeds  of 
this  cotton  were  brought  back  in  the  manufac- 
tures of  Birmingham,  Manchester,  Lyons,  or 
any  European  city,  liow  many  agencies  would 
be  required  to  distribute  it  through  all  the 
channels  between  the  importer  and  the  con- 
sumer ?  Judging  from  the  subdivisions  of  such 
employments  in  northern  cities,  the  number 
would  be  very  great ;  but  these  people  not 
only  want  storehouses  and  shops,  but  want 
houses  to  live  in ;  and  with  the  demand  for 
stores,  shops,  and  bouses,  would  spring  up  a 
demand  for  builders,  artisans,  and  laborers,  and 
agents  of  every  description ;  our  vacant  lots 
would  soon  be  covered  by  improvements,  our 
vacant  houses  tenanted  by  an  active  and  in- 
dustrious population,  that  would  become  per- 
manent and  progressive.  These  are  the  ele- 
ments of  a  solid  prosperity,  and  what  New- 
Orleans  most  needs.  A  mere  city  of  transit 
commerce  can  never  be  a  great  city.  You 
maj'  talk  of  receipts  of  cotton,  sugar,  and  to- 
bacco— they  have  done  all  for  you  they  ever 
will  do.  You  must  now  rely  on  something 
else ;  and  this  reliance  is  mainly  dependent 
on  increased  local  pursuits  and  increased  inte- 
rior communication,  such  as  New- York  and 
every  northern  city  has  established. 

I  fear  1  tax  your  patience,  but  our  present 
circumstances  demand  from  every  citizen  an 
attention  to  facts ;  and  your  time  cannot  be 
better  employed  than  in  listening  to  those  I 
am  detaihng.  It  is  a  constant  subject  of  com- 
plaint tiiat  New-Orleans  has  an  insuiBcient 
banking  capital — that  moneycommands  a  high 
price.  The  error  on  this  subject  is  very  pre- 
valent at  home  and  abroad.  Boston,  which  is 
constantly  rung  in  our  ears  as  an  example  of 
wealth  and  enterprise,  divided  from  her  com- 
merce and  manufactures,  has  about  eighteen 


millions  of  banking  capital,whil8t  New-Orleans 
has  about  seventeen  millions  of  fixed  capital, 
or  about  ten  millions  of  active  capital.  The 
cities  of  New- York  and  Brooklyn  have  a  bank- 
ing capital  of  twenty-eight  millions,  Philadel- 
phia under  ten  millions,  and  Baltimore  under 
seven  millions.  New-York  and  Brooklyn  have 
nearly  six  times  the  population  of  New-Orleans, 
and  less  than  three  times  an  excess  in  banking 
capital,  rhiladelphiahas  a  population  nearly 
four  times  greater  than  New-Orleans,  and  her 
banking  capital  is  not  so  great.  Baltimore, 
that  has  a  population  near  fifty  per  cent, 
greater  than  New-Orleans,  has  three  millions 
less  banking  capital  than  New-Orleans.  Cin- 
cinnati has  not  more  than  one  eighth,  and  St. 
Louis  not  more  than  one  twentieth  of  the 
banking  capital  of  New-Orleans  ;  and  yet 
these  cities  have  advanced  with  astonishing 
progress,  and  have  almost  doubled  their  pop- 
ulations, whilst  New-Orleans  is  comparatively 
stationary. 

The  deposits  of  the  banking  institutions  of 
New-Orleans  bear  a  proportion  to  those  of 
other  cities,  equally  favorable  with  that  of 
their  capitals ;  and  I  assume  that  fixed  capi- 
tals and  deposits  in  any  city  are  an  index  of 
its  aggregate  capital  and  means.  W  ith  these 
facts,  I  proceed  to  make  another  statement, 
warranted  by  my  knowledge  of  the  facts :  that 
the  average  price  of  money  in  New-Orleans 
since  1842  has  been  33  per  cent,  cheaper  than 
the  average  price  in  Boston;  25  per  cent, 
cheaper  than  the  average  price  in  New- York, 
Philadelphia,  or  Baltimore  ;  and  50  per  cent, 
cheaper  than  in  Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis. 
When  I  speak  of  the  average  price  or  the  dear- 
ness  or  cheapness  of  money,  I  mean  the  cur- 
rent price  demanded  and  paid  on  good  and 
undoubted  security;  and  I  am  particular  on 
these  points  of  comparison,  as  intending  to 
show  that  the  circulation  of  capital  depends 
on  the  manner  of  its  employment,  and  that 
small  capitals,  actively  circulated  where  em- 
ployments are  multiplied  and  various,  achieve 
a  great  deal  more  than  large  capitals,  located 
in  a  city  with  her  whole  dependence  founded 
on  a  mere  export  commerce.  The  operation 
of  unwise  laws  affecting  capital  will,  in  all 
countries,  restrain  and  embarrass  its  free  circu- 
lation ;  and  when  the  laws  are  not  such  as  to 
endanger  the  safe  employment  of  capital,  it 
will  certainly  disappear. 

We  have  more  capital  in  the  southern  states 
for  our  wants,  than  any  portion  of  the  confed- 
eracy. The  absence  among  us  of  the  pros- 
perity so  manifest  in  the  northern  and  middle 
states,  does  not  arise  from  any  want  of  capital, 
but  proceeds  from  the  utter  neglect  of  the 
south  to  her  true  and  substantial  interests,  and 
the  discouragements  that  stand  in  the  way  of 
investments.  The  unfortunate  circumstances 
of  the  public  credit  of  Mississippi  and  Arkan- 
sas, and  the  overthrow  of  confitlence,  public 
and  private,  when  public  obligations  are  dia- 


154 


NEW-YORK COMMERCIAL    GROWTH    AXD    GREATNESS    OF. 


regarded,  visit  on  the  whole  southwest  penal-  j  prove  an  element  of  increased  security  to  the 
ties  that  are  fatal  to  the  spirit  of  enterprise,  south,  one  which  will  hasten  the  recovery  of 
and,  above  all,  to  tliat  conHdence  which  nour- 1  her  lost  power. 

ishes  and  protects  it.  The  demoralizing influ- !  Attention  to  these  interests  will  achieve  far 
ence  of  blighted  public  faith  weakens  the  at-  more  for  the  south  than  the  discussion  of  the 
tachment  of  the  people  to  the  government,  and  platforms  of  political  (piackery,  invented  to  ad- 
capital  and  property  will  never  trust  its  pro-  vance  the  pretensii  ns  of  their  projectors, 
tection  to  a  government  without  this  moral  I  again  repeat  that  the  cry  of  deficiency  in 
support.  Capital  will  never  flow  into  a  state  capital  is  unfounded  ;  we  have  it  in  abundance 
that  neglects  the  fulfilment  of  her  public  en-  for  all  our  purposes,  if  it  can  be  concentrated 
gagements ;  but  all  the  savings  of  capital,  and  circulated  as  it  is  in  "Wall  street.  There 
derived  from  industry  and  economy,  in  such  a  has  been  no  period  in  the  last  five  years,  not- 
state,  will  leave  it — take  wings  and  fly  away  withstanding  its  being  marked  with  great 
to  places  of  greater  security.  At  this  time,  |  revolutions  in  trade,  that  money  was  not  ob- 
and  within  the  last  year,  the  chief  buyers  of ,  tainable  in  New-Orleans,  on  good  security — I 
stocks,  for  investment  in  New-York,  were  '<  mean  available  and  convertible  security,  such 
southern  people — yes,  Mr.  President,  people  ,  as  is  recognized  and  current  in  Amsterdam, 
from  Mississippi  and  Alabama ;  and  yet,  if  London,  and  New- York ;  I  do  not  mean  se- 
capital  is  so  scarce  and  money  so  dear  as  is  |  curity  with  the  incumbrance  of  notarial  pledges, 


daily  announced,  why  does  it  happen  that  this 
country  is  furnishing  capital  to  buy  northern 
stocks  ?  furnishing  capital  to  enable  our  active 
and  enterprising  rivals  to  extend  their  high- 
ways and  power  ?  furnishing  the  aid  that 
transfers  to  them  supremacy,  and  weakens  and 
impoverishes  us  ?     If  you  are  true  southerners, 


tacit  mortgages,  appraisement  laws,  fees  to 
lawyers  for  collecting,  and  vexatious  delays  in 
realizing  them.  The  money-lender  is  always 
the  most  timid  of  men ;  he  has  what  you 
want,  and  is  always  willing  to  supply  your 
wants,  provided  he  is  sure  of  escaping  trouble 
and  vexation,  and  the  security  you  oft'er  is 


and  I  believe  you  all  are,  go  to  work  and  good ;  but  when  you  ask  him  to  employ  at- 
change  all  this  by  ordaining  such  laws  as  will  I  torneys  to  investigate  any  titles,  and  expose 
inspire  confidence  at  home  and  abroad  ;  go  to  ,  himself  to  any  uncertainty,  his  compliance  is 
work  and  imitate  your  victorious  rivals,  build  ,  at  an  end.  It  is  unreasonable  to  suppose  a 
roads,  and  create  stock  at  home,  give  the  guar- 1  money-lender  would  be  attracted  by  the  securi- 
antee  of  honesty  and  security,  and  my  word  ties  and  forms  of  law  known  in  Louisiana; 
for  it,  you  will  not  only  entice  back  the  capi-  that  he  would  hazard  the  profit  on  his  loans 
tal  that  is  leaving  you,  but  invite  it  from  by  the  fees  paid  to  the  agents  of  the  law,  and 
abroad.  i  their  punctual  recovery  by  the  delays  of  an 

Whilst  regarding  our  pursuits  and  laws  as  I  appraisement  law  that  extends  the  payment 
unfavorable  to  that  circulation  of  capital  known  j  twelve  months,  when  the  property  does  not 
in  other  sections  of  the  Union,  there  is  another   brins  two  thirds  of  its  cash  value       It  is  the 


cause  that  is  dealing  out  its  influences.      Lat- 
terly, there  has  sprung  up,  in  consequence  of 


doubt  and  uncerlaiuty  produced  by  such  a  con 
dition  of  laws,  that  curtail  the  cnculation  of 


the  slavery  agitation,  an  uneasy  feeling.  The  capital,  .and  make  it  dear  to  the  agricultuaal 
wicked  and  insane  meddling  of  the  enemies  of  classes  of  the  country. — Speech  of  James  Robb. 
our  institutions,  of  our  peace  and  tranquillity,  | 

and  the  perpetual  discussion  of  the  question,  1  NEW-YORK. — Commerci.vl  Growth  and 
north  and  south, contributes  largely  to  unsettle  '  Greatness  ok  New- York. —  Position  of 
confidence,  and  to  work  on  the  fears  of  the   Cities — Origin  of  New-York — Early  His- 


timid.  I  am  not  among  the  number  to  believe 
this  evil  is  not  to  be  overcome.  The  south, 
united  in  policy  and  interest,  united  by  the 
ties  of  closer  inter-communication,  united  by 
an  extended  and  combined  system  of  railroads, 
united  by  the  development  of  her  vast  re- 
sources, and  the  building  up  of  a  manufactur- 
ing interest,  will  soon  be  in  circumstances  of 
power  and  prominence  that  will  put  at  naught 
all  the  distractions  that  have  threatened  her 
peace,  and  endangered  the  security  of  the 
Union. 


TORY,  Advances,  Improvements,  Poi'vlation, 
Resources,  Commerce,  Prospects,  etc. — The 
growth  of  large  cities  depends  upon  the  devel- 
opment of  the  mechanic  arts,  and  the  facilities 
they  possess  for  communication  with  tracts  of 
country  around  them.  The  larger  tlie  extent 
of  agricultural  country,  which  by  means  of 
avenues  of  communication,  natural  or  arti- 
ficial, can  be  brought  into  contact  with  a  city, 
the  more  rapid  will  be  its  growth,  and  tne 
greater  the  magnitude  to  which  o]ierating 
causes  may  carry  it.    While  the  mechiinic  arts 


The  building  of  railroads,  the  erection  of}  and  the  business  of  exchange  are  unknown,  it 
manufactories,  and  the  demand  for  the  skill  results  from  the  regular  and  irresistible  opera- 
and  labor  that  they  every  where  create,  will  tionof  a  natural  law,  that  largo  cities  cannot  ex- 
attract  emigration  to  the  south,  will  augment  ist.  Tiie  condition  of  society  would  furnish  nei- 
our  white  population,  who  will  become  more  ther  the  elements  of  their  growth,  nor  of  their 
permanent  and  settled  in  their  pursuits;  and  preservation.  The  l)ulk  of  the  population  be- 
this  tendency  to  localizing   population  will .  ing  agricultural — inasmuch  as  that  food  is  the 


NEW- YORK COMMERCIAL    GROWTH    AND    GREATNESS    OF. 


155 


first  necessary — is  scattered  over  the  face  of  I 
the  earth,  regulated  by  the  attractions  of  soil 
and  climate.  The  supply  of  wants  beyond  j 
those  of  food,  must  come  from  cities,  either  | 
manufactured  or  imported  there ;  and  such  , 
cities  will  rise  in  localities  fixed  by  the  natu- : 
ral  avenues  of  the  country.  It  frequently  hap- 
pens that  the  fortunes  of  a  city  change  through 
the  discontinuance  of  the  operation  of  causes 
from  which  its  existence  was  derived — as  in  I 
the  case  of  a  particular  manufacture  which  | 
will  no  longer  find  a  market.  But  with  the  | 
decline  of  that  trade,  another  may  spring  up  j 
to  sustain  the  existence  of  the  city ;  as,  for  in-  j 
stance,  a  large  manufacturing  town  in  the  in-  j 
terior  of  a  country  may  lose  its  market  for  the  | 
article  which  gave  it  importauce,  but  may  I 
have  acquired  commercial  habits  during  its ' 
prosperity,  and  continue  a  depot  for  inland  j 
trade  when  its  manufactures  are  no  longer 
profitable. 

The  city  of  New-York  had  its  origin  en- 
tirely in  commercial  interests.  The  discoverer, 
Henry  Hudson,  is  said  to  have  sold  the  title 
to  the  Dutch  West  India  Company,  in  1609, 
and  they  located  the  first  permanent  establish-  j 
ment,  which  was  forcibly  broken  up  in  1618  j 
by  the  English  South  Virginia  Company,  who  1 
claimed  the  title  under  the  discoveries  of  the 
Cabots.  The  Dutch  having  been  reinstated  i 
in  1620,  by  order  of  James  I.,  the  growing  | 
importance  of  the  place  induced  their  govern- 
ment to  erect  it  into  a  province  in  1629,  under 
the  name  of  New-Netherlands.  It  retained 
thisform  until  the  government  of  Charles  II. 
took  forcible  possession  in  166-1.  He  trans- 
ferred it  by  letters  patent  to  the  Duke  of 
York — afterwards,  as  James  II.,  driven  from 
the  English  throne  for  his  despotic  follies. 
From  him  it  received  the  title  of  "  New  York." 
In  1673,  when  the  Dutch  ruled  the  ocean,  en- 
tered the  Thames,  and  burnt  the  British  ship- 
ping— at  the  moment  Charles  and  his  court 
were  playing  at  romps  at  the  house  of  the 
Duchess  of  Portsmouth — New- York  passed 
into  their  hands.  It  was  restored  to  the  Brit- 
ish by  treaty  in  IQli.  Through  all  these 
changes  the  colony  preserved  its  commercial 
character.  The  causes  of  its  origin  had  little 
analogy  with  those  of  other  settlements.  New- 
England,  Pennsylvania,  and  the  southern  states, 
had  more  the  character  of  religious  asylums  for 
the  oppressed  than  New-York,  which  was  lo- 
cated purely  by  commercial  adventurers  with 
a  view  to  trade,  and  this  distinctive  character 
it  has  retained  to  the  present  day.  The  first 
charter  of  the  city  was  granted  by  James  II. 
April  22,  1686.  The  mayor,,  recorder,  sheriff, 
town  clerk,  and  clerk  of  the  market,  were 
appointed  by  the  king,  directly  or  indirectly ; 
aldermen  and  assistants  were  chosen  annually 
by  the  inhabitants  of  each  ward.  The  corpo- 
ration, styled  "The  Mayor,  Aldermen,  and 
Commonalty  of  the  city  of  New-York,"  were 
authorized  to  make  improvements,  but  not  to 


interfere  with  vested  riffhts,  but  by  consent  oj 
the  ow7iers.  In  I7u8,  Queen  Anne  confirmed 
the  charter,  and  gave  power  to  establish  fer- 
ries. In  1732,  George  II.  confirmed  the  char- 
ter, with  modificatious.  The  city  was  made 
free,  and  the  power  of  the  corporation  in- 
creased, particularly  in  respect  to  the  right  of 
making  improvements  without  the  limitation 
or  assent  of  private  owners,  required  by  the 
grant  of  James,  Since  then,  the  changes  in 
the  city  charter,  by  acts  of  legislation  and  by 
state  constitution,  have  been  mostly  modifica- 
tions of  the  charter  of  George  IL  The  charter, 
as  it  now  stands,  is  a  singular  illustration  of 
the  changes  which  have  been  wrought  in  the 
government  of  the  United  States,  by  their 
transition  from  a  state  of  colonial  subjection 
to  national  independence,  and  by  the  general 
progress  of  opinion  throughout  the  country. 
It  is  a  fabric  of  arbitrary  powers  resting  upon 
a  popular  basis.  Almost  all  the  grants  of 
English  kings  have  been  retained,  but  in  con- 
firming and  extending  the  authority  of  the 
municipal  government,  its  organization  has 
been  subject  to  the  popular  principle  of  repre- 
sentation, and  the  citizens  have,  directly  or  in- 
directly, a  voice  in  the  election  of  officers. 
The  most  arbitrary  and  oppressive  existing 
power  is  that  of  taxing  property  beyond  Us 
value,  for  purposes  of  improvement.  Did  this 
not  rest  on  forms  of  popular  sanction,  insun-ec- 
tion  and  revolution  would  be  the  immediate 
result.  Another  is  the  power  of  p>lice  justices 
to  arrest  and  imprison  an  individual  at  their 
own  discretion,  without  the  form  of  trial  by 
jury,  for  six  months.  That  this  extraordinary 
power  exists,  is  the  best  proof  that  it  has 
never  been  abused. 

The  pohce  of  New-York  has  been  rather 

remarkable  for  success  in  detecting,  than  for 

vigilance  in  preventing,  crimes.      There  are 

few  instances  of  a  crime  of  any  magnitude 

I  having  been  perpetrated,  in  which  the  actors 

have  eluded  punishment.     Still,  the  city  has 

i  had  the  reputation  of  having  the  worst  police 

j  of  any  northern  city.     Of  late  it  has  been  or- 

j  ganized  on  a  new  footing,  which  has  been 

[  found  four  times  as  expensive,  if  not  more 

efficient,  than  the  old. 

Population  of  New- York. — The  population 

of  the  city  has  progressed  with  remarkable 

rapidity.     The  aggregate  numbers  of  the  city 

I  and  state,  from  remote  periods,  compare  as 

I  follows : 

State.  City. 

1696 80,000  ..  4,302 

1731 50,000  ..  4,622 

1756 100,000  ..  10,381 

1773 163,000  ..  21,870 

1786 301,100..  24,614 

1790 340,121  ..  83,131 

1800 586,756  ..  60,489 

1810 959,049  ..  96,372 

1820 1,372,812  ..  123,706 

1825 1,616,458  ..  166,086 


156 


NEW-YORK — COMMERCIAL   GROWTH   AXD    GREATNESS   OF. 


Siate. 


City. 


1830 1,918,608    . .   202,589 

1835 2,174,517   . .   270,089 

1840 2,428,921    ..    312,710 

1845 2,604,495   ..   370,102 

1847* 2,674,703  ..   394,457 

Prior  to  the  first  regular  enumeration  of 
1790,  the  figures  depend  upon  uncertain  data, 
but  thus  given  as  from  the  best  authorities. 

We  have  remarked  that  the  origin  and 
growth  of  New-Yorli  have  depended,  in  an 
eminent  degree,  upon  commerce ;  accordingly, 
the  ratio  of  increase  of  the  population  has  al- 
ways fluctuated  with  the  course  of  events  in 
regard  to  general  commerce.  Whenever  tlie 
general  trade  of  the  country,  from  whatever 
cause,  increased  in  magnitude,  the  resources 
of  the  city  of  New-York,  which  early  began 
to  assume  the  character  of  a  general  market 
for  tiie  whole  country,  was  brought  into  full 
operation.  An  increased  demand  for  men  and 
money  arose,  which  was  supplied  rapidly  from 
other  quarters.  The  first  great  increase  in  the 
city  population,  was  fi-om  1790  to  1800 — ac- 
cording to  the  ratio  of  which,  the  population 
would  have  doubled  in  twelve  years.  That 
decade  was  one  of  unexampled  commercial 
prosperity.  The  old  world,  involved  in  wars, 
was  making  constant  demands  upon  the  indus- 
try of  the  new;  and  the  produce  of  the  in- 
terior and  of  the  neighboring  states  was  press- 
ing to  the  Atlantic,  whence  the  shipping  of 
New- York  carried  it  abroad,  and  returned 
with  goods  for  distribution.  The  amount  of 
business  transacted  in  New- York  wonderfully 
increased,  and  its  attendant  profits  drew  thi- 
ther capital  and  men  to  participate  in  them. 
The  decade  1800  to  1810  presented  a  change 
in  affairs.  More  than  half  of  that  period  was 
fraught  with  reverses.  Captures,  condemna- 
tions, embargoes,  and  acta  of  nonintercourse, 
diminished  the  capital  of  the  place,  as  well  as 
the  profits.  They  discouraged  enterprise,  and 
the  general  depression  of  business  relaxed  the 
stimulus  that  had  drawn  numbers  to  the  city 
in  the  previous  decade.  In  the  succeeding 
ten  years,  actual  war  destroyed  the  commerce 
that  before  languished.  From  1812  to  1815 
foreign  trade  w.as  extinct,  and  no  principle  of 
income  was  in  operation.  From  1815  to  1820, 
trade  again  revived ;  but  the  rate  of  increase 
from  I8l0tol820  was  far  below  that  of  any 
other  decade,  while  the  increase  in  the  popula 
tion  of  the  whole  state  was  more  rapid  than 


*  Estimated  according  to  the  ratio  of  increase  in 
the  preceding  five  yours. 


ever ;  a  fact  which,  in  an  extraordinary  de- 
gree, evinces  the  importance  of  commerce  to 
the  prosperity  of  New- York.  From  1820  to 
1825,  commerce  was  prosperous,  and  the  pop- 
ulation of  the  city  swelled  in  proportion. 
This  is  to  be  remarked,  however,  that  com- 
merce did  not  recover  the  degree  of  pros- 
perity it  had  enjoyed  from  1790  to  1800,  for 
the  obvious  reason,  that  European  wars  had 
ceased,  and  industry  and  navigation  had  re- 
vived, to  deprive  America  of  the  sort  of  mo- 
nopoly she  had  previously  enjoyed.  In  the 
year  1825,  a  new  element  of  prosperity  was 
brought  into  operation,  in  the  construction  of 
the  Erie  canal,  which  opened  to  the  command 
of  the  city  not  only  the  agricultural  products 
of  the  fertile  valley  of  the  Genesee,  but  also 
of  the  whole  coast  of  the  northern  lakes.  The 
prosperity  growing  out  of  this  accession  of 
wealth,  added  to  the  general  speculative  dis- 
position apparent  throughout  the  world,  con- 
spired to  make  New- York  the  focus  of  finan- 
cial and  commercial  operations ;  and  from 
1830  to  1835,  the  largest  actual  increase  in 
numbers  took  place,  which  ever  occurred  in 
the  space  of  five  years.  From  1835  to  1837, 
the  speculative  fever  continued  to  rage,  and 
the  population  of  the  city  to  increase.  From 
1837  to  1840,  the  revulsion  took  place,  and 
with  it  a  desire  to  leave  the  city  for  western 
enterprise  returned.  Farms  which  had  been 
turned  into  building  lots  for  paper  cities,  were 
again  put  under  the  plough.  During  the 
speculative  mania  real  estate  rose  in  price, 
and  the  island  was  laid  out  in  town  lots  to  its 
utmost  limits.  Large  quantities  of  goods  were 
manufactured  on  credit  for  southern  and  west- 
ern consumption ;  importations  were  immense 
on  credit,  sales  as  large,  likewise  on  time.  All 
these  operations  gave  employment  to,  and  cre- 
ated a  demand  for,  work-people,  whom  the 
high  wages  drew  into  the  city.  Business  and 
capital  also  flowed  thither,  and  the  numbers 
of  the  people,  as  well  as  the  sale  of  real  and 
personal  estate,  rapidly  augmented.  When 
the  revulsion  took  place,  the  reverse  of  this 
picture  was  presented :  building  stopped,  real 
estate  fell  in  value,  large  operations  failed, 
people  were  thrown  out  of  employ,  and  many 
left  the  city  to  seek,  through  the  exercise  of 
industry  in  the  western  countrj%  tlic  fortunes 
they  had  ho])ed  to  realize  in  city  speculation. 
The  income  from  1835*to  1840  was  much  Jess 
than  in  the  previous  term  of  ten  years ;  and 
for  the  decade  ending  with  1845,  the  increase 
was  something  less  than  that  ending  with 
1885.  The  growth  of  the  city  by  wards,  since 
1835,  has  been  as  follows : 


NEW-YORK COMMERCIAL    GROWTH    AND    GREATNESS    OF. 


157 


CENSUS   OF   THE   CITY   OF   NEW-YOEK. 


Wards  ISJS  IKIO  1835  1S40 

18t 9,9-29  11,331  10,380  10,029 

2d 9,315  8,'->03  7,549         0,394 

3d 10,201  9,598  10,8«4  lliflSl 

4th 1-2,'210  12.705  15,349  15,770 

5th 15,093.  17,7-22  18,495  19,149 

Rth    20,0C,1  13,570  16,827  17,198 

7th 14,192  15,873  21,481  22,982 

8th 24,285  20,729  28,570  29,073 

9lh 10,9".()  22.810  20,018  24,795 

lOth     23,932  10,338  20,920  29,026 

llth 7,344        14,915  26,845  17,0.52 

12th 7,938        11,808  24,4.37  11,652 

13th* 12,.598  17,130  18,517 

I4lh»  14,228  17,306  20,2.'?5 

15tht 13,202  15,7.54 

lOtht  22,273 

17th§ 18,619 

Total  166,080  202,589  270,089  312,712      180,365      190,737      371,120 


Males 

Femiiles 

Total 

6,549 

5,081 

12,230 

3,947 

3,015 

6,962 

6,449 

5.451 

11,900 

12,138 

8,082 

21,000 

9,501 

10.801 

20,362 

9,716 

44.907 

19,345 

14,2:19 

16,607 

38.846 

14,295 

16  612 

30,9o7 

10,010 

10,983 

20,993 

13,339 

13,9-20 

27,259 

6,879 

6,499 

13,378 

10,750 

11,061 

22,411 

10,005 

11, "38 

21,103 

8,142 

11,310 

19,423 

18,723 

20,014 

48.337 

12,556 

14,591 

27,147 

Tliere  is  now  an  Eighteen th'^^ard,  constituted 
in  184(5,  from  the  others.  The  great  increase 
in  the  population  is  in  the  uptown  wards ; 
and  it  has  beeu  promoted,  or  in  fact  made 
possible,  only  by  increased  facilities  of  loco- 
motion. 

Manhattan  Island  presents  somewhat  the 
form  of  a  boot — whereof  the  toe  is  the  Bat- 
tery, and  the  heel  Corlear's  Hook,  on  the  East 
river.  Broadway  runs  from  the  Battery  longi- 
tudmally,  dividing  the  island  in  nearly  equal 
halves.  On  the  East  river  side  are  the  Bowery 
and  East  Broadway,  forming  two  main  arteries 
through  which  the  population  circulates  to  the 
upper  Avard.s.  The  Harlem  railroad,  com- 
mencing at  the  Park,  one  mile  from  the  Bat- 
tery, runs  up  Centre  street,  through  Bowery, 
continuing  on  the  Fourth  avenue  eight  miles  to 
the  Harlem  river,  and  forms  a  great  artery  for 
the  city  travel.  About  the  year  1830,  when 
the  city  had  about  half  the  population  that  it 
now  contains,  the  difficulty  of  living  at  a  dis- 
tance up  town,  when  nearly  all  the  business  is 
transacted  in  the  triangle  formed  by  a  line 
drawn  from  East  to  the  North  river,  at  three 
fourths  of  a  mile  from  its  apex  to  the  Battery, 
was  very  great.  Tliat  difficulty  operated  much 
against  the  growth  of  the  citj%  and  favored  the 
growth  of  Jersey  City  and  Brooklyn,  across  the 
ferries.  About  that  time  the  Harlem  railroad 
was  projected,  and  the  omnibuses  introduced. 
Thus,  a  number  of  gentlemen  doing  business 
down  town,  employed  a  coach,  at  12^  cents 
each,  to  take  them  home  to  dinner.  From  that 
beginning  the  omnibus  business  has  grown  until 
this  year  the  number  licensed  is  361,  and  the 
license  money  paid,  -?o,910.  The  capital  em- 
ployed is,  for  vehicles,  $200,000 ;  horses, 
§180,000;  harness,  (fee,  .$100,000;  building, 
&c.,  8250,000.  Total  capital,  $730,000.  These 
omnibuses  form  eighteen  lines,  that  run  from 


all  parts  of  the  city  to  the  Battery,  bringing 
down  thousands  to  their  business,  and  thence 
diverging  to  all  parts  of  the  city,  in  a  fanhke 
form,  running  to  Twenty-seventh  street,  which 
is  3^  miles  from  the  Battery.  They,  as  also 
the  Harlem  railroad,  take  passengers  this  dis- 
tance for  6 J  cents  each.  These  constitute 
the  means  of  the  increase  of  the  city.  They 
make  the  up  town  lots  available  for  the  dwell- 
ings of  those  doing  business  down  town,  and 
have  therefore  greatly  raised  the  value  of  real 
estate  in  the  upper  parts  of  the  city. 

The  streets  are  laid  out  irregularly  below 
Fourteenth  street.  Commencing  with  Four- 
teenth, they  run  two  miles  in  straight  lines 
from  East  to  North  river,  and  at  equal  dis- 
tances from  each  other,  being  numbered  up 
to  15.5th  street,  which  is  9|  miles  from  the 
Battery.  Longitudinally,  run  ten  avenues 
from  Fourteenth  street  to  155th,  being  num- 
bered from  1  to  10  from  East  to  North  river. 

One  of  the  greatest  elements  in  the  growth 
of  New- York,  has  been  the  development  of 
the  coal  trade  of  Pennsylvania,  which  affords 
an  ample  supply  of  cheap  fuel  to  meet  the 
growing  demand.  Where  wood  is  in  common 
use  as  fuel,  a  great  augmentation  in  price  in- 
evitably follows  an  increase  in  the  number  of 
the  consumers,  to  say  nothing  of  the  demands 
of  steamboats  and  factories.  Forests  are 
limited  in  their  power  of  production.  A  large 
and  increasing  population  will  consume  more 
rapidly  than  nature  can  produce;  and  the  de- 
mands of  an  augmenting  population  upon  new 
lands  for  agricultural  purposes  are  constantly 
narrowing  the  limits  within  which  the  powers 
of  nature  are  in  operation.  Old  countries  have, 
therefore,  of  necessity,  penetrated  tiie  bosom 
of  the  earth  for  those  supplies  which  could  no 
longer  be  found  upon  its  surface.  The  impor- 
tance of  coal  mines  to  manufacturing  industry 


*  These  two  Wards  were  constituted  in  1826— the  Thirteenth  from  the  Tenth,  and  the  Fouiteenth  from 
the  Sixth  and  Kighth. 

+  Set  off  from  the  Ninth  Ward  in  March,  1832. 
%  Taken  from  the  Twelfth  Ward  in  1836. 
§  Taken  from  the  Eleventh  in  1837. 


158 


NEW-YORK COMMERCIAL    GROWTH    AND    GREATNESS    OF. 


is  quite  as  great,  as  there  is  no  country  of  full 
population  wliere  furnaces,  if  dependent  upon 
the  productiiins  of  the  forest,  would  not  yield 
to  such  an  extension  of  agriculture  as  would  be 
necessary  to  supply  its  inhabitants  with  the 
means  of  subsistence. 

About  the  year  1S25,  when  the  Erie  canal 
■was  about  to  give  such  an  impulse  to  the  busi- 
ness of  New- York,  the  mining  of  the  great 
Pennsylvania  coal  basin  commenced  a  supply 
of  fuel,  which  has  become  one  of  the  most  re- 
markable features  in  our  national  industry. 
Tlie  great  coal  valley  of  Pennsylvanuia  is  60 
miles  long  and  5  miles  wide — covering  oOO 
square  miles,  or  192,000  acres.  The  several 
mines  discovered  and  probed  amount  in  thick- 

Sohiiylkill 
Catiiil 

1830 89,984 

1835 339.508 

)84U 452,251 

184-2 491,602 

1847 130,142 


[  ness  to  '70  feet — which,  according  to  the  usual 

estimate  of  coal,  gives  119,000  tons  per  acre. 

,  If  half  of  this  region  should  be  worked,  it 

!  would  supply  an  annual  demand  of  11,000,000 

tons  for  1,000  years. 

This  is  the  ample  depot  of  fuel  for  the  ser- 
1  vice  of  Atlantic  cities,  opened  in  1825,  when 
I  the  export  was  34,593  tons.  There  have  been 
since  constructed  five  great  avenues  to  bring 
that  coal  to  maiket,  viz. :  the  Lehigh  canal, 
the  Schuylkill,  the  Delaware  and  Hudson,  the 
Morris  canal,  and  the  Reading  railroad.  These 
five  works  costs,  in  round  numbers,82S,00O,000, 
and  the  quantity  of  coal  brought  down  has 
been  as  follows : 


Rentiinff 

LeIiigU 

Lackawanna 

All  others 

Total  tons 

Ruilruad 

41,750 

43,000 

174,734 

131,250 

90,000 

5ii0,758 

22r),288 

148,4-0 

39,365 

805,444 

49.290 

272,129 

205,253 

89,727 

1,108,001 

1,250,507 

635,015 

352,144 

228,980 

2,702,857 

Before  the  construction  of  the  Reading  rail- 
road, the  Schuylkill  canal  had  a  monopoly,  and 
the  price  in  New- York  was  held  as  high  some- 
times as  814  per  ton — a  price  which  greatly 
retarded  the  bringing  of  it  into  general  use. 
When  the  railroad  was  completed,  it  speedily 
took  the  business,  and  now  delivers  one  half 
the  supply.  By  this  competition  the  price  was 
reduced,  and  at  retail  in  New-York  vai'ies  from 
f  5  50  to  8G  per  ton.  It  is  now  $6.  At  this 
rate  the  value  of  the  product  this  year  is 
$16,217,142.  A  large  proportion  of  this  fuel  is 
consumed  in  the  city  of  New- York.  It  is 
manifest  how  great  an  influence  the  develop- 
ment of  this  trade  has  had  upon  the  prosperity 
of  the  city. 

As  we  have  stated  elsewhere,  the  popula- 
tion of  New-York  is  exceedingly  diversified, 
and  has  perhaps  less  of  national  character 
than  most  other  cities.  Indeed,  its  floating 
population  is  largely  supplied  from  immigra- 
tion. The  number  of  immigants  that  have 
arrived  in  New- York  for  four  years,  ending 
July  3 1 ,  is  as  follows : 

1843-4 51,307 

184-4-5 70,330 

1845-6 91,280 

1846-7 152,166 

The  wliole  number  of  arrivals  for  twelve 
years  was  855,360.  'J'he  large  immigration  of 
the  last  year  was  mostly  owing  to  the  distress 
and  famine  abroad.  Of  the  arrivals  in  1846, 
54,226  were  from  British  ports;  andiu  J 817, 
88,733  came  from  the  same  quarter.  'J'hc 
constant  influx  of  strangers  produces  a  mixed 
population,  inasmuch  as  that  a  large  portion 
of  each  arrival  remains  in  the  city.  Thu.s,  ac- 
cording to  the  census  of  1845,  the  uatiouality 
of  the  inhubitauts  was  as  follows : 


Born  in  New- York  State 194,916 

"  New-England  States 16,079 

"  Other  United  States 25,572 

"  Mexico  and  South  America. .  608 

"  Great  Britain 96,581 

"  France 3,710 

"  Germany 24,41 6 

"  Other  places 3,277 

This  gives  a  total  of  365,059 — which  shows 
a  discrepancy  of  6,043  from  the  return  in  the 
above  table.  This  arose  from  the  lixct  that 
the  returns  of  the  15th  ward,  as  first  made, 
were  not  received  by  the  commissioner,  and 
re-enumeration  was  made  of  that  ward,  with- 
out describing  the  nationality. 

This  population,  numbering  in  roimd  num- 
bers 400,000,  now  densely  covers  one  third  of 
Manhattan  Island ;  and  at  the  same  rate  of  in- 
crease that  has  been  carried  on  in  the  last  30 
years,  the  year  1880  will  find  the  v^hole  island 
densely  settled  to  Harlem  river,  with  a  j)opu- 
lation  of  1,200,000  souls.  The  increase  of 
New- York  and  Brooklyn,  compared,  has  been 
as  follows : 

NEW-TORK. 


Population 

1820 123,706 

1830 202.587 

1840 312,710 

1845 371,102 


BROOKLYN. 

Topnlation 

1820 7,175 

1830 15,o96 

1840 36,233 

1845 59,506 


63.8  per  cent 
44.7        " 
17.3 


114.6  per  cent. 
135.3 
64.3 


NEW-YORK — COMMERCIAL    GROWTH   AKD    GREATNESS    OF. 


15» 


This  gi-eat  increase  of  Brooklyn,  -which  has 
raised  it  nearly  to  half  what  Nuw-York  was, 
in  1820,  has  grown  out  of  the  fact  that,  to 
be  near  business,  and  to  escape  the  high  tax- 1 
ation  of  New- York  on  personal  property, 
many  persons  do  business  in  the  city,  and  re- 
side across  the  ferry. 

AssKssEU  Valui:  of  PRorERTY. — The  value 
of  ])roperty  in  New -York  has  fluctuated 
greatly  in  tliose  years  of  speculation  and  re- 
vulsiuiv  to  the  influence  of  which,  on  the  pros- 
pect of  population,  we  have  alluded. 

AGGREG.\TE   VALUE    OF    ASSESSED    PROPERTY    IN 
NEW-YORK. 

1816 $82,074,250 

1817 78,805,735 

1818 80,254,091 

1819 79,113,001 

1820 69,530,753 

1821 68,285,070 

1822 71,289,144 

1823 83,431,170 

1824 87,480,026 

1826 101,160,046 

1826 107,447,781 

1827 112,211,926 

1828 11 1,130,240 

1829 112,526,016 

1830 125,288,518 

1831 139,280,214 

1832 140,302,618 

1833 166,495,187 

1834 186,548,511 

1835 218,723,703 

1836 309,500,920 

1837 263,837,350 

1838 264,152,941 

1839 266,789,130 

1840 252,843,163 

1841 251,777,702 

1842 237,806,901 

1843 228,001,889 

1 844 235,960,047 

1845 239,995.517 

1846 244,952,404 

1847 247,1 52,303 

This  gives  the  taxable  value  for  thirty-two 
years,  from  the  close  of  the  war,  through  all 
the  vicissitudes  of  the  revolution  in  1820-21, 
when  the  late  United  States  Bank  came  near 
its  suspension,  the  recovery  of  business  and  the 
impulse  given  to  it  by  the  opening  of  the  Erie 
Canal,  until  trade  ran  into  the  wildest  specu- 
lation, carrying  values  to  their  highest  point, 
in  1836.  From  that  year,  as  speculation  sub- 
sided, valuations  fell  year  by  year,  until  1843, 
when  they  reached  their  lowest  point,  at  a  fall 
of  881,499,031,  equal  to  the  whole  value  at 
the  close  of  the  war.  Since  1843,  the  values 
have  again  been  in  advance.  This  recovery 
has  been,  however,  altogether  on  the  side  of 
real  estate,  the  valuation  of  personal  estate 


having  continued  to  decline.  The  mode  of 
valuation,  however,  and  the  high  rate  of  taxes 
imposed,  have  conspired  to  make  the  assess- 
ment a  very  uncertain  criterion  of  the  real  in- 
creaseil  personal  property. 

Fi>r  the  last  few  years  a  law  has  been  in 
force  requiring  the  valuation  to  be  made  in 
each  year  between  the  second  Tuesday  in  May 
and  tlie  fifteenth  of  August ;  and  giving  to  the 
inhabitants  who  may  at  that  season  of  the  year 
be  residing  out  of  the  city,  the  option  of  being 
assessed  for  personal  property  either  in  the 
city,  or  in  the  places  of  their  sunmier  residence. 
For  several  years  past  the  rate  of  taxation  has 
been  so  high  in  the  city,  that  these  citizens, 
who  are  both  numerous  and  wealthy,  find  it 
for  their  interest  to  pay  their  personal  tax  in 
the  country,  by  which  they  make  a  saving, 
commonly,  of  more  than  one  half.  Tf  they 
reside  out  of  the  state  during  the  period  be- 
tween the  second  Tuesday  in  May  and  the 
fifteenth  of  August,  the  chance  is,  that  they 
pay  no  personal  tax  any  wheie. 

The  following  table  shows  the  relative  in- 
crease of  real  and  personal  property  with  the 
annual  taxation  of  the  city,  which  includes  the 
county : 

ASSESSED    PROPERTY   OF   NEW-YORK    CITY,  WITH 
THE  ANNUAL  TAX  LEVIED, 

Foreign  Goods. 

Tear            Real  Perfonal  Total  Tajes 

1835..  143,732,42.5  75,7.18.017  218,723,703  850,000 

1836..  233,742,303  74.99i;278  309.5UO.920  1,085,130 

18;)7..  196,540,109  67,297,241  263.837,350  1,175,109 

1838..  194,543,359  69,609,-582  264,152,941  1,151,130 

1839..  196,778,434  70,010,796  260,789,130  1,352,832 

1840..  187,121,464  65,721,699  252,843,163  1,376.280 

1841..  186,347,246  65,430,456  251,777,71.2  1,394.136 

1842..  176,512,342  01,294,559  237,806,901  1,498,630 

)843..1G4,9.')5,314  63,046,575  228,001,889  1,753,487 

1844..17l,93fi,.591  64,023,456  23.5.9(i0,047  1,988,818 

1845..  177,207,990  62,787,527  239,992,517  2,096,194 

1846..  183,480,934  61,471,470  244,95.',404  2,520,146 

1847.. 187,314,386  69,837,917  247,151,d03  2,542,361 

Thus  we  see  that  real  estate  has  increased 
since  1843,  which  was  the  point  of  lowest  de- 
pression, §22,359,072,  and  in  the  same  time 
personal  property  has  declined  ^3,200,000, 
while  the  amount  of  taxes  has  increased 
$788,875,  thus  throwing  an  enormous  burden 
upon  real  estate.  The  aggregate  taxation 
amounts  to  102.8  cents  per  §200  of  valuation. 
This  includes  the  state  tax  of  one  mill  per  §100 
imposed  by  the  law  of  1842,  to  make  good 
any  deficit  that  might  arise  in  the  means  of 
paying  the  state  debt.  In  consequence  of  the 
diminished  debt  and  the  enhanced  canal  tolls, 
one  half  this  tax  has  been  remitted,  and  the  re- 
mainder will  be  so.  A  new  law  has  also  been 
passed  to  make  persons  doing  business  in  New- 
York  pay  taxes  on  the  capital  employed  here 
— a  law  that  will  have  a  tendency  to  restrain 
the  growth  of  Brooklyn. 

The  business  of  the  city  has  so  improved 
during  the  past  year,  and  with  it  the  profits  of 


160 


NEW-YORK COMMERCIAL    GROWTH    AND    GREATNESS    OF. 


trade  have  been   so  enhanced,  as  much  to 

lighten  taxation.     The  following  is  a  table  of 
the  foreign  commerce  since  1821 : 

FOREIGN    COMMERCE    OF   NEW-YOEK. 

Calendar  FnreiRn  Foreign 

3'ear            Xr  rivals        Tons             Impoitj  Exports 

1821 912   171,953  §20,020,012  $12,124,645 

1822 1,172   22(5,790   33,OI2,4o3  15,504,694 

1823 1,217   220,789   30,601,455  21,089,698 

1824 1,364   252,769   37,785,147  22.309.362 

1825 1,436   280,179   50,024,973  34.032,279 

1826 1,.389   274,997   34,728,604  19,437,'229 

1827 1.414   292.872   41,441.832  24,614.035 

1828 1,277   275.677   39,117,016  25,135,487 

1829 1,310   281,512   34,972,493  17,609,600 

1830 1,489  314,715   38,656,064  17,666,624 

1831 1,634   3.37,009   57,291,727  26.142,719 

1832 1.808   401,718   50.995,924  22,792,599 

1833 1,926   4.30,918   56,.527,976  24,723.903 

1834 1,932   444,904   72,224,.390  22,196,061 

1835 2,044   464,464   89.304,108  29,035,755! 

1836 2,285   556.7.30  118,886,194  27,455,223  i 

1837 2,071   539,372  68,374,5.58  23,.534,610  1 

1838 1,790   468,890  77,214,729  22,182.248 

1839 2,1.59   505,335  97,o7S,687  36,602,223 

1840 1,953   527,591  56,845,924  30,186,470' 

1841 2,118   549,025  75,268,015  30,731,519  i 


'  CalendetO        FV>reign  ForeiRe 

.ve.-ir  AiriTsIs          Tons  Imports  Exports 

1842 1.962  555.315  52,415,5.55  23,090,199 

1843 1,832  491,494  50.036,667  2.'!.440,326 

1844 2,208  593.373  75,749.220  34,028.440 

1845 2.043  613.349  72,108.111  3j.p91,662 

1846 2.293  612,040  70,269,811  36  423.762 

1S47,  11  months.  93,862,440  49,7c6,441 

The  imports  of  the  speculative  year,  1836, 
the  same  in  which  the  assessed  value  of  real 
estate  was  the  highest,  were  larger  than  ever 
before.  The  year  1 839  again  presented  a  high 
figure,  but  the  trade  was  of  a  speculative 
character,  and  ended  in  great  revulsions.  The 
business  of  1847,  in  the  aggregate,  is,  how- 
ever, larger  than  ever  before,  the  exports 
iiaving  swollen  to  a  very  important  figure, 
reaching  50  per  cent,  of  the  imports.  Tlii.shas 
arisen  from  the  great  export  of  farm  produce, 
which  has  been  supplied  in  swelling  volumes 
from  that  great  source  of  commercial  wealth, 
the  Erie  canal.  The  progress  of  the  receipts 
of  produce  from  the  canals  for  the  last  ten 
years  has  been  as  follows : 


VALUE   OF   PRODUCE   LEFT   AT   TIDE   WATER   FROM  THE    NEW-YORK    CANALS. 


"^  Produce  of 

tlie  Kiirest 

1&37 4,460,137 

1838 4,875,730 

1839 5,256,391 

1840 4,518,293 

1841 0,645,578 

1842 3,741,059 

1843 5,9.56,474 

1844 7,716,032 

1845 7,759,596 

1846 8,589,291 


Animals 

3,621,295 
4,439,.552 
4,217,825 
5,167,91)6 
5,582,133 
4.827,615 
0,357,344 
7,788,922 
9,002,196 


Vegetable  Other 

Food  products 

10,074,075  383,386 

10,847,566  355.527 

7,650,62.5  236.849 

10,888,917  237,140 

10,766,403  646,407 

10,340,427  494.847 

11,237,625  616.660 

12,6.34,616  696,.527 

17,579.581  630,404 


Manafac-      Merclian- 


10,633,820    22,286,905    742,093 


1,878,456 
1.574,715 
1,621,762 
1,312,231 
2,1.59,832 
1,949,541 
2.561,159 
3,489,670 
6,432,259 
4,805,799 


118,188 
89,428 

134,818 
33,280 
55,782 
55.432 
50.224 
86,153 
88,497 

270,872 


Sundries 

1,286,817 
855.992 
1,044,920 
1,055,806 
1,369,192 
1,342,092 
1,667,922 
2,328,526 
3,559,658 
3,770,476 


no 

Total 
21,862,354 
20,' '38,510 
20,103,199 
23,213,573 
23,225,322 
22,751,013 
28.453.408 
34,6411,446 
4.3.4.-)2,30l 
51,104,256 


In  these  tea  years  it  is  observable  that  the  I  previously.  The  accounts  for  1847  are  not  yet 
materials  of  commerce,  derived  from  a  work  made  up ;  but  the  amount  will  far  exceed  that 
not  in  operation  in  18-J5,have  doubled,  adiling  of  1846.  The  following  shows  the  quantities 
$51,105,256  to  the  value  of  articles  which  of  four  articles  that  sought  tide  water  in 
sought  New- York  for  a  market  twenty  years  j  several  years  : 


Flour,  bbls 2,073,708 

827,346 

186,016 

543,990 


Wheat, 

bushels. 

Corn, 

u 

Barley 

u 

lbs.    . 

Butter, 

Lard, 

u 

l( 

Wool, 

u 

1844 

2.222  204 

iJ262,'249 

17,801 

818,472 


2,517,250 

1,020,033 

3.5,803 

1,137,917 

965,200 


"•^  570  300  5  21.709.705 
^.,j,o,JUU^    3.097,067 


24,215,700 

24,330,260    26,674,300    27,360,779 
6,210,400      7,072,300      9,417,500 


IRir, 
3,008,441 
2,950,036 
1,010, 149 
1.427,953 
2,034,000 

21,194,030 
7,347,906 

35,007,393 
8,553,820 


1R47 

3,093.270 

3,801,931 

5,986.776 

1.243,372 

3..")02,030 

22,6.'J3,861 

5,237,460 

40.059,005 

11,221.384 


These  large  supplies  of  vegetable  food  go  to 
swell  the  external  commerce  of  the  city,  and 
are  capable  of  meeting  almost  any  demand 
which  the  exigencies  of  Europe  may  require, 
•while  they  furnish  the  means  of  paying  for 
the  large  importation  from  abroad ;  they  also 


create  the  credits  in  New- York,  through  which 
the  producers  are  enabled  to  pay  for  increased 
supplies  of  goods,  both  domestic  and  imported, 
received  through  the  Erie  canal.  The  ship- 
jiing  interest  of  New- York  has  progrc^iscd  ia 
the  manner  indicated  in  the  following  table: 


IR.16  IMO  l»4n  1R46 

192.030    203,536    236,970    259,342 

934  370  279 

1,375 


Registered  tonnage .• 123,052 

Whaling,         "        6,255 

Steam,  "        

Total  registered  tonnage 1 29,307  192,964  203,536  230,340  260,896 

Coasting                               "       148.302  192,996  166.805  214,.3C0  264,782 

4'        Bteam                    "       13,113  19,081  34,754  35,317  45,182 

«        under  20  tons       «       7,974  8,999  9,441  9,745  1,429 

Codfishcry         "                "       135  171  280  302  303 

Totaltona 298,831  404,814  414,817  496,905  572,522 


NEW-YORK — COMMERCIAL    GROWin    AXD    GREATNESS    OF. 


161 


According  to  the  laws  of  the  United  States, 
no  vessel  can  be  en^^'iiged  in  tlie  foreign  trade 
without  being  registered ;  and  no  vessel  can 
be  employed  in  the  coasting  trade  -without 
being  enrolled  or  licensed.  The  registered 
tonnage,  therefore,  gives  the  amount  engaged 
in  foreign  conmierce,  showing,  comparatively, 
its  progress,  and  the  enrolled,  the  same  in  re- 
gard to  the  coasting  trade.  The  shipping  of 
New- York  is  mostly  employed  in  direct  trade, 
while  the  carrying  trade,  so  called,  is  mostly 
conducted  by  eastern  vessels.  The  business 
of  navigation  is  in  some  degree  distinct  from 
that  of  commerce,  inasmuch  as  the  former  may 
be  carried  on  by  a  country  that  has  no  pro- 
ductions, while  the  latter  depends  upon  sur- 
plus productions.  Of  this  latter  character  is 
New- York  commerce,  and  it  thrives  most  in 
those  years  in  which  the  national  exports  are 
largest.  Not  until  1846  had  New-York  any 
steam  tonnage  engaged  in  the  foreign  trade. 
The  new  line  of  Bremen  steamers  is  the  first 
enterprise  of  the  kind,  and  the  business  of 
35,000,000  Germans  is  by  it  brought  in  closer 
counectioa  with  New- York.  The  steam  ton- 
nage engaged  in  the  coasting  trade  has  more 
than  tripled  since  1833.  The  tonnage  en- 
gaged in  the  foreign  and  coasting  trade  ap- 
pears to  have  progressed  in  each  branch  in 
nearly  an  equal  degree. 

In  the  progress  of  population,  trade  and 
value  of  property  belonging  to  the  city,  it  has 
necessarily  resulted  that  the  active  moneyed 
capital  has  progressed  also.  To  take  the  in- 
creased capital  employed  in  all  as  a  guide  in 
estimating  the  amount  of  existing  wealth, 
would  be  incorrect;  for  the  reason  that  although 
nsurance  capital  amounts  to  $31,000,000,  it 
consists,  for  the  most  part,  in  bonds  and 
mortgage  upon  real  estate,  and  is,  therefore, 
only  a  representation  of  the  property  alreadv 
considered  under  the  assessed  values.  In 
New- York  almost  every  species  of  fixed  prop- 
erty, by  means  of  liypothecation  in  one  form 
or  another,  becomes  circulating  capital,  which 
is  constantly  changing  its  form  and  yielding  at 
every  conversion  a  profit  to  its  employers.  In 
regard  to  calculation  connected  with  the  acti- 
vity of  commercial  transactions,  the  amount  of 
bank  capital  becomes  a  more  direct  guide.  In 
1826  there  were  fourteen  banks  in  operation 
in  the  city,  with  an  aggregate  capital  of 
t;i3,600,00b,  exclusive  of  the  branch  of  the 
United  States  Bank,  which  was  authorized  to 
era))loy  .S2,.500,000.  At  this  time  there  are  in 
New- York  twenty-five  banks,  with  an  aggre- 
gate capital  of  624,311,700,  and  the  capital  of 
twenty-three  of  these  institutions  is  assessed 
as  follows: 

Owned  in  New- York  city ?13,S'72,183 

state   2,052,453 

*'         other  states 4,025,871 

VOL.  II. 


Owned  by  the  state 271.704 

"  foreigners 2,634,445 

Total 822,850,659 

The  capital  employed  in  banking^it  any 
one  time  is  not,  however,  a  precise  indication 
of  the  activity  of  business,  as  thus — in  No- 
vember, lbi43,  the  same  capital  was  the  basis 
of  .?65,;n4,129,  which  had  loaned  .?80,278,629 
in  November,  1847,  showing  that  the  activity 
of  business  as  indicated  in  the  table  of  imports 
and  exports,  was  one  third  greater  this  year 
than  in  1843. 

The  city  of  New- York  has  a  large  debt  con-' 
traded  for  the  construction  of  the  Croton  aque- 
duct, by  which  the  city  is  now  supplied  witli 
water.  The  Croton  river  is  a  stream  of  whole- 
some water  running  into  the  North  river,  and 
is  tapped  at  a  point  called  Croton  lake,  cov- 
ering 400  acres,  and  containing  500,000,000 
gallons,  by  the  aqueduct,  at  a  distance  of  33 
miles  from  Harlem  river.  That  whole  distance 
is  connected  by  an  uninterrupted  conduit  of 
stone  and  brick  masonry.  The  valley  of  the 
Harlem  river  is  1,400  feet  across,  and  the 
aqueduct  is  brought  over  in  iron  pipes,  laid 
upon  a  bridge  constructed  of  arches,  114  feet 
above  high  watermark,  at  Yorkville,  or  79th 
street,  on  7th  Avenue,  five  miles  from  City 
Hall.  The  pipes  discharge  into  a  reservoir 
1,826  feet  long  and  836  feet  wide,  having  an 
area  of  35  acres  and  a  capacity  of  150,000,000 
gallons.  From  the  receiving  reservoir  a  double 
line  of  iron  pipes,  three  feet  in  diameter,  con- 
vey the  water  two  miles,  to  the  distributing 
reservoir,  on  42d  street.  It  is  420  feet  square, 
contains  4  acres,  and  has  an  elevation  of  44  feet 
above  the  streets,  and  a  capacity  of  20.000,000 
gallons.  From  this  reservoir  are  led  the  serv- 
ing pipes  which  supply  the  city%  and  are  about 
170  miles  in  length,  or  1  mile  to  2,240  inhabi- 
tants. This  will  supply  35,000,000  gallons  of 
water  per  day,  or  24  gallons  to  each  person 
when  the  population  shall  have  reached 
1,500,000.  This  stupendous  work  cost  in  the 
neighborhood  of  ^14,000,000,  and  was  under- 
taken by  a  direct  vote  of  the  people  on  the 
qtiestion — "  water  "  or  "  no  water."  The  water 
is  supplied  to  dwellings  at  a  general  rate  of  .$10 
per  head,  beside  000  free  hydrants  and  1,500 
fire  hydrants.  The  income  of  the  water  is  spe- 
cially pledged  as  a  sinking  fund  for  the  redemp- 
tion of  the  debt.  The  tiumb.  r  of  water  takers 
in  1844  was  7,l7l  private  dwellings,  paying 
872,123,  and  2,421  public  buildings  and" fac- 
tories, paying  $59,660,  making  together  9,582 
water  takers,  paying  8131,784.  In  1846-7, 
the  number  of  takers  had  increased  to  15,000, 
and  the  revenues  to  8194,501.  The -putilic 
de6t  created  chiefly  for  this  object  is  as  fol- 
lows: 


11 


162 


NEW-YORK — COMMERCIAL    GROWTH    AND    GREATNESS    OF. 


riBLlC    DEBT,    CITY    OF    NEW- YORK,    1S47. 


5  per  cent,  city  stock  of  1820  and  1829,  due  in  1850. 

5        ''  Are  loan  stock,  due  in  1S51 

5       "         public  building  stock,  duo  in  1850 

5       "         tiro  indfuiuily  stock,  due  in  1868 


Wat«r  debt  as  follows : 

per  cent,  water  loau  stock,  due  in  1852. 

"                 •'  »  1857. 

«                 ««  »  1858. 

»                 «  «  1860. 

"                 «  "  1870. 

«                 "  "  1880. 


7 
5 
5 
5 
5 

5  and  6  per  cent.  Croton  water  stock,  due  in  1890 . 

6  per  cent,  temporary  water  loan,  before  1S49.. . . 


Annud 

Interest 

$250,000  00 

13,500 

500,uii0  00 

2.5,000 

51.5,000  00 

25,750 

375,088  00 

18,754 

81,640,088  00 

82,004 

690.297  00 

62,314 

989,488  00 

69.264 

3,1100,(00  00 

150,000 

2,500,0011  00 

125,000 

3,0(10,0110  00 

150,000 

1.. 375,677  CO 

08,773 

385,00(1  00 

15,100 

757,910  00 

45,474 

$12,898,182  (0    707,929 
Deduct  proceeds  of  water  stock  in  banks,  to  the  credit  of  the  water 
fund 110,166  33    $12,788,015  67 

Nominal  amount  of  debt §14,428,103  67 

Less  stocks  and  bonds  in  sinking  fund,  from  sales  of  real  estate  and  revenues 
specially  pledged  for  the  redemption  of  the  city  debt,  and  cash  in  bank,  to  credit 

of  the  fund S  2,679,724  28 

Actual  amount  of  city  debt  on  the  30th  April,  1847 $11,748,379  39 


An  ample  sinking  fund  is  in  active  opera- 
tion to  redeem  this  debt  completely  in  a  paiod 
of  forty  years.  The  expenditure  of  the  city, 
as  indicated  in  the  above  table  of  annual  tax 
imposed,  is,  for  1847,  |!2,542,361 ;  out  of  this 
$147,000  was  for  state  tax.  The  leading 
general  heads  of  city  expenditures  are — com- 
mon schools,  §201,000 ;  police,  $400,000  ;  alms 
house,  §343,000 ;  interest  city  debt,  §767,000 ; 
lamps  and  gas,  §129,137  ;  cleaning  streets, 
$135,000;  water  pipes,  §54,403  ;  salaries  city 
officers,  §233,000,  and  the  balance  for  sundry 
expenditures. 

The  city  of  New-York  has  paid  much  the 
largest  portion  of  the  state  tax,  as  thus :  in 
1842,  when  the  mill-tiix  was  imposed,  it 
aiuounled  for  the  state  to  §619,093  ;  of  this 
New- York  city  paid  §237,8o7,  or  two  fifths  of 
the  whole.  The  census  of  1840  gives  the  state 
population  at  2,428,921,  and  the  city  at  312,932 
— or  one  eighth  only  of  the  population.  The 
property  owned  by  the  city  of  New- York 
consists  of  two  descriptions,  viz :  property 
embracing  town  lots,  common  lands,  quit-rents, 
and  various  real  estates,  valued  at  §2,038,082, 
and  yield  §64,240  per  annum  ;  city  real  estate, 
in  use  for  city  purposes  — City  Hall,  parks, 
grounds,  schools,  markets,  (fee,  valued  at 
§22,408,397,  and  producing  §403,355  per 
annum,  as  follows : 

Value  F^  Income 

Available  property...?  2,038,682     $  04,241 
Not  saleable 21,468,398       403,350 


Total §25,107,080     §407,597 

Although  New- York,  through  force  of  geo- 


graphical and  external  circumstances,  has 
grown  thus  rapidly,  there  have  been  many 
causes  in  operation  to  retard  its  progresa- 
These  have  grown  mostly  out  of  vicious  legis. 
lation,  general  and  local.  In  recurring  to  what 
we  have  pointed  out  in  the  fluctuation  of  the 
city's  prosperity  with  the  flourishing  or  decay- 
ing state  of  the  external  trade,  it  becomes  evi- 
dent the  welfare  of  the  city  depends,  in  an 
eminent  degree,  upon  the  entire  freedom  with 
which  capital,  in  the  shape  of  goods,  produce 
or  money,  can  flow  securely  in  and  out  to  profit 
by  the  current  state  of  events.  Now-York 
holds  a  relation  to  the  whole  trade  of  the 
Union  different  from  that  of  any  other  city — 
and  also  far  superior  in  regard  to  it,  tlian  that 
held  by  any  commercial  city  in  Europe,  in  re- 
gard to  the  interior  country.  All  the  other 
cities  of  the  United  States  are  centres  of  local 
business.  Mobile  concentrates  that  of  Ala- 
bama ;  Charleston  of  South  Carolina ;  Georgia 
and  Baltimore  of  the  tract  wateied  by  the  tri- 
butary streams.  Philadelphia  looks  mostly 
to  her  own  state,  having,  however,  sti'etched 
forth  an  arm  through  her  canals  to  western 
tracts.  Boston  is  the  common  centre  for  New- 
England  business,  and  well  lias  she  improved 
her  local  advantages  by  means  of  railroads — 
of  which  700  miles  open  every  remote  section 
of  the  New-Tjigland  states,  and  converge 
within  every  trade  and  travel  upon  Boston; 
she  has  also  greatly  enlarged  her  connection 
with  the  west,  by  overcoming  natural  difticiJ- 
ties  by  means  of  the  Western  railroad.  New- 
York,  however,  by  its  canal,  makes  tributary 
the  Avhole  northern  and  western  states,  and 
her  shipping  commands  the  coasting  trade  to 
New-Orleans. 


NEW-YORK COMMERCE. 


16S 


NEW-YORK— CosfMERCB,  1849-52. 

BXPOETS    FROM   NEW-YORK  TO   FOREIGN   PORTS   FOR   TUE   FISCAL   YEAR   ENDING  JUNE   SO,    1852. 


Domestic 

MONTHS.  Produce. 

July $3,188,027 

August 3^59,594: 

September 2,593,986 

October 2,70-2,382 

November 2,451,511 

December 2,612,436 

January 2,419,296 

February 3,352,943 

March 4,313,245 

April 4,244,044 

May 4,249,924 

June 3  566,369 


Foreign 
Dutiable. 


$284,: 
334 
316. 
358 
397, 
3.51 
358, 
322 
357 
353 
545 
482 


397 
,549 
047 
,292 
,597 
,428 
244 
272 
,230 
262 
,973 
594 


Foreign 
Free. 

$2,311 

22,974 

134,271 

106,626 

62,368 

21,918 

26,693 

93,932 

100,557 

67,719 

106,818 

125,500 


Specie. 

B6,0(»4,170 

2,673,444 

3,490,142 

1,779,707 

5,033,996 

5,668.235 

2,868,958 

3,551,543 

611,994 

200,266 

1,834,893 

3,556,355 


Total. 
80,478,905 
6,290,561 
6,534,446 
4,947,007 
7,945,472 
8,5.54,017 
6,673,191 
7.320,690 
5,383,026 
4,86.5,291 
6,737,608 
7,730,818 


Total .$38,853,757     $4,461,885  $871,687  37,273,703     $81,461,032 

Those  items  for  several  years  compare  as  follows: 

1848.        1849.  1850.  1851.        1852. 

Domestic  Produce $33,638,844  $33,226,419  $33,227,676  $47,496,978  $38,853,757 

Foreign,  dutiable 2,693,597       3,614,915  5,433,761  6,107,498        5,333,572 

Specie 12,028,794       4,629,873  5,885,103  26,622,731      37,273,703 


Total  of  Exports. $38,361,235  $41,471,207  $44,546,540  $80,227,207  $81,461,032 

Imports 91,668,883     89,464,540    112,968,593  126,270,705      98,801,134 


This  presents  a  gradual  increase  in  the 
exports  of  tbe  port,  and  to  a  greater  extent 
than  the  imports.  It  also  shows  the  influence 
of  CaUfornia  in  developing  the  trade.  That 
new  region  has  absorbed  a  large  amount  of 
produce  and  domestic  manufactures  that 
would  not  sell  readily  in  Europe.    The  in- 

1849. 

Specie $2,807,637 

Free  Goods 8,028,581 

Dry  Goods 36,417,112 

Other  Dutiable 42,166,210 


dustiy  of  California  has  given  a  product  ia 
exchange  which  sells  readily  at  all  times; 
and  the  United  States  domestic  productions 
have  been  raised  by  the  addition  of  gold 
which  Europe  will  take  when  she  does  not 
want  foreign  produce.  The  importations  at 
the  port  have  been  as  follows : 


1850. 

$10,502,115 

7.890,878 

4<5,342,271 

48,233,329 


1851. 

$10,390,501 

8.321.042 

68,065,611 

49,493,551 


1852. 
$2,528,391 
11,926,912 
48,900,935 
35,444,896 


TotiO. $89,464,540 

The  following  table  gives  the  quantity  of 
goods  entered  for  consumption,  and  the 
quantity  entered  for  warehousing,  being  the 
gross  imports ;  also  the  aggregate  withdrawn 

IMPORTS     ENTERED    AT   NEW-YORK    FROM     FOREIGN     PORTS    FOR    THE    FISCAL   YEAR    ENDING    JUNE 
30,    1852,    COMPARED    WITH    THE    PREVIOUS    YEAR. 


112,968,593         126,270,705  98,801,134 

from  warehouse,  and  that  entered  for  con- 
sumption, being  the  quantity  put  on  the 
market : 


Entered  for 
ConsuinpXion 


Free 

Goods. 
$ 


Specie, 


Total, 


Withdrawn  ITotal  thrown 

fiom  on  the 

Warehousp.       Market. 


July 

August.... 
September. 
October.. . , 
November. 
December.. 
January . . . 
February . . 

March 

April 

May 

June 


12,374,701 
ll.'279,004: 
8,384,172] 
5  790,795 
4,399,085 
5,073,102, 
8.5S4,311 
7,024.952 
9,302.024 
8,410,448' 
6.090,990' 
7,620,181 


1,022,725 

1.358,089 

804.91G 

1,204,994 

938,050 

1,050,18"> 

1,2S1,594 

1,0(13,383 

910,519 

732,422 

4.53,109 

640,722 


1,027,4811 

638,334 

360,1.53 

1,5.58,720 

41.5,838 

575,001 

1,041,456 

1,110,949 

1.843,938 

1,496,449 

789,046 

1,062,947 


81,143 
186,503 
115,550 

23,105 
218,473 

25,376 
104,730 
110,293 
525,421 
327,401) 
380,584 
429,747 


Total 

Do.  1850-51. 


14,506,050 
13,461,930 
9.730,791 
8,.577.674 
5.971,4.52 
6,724,32-1 
11,012.097 
9,249.577 
12,587.902 
10.966.719 
7,719,73.1 
9.759,597 


1,107,044 
1.252,245; 
1,609,304! 
1,602,436 
l,.n7,100i 
1,117,4.56! 
1,. 584.652, 
1,788,997' 
1.605.849; 
12.55,429 
1,380,371 
911,479 


14  050,969 

13,356,085 

10,.535,179 

8,975,116 

0,410,496 

6.791,595 

11.31.5,155 

10,035,191 

13,277,232 

11,489.726 

8,040.997 

10,030,354 


94,34.5,831    11,406,714    11,326,912    2..528,391  120,267,848  16,712.902  125,514,09( 
07,5-59,104    14.802,824     8,321,042  10,.39(>,501!141,073,.531    12  2ol.313  13-',472,02, 


1G4 


NORTH    CAROLINA COLONIAL    HISTORT. 


Last  year,  under  the  large  imports,  there  1  together  a  difference  of  nearly  ^S.OOO.OOOr 
•was  an  excess  of  goods  wardioused.  This  The  dry  goods,  as  compared  with  others,  seeia 
year  there  is  an  excess  withdrawn,  making  j  to  have  been  as  follows . 


Entered  'Warehouse. 
1851.  1852. 


Dry  Goods.. 
All  other  . . 


80,940,219 
7,86'2,605 


$8,471,478 
2,995,236 


1851. 

$5,700,816 

0,500,497 


Withdrawn. 

1852. 

$7,474,659 
9,238,323 


Total §14,802,824         $11,460,714         $12,201,313        $16,712,962 

The  diminution  in  warehouse  stock  seems]  operations  are  annually  becoming  more  im- 
to  have  been  almost  altogether  of  merchan-1  portant,  being  already  10  per  cent,  of  the 
disc  other  than  dry  goods.     The  warehouse  1  goods  passed  luto  consumption. 

RELATIVE   VALUE   OF  THE    REAL  AND   FERSON/U.   ESTATE   IN    THE    CITY  ASD    COUNTY  OK    NEW-TOEK, 
AS  ASSESSES   IN    1851    AND    1852. 


ASSESS.ME.NTS  OF  1«51. 


A6SE3SME.STS  OF  IIW-I. 


Wards.         Real  Estate.       \   Personal  Estate. 


I. 

II. 

III. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 

X. 

XI. 

XII. 

xm. 

XIV. 
XV. 
XTI. 
XVII. 
XVIH. 
XIX. 
XX. 


$29,782.; 

15.477 

14.409 
8,238, 

10.242, 
7,857. 

11.121. 

11.98.5. 

11,4:)7, 
6.022 
6,560, 
3.274, 

4,56 1: 

7,877, 
18.347 
14,870 
12,479 
2.5  255 
"6^614 


SSS'  00 
,31!0  00 
.650  00 
,620  00 
,9.50  00 
,250  00 
.726  00 
,200  00 
,!;;50  00 
200  00 
,4.50  00 
,400  00 
,800  00 
,801  26 
.594  00 
000  00 
i,3:i5  00 
,.6il0  00 
:;i57  00 


Personal  Estate.'    ' 


!&■>; 


§39,361,364  42 

2  063  663  19 

8,821,745  54 

1,3.52,045  00 

2,783  604  00 

1,127,850  00' 

2.990.440  00 

2,030.039  01) 

1,918,.593  38 

1,239,4.J0  00 

026,321  52 

511,600  00 

639,705  73 

2,519,893  19 

15.275,270  00 

1,020,9.50  00 

2,970,520  00 

5,400,187  00 

3(4,800  CO 


§39,828, 
15,999,' 
16,650,: 

8,407, 
10,738. 

8.101: 
11,7..7: 
12,939. 
11.795, 
,851. 
,897. 

3.888! 

4,699. 

8,133, 
19,245 
11:375 
13,  (SO. 
33, 

9,878: 

7,916 


183  00 
,725  00 
i300  00 
,420  (iO 
,4J0  OOi 
,850  00' 
,490  00 
,900  00 
,800  00 
,300  00 
,200  00 
,896  00 
,900  00 
,500  00 
,250  00 
,139  20' 
,850  Ooi 
.010  00 
i;380  OOJ 
1,200  00! 


§40,671,, 

2,947 

'9,769 

1,571, 

2,490. 

1,303, 

2,746, 

1,706. 

1,727, 

J, 106, 

539, 

518. 

552. 

2,335. 

15,8:o. 

1.608: 

2,4:i(: 

8,194, 
255. 
210: 


5"3  76! 
672  50 J 
472  86 i 
.567  OOl 
5.">0  OOj 
,250  OO] 
575  00 
573  00! 
643  38 
,250  00 
,83f  46 
,100  00 
505  73 
927  00' 
,945  84 
,225  00 
,900  00; 
8110  00 
,400  00 
1,750  00 


§69,143,947  421 

17.540.963  19 

23.231.395  54 

9.591 1. 065  00 

13,026,6 1 4  00 

8,985  100  00 

14,112.160  00 

14  022.139  00! 

13,355.843  38 

7.891,650  00 

7,186,771  52 

3,786,000  00 

5.201,.505  73 

10,  97,694  45 

33,C'^i,864  00 

15,890,950  00 

15,449,845  00 

30,745,787  CO 

6,928,957  OOJ 

With  16th  Wd.j 


§71,499,086  76 

18.947,397  50 

26.425,772  86 

9,978,987  00 

13,228,950  00 

9,418.100  00 

14.504,065  00 

14,646  533  00 

;  13.523.443  38 

7,957,550  00 

7,4.37,031  46 

4,406,996  Oa 

5.252,405  73 

10,4ti9,427  00 

;f  35,072,195  84 

12,983,:f64  20 

15,623,7.50  00 

42,o:)0,810  00 

10,133,380  00 

8,126,950  00 


Total..    §227.015,8.55  20  ,$193,095,001  97;  $252,186  753  20j   498,520,042  531,  §320,110,868  53,  $:?51,7l0,795  73 

Total  valuation  in  County §351,706,795  73 

Total  Talurtion  in  Lamp  District 3.37,,529,246  73 

Total  valuation  south  of  centre  of  Torty second  street 338,086,019  73 


NORTH  CAROLINA.— Colonial,  Revo- 
lutionary AND  Subsequent  History — Phys- 
ical Condition — Productive  Industry'  and 
Resources — Population — Cuief  Towns — 
Education — Religious  Sects — Courts — Ca- 
nals AND  RaILROAD,S,  ttc.  <tc. 

Colonial  History. — The  first  English  set- 
tlement made  in  America  was  planted  in 
the  summer  of  1585,  on  Roanoke,  an  island 
situate  in  the  pas.sago  between  the  sounds 
of  Pamlico  and  Albemarle,  North  Carolina, 
The  patron  of  the  infant  colony,  which  num- 
bered one  hundred  and  seven,  Avas  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh,  to  whom  Queen  Elizabetli 
had  granted,  in  1584,  a  patent  for  such 
lands  as  he  might  discover  iu  America,  "  not 
possessed  by  any  Christian  people."  The 
same  year  he  tiispatched  two  small  ves- 
sels to  make  di.scoveries;  and  these  dropped 
their  anchors  early  in  July  iu  Ocracokc  lulet. 
The   adventurers  kuidcd  on  an  island  near 


Eoanoke,  called  by  the  natives  "Wococon, 
where  they  were  received  by  the  inhabitants 
with  every  mark  of  hop])itality.  After  visit- 
ing the  region  innnediatcly  around  Wococon, 
they  returned  to  England,  and  gave  a  highly 
favorable  account  of  the  salubrity  of  the 
climate,  and  fertility  of  the  soil.  The  name 
Vin/inia  was  bestowed  upon  the  country, 
and  Raleigh's  patent  was  coulirmcil  by  act  of 
Parliament.  '  Sir  Walter  sent  out  at  once, 
under  Ralph  Lane  as  governor,  the  colony 
above  mentioned.  Soon,  however,  the  settlers 
became  entangled  in  dilliculties  with  the 
natives;  difticulties  which,  originating  in  the 
imprudent  conduct  of  Gronville,  the  com- 
luander  of  the  vessels  in  which  the  colonists 
had  come  from  England,  kept  increasing  un- 
der subsequent  tyrannical  acts  on  the  jmrt  of 
the  governor,  belitliiig  a  conqueror  rather 
than  the  head  of  a  ])eaceful  colony.  Hostil- 
ities broke  out.    The  English,  who  had  been 


JTORTH    CAROLINA COLONIAL    HISTORY. 


161 


occnpierl  chiefly  in  exploring  the  coimtiy, 
suffcfed  soon  from  the  waut  of  jirovisioiis. 
They  became  discouraged,  and  finally,  in 
1586,  returned  iiiKiie  on  board  tlie  fleet  of 
Sir  Fiancis  Drake.  A  few  days  after  their 
departure,  (rrenville  arrived  ;  and  finding  the 
ook)ny  gone,  h'.ft  fifteen  men,  with  provisions 
for  two  years,  to  keep  up  the  settlement. 
Undeterred  by  his  first  faihire,  Raleigh  sent 
out  another  colony  early  in  1587,  with  orders 
to  settle  on  Cliesapeake  Bay,  wheie  they  were 
to  build  the  projected  "  city  of  Raleigh."  The 
sew  colonists,  however,  were  put  ashore  at 
Roanoke.  They  found  no  traces  of  Grenville's 
party,  which  had,  no  doubt,  fallen  victims  to 
the  hidians'  revenge.  Scarcely  had  the  new 
settlers  landed,  when  they  were  engaged  in 
petty  combats  with  the  natives.  Their  gov- 
ernor, White,  returned,  on  solicitation,  to  Eng- 
land, to  hasten  certain  promi.sed  supplies. 
But  owing  to  the  troubles  consequent  upon 
the  threatened  Spani.'5h  invasion  of  England, 
he  was  detained  from  re-visiting  the  colony 
until  the  autumn  of  1590.  On  arriving,  he 
found  the  .«ite  ()f  the  settlement  inclosed  by  a 
strong  palisade  ;  but  not  a  colonist  remained. 
To  the  present  day  their  fate  is  only  a  subject 
of  conjecture.  Tims  ended  Raleigh's  attempt 
to  colonize  Virginia,  in  which  he  had  spent 
fruitlessly  upwards  of  $180,000.  North 
Carolina  remained  untenanted  henceforth  by 
EnglishmeQ  till  the  middle  of  the  next  cent- 
ury. 

Early  in  the  reign  of  Charles  I.,  (1630,)  a 
tract  of  land  south  of  the  Chesapeake,  desig- 
nated as  Carolina,  was  granted  to  Sir  Robert 
Heath ;  but  as  he  planted  no  colony  upon  it, 
it  was,  after  a  time,  declared  forfeited.  Out 
of  the  same  territory  Charles  II.  formed,  in 
1668,  the  province  of  Carolina,  s.nd  conveyed 
it  by  charter  to  eight  distinguished  royalist 
noblemen  of  England.  This  charter,  as  amend- 
ed in  1665,  defines  the  limits  of  the  province 
to  be  the  '29th  parallel  of  latitude  on  the  south, 
the  Pacific  on  the  west,  the  Atlantic  on  the 
east,  and  on  the  north  the  pai-allel  of  36  deg. 
30  min.,  afterwards,  and  now,  better  known 
as  the  line  of  the  Missouri  compromise.  The 
eight  grantees  were  made  joint  proprietors  of 
the  soil,  and  were  intrusted  with  powers  of 
jurisdiction  over  its  eoloui.sts. 

Already,  previous  to  this  conveyance,  set- 
tlers had  located  in  the  northern  part  of  the 
province.  For  some  years,  parties  from  Vir- 
ginia, mainly  dissenters  seeking  escape  from 
religious  persecution,  had  been  coming,  a  few 
at  a  time,  into  the  neighborbood  of  tlie  sound, 
afterwards  called  Albemarle,  and  fcjrming 
small  settlements  on  the  banks  of  the  Chowan 
river.  To  this  district  the  new  proprietors 
gave  the  name  Albemarle,  in  honor  of  one  of 
Uiemselves,  the  duke  of  that  title,  more  ex- 
tensively known  in  history  as  General  Monk, 
the  parliamentary  commander,  to  whom 
Chailes  iL  owed  his  restoration.   Sir  William 


Berkley,  Governor  of  Virginia,  in  connection 
with  one  of  the  proprietors,  was  authorized 
to  assume  jurisdiction  over  the  district.  A 
little  colony  had,  also,  been  planted  by  ad- 
venturers from  New-England,  near  the  mouth 
of  Cape  Fear  river.  The  soil,  however,  proved 
very  unproductive,  and  the  colony  dwindled 
slowly  away.  It  would  soon  have  totally  dis- 
appeared, had  not  some  planters  from  Bar- 
badoes,  under  Sir  John  Yeamans,  removed 
thither  in  1665,  and  formed  the  settlement  of 
Clarendon,  by  which  the  few  remaining  New- 
Englanders  were  rapidly  absorbed.  These 
new  settlers  supported  themselves  with  diffi- 
culty by  shipments  of  boards,  shingles  and 
staves,yet  the  staple  production  of  that  region, 
to  the  West  Indies.  Gradually,  by  numerous 
migrations  southward,  the  colony  again  be- 
came reduced,  until  at  length,  before  1690,  it 
was  entirely  exhausted.  The  proprietaries, 
in  1670,  sent  out  emigrants,  under  the  com- 
mand of  William  Sayle,  to  form  a  new  settle- 
ment, to  be  known  as  the  county  of  Carteret. 
The  colonists  located  themselves  first  at  Port 
Royal,  (S.  C.  •.)  but  they  soon  removed,  and 
formed  a  settlement  between  the  rivers  Ash- 
ley and  Cooper,  which  thev  called  Charleston. 
Sayle  dying  in  the  following  year,  Sir  John 
Yeamans,  of  Clarendon,  was  appointed  Gov- 
ernor of  Carteret,  the  southern  province. 
Thus  were  there,  in  1671,  two  permanent  set- 
tlements in  Carohna — Albemarle  and  Carte- 
ret. These  two  constituted  the  neuclei  of 
North  and  South  Carolina  as  now  existing. 

At  the  request  of  one  of  the  proprietors, 
the  celebrated  John  Locke  framed  a  scheme 
of  government  for  the  whole  province  of  Car- 
ohna. "  The  Grand  Model,"  as  it  was  called, 
though  complete  of  its  kind,  was  too  compli- 
cated, if  not  too  monarchical,  for  an  infant 
colony  ;  yet  the  proprietaries  adopted  it  as 
the  fundamental  law  of  the  province,  and 
such,  for  twenty-three  years,  it  nominally  re- 
mained. As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  it  was 
never  brought  into  operation,  though  the  gov- 
ernor of  each  district  in  the  province  strove 
hard  to  comply  with  its  requisitions,  in  spite 
of  the  continued  and  ultimately  successful  op- 
position of  the  colonists. 

The  settlement  at  Albemarle  was  aug- 
mented by  accessions  from  Virginia,  New- 
England,  and  the  Bermuda  islands.  William 
Drinnmond  was  apjxiinted  the  first  goveitior. 
He  was  succeeded  by  Samuel  Stevens,  under 
whom  were  enacted  the  first  laws  of  the  col- 
ony, by  an  a-ssembly  composetl  of  the  gov- 
ernor, the  council,  and  twelve  delegates;  of 
which  the  last  branch  was  chosen  by  the  peo- 
ple, the  two  former  by  theproprieto«-s.  Eveiy 
encouragement  was  given  by  these  laws  to 
whomsoever  proposed  settling  in  the  colony. 
Bounty  lands  were  granted  at  a  moderate 
quit-rent,  (halfpenny an  acre;)  taxes  could  be 
imposed  only  by  consent  of  tlie  assembly; 
and  religious  liberty  was  promised  to  mem- 


166 


KORTH    CAROLINA — COLONIAL   UISTORT. 


bers  of  every  Christian  deuomination.  Intes- 
tine commotion,  proceeiiiug  partly  from  dis- 
content with  the  "  Model  System,"  and  partly 
owing  to  a  general  feeling  of  restlessness 
prevalent  sometimes  in  new  colonies,  soon 
disturbed  the  peace  and  welfare  of  Albemarle. 
Stevens,  on  his  death,  was  succeeded  by  Cart- 
wright.  The  latter  soon  retiring,  Eastchurch, 
at  the  time  in  England,  was  appointed  to  till 
the  vacancy.  The  proprietors,  to  atone  for  a 
grievance  which  he  had  received  from  the 
colonists,  nominated  Miller,  a  turbulent,  but 
talented  person,  then  also  in  England,  Secre- 
tary of  the  Government,  and  a  member  of  the 
council.  Eastchurch  being  detained  on  his 
•way  out.  Miller  proceeded  to  Albemarle,  to 
rule  as  deputy-governor  until  the  governor 
should  arrive.  His  strictness  in  collecting  the 
revenue  excited  general  discontent.  In  con- 
sequence, in  1667,  an  insurrection  broke  out, 
under  the  lead  of  Culpepper,  a  fugitive  dema- 
gogue from  the  southern  province,  and  Gil- 
lam,  a  New-England  trader,  who  was  about 
to  be  prosecuted  for  violating  the  revenue 
laws.  Miller  and  part  of  the  council  were 
seized  and  thrown  into  prison.  The  success- 
ful insurgents  assumed  the  government,  and 
exercised  its  powers  for  two  years.  Death  put 
a  stop  to  Eastchurch's  efforts  to  obtain  his  le- 
gal rights.  Miller,  escaping  from  prison,  fled  to 
England,  whither  Culpepper  had  also  gone  to 
justify  himself  before  the  proprietors.  The 
latter  was  arrested  and  tried  for  treason,  but 
escaped  on  a  legal  technicality.  The  propri- 
etors thought  it  best  to  overlook,  in  a  great 
measure,  the  late  insurrectionary  movements, 
and  to  receive  tlie  nominal  submission  of  tiie 
insurgents.  Seth  Sothel,  now  a  proprietor  by 
purchase,  was  appointed  governor.  For  six 
years  Sothel  filled  the  gubernatorial  chair ; 
at  the  end  of  which  time,  the  inhabitants,  ex- 
asperated by  Jiis  continued  tyranny  and  mis- 
rule, seized,  and  were  about  sending  him  to 
England.  Tried,  however,  at  his  own  request, 
by  the  colonial  assembly,  he  was  removed 
from  the  government  and  banished  from  the 
Country.  Sothel  retired  to  Carteret,  where 
the  spirit  of  insurrection  was  rife,  and  was 
placed  at  the  head  of  the  government.  He 
■was  succeeded  in  Albemarle  by  I'liilij)  Lud- 
"Well,  whom  Thomas  Harvey  soon  followed  in 
the  administration  as  dej)uty-governor. 

The  discontent  and  turbulence  of  either 
province  were  not  removed,  until  the  arrival 
(1695)  of  John  Archdale,  one  of  the  proprie- 
tors, as  governor,  invested  by  his  commission 
with  unusually  extensive  powers.  Sagacious, 
and  possessed  of  rare  prudence,  the  (iuaker 
Archdale  succeeded,  by  his  skilful  manage- 
ment, in  reducing  both  provinces  to  compara- 
tive order.  During  the  late  disturbauces,Norlh 
Carolina  had  received  a  decided  check  t(j  her 

Erosperity.     Many  Hed  the  country.     At  the 
eginning  of  tiie  Culpepper  insurrection,  the 
province  contained  l,4uu  taxable  inhabitants: 


in  1694,  787  were  all  that  could  be  found 
within  ita  limits.     Under  Archdale,  however, 
the  colony  began  again  to  flourish.     On  his 
retirement,  under  Harvey,  reappointed  depu- 
ty governor,  (1695.)  under  W'alker,  president 
of  the  council,  (1699,)  Daniel,  in  the  same 
oflice,   (I7u3,)    and   Thomas   Carey,  deputy 
j  governor,  (1705,)  the    province  was  replen- 
ished  with   inhabitants.      Settlements  were 
made  on  the  Pamlico  river,  (1698.)  upon  the 
I  Tar  and  the  Neuse ;  and  Batli  county  was  set 
off  to  the  southward.     Kice  and  tar,  two  of 
the  staples  of  North  Carolina,  began  now  to 
j  be  exported.    Churches  were  for  the  first  time 
I  erected,  and  provision  was  made  for  sustain- 
1  ing  a  regular  ministry.     Religion  began  to  re- 
ceive the  support  of  the  authorities,  given, 
however,  in  an  illiberal  and  sectarian  spirit, 
inconsistent  with  the  promise  of  religious  lib- 
erty made  at  first  to  the  colonists.     The  Epis- 
copalians, as  in  Virginia  and  South  Carolina, 
had  a  majority  in  the  legislature,  which  they 
failed  not  to   use  to  the   disability  and   at- 
tempted repression  of  all  dissenters. 

North  Carohna  was  soon  to  feel  the  scourge 
of  another  rebellion.  Carey,  not  giving  satis- 
faction to  the  proprietors,  was  removed  from 
oflice,  and  William  Glover  appointed  to  con- 
duct the  administration.  Carey  endeavored, 
at  the  head  of  an  armed  force,  to  usurp  the 
government;  and  persisted  in  the  attempt 
even  after  the  arrival,  in  1710,  of  the  new 
deputy  governor,  Edward  Hyde.  Hyde  pro- 
mised to  redress  every  grievance  of  which 
Carey  complained,  but  the  insurgent  heard 
nothing  save  the  wild  promptings  of  ambi- 
tion. Attacking  Edenton,  he  was  repulsed 
and  forced  to  retire.  Finally,  Hyde,  by  this 
time  (1711)  governor,  succeeded,  with  the 
help  of  regular  troops  from  Virginia,  in  put- 
ting down  the  malcontents. 

Meanwhile,  the  ])roviiice  was  involved  in  a 
general  war  with  the  Indian.s.  Since  the  set- 
tlement of  Albemarle,  uninterrupted  peace 
had  existed  between  the  whites  and  the  na- 
tives. As  the  settlement  increased  in  num- 
bers and  extent,  however,  tlie  Indians  began, 
not  witliout  reason,  to  fear  for  their  future  safe- 
ty. In  1707,  a  colony  of  French  Huguenots 
had  removed  from  ^'irginia,  and  settled  on  tJie 
river  Trent;  anil  in  1709,  a  colony  of  Ger- 
mans, from  Heidelberg  and  its  vicinity,  found- 
ed, under  Baron  Gralfeuried,  the  seltlement 
of  New  Berne,  (now  Newbern,)  at  the  conflu- 
ence of  the  Trent  and  Neuse.  They  received 
a  liberal  grant  of  land  from  the  proprietaries. 
It  was  the  surveying  of  these  lauds,  lor  Graf- 
fenried,  that  led  to  the  ourbreak  of  the  Indians. 
Uegarding  tlie  surveys  a  tlirect  encroachment 
on  their  independence,  the  Tuscaroras,  wlio 
lived  on  the  Neuse,  Contentney  and  Tar  rivers, 
seized  upon  Lawson,  the  surveyor  general,  od 
a  favorable  opfxirtunity,  and,  after  consulta- 
tion, put  him  to  death.  An  innnediate  attack 
was  made  upon  the  white  settlements  south  of 


NORTH    CAROLINA COLONIAL    HISTORY. 


leiT 


Albomarle  Sound,  (1711,)  and  whole  fiimilies 
were  unsuspectingly  butchered.  Other  tribes 
joinin<^  the  Tuscaroras,  tlie  war  became  gene 
ral.  Bath  county  was  exposed  almost  defense- 
less to  the  ravages  of  the  enemy.  All  Caro- 
lina did  not  contain  at  the  time  2,000  men 
able  to  hear  arms ;  yet,  when  assistance  was 
sought  from  the  southern  province,  it  was  at 
once  obtained.  Col.  Barnwell  was  dispatched 
with  a  small  body  of  white  men  and  a  strong 
force  of  friendly  Indians.  The  enemy  were 
worsted  in  several  encounters,  and  finally  com- 
pelled to  betake  themselves  to  a  fort  near  the 
Neuse.  Here  they  would  soon  have  been 
forced  to  surrender  at  discretion ;  but  Barn- 
well concluded  a  hasty  and  disadvantageous 
peace.  In  a  few  days  after  Barnwell  had  re- 
turned to  South  Carolina,  the  same  Indians 
renewed  hostilities.  The  situation  of  the  pro- 
vince had  now  become  truly  critical.  Hyde 
dying,  (1712,)  he  was  succeeded  by  Pollock, 
by  whom,  as  president  of  the  council,  aid  was 
asked  from  Virginia  and  South  Carolina.  The 
governor  of  the  latter  province  sent  out  a 
party  of  40  white  men  and  800  Ashley  In- 
dians, under  Col.  Moore.  Overtaking  the  Tus- 
caroras in  .January,  (1713.)  he  attacked  them 
in  their  fort  near  the  Cotechney,  and  took  800 
of  them  prisoners.  His  own  loss  was  small. 
The  captives  were  given  to  the  Ashley  allies 
as  a  reward  for  their  services,  by  whom  they 
were  all  sold  into  slavery.  The  power  of  the 
Tuscaroras  was  broken.  Suing  for  peace,  they 
obtained  it  on  ignominious  terms.  The  great- 
er part  of  the  nation,  too  weak  to  fight,  and 
too  proud  to  submit,  removed  to  the  north, 
and  confederated  with  the  Senecas,  together 
with  whom,  and  other  tribes,  they  afterwards 
formed  the  "  Six  Nations."  The  other  hostile 
Indian  tribes  (the  Cores,  Mattamuskeet,  etc.)  [ 
were  soon  compelled  to  submit  to  the  rule  of! 
the  victors.  In  1715  peace  was  partially,  and 
in  1717  finally  concluded.  The  sufferings  of  I 
the  province  during  Carey's  rebellion  and  the  ! 
Indian  war  were  extreme.  Not  a  few  of  the 
settlers  abandoned  their  homes  altogether. 
Notwithstanding  the  accession  of  new  colonies 
and  the  natural  increase  of  the  population,  the 
whole  number  of  taxable  inhabitants  in  the 
province  in  1717,  did  not  exceed  two  thou- 
sand. In  1676  they  numbered,  as  we  have 
seen,  about  fourteen  hundred. 

Succeeding  gubernatorial  administrations 
were,  for  some  years,  unfortunate.  Charles 
Eden,  who  assumed  the  administration  in 
1714,  rendered  himself,  by  his  imprudence,  if 
not  criminality,  obnoxious  to  the  charge  of 
countenancing  piracy.  His  private  and  pub- 
lic character  alike  suffered,  and  his  adminis- 
tration was  unquiet  and  disturbed.  He  died 
in  1722,  and  was  succeeded  in  1723  by  George 
Barrington,  a  man  totally  unfit  for  the  office. 
Possessed  only  of  inferior  talents,  imprudent 
in  his  choice  of  measures,  and  himself  a  street 
brawler  and  Eotorious  rioter,  he  relaxed  all 


the  bonds  of  wholesome  govemment,  misrul- 
ing the  country,  till  he  was  displaced,  in  1725, 
by  the  appointment  of  Richard  Everard  to  his 
much-abused  station.  The  new  governor  was 
more  circumspect  in  his  conduct ;  but  his  ad- 
ministration was  not  as  firm  and  energetic  as 
the  disturbed  state  of  the  colony  required. 
During  the  term  of  his  oflfice,  Carolina  became 
a  royal  government.  In  July,  1729,  the  king 
purchased,  for  £17,500,  seven  eighths  of  the 
whole  province  from  the  proprietors ;  tlie  re- 
maining eighth  was  retained  by  Lord  Carte- 
ret, and  was  laid  off  for  him  (not,  however,  till 
1743)  adjoining  the  Virginia  line.  Previous 
to  this  (1728)  the  boundary  between  Virginia 
and  North  Carolina  had  been  settled  upon  its 
existing  basis.  In  1731,  Everard  was  re- 
moved by  the  crown,  and  Barrington  again 
made  governor.  This  appointment  was  un- 
fortunate. Barrington  could  agree  neither 
with  his  council,  the  assembly,  nor  the  peo- 
ple. Incessant  disputes  excited  incessant  dis. 
satisfaction.  Justice  was  administered  irreg  - 
ularly,  and,  it  was  said,  not  always  impartially" 
His  enemies  were  numerous ;  no  party  gave 
him  its  support.  At  last,  in  1734.  troubles 
pressing  on  eveiy  hand,  he  retired  from  the 
administration,  and  returned  to  England. 
Under  Gabriel  Johnstone,  Barrington's  suc- 
cessor, whose  management  was  judicious,  the 
colony  prospered.  The  spirit  of  anarchy  and 
resistance  to  legal  authority,  hitherto  preva- 
lent, was  brought  more  under  control.  Still, 
justice  and  obedience  to  the  laws  were  by  no 
means  universal. 

During  the  Indian  troubles,  paper  money 
had  been  issued  by  the  assembly,  to  pay  the 
expenses  of  the  war ;  but,  though  gradually 
sunk  by  taxes,  it  depreciated.  In  1729, 
£40,000  were  issued,  in  bills  of  credit;  and 
in  1734,  £10,000  additional.  Depreciation 
went  on,  until,  in  1739,  the  bills  passed  at  the 
rate  of  seven  and  a  half  for  one.  This  depre- 
ciated currency  the  assembly  endeavored  in 
1738  to  circulate,  by  making  it  a  legal  tender 
at  par  for  quit-rents,  which  heretofore  had 
been,  and  now  were,  only  payable  in  sterling 
money,  foreign  coin,  and  certain  articles  of 
proiluce,  at  a  rate  fixed  by  law.  In  the  dis- 
putes that  ensued,  the  governor,  who  opposed 
the  issue  of  paper  money,  dissolved  two  suc- 
cessive assemblies.  Other  acts,  equally  unjust 
and  impolitic,  were  passed,  at  various  times, 
by  the  legislative  body  ;  nor  was  the  gover- 
nor himself  wholly  free  from  the  imputation 
of  irregular  and  partial  administration.  These, 
and  other  adverse  circumstances,  as  McCul- 
loch's  speculation  in  crown  lands,  the  breaking 
out  of  hostilities  between  England  and  Spain, 
by  which  the  Carolinas  were  involved  in  war 
with  the  Spanish  settlements  in  Florida,  re- 
I  tarded,  in  no  small  measure,  the  progress  of 
'  the  colony.  In  spite  of  all,  however,  the  in- 
!  crease  in  inhabitants  during  Johnstone's  rule 
I  was  decidedly  rapid.    Three  distinct  and  ex- 


168 


NORTH    CAIiOLIXA REVOLUTIONAIJV    niSTORY. 


tensive  settlements  were  made,  under  liim, 
■within  the  province;  one  by  a  culony  chiefly 
Presliyteriaiis  fnmi  tlio  norih  of  Ireland,  who, 
coming  bv  tin-  way  of  IViinsylvania,  settled  in 
numbers  in  the  northwestern  part  of  the  state, 
on  the  liuds  of  Lord  Carteret;  anothei",  by  a 
party  of  Moraviauji,  who  obtained  from  the 
Earl  of  Grenville  ( Lord  Carteret)  a  grant  of 
100,00i>  acres  of  land  between  the  Yadkin 
river  and  the  Dan  ;  tlie  third  by  a  large  body 
of  Highlanders,  chietly  from  Argyleshire,  for 
whom  luiid  had  been  purchased  by  their  lead- 
er, Neal  McNeal,  near  the  present  Fayette- 
viile.  All  these  colonies  were  successfully 
established;  and  their  numerous  descendants 
inhabit  the  state  at  this  day. 

Johnstone  dying,  (1752,)  Arthur  Dobbs  was 
invested  (1754)  with  the  governorship.  He 
applied  himself  at  once  to  forming  alliances 
with  tlie  Indians,  lest  they  mit;ht  join  with  the 
French  m  committing  liostihties  upon  the 
province.  Notwillistanding  every  effort,  un- 
friendly tribes,  especially  after  Braddock's  de- 
feat, (1755,)  harassed  the  western  frontiers. 
Among  tliese  tribes  tlie  Ciierokees  were  fore- 
most in  commilliiig  de])redations.  liiey,  as 
well  as  the  upper  Creeks,  by  whom  they  had 
been  joined,  were  finally  forcdd  to  sue  for 
peace.  As  regarded  the  conduct  of  the  war, 
the  assembly  concurred  with  tlie  governor,  but 
they  differed  widely  on  otiier  questions  re- 
specting the  government.  An  attempt  on  his 
part  to  have  the  representation  in  the  assem- 
bly reduceii,  or  remodelled,  and  his  refu'^al  to 
assent  to  an  act  exiending  tlie  jurisdiction  of 
the  courts  of  law  and  tiiu  terms  of  the  judges" 
ofBees,  produceil  general  discontent  in  the  as- 
sembly. The  dissatisfaction  increased.  To 
allay  it,  Wm.  Tryon,  a  military  officer,  was 
sent  out  in  the  cajjacity  of  lieutenant  gover- 
nor. On  the  diMith  of  Dobbs  (1705)  he  was 
raised  to  the  governorship.  Tryon  found  the 
colony  restless  and  uiicpiiet.  On  Earl  Greu- 
ville's  reservation,  the  inhabitants,  wlio  liad 
been  hardly  treated  by  his  lordship's  agents, 
and  by  petty  government  officers,  already  riot- 
ous, were  ripe  for  open  rebellion.  But  tlie 
new  incumbent  ruled  witii  a  steady  hand. 
Early  in  his  adnruii-trati<in  the  dispute  be 
tween  England  and  ihe  colonies  bigan.  He 
managed  for  a  time  to  avoid  collision  witli  the 
assembly ;  but,  at  lengtii,  when  that  body 
unani.riously  declared  (Nov.  4th,  1709)  again-t 
the  right  of  England  to  tax  Nurtli  Carolina 
while  unrepresented  in  rarliament,  he  dis- 
solved it,  on  account,  as  lie  said,  of  tiie  pas- 
sage by  them  <if  resolutions  whicii  "had  sap- 
jied  tlio  foundation  of  contidence  anil  gratitude." 
Previ(jusly  to  this,  liowever,  the  country  was 
distracted  by  ii  formiilable  insurrection  of  the 
so  called  "  llegulators,"  a  body  of  insurgents 
chiefly  poor  and  uneducated,  wiio,  complain 
ing  at  first  of  the  illegal  collection  t)f  taxes, 
rose   riotously  against  public   collectors,  dis- 


solved com-t  sessions,  overawed  judges,  and 
finally  refused,  though  offered  indemnification 
for  all  losses  from  defrauding  officers,  to  bear 
any  of  the  burden  of  taxation.  Abusing  the 
lenity  of  the  governor,  they  rushed  heedlessly 
forward,  under  ambitious  and  not  untalented 
leaders,  into  more  daring  rebellion.  Neither 
property  nor  life  w;\s  safe  from  their  violence, 
Tryon  at  length  (1771)  raised  a  body  of  troops 
antl  marched  against  the  Regulators.  Encoun- 
tering them  near  Great  Alamance,  3,000  strong, 
he  attacked  them  witli  his  1,000  militia,  and 
gained  a  decisive  victory.  After  their  defeat, 
the  insurgents  in  general  took  the  oath  of  alle- 
giance. In  the  following  August,  Tryon,  who, 
Upon  the  whole,  had  been  a  popular  ruler,  was 
succeeded  by  Josiah  Martin.  One  of  his  first 
acts  was  the  settlement,  on  its  present  basis, 
of  the  boundary  line  between  North  and  South 
Caroliua.  Disputes  soon  arose  between  him 
and  the  assembly,  respecting  foreign  attach- 
ments and  the  jurisdiction  of  county  courts; 
the  general  trouble  was  increased  by  the  per- 
sistence of  England  in  her  policy  of  taxing  the 
colonies.  The  governor  sided  with  the  crown, 
as  also  the  Regulators,  whom  he  had  the 
meanness  to  conciliate  by  the  detraction  of 
Tryon;  but  the  remaining  inhabitants  gener- 
ally adopted  the  cause  of  the  colonists. 

REVoLUTiONARY  HisTORY. — N(>rth  Carolina, 
in  spite  of  Martin's  opposition,  was  represent- 
ed in  Die  first  Coutinental  Congress,  (Sept., 
1774,)  and  its  ilelegates  joined  in  adopting  the 
"Declaration  of  Colonial  Rights."  A  provin- 
cial Congress,  composed  chiefly  of  members 
of  the  as-sembly,  and  the  assembly  itself,  ap- 
proved of  the  proceedings  of  the  late  Congress, 
and  appointed  delegates  to  the  next.  An  as- 
sociation for  the  defense  of  colonial  rights  was 
formed,  and  the  citizens  of  Mecklenburg  coun- 
ty even  went  so  far  (May  21,  1775)  as  for- 
mally to  declare  their  independence  of  the 
British  conneclion,  and  renounced  all  allegi- 
anc(f  to  the  crown.  Alarmed  at  the  progress 
of  the  association,  the  governor  retired  (July) 
on  board  a  ship  of  war  in  Cape  F'ear  river. 
The  revolution  in  North  Carolina  was  now 
complete.  A  new  state  Convention  w-as  form- 
ed, (Aug.  20.)  and  the  raising  of  three  regi- 
ments of  troops  autliorized.  Tliey  were  soon 
increased  to  five,  and  all  were  taken  by  Con- 
gress into  colonial  pay.  The  tory  influence, 
however,  was  strong,  especially  among  the 
Regulators.  A  body  of  150(1  men,  under  Mc- 
Donald and  McLeod,  wlio  liad  been  commis- 
sioned by  Martin,  attempted  to  reach  the 
coast  where  (len.  Clinton,  with  a  squadron, 
was  wailing  for  assistance  from  Britain,  pre- 
paratory to  making  a  descent  upon  the  coun- 
try. Hastening  towards  Wilmington,  the  to- 
ries  attempted  to  force  a  j)assage  over  Moore's- 
Creek  Biidge,  but  were  repulsed,  with  the 
loss  of  McLeoii,  by  a  body  of  njilitia,  under 
Caswell.     In  their  retreat,  they  ran  into  the 


XORTH    CAROLINA REVOLUTIONARY   HISTORY. 


16§ 


power  of  Col.  Moore,  wlio  was  advancing  in 
pursuit,  and  eight  iiundred  and  fifty  of  tliern, 
McDonald  included,  were  made  prisoners. 

Four  more  regiments  were  now  (April  1) 
ordered  to  be  raised  by  the  North  Carolina 
Congress.  Clinton,  though  reinforced,  de- 
spairihLC  of  local  assistance,  sailed  away,  ac 
companied  by  Martin,  to  the  attack  of  Charles- 
ton. In  tlie  following  April,  the  North 
Carolina  Couventiou,  taking  the  lead,  author- 
ized tlu'ir  delegates  in  Cont^ress  to  join  with 
other  colonies  in  declaring  independence.  On 
the  4th  of  July  following,  that  independence 
was  solemnly  declared.  Meanwhile  the  Che- 
rokees,  in  league  with  the  British,  ravagetl  the 
western  frontiers.  Promptly  met  by  a  strong 
force  from  the  Carolinas  and  Virginia,  they 
were  subdued,  and  forced  to  surrender  to  their 
conquerors  a  large  tract  of  country,  including 
the  yet  iufiint  settlements  on  the  Tennessee. 
The  territory  apportioned  to  North  Carolina 
was  erected  into  the  district  of  Washington, 
the  province  being  now  (since  Dec.  18,  1776) 
a  state,  having  a  regular  constitution,  and  pre- 
sided over  by  Kicliard  Caswell,  McDonald's 
conqueror,  as  governor.  Settlers  were  en- 
couraged to  locate  in  the  district,  lands  being 
granted  at  the  rate  of  £2  10s.  the  hundred 
acres. 

Though  North  Carolina  furnished  her  quota 
of  regular  troops  for  the  continental  army,  and 
assisted  in  bear-ng  the  expenses  of  the  war,  it 
did  not  become  for  some  years  a  theatre  of 
military  operations.  From  1779,  the  southern 
states  were  the  chief  scene  of  the  revolution- 
ary conflict.  North  Carolina  manfully  bore 
her  part  of  the  burden.  In  May,  1780,  Charles- 
ton surrendered  to  the  British  under  Gen. 
Clinton.  Within  a  month  all  South  Carolina 
was  in  possession  of  the  victors.  The  loyal- 
ists of  North  Carolina  flew  at  once  to  arms. 
Of  two  parties  assembled  to  aid  the  enemy, 
one  succeeded  in  reaching  the  Britisii  out- 
posts, but  the  other  was  dispersed  by  the 
whig  militia,  under  Gen.  Rutherford.  After 
tlie  defeat  of  Gates  at  Camden,  (Aug.  6,)  there 
was  left  no  organized  force  in  either  of  the 
Carolinas.  Coruwallis  prepared  to  make  an 
irruption  into  tiie  northern  state.  His  troops 
moved  forward  in  three  divisions ;  tiie  main 
body,  under  himself,  advanced  by  Charlotte 
and  Salisbury ;  another  party,  under  Tarleton, 
along  the  Catawba ;  a  third,  under  Ferguson, 
took  a  more  westerly  course  along  the  foot  of 
tlie  mountains.  Attacked  by  a  body  of  mount- 
ed backwoodsmen,  the  latter  was  completely 
routed  (Oct.  9)  at  King's  Mountains.  Hearing 
of  this  disaster,  Cornwallis  marched  back  to 
Winnsboro',  in  South  Carolina.  As  he  retired. 
Gates  advauced  to  Charlotte  with  a  force, 
small  and  ill  provided  for,  which  he  had  organ- 
ised partly  from  new  North  Carolina  recruits, 
and  partly  from  the  survivors  of  the  f  ital  field 
of  Camden.  At  Charlotte,  Gen.  Greene  jomed 
the  army,  (Dec.  2,)  and  assumed  the  command. 


The  mutual  animosity  of  the  wliigs  and  tories 
now  exhibited  itself  in  savage  ferocity.  Corn- 
wallis moved  northwanl,  (Jan.  1,)  to  interpose 
between  Greene  and  Morgan,  who  was  ope- 
rating against  the  l>ritish  on  the  left  side  of 
Broad  river.  Tarleton  was  sent  against  him 
with  one  thousand  light  troops.  Morgan 
awaited  his  ai)i)roach  at  Cowjieus,  Avhere 
Tarleton  was  defeateii,  with  a  loss  of  eight 
hundred  killed  and  captured.  Tarleton  hasti- 
ly joined  Cornwallis,  who  advanced  to  inter- 
cept Morgan,  before  he  should  form  a  junction 
with  Greene ;  but  he  was  unsuccessCul.  The 
passage  of  the  Catawba  being  forced  by  Corn- 
wallis, Greene,  retreating,  pushed  an  for  the 
Yadkin.  He  crossed  in  safi-ty,  and  hastened 
on  towards  Guilford  Court-House,  and  thence 
into  Virginia.  Meanwhile  that  state  had  been 
invaded  by  the  traitor  Arnold,  while  Wilming- 
ton, North  Carolina,  had  been  occupied  by  a 
body  of  the  enemy  from  Charleston.  At  the 
approach  of  Cornwallis,  the  sf.ate  authorities 
fled  from  Hillsboru'  to  Nevv'bern  ;  but  that 
town  was  soon  taken  by  a  detachment  of  the 
enemy  from  Wilmington  North  Carolina 
was,  to  all  a]ipearauce,  subdued.  The  tories 
began  to  embody  in  force.  To  protect  them, 
Cornwallis  crossed  the  Haw,  and  encamped 
on  the  Alimance  creek.  Greene,  reinforced, 
followed.  The  armies  met  near  Guilford  Court- 
House(Mar.  15,) where  Greene  was  defeated; 
but  at  so  great  a  cost  was  the  victory  gained, 
that  Cornwallis  was  obliged  to  fall  Ijack  on  Fay- 
etteville,  (then  Cross  Creek,)  and  soon  after 
still  farther  towards  Wilmington.  Adopting 
a  bold  policy,  Greene  marched  hastily  on  into 
South  Carolina,  hoping  either  to  draw  Corn- 
wallis from  North  Carolina,  or  to  subdue  Raw- 
don,  who  held  South  Carolina  in  subjection,  if 
unsupported  by  the  northern  forces.  On  dis- 
covering the  plau  of  Greene,  Cornwallis,  imi- 
tating his  policy,  advanced  into  Virginia,  and 
joined  the  British  force  operating  there, 
Greene's  career  in  South  Carolina  was  bril- 
liant. Within  seven  months  the  British  were 
confined  to  the  district  between  tlie  Cooper 
and  the  Ashley  rivers.  Henceforth  North 
Carolina  was  no  longer  invaded.  Troops  were 
constantly  raised  by  the  state,  however,  till 
the  close  of  the  war.  The  tories  gave  further 
trouble,  but  they  were  put  down  with  some 
severity  by  Gen.  Rutherford.  Soon  after  the 
capture  of  Cornwallis,  (October  17,)  Wil- 
mington wag  evacuated  (Jan.  1782)  by  the 
British,  while  their  troojis  were  confined  in 
South  Carolina  l)y  the  advance  of  Greene  to 
Charleston  Neck  and  the  adjacent  islands. 
Towards  the  end  of  the  year  |:)eace  was  de- 
clared. Thus  ended  British  domination  at  the 
south. 

Subsequent  History. — The  history  of  North 
Carolina,  since  the  Revolution,  exhibits  few 
changes  and  few  events  of  more  than  ordinary 
importance.  The  materials  on  hand  for  pre- 
paring a  sketch  of  this  portion  of  its  history 


170 


NORTH  CAROLINA GEOGRAPHY  AND  TOPOGRAPHY. 


are  meagre.  A  work  on  the  subject,  however, 
is  announced  as  iu  course  of  preparation,  by 
Francis  L.  Hawks,  D.D.,  in  wliicli,  no  doubt, 
the  hisfor}'  will  be  elaborately  treated  in  all 
its  principal  aspects. — North  Carolina  acceded 
to  the  present  Fedenil  Constitution,  Nov.  27, 
1789,  by  a  vote  of  193  yeas  to  75  nays.  Since 
then,  the  people  of  no  state  have  adhered 
more  firmly  to  the  Union.  The  state  consti- 
tution was  framed,  as  already  noticed,  in  Dec, 
177G.  It  was  revised  and  partially  modified 
in  1835.  The  governor  is  chosen  by  qualified 
voters  for  the  House  of  Commons  for  the  term 
of  two  years,  and  he  can  hold  office  only  four 
years  in  six.  He  must  be  35  years  old,  be 
worth  §5,000,  and  have  been  a  resident  for 
five  years.     The  General  Assembly  is  com- 

Eosed  of  a  Senate  of  fifty  members,  and  a 
Louse  of  Commons  of  120  members.  Mem- 
bers of  the  Senate  are  elected  once  in  two 
years  by  the  people,  and  must  possess  each 
300  acres  of  land  iu  the  county  for  which  they 
are  chosen.  Members  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons are  also  chosen  by  the  people  once  in 
two  years,  and  must  hold  each  100  acres  of 
land  in  the  county  which  they  represent.  The 
General  Assembly  meets  once  in  two  years 
at  Raleigh,  on  the  second  Monday  of  Novem- 
ber. By  this  body  are  appointed  the  Council 
of  State,  the  Judges,  and  the  Attorney-Gen- 
eral ;  the  former  holding  their  offices  during 
good  behavior,  the  last  for  four  years.  Every 
white  male  citizen,  being  twenty-one  years  ot 
age,  or  over,  and  a  resident  of  the  county  one 
year,  who  has  paid  taxes,  is  entitled  to  vote 
for  members  of  the  Hou.se  of  Commons ;  to 
vote  for  Senators,  he  must,  in  addition,  pos- 
eess  fifty  acres  of  land.* 

Physical  Coxdition. — North  Carolina  pre- 
sents a  broad  front  to  the  ocean,  but  gradually 
contracts  to  the  westward,  till  it  ends  in  a 
narrow  strip  of  land  lying  between  Georgia 
and  Tennessee.  Its  greatest  length  is  49ti 
miles;  its  breadth  varies  in  the  eastern  part 
from  120  to  180  miles;  in  the  western,  from 
100  to  2u  miles.  The  western  boundary  line, 
as  determined  by  the  act  of  cession  of  the 
western  territory  to  the  Union,  (1790,)  runs 
from  the  \'irginia  line  along  the  to[)  of  Stone 
Mountain  to  the  river  Wataga ;  tlience,  in  a 
direct  course,  to  the  top  of  Yellow  Mountain ; 
thence  along  that  mountain,  and  the  moun- 
tains Iron,  Bald,  Great  Iron,  and  Unaka,  to 
the  southern  boundary.  The  southern  boun- 
dary line  is  quite  irregular :  begun  in  1735,  it 
■was  not  established  in  its  entire  course  until 


*  The  constitution  has  in  it  somethinf;  of  ihu  reli- 
gious element ;  lor  it  proviiles  expressly  thai  "  no 
person  who  shall  (lnny  the  beiuu;  of  a  God,  or  the  truth 
of  the  Christian  religion,  or  the  divine  aiilhority  of  tlio 
Old  and  New  Testament,  or  who  shall  hold  religious 
prineiplos  incotnpalible  with  the  froedom  or  safely  of 
the  state,"  gtiall  hold  any  civil  olfice.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  is  also  provided  that  no  clerjryman,  while  in 
the  exercise  of  his  duties,  shall  bo  a  member  of  either 
branch  of  the  assembly,  ur  of  the  council. 


1815.  The  line  on  the  north  has  been  already 
mentioned.  The  whole  area  included  is 
50,000  square  miles. 

NORTH  CAROLINA.— GEOGRArnY,  To- 
pography. AND  HVDROGRAPUY  OF  NoUTH  CA- 
ROLINA— Soil,  Peodccts,  Resources,  Statis- 
tics, Population,  Trade,  Internal  Improve- 
ments, Education,  Religion,  Geology,  &c. — 
The  entire  coast  of  North  Carolina  is  bordered 
by  low,  narrow  beaches  of  sand,  which  are 
broken  through  at  intervals,  forming  a  com- 
munication between  the  ocean  and  the  lakes, 
or  lagoons,  situate  between  the  sandbanks  and 
the  main  land.  South  of  Cape  Lookout  these 
breaks  are  numerous,  and  the  lagoons  nar- 
rower ;  north  of  that  cape  the  converse  is  the 
fact  Beyond  the  banks  lie  extensive  shoals, 
all  which,  taken  together,  render  the  coast  of 
this  state  more  dangerous  to  navigators  than 
any  other  on  the  Atlantic.  Within  the  lagoons 
sand-bars  are  constantly  forming,  and  as  con- 
stanty  changing  their  position.  Furious  gales, 
too,  prevail;  so  that  it  is  difficult  even  for  a 
skilful  pilot  to  conduct  a  vessel  through  the 
inlets,  and  over  the  lagoons,  without  the  oc- 
currence of  some  accident.  Ocracoke  Inlet  is 
now  the  only  navigable  pass  north  of  Cape 
Lookout:  it  is  full  of  shifting  sand-bars,  and, 
at  low  tide,  even  in  the  main  channel,  con- 
tains only  six  feet  water.  Roanoke  Inlet,  op- 
posite the  island  of  that  name,  is  now  ol> 
structed  ;  but  measures  for  reopening  it  have 
been  put  into  operation.  To  the  northward, 
between  the  main  land  and  tlie  narrow  beach, 
stretching  down  from  Cape  Henry,  lies  Curri- 
tuck Sound,  fifty  miles  long,  by  from  two  to 
ten  in  breadth.  West  of  this,  running  some 
distance  inland,  is  the  Sound  of  Albemarle, 
sixty  miles  in  length  from  east  to  west,  and 
from  five  to  fifteen  broad.  Its  waters  are 
fresh,  and  not  subject  to  rise  and  fall  fn>m  the 
influence  of  the  tides,  though  they  are  affected 
by  particular  winds.  These  two  sounds  com- 
municate with  the  sound  of  Pamlico,  which 
lies  south  of  Currituck,  and  is  eighty-six  miles 
long  by  from  ten  to  twenty  in  breadth.  Its 
depth  in  general  is  twenty  feet,  but  shoals 
.'ibouiid.  It  ()]iens  on  the  sea  by  means  of 
Ocracoke  Inlet,  and  is  somewhat  affected  by 
the  tides.  Cape  Hatteras  forms  the  headland 
of  the  dangerous  beach  which  separates  Pam- 
lico from  the  ocean,  a  beach  so  barren  and 
desolate  as  to  be  inhabited  only  by  fishermen 
and  pilots. 

For  a  distance  of  from  sixty  to  eighty  miles 
from  the  sea-coast  the  country  is  perfectly 
level,  traversed  by  sluggish  and  muddy 
streams,  and  abounding  in  swamps  and 
marshes.  The  soil  is  sandy  and  barren,  ex- 
cept along  the  banks  of  the  streams,  where  it 
is  often  fertile.  The  natural  growtli  of  this 
region  is  the  pitcli-])ine,  which  attains  a  fuller 
development  here  than  in  the  states  further 
north,  and  yields  vast  quantities  of  tar,  pitch, 


NORTH  CAROLINA GEOGRAPHV  AND  TOPOGRAPHY. 


171 


turpentine  and  lumber.  The  swamps,  so  nu- 1 
merous  in  this  section,  are  estimated  to  occu- 
py about  3,000,000  acres  of  the  30,720,000 
contained  in  the  state.  Of  this  huid  a  consid- 
erable quantity  may  be  drained  or  reclaimed 
by  embankments,  by  which  means  it  would 
become  fitted  for  the  production  not  only  of 
rice,  but  also  Indian  corn,  (maize,)  cotton  and 
tobacco.  The  Great  Disirial  Swamp,  partly 
in  this  state  and  partly  in  Virginia,  is  thirty 
miles  long  and  ten  broad,  extending  over  a 
surface  of  150,000  acres.  It  is  covered  in 
eome  places  with  a  dense  forest  of  cedars, 
pines,  and  cypresses ;  in  other  places  it  is  oc- 
cupied by  tall  grasses  and  reeds,  almost  im- 
pervious. In  the  centre  is  Lake  Drummond, 
twenty  miles  in  circuit.  The  soil  is  covered 
knee  deep  with  water :  it  is  firm  in  some 
parts,  but  in  most  it  consists  of  a  soft  yielding 
bog,  into  which  a  pole  may  be  thrust  for 
Bome  distance.  The  swamp  furnishes  yearly 
a  large  supply  of  scantlings,  which  are  borne 
out  on  log  causeways  to  small  receiving  ves- 
sels that  come  up  tor  tlieir  loads  by  means  of 
canals.  Similar  in  its  character,  and  nearly 
as  large,  is  Alligator,  or  Little  Dismal  Swamp, 
between  the  sounds  of  Albemarle  and  Pam- 
lico ;  parts  of  which  have  been  drained,  and 
make  valuable  rice  fields  and  wheat  lands. 
There  are  other  swamps  further  south  (Cat- 
fish, Green,  etc.)  usually  overgrown,  like  those 
spoken  of,  with  cedar  and  cypress,  intermin- 
gled with  the  maple,  the  poplar,  the  white 
oak,  and  having  an  impenetrable  undergrowth 
of  reeds,  vines,  briers,  &c. 

As  we  advance  into  the  interior  of  the 
country,  its  aspect  becomes  more  and  more 
changed.  "At  a  distance  of  sixty  or  seventy 
miles  from  the  coast,"  says  Williamson,  "  the 
land  begins  to  rise  into  small  hills,  stones  ap- 
pear on  the  surface,  and  the  streams  ripple  in 
their  course.  As  we  advance  a  little  further 
westward,  we  find  all  the  variety  of  hills  and 
dales  that  may  consist  with  a  fertile  country 
fit  for  cultivation."  For  about  forty  miles 
behind  the  flat  country  there  extends,  as  far 
as  the  lower  falls  of  the  river,  a  belt  of  laud, 
of  a  surface  moderately  uneven,  with  a  sandy 
soil,  of  which  pitch-pine  is  the  prevailing  na- 
tural production.  West  of  the  falls  the  sur- 
face is  undulated,  the  streams  flow  more 
swiftly,  and  the  land  is  more  fertile,  produ- 
cing wheat,  rye,  barley,  oats,  flax,  <&c.  Pro- 
ceeding still  further  west,  beyond  the  Yadkin 
and  the  Catawba,  we  reach  an  elevated  re- 
gion, forming  part  of  the  great  table-land  of 
the  United  States,  and  lying  from  1,000  to 
1,200  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  Above 
it  tower  the  peaks  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  the 
chief  of  which  have  distinct  local  appella- 
tions. Black  Mountain,  according  to  late  mea- 
surements, has  an  elevation  of  6,426  feet, 
being  higher  than  any  summit  in  the  United 
States  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountixius,  and  242 


feet  higher  than  the  highest 'peaks  of  the  cele- 
brated White  Mountains  in  New-Hampshire. 
Roan  Mountain  has  an  elevation  of  6,038  feet, 
its  sunnnit  forming  a  broad  level  meadow  to 
which  tiie  horses  of  the  vicinity  are  sent  for 
pasturage.  Grandfather  Mountain  is  5,556 
feet  high ;  Table  Mountain  attains  the  height 
of  3,420  feet.  Mount  Ararat,  or  the  Pilot 
Mountain,  in  Surrey  county,  situated  in  a 
comparatively  level  region,  exhibits  a  striking 
symmetry  of  structure.  Its  form  is  veiy  nearly 
that  of  a  cylinder.  It  is  ascended  by  a  path 
in  some  places  nearly  perpendicular ;  and  the 
view  from  its  summit  is  delightfully  pleasing. 
Between  these  mountain  ranges  in  the  west- 
ern part  of  the  state  the  soil  is  productive. 

North  Carolina  is  well  watered  by  consider- 
able rivers ;  but  these  streams,  in  comparison 
with  their  size  and  number,  afford  few  facili- 
ties for  navigation.  They  are  generally  shal- 
low near  their  mouths,  or  are  broken  by  falls 
in  the  upper  part  of  their  course,  or  are 
choked  up  by  bars,  or  are  lost  in  shallow  la- 
goons difficult  of  access.  The  principal  river, 
whose  course  lies  wholly  within  the  state,  ia 
the  Cape  Fear.  It  is,  moreover,  the  only 
large  stream  which  flows  directly  into  the 
ocean.  Its  principal  tributaries  are  the  Haw 
and  the  Deep,  which  join  at  Haywood,  in 
Chatham  county.  It  falls  over  the  primary 
ledge  into  the  low  country  at  Averasboro. 
At  Fayetteville  it  can  be  navigated  by  large 
boats.  Above  Wilmington  it  forms  two 
branches,  which  reunite  below  that  town,  flow- 
ing on  in  a  broad  sluggish  stream,  obstructed 
by  sand-bars,  and  difficult  to  navigate.  By 
the  aid  of  jetties,  which  diminish  the  breadth 
of  the  river,  and  by  the  stopping  up  of  some 
of  the  smaller  outlets,  a  greater  velocity  has 
been  given  to  the  current  of  the  main  channel, 
and  the  depth  of  the  main  channel,  as  far  as 
Wilmington,  made  to  reach  from  twelve  to 
thirteen  feet.  Cape  Fear  has  two  entrances 
from  the  sea,  separated  by  Smith's  Island. 
The  main  entrance  (the  southwest)  has  from 
ten  to  fourteen  and  a  half  feet  of  water  on 
the  bar.  The  Chowan  and  the  Roanoke  flow 
into  Albemarle  Sound.  The  former  is  navi- 
gable to  Murfreesboro ;  the  latter  for  thirty 
miles,  by  small  craft  which  ply  on  the  souni 
Both  are  navigable  to  a  greater  distance  by 
boats :  the  Roanoke  as  far  as  Weldon.  The 
Tar  and  the  Neuse  empty  into  the  Sound  of 
Pamlico.  On  the  Tar,  vessels  drawing  eight 
feet  may  go  as  high  as  Washington ;  boats  as 
high  as  Tarboro.  The  Neuse  is  navigable  by 
large  boats  as  far  as  Kingston.  The  ocean 
entrances  of  both  these  rivers  are  channels,  in 
which  there  is  only  ten  feet  water  at  high 
tide.  The  Waccamaw,  the  Lumber,  the  Yad- 
kin, and  the  Catawba  pass  into  South  Caro 
lina,  where  all  but  the  first  receive  new  ap- 
pellations. From  the  west  of  the  Blue  Ridge 
flow  New  River,  the  Wataga,  French  Broad, 


172 


NORTH    CAROLINA — PRODUCTIVE    INDl'STRY    AND    RESOURCES. 


Little  Tennessee  and  Hiwassee,  the  waters  of 
all  which  mingle  at  length  with  those  of  the 
Ohio. 

Professor  Olmsted,  in  his  report  on  the 
Geolojry  of  North  Carolina,  has  given  a  ful 
and  reliiible  account  of  its  minerals.  The  low 
country  consists  of  deposits  of  sand  and  clay, 
similar  and  belonging  to  the  same  age  (the 
tertiary)  as  those  of  Eastern  Virginia  and 
Maryland.  The.se  beds  contain  few  minerals, 
but  abound  in  deposits  of  shell,  marl,  fossili- 
ferous  limestone,  copperas,  and  bog  iron  ore. 
A  ledge  of  micaceous  rocks,  seen  in  the  ra- 
vines and  beds  of  rivers,  forms  the  line  which 
divides  the  low  land  from  the  upper  country. 
A.  belt  of  mica  slate,  chlorite  slate,  gneiss  and 
granite,  lies  west  of  this  line.  Among  the 
minerals  of  this  section  are:  hematitic  iron 
ores,  (Nash  and  Johnston  counties,)  plumbago, 
(Wake,)  and  occasionally  soapstone  and  ser- 
pentine. This  strip  is  succeeded  by  a  belt  of 
sandstone,  running  southwesterly  from  Gran- ' 
ville  across  the  state.  Freestones  and  grind- 
stones are. abundant  in  some  parts  of  the 
formation,  which  also  contains  argillaceous 
iron  ore,  and  some  coal  measures,  (Orange, 
Chatham.)  Next  to  this  is  situate  the  great 
slate  formation,  about  twenty  miles  in  breadth, 
and  running  from  northeast  to  southwest  quite 
across  the  state.  Within  this  district  are 
found  numerous  beds  of  porphyry,  soapstone, 
serpentine,  greenstone,  and  hone  or  whetstone 
slate.  The  honestone  is  of  a  decidedl3'  supe- 
rior quality,  being  preferred  by  workmen  to 
the  V)est  hones  from  Turkey.  After  the  slate 
formation  tliere  comes  next  another  belt  of 
primary  rocks,  reaching  nearly  to  the  Blue 
Ridge.  Tliis  comprises  the  gold  region  of 
North  Carolina.  Iron  ore  is  fuund  also  in' 
Rockingham,  Stokes,  Surrey  and  Lincoln.  It 
is  for  the  most  part  the  magnetic  oxide,  and  ' 
Las  been  extensively  wrought.  There  were 
in  tills  section  of  the  states  in  1830,  three  fur- 
naces and  thirty  forges  in  operation. 

Productive  Industry  and  Resources. — 
Though  it  seems  from  the  face  of  the  map 
that  tliis  state  is  well  watered  by  numerous 
streams,  yet  these  rivers  are,  for  reasons 
above  stated,  of  little  use  in  a  commercial 
point  of  view.  The  agriculturist  finds  a  diffi- 
culty in  tran«!porting  his  produce,  which 
seriously  interferes  Avith  his  prosperity.  The 
greater  part  of  the  produce  from  tiie  high 
grounds  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  state,  (and 
some  from  the  nurthcrn  and  middle,)  is  sent 
into  Virginia;  that  from  the  western  part, 
into  South  Carolina  and  'J'ennessec.  This, 
too,  is  often  done  by  means  of  tedious  and 
cumbersome  conveyances.  The  exports  of 
the  state  at  the  period  immediately  preceding 
the  revolution  were  at  least  double  what  they 
are  at  present.  In  1849,  they  amounted  to 
8270,076,  against  imports  to  the  value  of 
$113,146.  The  industry  of  Nortii  Carolina 
is  almost  wboUy  agricultural    There  is  not  a 


I  state  in  the  Union  more  fortunate  in  its  vari- 
'  ety  of  staple  productions.  All  kinds  of  grain 
j  that  grow  in  the  north  are  successfully  culti- 
vated here.  The  sti  iking  diversity  of  climate 
and  soil  between  the  low  lands  of  the  east, 
,  the  high  lands  of  the  west,  and  the  moderate- 
ly diversified  interior,  has  its  correspondence 
in  a  similar  diversity  of  agricultural  ])roduc- 
tions.  Tiie  low  lands  yield  cotton,  rice  and 
indigo.  The  ricn  is  of  the  best  quality.  The 
cotton  crop  is  not  lai-ge,  not  exceeding  30,000 
bales  yearly.  Grapes,  plums,  blackberries, 
etc.,  grow  spontaneously  in  this  region  ;  and 
the  leaves  of  the  canes  in  the  bottoms,  contin- 
uing green  all  winter,  afford  grateful  fooil  to 
herds  of  cattle.  Fui  ther  west,  in  the  interior 
and  in  the  valleys  of  the  highlands,  the  soil  is 
well  adapted  to  wheat,  tobacco,  hemp.  Indian 
corn,  and  the  grains  and  fruits  which  flourish 
at  the  northward.  Tiie  mountainous  districts 
afford  excellent  pasture  for  large  herds  of  cat 
tie  and  horses. 

In  the  elevated  parts  of  the  state  the  natu- 
ral timber-growth  is  oak,  walnut,  cheriy,  and 
lime.  The  white-oak  trees  found  here  are 
well  suited  for  making  staves,  being  taller 
and  more  free  from  knots  than  those  which 
belong  further  north.  Thick  and  extensive 
forests  of  juniper  and  cypress  are  found  in  the 
eastern  portion  of  the  state,  constituting  a 
supply  of  timber  for  making  shingles  which 
is  almost  inexhaustible.  The  pine  forests, 
which  cover  almost  all  the  district,  contribute 
greatly  to  the  wealth  and  general  prosperity 
of  the  state.  They  not  only  furnish  quanti- 
ties of  lumber  for  exportation,  but  from  them 
is  obtained  nearly  all  the  resinous  matter  used 
in  this  country,  particularly  in  ship-building, 
and  .also  for  other  impiirtant  purposes.  These 
resinous  products  are  turpentine,  scrapings, 
spirits  of  turpentine,  rosin,  tar,  and  pitch. 
Turpentine  is  the  mere  sap  of  the  pine  tree. 
It  is  obtained  by  making  an  incision  in  the 
bark,  from  which  the  turpentine  flows,  drop- 
ping into  a  box  beneath.  Incisions  are  made 
usually  about  the  middle  of  March,  and  the 
dropping  ceases  about  the  end  of  October. 
The  boxes  are  emptied  five  or  six  times  a 
year.  A  barrel  of  turpentine  is  the  jiroduce 
of  about  forty  trees.  Tlie  same  trees  will 
yield  about  one  third  that  amount  of  scrap- 
ings, which  is  that  part  of  the  sap  which  be- 
comes hard  before  reaching  the  box.  Spirits 
of  turpentine  is  made  by  ilistilling  this  sap 
the  residuum  after  distillation  is  rosin.  About 
600,000  barrels  of  turpentine  are  now  made 
within  the  state,  the  greater  part  of  which  is 
distilled  within  its  limits.  its  jiroduction 
gives  direct  employment  to  four  or  live  thou- 
sand laborers ;  and  ten  or  fifteen  thousand 
more,  it  is  computed,  are  supported  by  the 
proceeds  of  its  first  sale.  No  other  article,  it 
is  said,  produced  by  the  same  number  of 
laborers.jcontributes  so  much  to  the  connnerce 
and  prosperity  of  the  state.     Tar  is  made 


NORTU    CAROLINA PRODUCTIVE    INDUSTRY    AND    RESOURCES. 


173 


from  billets  of  pine,  burned  in  pits,  under  al 
heavy  covering  of  turf  or  earth.  The  billets 
are  consumeil  slowly  witliout  flaiiie  ;  ami  the 
tar,  as  it  exudes,  is  conveyed  by  a  trench  into 
a  cavity  made  in  the  ground  as  a  reservoir. 
The  tar  of  Carolina  is  of  much  inferior  quality 
to  that  of  the  north  of  Europe,  chiefly  on  ac- 
count of  the  slovenly  manner  in  wiiich  tlie 
former  is  usually  prejiared.  The  kiln  is 
most  frequently  built  on  light,  sandy  larui,  in 
which  arc  cut  both  the  trench  ami  the  reser- 
voir. In  consequence,  the  product  of  tlie 
burning  alwjiys  contains  a  large  percentage 
of  sand,  a  pint  of  which  will  condemn  agallon 
of  tar.  More  stringent  inspection  laws  liave 
been  enacted  of  late  years,  from  the  taithful 
execution  of  which  a  great  improvement  in 
Carolina  tar  must  result.  Pitch  is  obtained 
from  tar  by  boiling  it  down  to  dryness. 

This  state,  both  on  account  of  its  natural 
productions  and  its  numerous  water-courses, 
is  adininibly  adapted  to  manufactures.  Yet 
maimfactories  chiefly  exist  in  the  shape  of 
household  industry.  During  the  last  few 
years,  however,  several  cotton  and  wool  man- 
ufactories have  been  erected,  which  are  now 
in  active  operation.  Gold  is  an  important 
product  of  North  Carolina.  The  region  where 
it  is  mainly  found  has  been  already  desig- 
nated. This  district  is,  for  the  most  part, 
barren,  and  its  inhabitants  generally  poor  and 
ignorant.  The  principal  mines  are  Anson's, 
Read's,  and  Parker's.  The  first  named  is  situ- 
ated in  Anson  county.  Its  yield  was  once 
good;  but,  disputes  arising  as  to  the  title  of 
part  of  the  laud,  operations  have  been  much 
retarded.  Read's  mine  is  in  Cabarrass,  and 
■was  the  first  wrought.  Masses  of  metal, 
■weighing  400,  .500,  or  COO  penny-weights,  are 
occasionally  dug  up.  One  piece  was  found 
by  a  negro,  weighing,  in  its  crude  state,  twen- 
ty-eight pounds  avon-dupois.  Marvellous  sto- 
ries used  to  be  told  of  this  lump  ;  as,  that  "  it 
had  been  seen  by  gold  hunters  at  night,  re- 
flecting so  brilliant  a  light  when  they  drew 
near  to  it  with  torches,  as  to  terrify  them,  and 
deter  them  from  further  examination."  Par- 
ker's mine  is  situated  on  a  small  stream  four 
miles  south  of  the  Yaiikin.  Tiie  metal  ii 
found  chiefly  in  flakes  and  grains.  A  mass, 
however,  weighing  four  pounds  and  eleven 
ounces,  has  been  discovered.  In  the  mining 
districts,  gold  contained  in  goose  quills  forms 
a  currency.  Its  value  is  fixed  by  weight.  The 
larger  part  of  tlie  produce  of  the  mines  is 
bought  up  by  dealers,  at  from  ninety  to  nine- 
ty-one cents  a  penny-weight.  By  these  it  is 
carried  for  the  most  part  out  of  the  state.  They 
sell  some  to  jewellers  ;  some  is  deposited  in 
banks ;  and  a  large  quantity  is  received  at 
the  mint  of  the  United  States. 

Statistics  of  the  productive  industry  and 
resources  of  North  Carolina  cannot  easily  be 
procured.  The  latest  we  have  at  command 
are  given  in  the  official  retiu^us  for   1840. 


From  these  "we  take  the  subjoined  summary : 
In  1840,  the  value  of  home  made  or  family 
manufactures  was  81,413,242  ;  there  v^'ere 
three  woollen  manufactories  and  one  fulling 
mill,  producing  articles  to  the  value  of  $3,900, 
with  a  eaiiital  of  S^g^sOO;  twenty-five  cotton 
mil nu factories,  with  47,934  spindles,  employ- 
ing 1,219  persons,  producing  articles  to  the 
value  of  S438,90(),  with  a  capital  of  §1)95,300 ; 
there  were  eight  furnaces,  producing  908  tons 
of  cast  iron,  and  forty-three  forges,  etc.,  pro- 
ducing 963  tons  of  bar  iron,  employing  468 
persons,  and  a  capital  of  $94,961 ;  two  smelt- 
ing-houses,  employing  30  persons,  and  pro- 
ducing 10,000  pounds  of  lead;  ten  smelting 
houses  employing  389  persons,  and  producing 
gold  to  the  value  of  $255,618,  with  a  capital 
of  $9,832 ;  two  paper-mills,  producing  articles 
to  the  value  of  $8,785,  with  a  capital  of 
$5,000 ;  hats  and  caps  were  manufactured  to 
the  value  of  $38,167,  and  straw-bonnets  to 
the  value  of  $1,700,  employing  142  persons, 
aud  a  capital  of  $13,141 ;  353  tanneries,  em- 
ploying 045  persons,  with  a  capital  of  $271,- 
979  ;  238  other  leather  manufactories,  as  sad- 
dleries, etc.,  producing  articles  to  the  value  of 
$185,387,  with  a  capital  of  $76,163;  sixteen 
potteries,  employing  21  persous,  producing 
articles  to  the  value  of  $6,260,  with  a  capital 
of  $1,531;  89  persons  manulactured  machin- 
ery to  the  value  of  $43,285 ;  43  persons  man- 
ufactured hardware  and  cutlery  to  the  value 
of  $1,200;  698  persons  manufactured  car- 
riages and  wagons  to  the  value  of  $301,601, 
with  a  capital  of  $173,318;  323  flouring- 
mills  produced  87,641  barrels  of  flour,  -with 
other  mills  employing  1,830  persons,  produ 
cing  articles  to  the  value  of  $1,552,096,  em- 
ploying a  capital  of  $1,670,228  ;  vessels  were 
built  to  the  value  of  $02,800 ;  223  persons 
manufactured  furniture  to  the  value  of  $35,- 
002,  -with  a  capit.al  of  $57,980  ;  40  persons 
manufactured  1,085  small  arms;  15  persons 
manufactured  granite  and  marble  to  the  value 
of  $1,083;  270  persons  produced  bricks  and 
hme  to  the  value  of  $58,336 ;  367  persons 
manufactured  1,612,825  lbs.  of  soap,  148,546 
lbs.  of  tallow-caudles,  835  lbs.  of  spermaceti 
and  w-ax  candles,  with  a  capital  of  $4,754; 
2,802  distilleries  produced  1,051,979  gallons, 
and  with  breweries,  which  produced  17,431 
gallons,  employed  1,422  persons,  and  a  cap- 
ital of  $180,200 ;  38  brick  or  stone,  and  1,822 
wooden  houses,  employed  1,707  persons,  at  a 
cost  of  $410,264;  twenty-six  printing  offices, 
four  binderies,  twenty-six  weekly  and  one 
semi-weekly  newspaper,  and  two  periodicals, 
employed  103  persons,  and  a  capital  of  $55,- 
400.  Tiie  whole  amount  of  capital  employed 
in  manufactures  was  $3,838,900. 

As  regards  live  stock  and  agricultural  pro- 
ducts,'the  same  authority  has  the  following: 
In  1840,  there  were  in  the  state  166,608 
horses  and  mules;  617,371  neat  cattle  ;  538,- 
279  sheep;  1,649,716  swine;  poultry  to  the 


1T4 


NORTU    CAROLIXA rRODUCTIVE    IXDUSTRT    AXD    RESOURCES. 


value  of  §544,1 25.  Tliere  were  produced 
1,960,885  bushels  of  wheat ;  3,574  bushels  of 
barley;  3,193,941  bushels  of  oats;  213,971 
bushels  of  rye ;  15,391  bushels  of  buckwheat ; 
23,893,703  bushels  of  Indian  corn;  625,044 
lbs.  of  wool;  1,063  lbs.  of  hops;  118,923  lbs. 
of  wax;  2,609,239  bushels  of  potatoes;  101,- 
869  tons  of  hav;  9,879  tons  of  hemp  and 
flax;  16.772,3.59  lbs.  of  tobacco;  2,820,388 
lbs.  of  rice;  61,926,190  lbs.  of  cotton;  3,014 
lbs.  of  silk  cocoons;  7,103  lbs.  of  sugar  ;  the 
products  of  the  dairy  were  valued  at  $674,- 
349 ;  of  the  orchard,  at  .^386,006  ;  of  lumber, 
at  §500,766.  There  were  made  28,752  gal- 
lons of  wine.* 


•  A  citizen  of  North  Carolina,  who  evidently  writes 
intelligently,  communicates  the  foUowinR  pertinent 
notice  of  the  commerce  and  rcpources  of  tiie  state, 
to  the  McrckanCs  Mn/razine,  for  September,  18-19, 
(Vol.  xxi.  pp  'S55,  3.56  :) 

"  There  is  no  state  in  the  Union  whose  statistics 
are  so  meagre ;  none  in  which  the  difficulty  of  pro- 
curing information  necessary  to  the  proper  exhibi- 
tion of  the  commerce  and  resources  are  greater.  With 
a  coast  bound  with  sand-bars,  the  navigation  of 
rivers  obstructed  by  nature,  a  large  extent  of  terri- 
tory with  diversified  interests,  with  natural  obstruc- 
tions to  the  concentration  of  our  commerce,  with  no 
emporium  to  concentre  talent,  and  to  give  unity  of 
desicn  to  enterprise,  our  commerce,  like  the  rains 
falling  on  the  lofty  summits  of  our  mountains,  runs 
off  in  every  direction  to  swell  each  neighboring  rivu- 
let, without  the  possibility  of  ever  uniting  again  to 
form  a  great,  grand,  and  noble  current  of  its  own. 
A  large  portion  of  western  and  southwcsforn  North 
Carolina  finds  a  market  in  Columbia  and  Charles- 
ton, South  Carolina  ;  the  northern,  and  a  portion 
of  the  eastern  and  middle  in  Richmond,  Petersburg, 
and  Norfolk,  Virginia,  and  the  iiruduotions  of  these 
sections  go  to  swell  the  tabular  oxhibition  of  the 
aforesaid  states,  and  are  unknown  as  the  products  of 
our  own  state. 

"  Our  legislatures  and  members  of  Congress  have 
hitherto  manifested  but  little  interest  in  the  exhibi- 
tion of  our  commerce  and  resources.  With  the  ex- 
ception of  a  single  effort  made  a  great  many  years 
ago,  we  have  no  gen(!ral  survey  of  the  state.  The 
exploration  of  our  mineral  wealth  has  been  left  to 
chance  and  individual  enterprise,  with  the  limited 
knowledge  we  have  of  the  mine.i  confined  to  their 
immediate  localities,  and  for  the  most  part,  to  those 
who  are  practically  engaged  in  them.  No  southern 
State  can  compare  witli  ours  in  mineral  wealth  and 
resources  for  manufacturing.  Our  forests  will  sup- 
ply any  possible  demand  for  limber  and  fuel;  we 
Have  coal  in  the  greatest  abundance,  enough  to  sup- 
ply the  entire  demand  of  our  entire  country  ;  and 
which,  for  a  tenth  of  the  cost  incurred  by  the  state  of 
Maryland,  might  be  rendered  available  to  the  entire 
coast  of  the  Atlantic  shore. 

"Information  on  our  commerce  will  have  to  be 
procured,  not  only  from  our  little  ports,  but  from 
those  points  in  South  Carolina  and  Virginia  which 
draw  thither  so  large  a  share  of  our  products.  If 
you  should  not  gel  an  article  sooner,  perhaps  I  may 
furnish  you  one,  or  a  series  of  them,  in  the  early 
part  of  the  year  1851.  I  postpone  until  that  time, 
with  the  hope  of  collecting  information  from,  or 
through  the  next  Legislature  of  our  state  ;  from  the 
members  of  the  next  Congress,  through  the  various 
reports  of  that  body ;  from  the  next  census ;  and 
from  such  private  sources  as  I  may  bo  able  to  com- 
mand. An  article  biLsed  on  the  lights  now  before 
me  would  bo  conjectural  and  uncertain  in"  a  high 
degree.  The  last  census  is  a  libel  on  our  state.  If 
you  have  the  prospect  of  an  article  from  any  other 
source,  do  not  rely  on  me.  The  undertaking,  proj)- 
erly  execulod,  is  di£Scult,  laborious,  and  expensive. 


PopcL.\TioN. — The  causes  which  retarded 
the  increase  of  tlie  population  of  North  Caro- 
lina, in  the  early  part  of  its  existence  as  a 
Colony,  have  been  adduced  in  the  historical 
portion  of  this  article.  The  first  impulse  in 
the  way  of  increase  was  imparted  about  the 
middle  of  the  last  century,  when  the  Scotch 
Presbyterians  from  tlie  north  of  Ireland,  and 
the  Scotch  Highlanders  from  Argyleshire, 
migrated  into  the  country,  and  when  the  Mo- 
ravians made  settlements  at  Salem,  Bethany, 
and  Bethabara,  between  the  upper  Yadkin 
and  the  Dan.  In  1670,  as  we  have  seen,  the 
whole  number  of  taxable  inhabitants  waa 
about  1,400;  in  1717,  about  2,000;  of  these, 
at  both  periods,  about  one  third  were  negi'O 
and  Indian  slaves.  At  the  time  the  state 
ceased  to  be  a  royal  government,  the  popula- 
tion is  supposed  to  have  been  little  more  than 
150,000,  of  whom  one  fifth  were  slaves. 
Edenton,  Newbern,  and  Wilmington  were  the 
only  towns  worthy  of  being  so  called  in  the 
province;  and  of  these  three,  Newbern,  the 
most  populous,  did  not  contain  more  than  sis 
hundred  inhabitants. 

POPULATION  AT    DIFFERENT   PERIODS. 

Date.  Whites.  Slaves,     Free  Col'd-  Colored.  TotaJ. 

1790 988.'2(U  10n,57'2      4,975     105,547  393.751 

1800 337,764  1.33,i;90      7,043     140,339  478.103 

1810 370,410  168,824    10.26G     179,090  5.5.5  500 

1820 419,'JOO  205,017     14,012    219,629  638.829 

1830 472.843  24.5,C01     19,543    265,144  737,987 

1840 484,870  245,817    21,731    267,548  753,419 

1850 552,477  288,412    27,271    315,683  868,160 


"  Every  thing  indicates  that  a  better  day  is  com- 
ing; our  navigation,  and  other  means  of  internal 
transportation  have  the  prospect  of  improvement  and 
extension ;  our  agricultural,  mining,  and  manufac- 
turing interests  have  received  of  late  quite  a  new 
impetus. 

"^'omo  few  years  since  I  made  a  tour  of  the 
southern  states ;  and  I  can  with  the  utmost  confi- 
dence say  that  none  of  them  excelled  North  Carolina 
in  natural  fertility  of  soil.  This  I  know  will  sound 
strange  to  those  abroad,  who  have  heard  only  of  our 
pine-forests,  and  cypress  and  juniper  swamps.  The 
swamp  country,  which  is  equal  to  the  prairies  of  the 
west,  covering  a  large  portion  of  the  eastern  section 
of  the  state, can  be  reclaimed;  much  has  already 
been  reclaimed.  The  uplands  and  mountain  sec- 
tions are  like  those  of  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania. 
Unfortunately  our  thoroughfares  have  given  charac- 
ter to  the  soil  of  the  state.  They  generally  run 
through  the  piny  sections,  because  there  they  could 
be  constructed  at  less  cost,  of  better  material,  and 
traverse  the  state  at  a  shorter  distance.  It  the 
Great  Central  Railroad  is  constructed,  for  which  the 
prospect  is  quite  fair,  with  the  coiirdinate  branches, 
it  will  be  to  North  Carolina  what '  Clinton's  Ditch' 
has  been  to  New-Vork.  More  than  half  of  our  state 
is  dependent  on  the  old  four-horse  wagon  system  for 
transiKirtation  over  a  distance  of  from  fifty  to  three 
or  four  hundred  miles  to  llnd  a  market.  Obstructiona 
exist  in  all  our  rivers,  at  the  beginning  of  the  granite 
country,  its  you  ascend  from  the  sea-board.  If  you 
commence  at  Weldon,  on  the  Roanoke,  in  Halifax 
county,  running  to  Smithfield,  in  .Tohnslon  county, 
to  I'ayetteville,  and  from  thence  to  Wndesboro',  in 
.Vnsun  county,  you  will  get  ])retty  nearly  the  line  of 
obstruction.  Many  of  our  streams,  after  passing  the 
rapids  and  falls  which  occur  chiefly  at  the  i)lace 
designated,  become  navigable  for  a  considerable  dis- 
tance. The  line  designated  will  give  the  country 
dependent  on  wagons." 


NORTH   CAROLINA — CHIEF   TOWNS  1  EDUCATION. 


lY* 


Of  this  population  there  were  employed  | 
in  agriculture,  217,096;  in  commerce,  1,7;54; 
in  manufactures  and  trade,  l-4,3'22 ;  in  navi-  \ 
gating  the  ocean,  327 ;  in  sailing  on  canals, 
rivers,  &c.,  370  ;  and  1,086  in  the  learned  pro- 
fessio!is.    Tlie  amount  of  populatioti  has  been 
greatly  diminished  during  the  last  fifty  years,  ' 
by  the  drain  of  emigration,  first  to  Kentucky 
and  Tennessee,  and  lately  to  the  states  of  the  , 
southwest. 

Chief  Towns. — The  state  is  divided  into 
sixty-eight  counties,  of  which  Lincoln  (popu- 1 
lation  25,160)  is  the  most  populous.     There! 
are  no  large  towns,  and  no  good  seaports  in  j 
this  state.    Raleigh,  named  after  the  renown- 
ed Sir  Walter,  in  honor  of  his  attempts  to 
colonize   what  is   now   North  Carolina,  has  i 
been,  since  1792,  the  capital  of  the  state.     It 
is  situated  within  a  few  miles  of  the  Neuse, 
123  miles  from  Newbern,  in  a  healthy,  ele- 
vated situation.    In  1840,  it  contained  a  pop- 
ulation of  2,240.     The  former  state-house,  in 
which  was  a  marble  statue  of  Washington,  in  j 
Roman  military  costume,  by  Canova,  was  de- 
stroyed in  1831,  by  fire.  The  new  edifice  is  su- 
perbly built  of  granite,  is  166  feet  long  by  90 
feet  wide,  and  is  surrounded  by  massive  gran- 
ite columns.     Near  the  state-house  stands  the 
institution,  just  erected,  for  the  instruction  of 
the  deaf  and  dumb.    In  the  northeastern  part 
of  the  state,  Edenton,  ou  the  Chowan,  (popu- 
lation 1,500,)  Elizabeth,  on  the  Pasquotank, 
Plymouth,  (population  800,)  and  Halifax,  ou 
the  Roanoke,  are  the  chief  villages.     Wasli- 
ington  and  Tarboro,  on  the  Tai',  contain  each 
about  1,000  inhabitants.     Newbern,  founded 
by  Germans  in  1709,  is  situated  on  the  Neuse, 
at  the  coufluence  of  the  Trent,  80  miles  from 
Pamlico  Sound,  and  until  a  few  years  since, 
was  the  largest  town  in  the  state,  containing, 
in  1840,  3,690  inhabitants.     It  was  once  the 
capital  of  the  state,  and  is  possessed  of  con- 
siderable trade.     The  approach  from  sea  is 
by   Ocracoke  Inlet.     Beaufort,  on  Newport 
river,  a  few  miles  from  the  sea,  has  a  popu- 
lation (1840)  of  1,100;  and  its  harbor  is  the 
best  in  the  state.     Steamboats  go  up  from 
Beaufort,  by  inland  channels,  into  Albemarle 
Sound.    On  Cape  Fear  river  are  situated  the 
thriving  towns  of  Wilmington  and  Fayette- 
ville.     The   former,  distant   about  30  miles 
from  the  sea,  is  the  most  important  commer- 
cial town  in  North  Carolina.     Its  population, 
in  1840,  was  4,744.     Vessels  of  300  tons  can 
enter  the  river  and  ascend  to  the  town,  but 
the  entrance  is  dangerous.     An  active  coast- 
ing trade  is  carried  on  from  the  port,  and  it 
has  direct  foreign  commerce  with  the  West 
Indies  and  England.     In  1840,  the  shipping 
was  18,232  tons.    The  railroad  between  Wil- 
mington and  Weldon,  on  the  Roanoke,  has 
given  a  new  impulse  to  the  trade  of  both 
places.     Fayetteville  is  a  flourishing  town,  at 
the  head  of  boat  navigation.     In   1840,  its 
population  was    4,286.     It    contams    three 


churches,  a  court-house,  two  banks,  and  a 
United  States  arsenal  of  construction.  It  had, 
in  1840,  52  stores,  with  a  capital  of  >^372,400; 
and  a  capital  of  $384,000  invested  in  manu- 
factures. In  the  west,  the  chief  towns  are 
Salom,  Salisbury,  and  Charlotte,  The  popu- 
lation of  Salisbury  is  about  2,000.  Near  it 
are  the  "  Natural  Walls  of  Rowan,"  or  trap 
dykes,  for  a  long  time  supposed  to  be  artificial 
constructions,  the  origin  and  purpose  of  which 
gave  rise  to  various  absurd  conjectures.* 
Charlotte,  of  late  years  much  increased  in 
population  on  account  of  its  nearness  to  the 
gold  wa.shings,  contains  over  2,000  inhabitants, 
and  a  mint  erected  by  the  federal  government 
for  coining  gold.  There  are  mineral  springs 
in  the  state:  the  Rockingham,  in  the  ci  unty 
of  that  name ;  the  Catawba,  in  Lincoln,  con- 
taining magnesia  and  sulphate  of  lime  ;  and 
the  Warm,  in  Buncombe,  the  temperature  of 
which  is  from  96°  to  100°. 

Education. — Before  the  revolution,  litera- 
ture was  hardly  known,  much  less  a  subject 
of  cultivation.  There  were  in  the  province,, 
at  the  end  of  the  royal  government,  only  two 
schools  in  operation,  one  at  Newbern,  and  one 
at  Edenton.  The  trustees  had  been  only  of 
late  incorporated,  by  whom,  in  Newbern,  a 
wooden  building  had  been  erected,  in  which 
the  meetings  of  the  lower  house  of  the  Legis- 
lature were  occasioually  held.  The  constitu- 
ti(m  of  1776  directed  "that  a  school,  or 
schools,  shall  be  established  by  the  Legisla- 
ture for  the  convenient  instruction  of  youth, 
with  such  salaries  to  the  masters,  paid  by  the 
public,  as  may  enable  them  to  instruct  at  low 
prices ;  and  all  useful  learning  shall  be  duly 
encouraged  and  promoted  in  one  or  more  uni- 
versities." Till  within  late  years,  however, 
no  system  of  free  schools  was  introduced 
throughout  the  state.  Liberal  provision  was 
made  for  the  purpose  in  1825,  by  the  creation 
of  a  school  fund.  This  fund  amounted,  in 
1836,  to  $242,046,  besides  the  income  of 
stock  held  by  the  state  in  several  railroads, 
the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  swamp  lands,  and 
the  tract  acquired  from  the  Cherokees  in 
the  southwest  of  the  state.  In  order  to  ap- 
ply these  proceeds  to  their  intended  object, 
a  Board  of  Literature  was  directed,  in  1837, 
to  devise  a  plan  of  common  schools,  suited  to 
the  exigencies  and  resom'ces  of  the  state,  and 
to  report  the  same  at  the  next  session  of  the 
General  Assembly.  What  and  how  important 
further  steps  were  taken  in  the  matter,  we 
have  not  at  hand  the  means  of  ascertaining. 
The  University  of  North  Carolina,  established 
in  1791,  is  situated  at  Chapel  Hill,  Orange 
county,  27  miles  west  northwest  of  Raleigh. 
It  has  six  professors,  ai;d  over  100  students. 
Davidson  College,  founded  in  1837,  is  in 
Mecklenburg  county.     In  1840,  there  were 


*  See  Williamson's  Hist,  of  North  Cnrolina,  vol, 
ii.  pp.  174-178,  note,  who  considers  them  artificial. 


1V6 


KOUin    CAROLINA RELIGIOUS    SECTS,    BAKKS,   ETC. 


in  the  state  141  academies,  •with  4,398  stu- 
dents: 63*2  coiirtnnn  and  primary  schools, 
•with  14,037  scholars.  At  the  same  period 
there  -were  living  in  the  state  56,609  white 
persons,  over  20  years  old,  who  could  neither 
read  nor  write. 

RKi.ii;iors  Sects. — At  the  breaking  out  of 
the  revii'aitii'n,  religion  was  at  a  low  ebb  in 
the  province.  The  law  provided  expressly 
for  the  maintenance  of  one  clergyman  of  the 
Established  Church  in  each  parish  ;  yet  there 
•were  at  that  time  not  more  than  six  in  the 
entire  province.  There  were  about  the  same 
number  of  Presbyterian  ministers.  The 
Quakers  had  some  strength  in  the  northeast- 
em  part  of  the  province  ;  and  the  iloravians 
ha  *  about  500  in  all  in  the  churches  of  their 
six  settlements.  Other  Christians  had  no 
regular  establishments;  though  tho  counties 
were  vi>ited  by  itinerant  preachers  of  the 
Methodist  and  tiie  Baptist  persuasions.  At 
present  these  two  denominations  have  the 
most  numerous  church-membership  in  the 
state,  each  reckoning  more  than  20,060  com- 
municants. The  Presbyterians,  who  are  most 
numerous  in  the  western  part  of  the  state,  had, 
in  1840,  11,000  communicants.  At  the  same 
time,  the  Episcopalians  had  a  bishop  and  about 
20  ministers;  the  Lutherans,  18  ministers,  38 
churches,  and  1,886  members.  Besides  these, 
there  are  in  the  state  some  Moravians, 
Quakers,  and  Roman  Catholics. 

C.\NALs  .\yv  RAiLRo.\r)S. — Not  much  has 
yet  been  done  in  North  Carolina  towards  in- 


creasing facilities  for  transportation.  The 
countrv  is  well  adapted  to  canalization.  The 
Dismal  Swamp  Canal  lies  partly,  and  the 
Northwest  Canal,  a  branch  of  that  work, 
wholly,  within  the  limits  of  the  state.  Much 
of  the  northeastern  trade  takes  the  latter 
channel.  Harlow  Canal,  a  short  work,  ex- 
tends from  the  Neuse  to  the  harbor  of  Beau- 
furt.  Three  Virginia  railroads,  which  have 
their  southern  termini  in  the  north  of  North 
Carolina,  divert  mucii  of  the  trade  of  the 
northern  counties  to  the  markets  of  Virginia. 
The  state  has  two  railroads  within  its  own 
limits.  Tile  one  extends  from  Raleigh  to 
Ga?ton,  in  Halifax  county,  on  the  Roanoke, 
a  distance  of  87  miles.  Its  cost  wasSl,60n,000. 
The  other  runs  from  Wilmington  to  Weldon, 
a  few  miles  from  Gaston,  a  distance  of  162 
miles.  It  cost  ?1,800,000.  A  line  of  steamers 
from  Wilmington  to  Charleston,  (S.  C)  150 
miles,  is  connected  with  this  route,  which  thus 
forms  one  link  in  the  great  chain  of  commu- 
nication, extending  from  Maine  to  Georgia. 
Other  railro  ds  are  projected,  chiefly  for  the 
central  and  western  portions  of  the  state. 

B.\NKS. — There  were  in  North  Carolina,  in 
1846,  18  banks,  with  a  capital  of  ^8  2-25,000, 
and  a  circulation  of  ?2,954,578.  Of  these, 
the  deposits  amounted  to  ?i639,507 ;  specie, 
$1,261,061  ;  real  estate,  §117,000;  other  aa- 
.sets,  $1,114,102;  loans  and  discounts.  •?4,688;- 
514;  due  to  other  banks  and  other  liabilities, 
877,631. 


BA>"KS   IN    NORTU    C.VROLI.VA,    MABCH,    1851- 

r*   ^Locition.  Nnme  of  Jlank  Fre.MilKnl  Cnaliier  Capital 

Asliville Bank  of  Cape  Fear J.  F.  E.  Hardy $150,001) 

Charlotte liankof  State  N.  C John  Irwin Williaiu  A.  l.ucus I'Jo.OUO 

Elizabeth  City "  'Williaui  B.  Shepard...  — John  0.  Ehringhaus 100,000 

Fayetteville "  Charles  l>.  Mall''U. Ichabod  Wet  more" 150,000 

"  Bank  of  Cape  Fear Charles  T  Ilaigh John  W.  Wright 3  O.Oi  0 

"  Bank  of  Faveltcnlle John  I).  Starr William  G.  Brnadfoot..    3ri0,000 

Milton Bank  of  .State  N.  C Samuel 'VVatkins William  K.  Hill 1^5,000 

Morcantown '•  Robert  C  Pearson Isaac  T.  Avery 10ii,000 

Newbern "  George  S.  Altmore John  M.  Koborts 150.000 

" Merchants'  Bank Charles  Slover William  W.  Clark t'SSloOO 

Raleigh Bank  of  Slate  N  C George  AV.  Mordecai t  harles  Pewey 3i'0  000 

"      Bank  of  Cape  Fear \V  illiam  H.  Jones 150,000 

Salem "  Israel  G.Lnsh 150.000 

Salisbury "  M.Chambers Dolphin  A.  IJavis 175,000 

Tarboro Bank  of  State  N.C James  Weddell IVlor  P.  Lawrence l.'')0,000 

■\VashinKton Bank  of  Cape  Fear John  Myers Hen;nniin  Hunyon IT.'i.OOO 

Wilmington "  Thomas  M.  Wright Ilonry  K.  Savage -100.01)0 

"  Bank  of  St.-iteN.  C Edward  V.  IlaU William  K.  Anderson...  :itM),(H)0 

"  Commercial  Bank Oscar  G.  Parsley Timolhy  Savage 200,000 

Total,  19  Banks— Circulation,  $3,500,000— Specie,  $1)600,000— Capital,  $3,050,000 

[Bankers'  Magazine. 


Courts— The  Supreme  Court  holds  three  ' 
sessions  each  \  ear,  two  at  Raleigh,  and  one 
at  Morgantown,  for  the  western  part  of  the 
state.  It  continues  to  sit  till  all  the  business 
on  tlu!  docket  is  concluded,  or  continued  to 
another  term.  It  determines  all  cases  in  law 
and  equity,  brouf^hlbefore  it  by  appeal,  or  by 
tJie  I'larties.  It  has  original  and  exclusive  juris- 
diction in  repealing  letters-patent,    Tho  Su- 


preme Court  for  the  year  1851  is  composed 
of  Tliomas  Ruffin,  Chief  Justice,  with  a  sidary 
of  5;2,500;  Frederic  Na-h  and  Richard  M. 
Pearson,  Associate  Justices,  ^2,5ip ;  B.  F. 
Moore,  Attorney-General ;  James  Iredell,  Re- 
porter, ?3()0;  Edward  15.  Freeman,  clerk  at 
Raleigh ;  James  R.  Dodge,  clerk  at  Jlorgan- 
town.  The  Superior  Courts  of  Law,  and  the 
Courts  of  Equity,  are  held  twice  a  yeai"  in 


NORTH  CAROLINA — RESOURCES  AND  PROSPECTS. 


Ill 


every  county  of  the  stnte.  There  are  seven 
circuits,  of  about  ten  counties  each,  which  the 
judges  ride  alternately,  but  never  visiting  the 
same  circuit  twice  in  succession.  These  judges 
have  com[)lote  equity  jurisdiction.  The 
salary  of  each  is  $1,950,  The  judges  now  on 
the  bench  are,  Thomas  Settle,  of  Rocking- 
ham ;  John  M.  Dick,  Greensboro ;  D.  F.  Cald- 
well and  John  \V.  Ellis,  Salisbury ;  John  L. 
Bailey,  Ilillsboro;  M.  E.  Manlv,  Newbern; 
W.  H.  Battle,  Chapel  Hill ;  W.  H.  N".  Smith, 
Murfreesboro ;  John  S.  Hawks,  Washington; 
B.  F.  Moore,  Halifax  county;  John  F.  Poin- 
dexter,  Fayetteville  ;  Thomas  S.  Ash,  Orange 
County;  Danifd  Cole,  Concord ;  B.  S.  Gaither, 
Ashville.  B.  F.  Moore,  of  Halifax  county,  is 
Attorney-General. 

Okkioers  of  Governmet. — The  govern- 
ment for  the  present  year  consists  of  David  S. 
Ileid,  Governor,  (term  of  oflice  from  January 
1,  1851,  to  January  1,  1853,)  a  furnished 
house,  and  ^2,000  salary  ;  William  Hill,  of 
Raleigh,  Secretary  of  State,  $800  and  fees ; 
Charles  L.  Hinton,  of  Wake  county.  Trea- 
surer, sl,500  salary;  Stephen  Birdsall,  of 
Raleigh,  Clerk  of  the  Treasury  Department, 
$500  salary ;  WiUiam  F.  Collins,  of  Chatham 
county,  Comptroller,  ^1,000  salary;  Andrew 
Joyuer,  of  Halifax  county,  Speaker  of  the 
Senate ;  Robert  B.  Gilliam,  of  Granville  co., 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons. 

Cowicil  of  State. — The  council  is  composed 
of  seven  members,  each  of  whom  receives  §3 
a  day  while  in  service,  and  §3  for  every 
thirty  miles  of  travel.  The  members  are 
Lewis  Bond,  of  Bertie  county ;  Joshua  Tay- 
loe  ,  of  Beaufort;  N.  T.  Green,  of  Warren; 
Charles  L.  Paine,  of  Davidson  county ;  John 
Winslow,  of  Cumberland  county ;  Thomas  A. 
Allison,  of  Iredell  county ;  and  Adolphus  L. 
Erwin,  of  McDowell  county. 

Finances. 

Receipts  from  N"ov.  1,  1846,  to 

October  31, 1847 $251,717  65 

Expenditure  for  the  same  period.     175,402  61 


Excess  of  Receipts. $76,315  04 

State  Debt. — This  is  contingent,  and  arises 
from  endorsements,  by  the  state,  of  bonds  of 
railroad  companies  to  the  amount  of  §1,100,- 
000.  From  this  is  to  be  deducted  %\  3,000  for 
bonds  not  used,  and  §110,000  for  bonds  paid  ; 
which  reduces  the  amount  for  which  the  state 
is  liable  to  §977,000. 

Resources  and  PROsrECTS  of  North 
Carolina,  and  hee  Mineral  Formations. 
— From  the  speech  of  the  Hon.  T.  L.  Cling- 
man,  delivered  in  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  which  he  has  kindly  furnished  us,  we 
make  some  interesting  extracts  in  regard  to  the 
industry,  <ic.,  of  North  Carolina,  and  append 
to  them  a  lecture  upon  the  coal  formation  of 
the  same  state,  delivered  last  winter  before 
VOL.  II. 


the  Legislature  at  Raleigh,  by  Lemuel  Wil- 
liams, Esq.: 

"  I  would  direct  your  attention  to  North 
Carolina,  because  I  know  more  about  her  and 
what  she  contains.  I  must  first,  however, 
make  a  passing  remark  with  reference  to  coal 
and  iron,  lest  it  should  be  supposed  that  I  am 
indifferent  to  the  interests  of  Pennsylvania, 
because  my  own  state  has  not  similar  advan- 
tages. Iron  ore  is  not  only  generally  and 
abundantly  diffused  throughout  the  state,  but 
she  has  also  two  large  deposits  of  coal.  The 
fields  of  this  mineral,  too,  are  fortunately  de- 
posited on  the  two  rivers  most  easily  rendered 
navigable  of  any  in  the  state,  and  emptying 
into  tlie  oceiin  within  her  own  limits.  The 
existence  of  the  coal  on  Deep  River  has  been 
known  for  half  a  century,  but  until  recently 
it  was  not  supposed  that  it  could  be  trans- 
ported with  facility  to  the  markets  of  the 
world.  The  operations,  however,  of  the 
Cape  Fear  and  Deep  River  Navigation 
Company,  liave  within  the  last  twelve 
months  rendered  it  certain  that  this  coal  can 
easily  and  cheaply  be  transported  to  the 
ocean.  The  field  is  extensive,  and  cannot  be 
exhausted  for  centuries.  It  contains  in  abun- 
dance the  best  varieties  of  highly  bituminous, 
semi-bituminous,  and  anthracite  coal.  Capital- 
ists from  Massachusetts  and  New- York,  who 
have  recently  acquired  interests  in  the 
mines,  assure  me  with  the  utmost  confidence, 
that  they  will  be  able  to  mine  this  coal,  and 
transport  it  to  tide  water,  at  a  cost  of  less 
than  §1  per  ton.  It  costs  more  than  $3  per 
ton  to  transport  the  coals  of  Maryland  and 
Pennsylvania  to  the  sea.  The  stream,  with 
the  locks  already  nearly  completed,  is  capable 
of  conveying  in  steamboats  several  millions  of 
tons  annually.  We  expect,  therefore,  to  be 
able  to  supply  with  the  best  kinds  of  coal  the 
cities  of  the  Atlantic  coast,  and  the  steamers 
of  the  ocean.  There  are,  also,  in  some  places, 
lying  immediately  above  the  coal,  large  de- 
posits of  rich  iron  ore.  In  the  production  of 
iron,  either  free  or  slave  labor  can  be  obtained 
at  forty  to  fifty  cents  per  day.  This  labor, 
when  employed  in  raising  coal  and  iron  ore 
in  the  vicinity  of  Pittsburg,  in  Alleghany 
county,  costs  not  less  that  §1  per  day.  Pro- 
visions also  are  abundant  and  cheap.  When, 
therefore,  in  the  case  above  stated,  the  labor 
employed  in  making  a  ton  of  iron  in  Pennsyl- 
vania costs  $45,  the  same  would  cost  with  us 
only  §22  50.  We  might,  therefore,  when  the 
Pennsylvanians  were  doing  nothing,  realize 
a  profit  of  $22  per  ton. 

"  I  do  not,  however,  regard  the  calculations 
of  the  gentleman  from  Pennsylvania  as  en- 
tirely accurate.  Still  I  have  no  doubt  that  we 
should  be  able  to  produce  iron  cheaper  than 
they  are  doing  in  his  state.  The  iron,  too, 
when  thus  made,  could  be  transported  to  the 
ocean  for  less  than  §1  per  ton.  It  is  obvious, 
therefore,  that  our  state  might  put  forward  a 

12 


ITS 


N'ORTH    CAROLINA RESOURCES   AND    PROSPECTS. 


demand  for  high  protective  duties,  •with  as  [  be  invested  in  manufocturing.     Tlie   other 
much  show  of  justice  as  Pennsj'lvania  does,  southern  states  are  doubtless  in  a  similar  con- 
I  trust,  however,   that   her  peo|.Io   will   be   ilition.     Our  soutliorners  have  abuiuiaiice  of 
satisfied  witii  the  existinf:r  rates,  highly  pro-  money  to  expend  for  purposes  of  business  or 
tective  as  they  are.    North  Carolina  has,  also, '  pleasure.     We  shall,  tlierefore,  I  think,  at  no 
not  less  than  fifty  cotton  factories,  most  of  distant  day,  work   up  a   large,   if  not   the 
which  have  been  built  within  the  last  four  or  greater  portion,  of  our  cotton  into  manufac- 
five  years.     I  think  she  is  in  advance  of  any  tured  fabrics.     Should  this  opinion  of  mine  be 
of  the  southern  states  in  this  branch  of  busi-   well   founded,   it   is   obvious   that  no  duties 
ness.   Whether  I  am  right  or  not  in  entertain-   which  we   could  impose  would  long  enable 
ing  this  opinion,  the  returns  of  the  late  census,   the  New-England  factories  to  sustain  them- 
when  completed,  will  decide.     It  is  believed  i  selves  in  competition  with  us.     They  would 
bv  many  that  the  south  cannot  compete  sue- '  find  it  to  their  interest  to  go  into  such  fine 
cessfully  with  the  north  in  mauufacturing,  it  I  fabrics  as  we  would  not  produce  for  some 
being  supposed  that  we  have  not  the  capital '  time  to  come,  or  into  new  employments.     I 
to  spare  for  such  investments.     Let  us  look  !  have  no  apprehension  that  a  people  so  intel- 
for  a  moment  at  the  elements  of  manufactur- 1  lig^nt,  energetic,  and  enterprising  as  they  are, 
ing  capital.      An   important  one   is   water-   will  fail  to  find  means  of  sustaining  them- 
power,   and  North  Carolina  has  more  than  |  selvss  in  comfort  and  prosperity." 
enough  of  this  to  move  all  the  machinery  now        "Com.   of  North  Carolina. — Tlie   value 
existing  in  the  world.     It  may  be  had,  too,  |  of  coal  as  a  mineral  fuel  is  but  little  known, 
in  most  of  the  localities  at  a  price  merely  |  except  to  those  whose  interests  hare  made  it 
nominal.     Timber,    stone,   and   all   building  I  a  subject  of  study.     Professor  Taylor,  in  his 
materials,  are   also   equally  cheap.       North  I  invaluable  work  on  the  statistics  of  coal,  very 
Carolina,  though  not  a  great  cotton  state,  also  'justly  remarks,  that  it  would  be  no  difficult 
produces  five  times  as  much,  probably,  as  she  I  task  to  show,  in   figures,  how   vastly   more 
or  any  one  southern  state  is  now  manufactur  !  profitable  is  the  application  of  labor  in  the 
ing.     She  can,  too,  obtain  easily  an  additional  \  mining,  and  working,  and  transportation  of 
supply  from  South  Carolina,  by  means  of  three  I  coal,  than  that  of  the  precious  metals.     The 
railroads  connecting  her  with  that  state.   The  !  annual  production  of  all  the  gold  and  silver 
cotton  now  produced  by  her  is  cheaper,  prob- ;  mines  of  North  and  South  America  was  esti- 
ably,  by  one  cent  in  the  potmd,  than  the  same  j  mated  by  Baron  Humboldt  at  nine  millions  of 
article  at  Charleston.     It  is  also  cheaper  at  [  poimds  sterling,  and  at  present  (excej)ting  the 
Charleston,  by  three  fourths  of  a  cent,  than  in   recent  discoveries  in  California)  is  less  than 
New-Eno^land.     Our  manufacturing  establish-   five  millions  of  pounds,  or  twenty-five  mil- 


ments,  therefore,  can  obtain  the  raw  material 
at  nearly  two  cents  on  the  pound  cheaper  than 


lions  of  dollars.     Now,  the  value  of  the  coal 
produced  annually,  in  Groat  Britain  alone,  is 


the  New-England  establishments.  Provisions  ,  computed  at  fifty  millions  of  dollars  at  the 
are  also  only  half  as  dear  with  us.  Labor  is  j  pit's  mouth,  and  from  seventy-five  to  one 
likewise  one  hundred  per  cent,  cheaper.  In  '  hundred  millions  of  dollars  at  the  places  of 
the  upper   parts  of  the  state,  the  labor   of  consumption. 


either  a  free  man  or  a  slave,  including  board, 
clothing,  Ac,  can  be  obtained  for  from  ?110 
to  $120  per  annum.  It  will  cost  at  least 
twice  that  sum  in  New-England. 

"  The  difference  in  the  cost  of  female  labor, 
wliether  free  or  slave,  is  even  greater.  As 
we  have  now  a  population  of  nearly  one 
million,  we  might  advance  to  a  great  extent 
in  manufacturing  before  we  materially  in- 
creased the  wages  of  labor.  We  have,  there- 
fore, all  the  elements  of  manufacturing  capital 
much  cheaper  than  the  north,  except  the 
macliinerj',  and  this  we  should  be  able  to  ob- 
tain at  the  same  price.  Tliere  is  a  sufficient 
surplus  capital  among  us  for  its  purchase. 
Two  years  since,  om*  Legislature  imposed  a 
tax  on  money  placed  at  interest,  whenever 
the  individual  had  more  than  8l,fOO  above 
his  own  indebtedness.  It  appeared  that  there 
were  more  than  $15,000,000  so  lent.  If,  as  I 
think  it  is  probably  true,  that  there  is  as  nmch 
now  outstanding  in  smaller  sums,  there  is  not 
less  than  thirty  millions  of  capital  in  this 
condition.     Much  of  this  .sum  might  at  once 


Great  Britain  is  indebted  to  her  coal  for 
lier  supremacy  as  a  manufacturing,  commer- 
cial and  maritime  nation.  Take  from  her  the 
coal  mines,  and  she  would  sink  into  a  fourth- 
rate  commercial  and  maritime  power.  Her 
manufactures  would  cease — her  Shefiields, 
Birmingliams  and  Manchestcrs  would  be  no 
more,  and  her  people  would  be  compelled  to 
emigrate,  or  starve. 

"  The  use  of  coal  in  the  United  States,  to 
any  considerable  extent,  has  been  very  rocent 
The  immense  coal  fields  west  of  the  Alle- 
ghanics  were  considered  of  little  value  twenty- 
five  years  ago,  and  the  anthracites  of  Penn- 
sylvania were  scarcely  known  thiity  years 
smce.  The  whole  amount  of  that  kind  of 
fuel  mined  in  Pennsylvania  in  1820,  was  only 
305  tons.  The  mining  of  that  species  of  coal 
increased  very  slowly,  as  it  had  to  make  its 
way  against  public  prejudice,  arising  from  its 
difliculty  of  ignition. 

"In  1828,  the  amount  of  anthracite  mined 
and  sent  to  market  was  only  seventy-seven 
thousand  tons.  P'rom  that  period  the  quantity 


NORTH   CAROLINA — RESOTJRCES   AND   PROSPECTS. 


iH 


rapMly  increased,  and  in  1849  amounted  to 
nearly  three  millions  and  a  half  of  tons.  In 
1850,  it  is  estimated  that  the  amount  did  not 
fall  siiort  of  four  millions  of  tons.  The  bene- 
ficial effects  resulting  to  the  state  of  Penn- 
^Ivania  from  the  development  of  her  coal 
fields  was  felt  and  acknowledged  throughout 
the  length  and  breadth  of  her  land.  The 
growth  of  commerce  increased  with  the 
growth  and  development  of  her  mineral  re- 
sources. In  1820,  the  coastwise  arrivals  at  the 
port  of  Philadelphia  amounted  to  only  877; 
in  1847,  to  18,069.  Three  millions  of  tons  of 
anthracite  coal  were  brought  to  market  that 
year,  whose  value  then  was  twelve  millions 
of  dollars,  and  eleven  thousand  four  hundred 
and  thirty-nine  vessels  cleared  from  the  single 
port  of  Philadelphia  that  season,  loaded  with 
a  million  and  a  quarter  tons  of  coal. 

"  During  the  agitation  of  the  tariff  in  1846, 
at  Washington,  it  was  stated  by  Mr.  Cameron 
of  Pennsylvania,  that  thirty  years  ago  coal 
vas  entirely  unknown  in  this  country  ;  yet  in 
1846  it  gave  employment  to  four  millions  of 
days'  work  annually.  It  kept  in  movement 
a  thousand  ships  of  one  hundred  tons  each, 
and  afforded  a  nursery  for  the  training  of  six 
thousand  seamen,  who  earned  three  millions 
of  dollars  yearly.  It  gave  circulation  to  a 
capital  of  fifty  millions  of  dollars.  It  kept  in 
activity  fifteen  thousand  miners,  and  sustained 
a  mining  population  of  fifty  thousand  souls, 
who  annually  consumed  upwards  of  two  mil- 
lions worth  of  agricultural  production,  and 
more  than  three  and  a  half  millions  of  dollars 
worth  of  merchandise. 

"  To  Pennsylvania  (says  Professor  Taylor) 
the  almost  exclusive  possession  of  this  species 
of  combustible  (anthracite)  within  reasonable 
distance  of  the  sea-board,  is  a  boon  of  ines- 
timable price,  which  places  her  in  a  position 
of  enviable  superiority,  and  bafiies  speculation 
as  to  the  point  to  which  it  may  ultimately  ele- 
vate her.  If  such,  then,  have  been  the  mag- 
nificent results,  froni  the  development  of  the 
coal  fields  of  Great  Britain  and  Peunsylvauia, 
and  such  the  anticipations  as  to  the  future, 
the  question  occurs,  what  is  the  value  of  the 
coal  fields  of  North  Carolina  ? 

"  Their  value  depends  upon  their  extent, 
upon  the  thickness  of  the  beds,  the  quality  of 
the  coal,  and  the  facilities  and  cheapness  of 
transportation  to  tide-water,  and  thence  to  a 
market.  Professor  Johnson  has  recently  re- 
turned from  a  tour  of  several  weeks'  examina- 
tion in  the  valley  of  Deep  River.  He  stated 
that  his  own  observations  satisfied  him  that 
the  coal  measures  of  Deep  River  extended 
fifteen  miles,  and  that  he  had  reliable  au- 
thority for  their  extension  fifteen  miles  far- 
ther. He  did  not  state  the  width  of  the 
measures,  as  he  had  not  time  to  examine,  ex- 
cept in  one  place  where  he  had  traced  the 
beds  on  both  sides  of  the  river,  and  where 
they  were  from  three  and  a  half  to  four  miles 


wide.  From  other  sources  of  information  I 
Iiave  no  doubt  of  their  greater  extension,  both 
iu  length  and  width.  But,  if  we  take  the 
length  to  be  but  thirty  miles,  and  the  mean 
width  at  three  and  a  half  miles,  we  have  aa 
area  of  one  hundred  and  five  square  miles. 

"The  thickness  of  several  of  the  veins  the 
learned  professor  stated ;  none  that  he  ex- 
amined were  \em  than  six  feet  Some  were  of 
greater  thickness,  and,  in  some  localities,  two 
or  three  veins  were  found  underlying  each 
other.  Now,  if  we  estimate  the  area  to  be 
underlaid  with  only  one  vein,  and  tliat  vein 
to  be  only  six  feet  thick,  this  estimate  would 
give  for  the  solid  cubic  quantity  in  the  ground 
six  millions  of  tons  to  the  pquare  mile.  Mak- 
ing allowance  of  one  fifth  for  waste  and 
faults,  the  whole  available  amount  would  be 
five  millions  of  tons  to  the  square  mile,  or  five 
hundred  and  twenty-five  millions  of  tons  for 
the  entire  coal  area  of  Deep  River.  The 
coal  is  of  three  kinds,  the  highly  bituminous, 
the  semi-bituminous,  and  the  pure  anthracite, 
and  each  kind  has  been  shown  by  analysis  to 
be  among  the  best  coal  of  its  class.  In  quality 
of  coals  the  fields  of  Deep  River  are  unsur- 
passed ;  in  variety,  unequalled  by  any  loca- 
tion in  the  United  States  ;  in  quantity,  as  far 
as  regards  all  practical  purposes,  equal  to  any 
other.  To  mine  the  coal  of  Deep  River  at 
the  rate  of  two  millions  of  tons  per  year 
would  occupy  262  years,  and  at  the  rate  of 
three  millions  of  tons  a  year,  176  years. 
The  remaining  question  is,  what  are  the 
means  and  cost  of  transportation  to  market  ? 
The  means  of  transportation  are  through  the 
slack-water  improvement  of  Cape  Fear  and 
Deep  rivers.  The  enterprise  of  a  few  indi- 
viduals, aided  by  the  liberality  and  wisdom 
of  your  Legislature,  has  opened  a  pathway  to 
the  ocean,  which,  for  extent  and  capacity 
combined,  surpasses  any  canal  in  this  or  any 
other  country,  and  at  an  expense  not  exceed- 
ing four  hundred  thousand  dollars.  Compare 
the  canal,  as  it  may  without  impropriety  be 
called,  with  the  great  canals  which  have  been 
constructed  with  the  view  to  benefit  the  coal 
trade  of  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania.  The 
cost  of  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Canal  was 
upwards  of  seventeen  millions  of  dollars.  It 
is  about  the  extent  of  the  Cape  Fear  and 
Deep  rivers — is  60  feet  wide,  and  6  feet  deep, 
with  locks  of  16  feet  in  width,  and  one  100 
feet  long.  Your  canal  averages  450  feet  ia 
width.  The  water  in  the  pools  is  usually  from 
10  to  15  feet  in  depth.  The  locks  are  18 
feet  wide  and  150  feet  in  length.  It  re- 
quires 14  days  to  go  from  Cumberland,  at 
the  head  of  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Canal, 
to  Alexandria  and  return,  not  including  the 
time  occupied  in  loading  and  unloading  the 
barges.  A-  steamboat,  with  her  tow  of  barges, 
can  go  from  the  mines  on  Deep  River  to  Wil- 
inington,  and  return,  in  four  days — making  a 
difference  of  ten  days  in  cue  trip. 


180 


KORTII    CAROLINA RESOtTRCES    AND    PROSPECTS. 


"  The  expenses  of  transportation  are  greater 
in  other  respects,  as  well  as  in  the  saving  of 
time,  as  it  regards  these  two  improvements. 
On  the  Maryland  Canal,  animal  power  is  used 
to  draw  tiie  coal  barges.  On  the  Cape  Fear 
and  Dee[)  River  improvements,  steam-power 
■will  be  u-:ed.  From  the  relative  cost  of  the 
two  improvements,  and  the  means  of  trans- 
portation to  be  used  on  them,  there  can  be 
scarcely  a  ct)mparison,  as  to  the  relative 
amount  of  toll,  or  the  expenses  of  trausporta- 
tioD.  When  at  tide-water,  at  Wilmington, 
the  coal  can  be  sent  to  New- York  at  as  fittle 
expense  as  from  Alexandria,  As  far,  then,  as 
regards  bituminous  coals,  the  owners  of  mines 
on  Deep  River  need  not  fear  any  rivalry  from 
the  Maryland  mines,  or  from  any  other  quar- 
ter. Nor  need  tjie  owners  of  the  Maryland 
mines  fear  any  rivalry  from  North  Carolina. 
The  supply  from  both,  and  from  all  sources 
within  our  own  borders,  will  not  exceed  the 
demand  for  that  species  of  fuel,  when  we 
take  into  consideration  the  rapidly  increasing 
number  of  river  and  ocean  steamers. 

"The  case  stands  somewhat  different  as  it 
regards  the  anthracite  coals.  This  species  of 
coal  is  supposed  to  constitute  the  great  bulk 
of  the  coals  on  Deep  River.  The  market  for 
this  coal  is  not  to  the  south,  but  to  New- 
Tork,  and  the  New  England  states.  To  en- 
able the  miue  owners  on  Deep  River  to  com- 
pete with  the  anthracites  of  Pennsylvania, 
(which  are  all  the  anthracites  of  any  amount 
in  the  United  States,)  they  must  be  able  to 
place  their  coal  at  New- York  at  as  low  a 
price  as  the  anthracites  of  Pennsylvania.  It 
is  a  saying  in  England,  when  a  person  sends 
his  goods  to  a  market  which  produces  an 
abundance  of  goods  of  a  similar  character, 
that  he  has  'sent  his  coals  to  Newcastle,' 
which,  as  you  know,  is  the  chief  mart  of  the 
great  mining  district  of  England.  Pennsyl- 
vania is  the  great  mining  region  of  the  Atlan- 
tic states,  the  Newcastle  of  America,  and 
New- York  is  contiguous  to  her.  Their  terri- 
torii'S  join. 

"  Their  capitals  are  less  than  one  hundred 
miles  apart,  and  coal  can  be  transported  from 
the  former  to  the  latter  city  at  sixty  cents 
per  ton.  The  question  then  recurs,  can  we 
send  the  coals  of  Deep  River  to  the  vicinity 
of  Newcastle — to  New-York  ?  Upon  an  accu- 
rate calculation,  made  by  intelligent  and  prac- 
tical men,  I  am  assured  that  the  anthracite 
coal  of  Deep  River  may  bo  placed  alongside 
of  the  Pennsylvania  anthracites  in  New- York 
market,  and  sold  on  as  favorable  terms,  pro- 
vidcil  the  former  are  exempt  from  the  onerous 
tax  of  pilotage,  to  which  they  arc  now  liable. 
The  coals  wiiicli  go  from  Pennsylvania  to 
New-York,  pass  through  the  Morris  and  Rari 
tan  Canals,  and  are  not  subjected  to  fees  for 
pilotage.  The  coals  which  pass  down  the 
Delaware  and  Hudson  Canal  to  New-York, 
are  also  exempt  from  any  charge  of  pilotage. 


Vessels  coming  into  the  Delaware  River  to' 
load  with  coal,  are  also  exempted.  The  fees' 
for  pilotage  in  coming  into  Cape  Fear,  over 
either  bar,  and  gt>ing  up  to  Wilmington, 
amount,  upon  a  vessel  of  one  hundred  tons 
burthen,  to  about  forty  dollars,  which  is  a  tax 
of  forty  cents  upon  each  ton  of  coal  she  may 
carry.  If  this  tax  is  laid  upon  the  coals  of 
Deep  River,  they  will  arrive  at  New- York 
taxed  with  a  duty  that  will  disenable  them 
to  compete  with  the  coals  of  Pennsylvania. 
A  tax  of  forty  cents  a  ton  upon  a  million  of 
tons  would  amount  to  four  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  and  is  a  greater  profit  tlian  any 
mining  company  has  ever  made,  or  can  make. 
The  boast  that  the  Slack  W^ater  Improvement 
of  Cape  Fear  and  Deep  rivers  affords  a  cheaper 
transit  to  the  ocean  than  any  other  improve- 
ment in  this  country,  of  the  same  length  and 
capacity,  would  be  entirely  fallacious  with  the 
burthen  of  pilotage  on  coal,  as  forty  cents  added 
to  the  anticipated  toll  of  eight  cents,  would 
make  the  tolls  greater  than  on  the  Chesapeake 
and  Chio  Canal,  or  on  any  one  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania canals.  Whether  the  vast  mineral 
treasures  of  the  valley  of  Deep  River  shall  be 
developed,  depends  upon  the  view  which  the 
people  of  North  Carolina  shall  take  of  this 
momentous  subject.  When  I  consider  what 
Maryland  nnd  Pennsylvania  have  done  to 
foster  and  cherish  their  great  mineral  inter- 
ests, and  the  magnificent  results  which  have 
followed  the  exercise  of  that  parental  care,  I 
cannot  for  a  moment  doubt  as  to  the  course 
which  North  Carolina  will  pursue  regarding 
her  great  interests.  That  you  may  have  an 
adequate  impression  of  the  value  in  which  the 
mining  interests  of  Maryland  and  Pennsyl- 
vania are  held  in  these  commonwealths,  I 
will  briefly  state  what  each  has  done  for  their 
advancement. 

"  The  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Canal  was  con- 
structed at  an  expense  of  seventeen  millions 
of  dollars.  Individual  exertions  proving  un- 
available, the  states  of  Maryland  and  Virginia 
lent  their  aid  by  subscribing  money  and 
guaranteeing  the  bonds  of  canal  directors. 
All  these  combined  exertions  proving  insuf- 
ficient, the  state  of  Maryland  waived  its  pri- 
ority of  lien,  for  the  payment  of  its  advances, 
and  foreign  capitalists  came  to  the  rescue,  and 
by  their  aid  that  great  work  was  completed, 
and  with  the  sole  object  to  open  a  path  to 
the  ocean  for  tlie  coal  of  the  Cumberland 
mountains.  In  Pennsylvania,  since  the  year 
1821,  more  than  six  hundred  miles  of  canal, 
and  four  hundred  and  fifty  miles  of  railroad, 
have  been  constructed,  by  state  and  individ- 
ual enterprise,  almost  entirely  for  the  benefit 
of  the  coal  trade,  and  at  an  expense  of  more 
than  thirty- eight  millions  of  dollars.  The 
results  have  shown  the  wisdom  of  those  gi- 
gantic expenditures.  That  as  great  results 
will  follow  from  the  development  of  the  coal 
mines  of  Deep  River,  no  well-regulated  mind 


NtfelH    CAROLrNA RESOTJRCES    AND    PROSPECTS, 


181 


■can  doubt.  It  is  a  law  of  philosophy,  that 
fiimilar  causes  will  produce  similar  effects, 
and  I  am  yet  to  be  informed  that  this  law 
does  not  hold  good  to  the  south  as  well  as  to 
the  north  of  Mason  «fe  Dixon's  line.  If,  in 
Pennsylvania,  cities  have  sprung  up,  under 
the  influence  of  the  coal  trade,  witli  a  sudden- 
ness tliat  reminds  one  of  the  fable  in  the 
Arabian  Nights'  Entertainments,  where  pal- 
aces were  built  in  a  single  night  by  the  magic 
influence  of  the  lamp  of  Aladdin,  why  may 
we  not  expect  to  see  the  borders  of  Deep 
River,  within  a  very  few  years,  inhabited  by  a 
dense  population,  and  adorned  with  flourish- 
ing villiiges  and  cities,  and  Wilmington,  with 
her  increased  commerce,  approximate  to  the 
wealth  and  splendor  of  Phihidelphia  ?  That 
similar  results  will  follow  from  the  develop- 
ment of  the  mineral  riches  of  Deep  River,  is 
as  certain  as  the  law  of  cause  and  effect. 
That  they  will  follow  more  rapidly  than  they 
have  done  in  Pennsylvania,  is  equally  certain.* 
Pennsylvania,  at  the  commencement  of  her 
mineral  operations,  had  to  contend  with  pre- 
judices as  to  the  use  other  anthracite— preju- 
dices which  experience  lias  conquered,  and 
you  will  not  have  to  overcome. 

"In  eight  years  from  the  opening  of  the 
Pennsylvania  mines,  she  had  sent  to  market 
less  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  tons. 
A  greater  amount  can  be  sent  from  Deep 
Piver  in  two  years  from  the  opening  of  her 
navigation.  It  was  twenty-two  years  before 
Pennsylvania  had  sent  to  market  in  any  one 
year  a  million  of  tons.  Deep  River  can  send 
that  amount  within  five  years.  If  capital 
and  enterprise  will  do  for  North  Carolina  what 
they  have  done  for  Pennsylvania,  then  will 
the  future  progress  of  North  Carolina  be 
more  rapid  than  has  been  the  past  progress  of 
Pennsylvania.  In  Pennsylvania  the  soil  and 
climate  are  against  her;  in  North  Carolina 
they  are  in  her  favor. 

"The  navigation  of  Cape  Fear  and  Deep 


*  The  wonderful  rapidity  with  which  Tillages  and 
cities  have  sprung  into  exlslence  iii  the  mining  dis- 
tricts of  Pennsylvania,  may  be  instanced  in  the  cases 
of  Carhondale,  Houesdale  and  Pottsville,  among 
hundreds  of  others.  lu  18.'8,  there  was  but  one 
building;  on  the  site  of  Carboudale,  and  that  a  log 
tenement,  lu  1S45,  it  contained  a  thriving  an  1  in- 
dustrious population  of  3,.5U0,  occupying  good  build- 
ings. Honesdale  was  covered  by  the  primitive  for- 
est in  Ir'-'S  ;  in  1S45,  it  contained  a  population  of  from 
2,500  to  3,()uO  persons.  And  all  this  prosperity  arose 
from  the  mining  of  less  than  three  and  a  half  millions 
of  tons  of  ccal.  The  same  amount  minfd  on  Deep 
River  would  produce  necessarily  the  same  re.»uits. 
In  l^'ib,  commenced  the  first  mining  operations  of 
Schuylkill  county.  In  If  41,  the  contral  town  of  Potts- 
ville, originating  at  a  later  date  than  we  have  quoted, 
«ontaino(l  the  following  establishments  for  the  edu- 
cation of  the  children  of  the  miuers  and  new-settled 
residents:  Six  private  schools,  numbering  479  pu- 
pils ;  eight  public  schools,  numbering  47-2  pupils ; 
eight  .«>uiiday  schools, numbering  1,137  pupils;  teach- 
ers, 16G  ;  total,  2./54,  with  a  library  of  1,659  volumes. 
Pottsville  now  contains  a  population  of  nearly  fifteen 
xboiuoad. 


rivers  is  never  interrupted  with  ice.  The 
canals  of  Pennsylvania  are  frozen  up  four 
months  in  the  year.  During  that  period,  the 
bituminous  coals  of  Deep  River  can  go  north, 
or  seek  the  mere  profitable  markets  of  Char- 
leston, Savannah,  Texas,  Mexico,  and  the 
West  India  Islands.  Another  advantage  in 
favor  of  North  CaroUna,  is  the  natural  fertil- 
ity of  her  soil,  while  tlie  coal  regions  of  Penn- 
sylvania are  sterde  and  unproductive  in  agri- 
cultural products.  Deep  River  and  the  ad- 
jacent country,  with  the  aid  of  the  fertilizing 
manures,  lime,  plaster,  and  guano,  which  will 
form  tlie  return  cargoes  of  coal  vessels  from  the 
north,  will  become  in  a  few  years  the  Nile 
OF  THE  SOUTH.  Its  pfoducts  will  quadruple, 
and  will  find  a  home  market  on  the  spot 
which  produces  them. 

"  The  iron  ore  of  Deep  River  forms  an  im- 
portant item  in  this  estimate.  Iron  of  as  good 
quality,  and  in  as  gr^at  abundance  as  io 
any  country,  is  found  in  North  Carolina.  On 
Deep  River  it  is  in  immediate  contiguity  with 
the  coal.  On  the  land  of  Peter  G.  Evans,  Esq., 
the  coal  is  overlaid  by  a  stratum  of  iron  ore, 
three  feet  in  thickness,  which  yields  fifty  per 
cent,  of  iron.  The  coal  which  underlies  it  is 
six  feet  thick,  and  of  that  kind  best  adapted 
for  the  manufacture  of  iron.  The  iron,  whea 
manufactured,  can  be  transported  to  New- 
York  at  a  less  cost  than  it  can  be  sent  to  the 
same  market  from  the  celebrated  works  at 
Danville  or  Northumberland,  on  the  Susque- 
hanna. It  can  be  also  manufactured  at  less 
expense,  as  those  establishments  pay  a  higher 
price  for  their  coal  than  it  can  be  procured  at 
on  Deep  River.  At  Danville  and  Northum- 
berland, the  coal  costs  ^2  50  a  ton.  On  Deep 
River  it  can  be  had  for  the  price  of  mining  it, 
as  those  who  own  the  iron  own  the  coal.  But 
the  iron  need  not  be  sent  abroad  for  a  market 
There  is  a  better  market  at  home.  The  time 
will  undoubtedly  come,  when  the  manufac- 
tures of  iron  on  Deep  Pi.iver  will  supply  the 
wants  of  a  large  extent  of  country  beyond  the 
limits  of  North  Corolina. 

"  The  water-power  on  Deep  River  is  scarcely 
equalled  in  any  part  of  our  country.  In  cheap- 
ness, it  is  unrivalled.  Dams,  which,  in  most 
situatifjns,  are  expensive  structures,  are  here 
already  built  without  charge  to  the  owners  of 
the  adjacent  lands.  Eighteen  of  these  are 
already  constructed  by  the  navigation  com- 
pany of  Deep  River.  Such  are  the  prospects 
of  the  valley  of  Deep  River.  And  in  view  of 
them,  can  the  most  skeptical  doubt  of  the 
magnijicent  future  of  that  favored  region  ? 
or  that  the  progress  of  population  and  im- 
provement will  advance  with  a  more  rapid 
pace  than  it  has  ever  done  in  Pennsylvania? 
Should  foreign  capitiilists  hereafter  be  induced 
to  associate  with  your  people  in  developing 
the  treasures  of  Deep  River,  its  coal,  iron, 
and  other  minerals,  the  present  holders  of  the 
laod  will  part  with  their  interests  upon  the 


1S2 


KORXn    CAROLINA RESOUECES    AKD    PROSPECTS. 


full  knowledge  of  their  value ;  and  the  capital  \ 
that  may  find  its  way  thither,  from  other 
regions,  will  form  part  of  that  fund  which  is  to 
coutribute  to  the  support  of  your  state  gov- 
ernment; and  the  laborers,  mechanics,  and 
tradesmen  Avho  may  accompany  or  follow  it, 
will  mingle  with  your  people,  become  identi- 
fied with  your  interests,  and  add  to  the  wealth, 
population,  and  strength  of  your  native  state." 

NORTH  CAROLINA. — Its  Resources, 
Manlfactuees,  eto. — Alexander  McRae,  Esq., 
President  of  the  North  Carolina  Railroad  Com- 
pany, was  kind  enough  to  furnish  the  follow- 
ing paper,  prepared  with  some  pains  at  our 
particular  request.  General  McRae  complains 
cf  his  having  been  baflled  in  obtaining  infor- 
mation from  most  of  the  sources  to  which  he 
had  written,  and  that  "he  gives  these  de- 
tached items,  since  there  is  no  possibility  of 
making  up  a  full  and  correct  table." 

In  the  state  of  North  Carolina  there  are  at 
present  in  operation  (1841) 

25  Cotton  factories,*  ninning  48,000  spin- 
dles, f  and  438  looms,  employing 
1,323  hands,  and  using  about  5,600,- 
000  pounds  of  cotton.  The  capital 
invested  in  these  factories  is  about 
$1,200,000. 
8  Furnaces  for  cast  iron. 
43  Bloomeries.  _  ] 

2  Paper  mills,  producing  in  value  $8,'7'75. 
123  Flouring  mills,  producing  87,641  bbls. 
of  flour. 
2,033  Grist  mills,  and  1,060  saw  mills. 
46  Oil  mills, 
353  Tanneries,  producing  151,082  sides  of 
leather,  and  employing  a  capital  of 
1271,797. 

In  the  fisheries  on  Albemarle  Sound,  the 
capital  employed  is  estimated  at  $300,000. 
There  are  employed  in  these  fisheries  5,000 
hands,  who  put  up  about  90.000  barrels  of 
herrings,  besides  a  considerable  quantity  of 
shad  and  rock  fish. 

These  fisheries  give  employment  to  200 
Tessels,  and  use  100,000  bushels  of  salt 

PE0DUCT8  OF  NORTH  CAEOLINA. 


17,163    pounds  of  sugar. 
3,014        '  silk  cocoona 

102,369      tons  of     hay. 

9,880         "  hemp  and  flax. 

There  are  2,802  distilleries,  producing 
1,051,979  gallons. 

Mines.— The  state  is  rich  in  mines  of  gold, 
silver,  copper,  iron  and  coal;  but  it  is  not 
possible  at  present  to  obtain  any  thing  like 
correct  statistics  of  their  number  or  value. 

In  the  May  number  of  Commercial  Review, 
1847,  we  gave  the  commerce  of  Wilmington. 
It  contains  10  steam  saw  mills,  4  planing 
mills,  17  turpentine  distilleries,  with  45  stills. 

Dismal  Swamp  Canal.  — There  passed 
through  the  Dismal  Swamp  Canal,  from  North 
Carolina  to  Norfolk,  Va.,  from  the  1st  October, 
1846,  to  the  31st  July,  1847,  (ten  months,) 

Building  shingles 20,753,350 

Two  feet  shingles 732,390 

Three  feet  shingles 874,310 


47,386 

30,505 

688 

4,366 

1,299 


1,960,855 

bushels 

of  wheat. 

3,574 

li 

barley. 

8,193,941 

" 

oats. 

213,971 

rye. 

15,391 

" 

buckwheat. 

23,893,763 

" 

Indiau  corn 

2,609,239 

potatoes. 

2,820,388 

pounds 

of  rice. 

16>772,3.59 

tobacco. 

61,926,190 

« 

cotton. 

•  And  three  others  in  progress  of  construction. 
t  This  item  is  no  doulit  below  the  mark. 


Total 22,360,050 

Hogshead  staves 4,881,640 

Barrel  staves 284,620 

Pipe  staves 90,090 

Total 5,256,350 

Cubic  feet  of  plank  and  scantling         139,1  OO 

Cubic  feet  of  timber 43,685 

Bales  of  cotton 3,722 

Barrels  of  fish 

"         naval  stores 

"         spirits  turpentine .... 

Cwts.  of  bacon 

Kegs  of  lard 

Bushels  of  corn 1,261,099 

wheat 26,225 

peas 21,956 

The  Newhernian  gives  the  following  in  re- 
lation to  turpentine  I 

The  Turpentine  Business. — We  find  the 
impression  to  be,  that  about  800,000  barrels 
of  turpentine  are  now  annually  made  in  this 
state.  The  estimated  value  to  the  makers  is 
about  $1,700,000  annually,  and  may  be  >!2,- 
000,000.  About  four  or  five  thousand  labor- 
ers are  engaged  in  making  it,  and  perliaps 
three  times  as  many  more  human  bcmgs  are 
supported  mainly  from  the  proceeds  of  its 
first  sale.  It  is  supposed  that  there  are  now 
in  operation  about  150  stills,  which,  at  ao 
average  cost  of  $1,500,  with  fixtures,  shows 
that  there  is  an  expenditure  of  $225,000  to 
begin  with  in  the  distilling  of  turpentine. 

NORTH  CAROLINA.— She  possesses  so 
many  advantages  of  soil  aiKl  climate,  and  ex- 
hibits so  great  variety  in  her  natural  capacities, 
that  I  have  decj)ly  regretted  that  she  was  so 
little  appreciated  and  so  badly  understood. 
But  the  present  is  a  most  inauspicious  period 


NORTH   CAROLINA — RESOURCES    AND    PROSPECTS. 


180 


to  undertake  the  subject  with  any  hope  of 
doin<^  justice  to  its  chiinis.  Our  infoiiiuition 
must  be  Jeiivuil  from  census  returns,  and  from 
the  observations  of  intelligent  persons,  scat- 
tered throui^diDut  lier  limits.  As  to  the  former, 
that  of  1 810,  if  it  had  been  taken  with  accu- 
racy, is  now  too  old  to  be  of  nuich  value — 
especially  as,  since  that  time,  we  have  erected 
many  cotton  factories  throughout  the  state,  of 
which  we  have  no  accurate  information,  and 
have  maile  many  discoveries  in  gold  mines, 
and  embarked  much  capital  in  that  branch  of 
business,  in  re^'ard  to  which  the  last  census 
could  give  no  idea.  I  had  determined  therefore 
to  wait  until  the  information  could  be  prepared 
from  authentic  sources,  and  something  like 
justice  done  to  the  state.  I  may  add,  in  this 
connection,  that  the  state  is  advancing  and 
her  prospects  are  brighter  than  at  any  former 
period.  Several  works  of  internal  improve- 
ment of  great  importance  are  now  in  a  course 
of  prosecution,  which  when  completed  will 
exert  a  most  important  influence.  Of  these, 
the  Cliarlotte  and  South  Carolina  Railroad, 
beginning  at  Columbia  and  terminating  at  this 
place,  is  idvancing  rapidly  toward  completion, 
and  will  bring  to  the  rich  valleys  of  the  Yad- 
kin and  Catawba  tlie  means  of  immediate  in- 
tercourse with  the  city  of  Charleston.  This 
work  will  subserve  the  interests  of  all  that 
region  lying  at  the  base  of  the  Alleghany 
Mountains  and  extending  eastward  to  the 
Yadkin  river.  I  have  taken  the  liberty  to 
inclose  to  you  a  report,  made  some  two  years 
since,  and  written  by  myself 

The  work  had  its  beginning  in  that  feeble 
effort,  and  is  now  placed  beyond  the  chances 
of  failure.  The  General  Assembly  of  our  state 
at  its  last  session  incorporated  a  company  for 
the  construction  of  a  work  two  liundred  and 
ten  miles  in  length,  from  this  village  to  Golds- 
boro',  on  the  Wilmington  and  Weldou  road. 
This  great  work  spans  the  finest  and  most  im- 
provable portion  of  North  Carolina — will  ac- 
commoilate  a  population  of  three  hundred 
thousand,  and  bring  into  immediate  connection 
with  the  markets  of  our  own  state,  Virginia, 
and  South  Carolina,  a  country  unsurpassed  in 
its  natural  fertility,  in  variety  of  j)roduction,  in 
mineral  I'esources  and  capacities  for  manufac- 
tories. To  insure  its  success,  the  state  has 
appropriated  two  millicins  of  dollars  toward 
the  enterprise,  being  two  thirds  of  the  entire 
capital.  At  the  same  session  they  incorpo- 
rated a  company  for  the  construction  of  a 
plank  road,  beginning  at  Fayetteville,  on  the 
Cape  Fear  river,  and  extending  to  Salisbury, 
on  the  Yadkin,  in  the  western  portion  of  tiie 
6tate.  The  entire  stock  of  tiiis  work  is  now 
taken,  and  its  construction  is  in  progress.  This 
road  will  be  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  in 
length,  ami  will  be  the  first  work  of  this  de- 
scription undertaken  in  the  south.  Of  its 
completion  there  is  no  question. 

After  years  of  disappoiatmeut  and  inacti- 


vity, I  trust  that  the  state  of  North  Carolina 
will  yet  rise  superior  to  the  obstacles  which 
grew  out  of  her  inhospitable  coast  and  her 
inconvenient  geography,  and  march  side  by 
side  with  her  sisters  in  the  course  of  improve- 
nu'iit.  She  has  sons  within  her  borders  who 
will  not  fail  in  their  labors  to  bring  her  up  to 
the  enjoyment  of  the  highest  advantages  af- 
forded by  the  improvements  of  our  times.  In 
this  state  of  things  I  liave  thought  itadvisable 
to  delay  the  ])ublication  of  the  article  you 
desire.  It  is  ])robable  that  I  may  send  you 
something  on  some  branch  of  her  interest, 
which  may  be  adapted  to  the  character  of 
your  valuable  periodical.  I  have  written  in 
great  haste,  and  with  the  disadvantages  of  bad 
materials. — Respectfully,  &c., 

James  W.  Osborne. 

"We  make  the  following  extracts  from  the 
report  referred  to  by  Mr  Osborne  : 

Natueal  Advantages. — "  The  counties  of 
Anson,  Union,  Mecklenburg,  Lincoln,  Iredell, 
Rowan,  Qabarras,  Stanly,  and  Davidson,  have 
for  many  years  been  engaged  in  the  culture  of 
cotton,  while  the  counties  of  Burke,  Caldwell, 
Catawba,  Wilkes,  Stokes,  and  Surry,  most 
of  them  affording  the  most  productive  lands 
on  the  upper  waters  of  the  Yadkin  and 
Catawba,  are  finely  adapted  to  the  production 
of  Indian  corn,  wheat,  and  other  grains.  To 
these  are  added  great  and  undeveloped 
mineral  resources,  embracing  ores  of  iron, 
copper,  and  gold,  scattered  over  its  whole 
length,  and  furnishing  a  new  field  for  capital 
and  enterprise.  But  if  nature  has  provided 
it  with  a  rich  soil,  she  seems  to  have  almost 
exhausted  her  energies  in  the  amplitude  of  its 
facilities  for  purposes  of  manufacture.  The 
innumerable  streams  which  flow  from  the 
mountain  region  which  lies  on  the  north  and 
northwest — mcluding  the  two  large  rivers 
which  receive  them — furnish  the  water  power 
to  the  hand  of  the  artisan,  in  a  state  almost 
fitted  for  immediate  application.  Yet  we  can- 
not hide  hxim  ourselves  the  painful  conviction 
that,  with  all  these  natural  advantages,  the  in- 
terests of  our  country  are  rapidly  declining, 
her  enterprising  citizens  have  left  us  in  thou- 
sands— while  those  who  remain  are  unsettled, 
dissatisfied,  and  preparing  to  join  their  prede- 
cessors in  other  spheres,  where  their  energies 
may  have  freer  scope  and  their  labors  be 
better  rewarded." 

IlEsouncEs  and  Prospects  of  North  Caro- 
lina.— "An  allusion  has  already  been  made 
to  the  natural  advantages  of  western  North 
Carolina  for  a  system  of  manufactures.  Public 
attention  has  been  to  some  extent  devoted  to 
this  subject,  and  within  a  few  years  several 
factories  of  cotton  have  been  erected,  and  all 
of  them  are  in  successful  operation.  Within 
the  region  of  country  to  be  benefited  by  this 
road,  there  are  seven  factories,  employing 
a  capital  of  three  hundred  thousand  dollars, 


184 


XORTII    CAROLINA RESOURCES    AND    PROSPECTS. 


and  consuming  not  less  than  fire  tliousand 
bags  of  cottdu.  By  giving  employment  to  tlie 
poor  of  the  country  and  furnishing  markets 
for  almost  every  species  of  agricultural  pro- 
duction, they  have  a  most  beneficial  effect  on 
the  prosperity  of  the  communities  in  which 
they  are  situated.  This  business  was  origin- 
ally designed  for  the  home  market.  But  it 
has  been  ascertained  by  the  experience  of  a 
few  years  that  reliance  cannot  be  placed  on 
that  market,  and  accordingly,  most  of  those 
engaged  in  it  are  directing  their  attention  to 
the  northern  cities,  where  it  is  found  that  tlie 
fabric  of  this  region  compares  most  successfully 
with  (hat  of  tlie  north.  These  arrangements 
divest  the  pursuit  of  all  unctrtainty  and 
hazard,  and  give  the  assurance  that  there  may 
be  no  limit  to  the  quantity  manufactured,  as 
there  is  no  boundary  to  the  market  to  be  sup- 
plied. But  it  cannot  be  expected  that  a 
branch  of  business  so  important  to  the  welfare 
of  the  country  can  be  adopted  to  any  extent 
proportionate  to  our  abilities  and  wants,  unless 
we  have  immediate  access  to  the  seaboard. 
With  this  desideratum,  western  North  Caro- 
lina must  become  the  most  important  manu- 
facturing region  south  of  the  Potomac.  Tlie 
great  branches  of  manufacture — cotton,  wool, 
and  iron — entering  into  the  common  consump- 
tion and  founded  on  the  necessary  wants  of 
the  whole  nation,  arc  ihe  great  sources  of  em- 
ployment and  of  wealth  to  the  mechanical  in 
dustry  ol  America.  The  planting  stales  of 
the  south  and  southwest,  being  wholly  con- 
sumers and  not  producers  of  these  necessaries, 
are  the  great  markets  in  which  they  are  sold 
by  themanufiicturing  states  of  the  north.  The 
vast  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  gathering  t<> 
itself  year  by  year  the  agricultural  capita!  of 
the  south,  will  continue  to  afford  a  tieniand 
for  the  coarser  fabrics  of  cotton,  wool,  and  iron, 
commensurate  with  its  population  and  the 
fertility  of  its  soil.  The  coastwise  navigation 
from  the  city  of  Charleston  to  the  cities  of  the 
gulf  now  affords  a  speedy  anil  safe  communi- 
cation with  that  vast  region,  and  railroad  com- 
munications now  in  progress  must  soon  place 
that  city  in  still  more  advantageous  connection 
with  its  whole  extent.  It  must  be  supplied 
with  its  iujplenients  of  husbandry  and  coarse 
cotton  and  woollen  goods  for  the  clothing  of  its 
slaves.  If  we  be  but  true  to  ourselves,  this 
trade  will  be  a  source  of  boundless  profit  to 
ourselves.  The  counties  of  Luicoln,  Catawba, 
Iredell,  Wilkes,  Ashe,  Surry,  and  Stokc-s, 
abound  in  iron  ore  of  the  purest  qualititis,  and 
in  Iarg'>st  quantities.  In  all  of  tliem,  by  rude 
and  simple  processes,  its  manufacture  has  been 
an  object  of  |)ursuit.  In  the  counties  of  Lincoln 
and  (jatawha  it  has  resulted  in  large  fortunes 
to  individuals,  much  to  tlie  convenience  and 
benefit  of  tlie  whole  community.  But  the 
manufacture  of  iron  has  been  necessarily 
limited  in  its  quantity  and  j)recarious  in  its 
progress,  as  it  has  never  beeo  designed  for 


any  thing  beyond  the  circumscribed  circle  of 
the  market,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  establish- 
ments. Open  up  a  cheap  and  rapid  commu- 
nication with  the  city  of  Charleston,  and  mil- 
lions of  dollars  may  be  employed  where  there 
are  now  a  few  thousand.  It  will  be  converted 
at  home  into  the  utensils  and  implements  of 
husbandry,  and  be  transported  in  this  form  to 
the  markets  of  the  world.  With  the  increased 
supply,  it  must  be  cheaper  to  the  purchaser 
at  home,  and,  at  the  same  time,  by  the  larger 
quantity  sold  and  the  speedier  returns  of  sales, 
there  must  be  increased  gain  to  the  miuiufac- 
turer. 

'•  But  there  is  another  pui-suit  for  which  the 
northern  counties  of  Burke,  Caldwell,  Wilkes, 
Ashe,  Surry,  and  Iredell  are  naturally  adapt- 
ed, to  which  the  attention  has  never  been 
directed,  and,  so  far  as  your  committee  know, 
a  single  experiment  has  not  been  made.  It  is 
the  growth  and  manufacture  of  wool  for  ex- 
portation. Every  portion  of  the  United 
States,  with  a  similar  climate,  unless  it  be 
similarly  cut  oft'  from  intercourse  with  the 
world,  lias  given  attention  to  this  subject.  It 
is  the  obvious  pursuit  of  all  mountain  regions 
and,  both  in  foreign  nations  and  at  home,  every 
such  country  has  her  class  of  shephertls,  who 
subsist  by  this  innocent  and  primitive  employ- 
ment. Thousands  of  acres  of  land,  well  adapt- 
ed for  pasturage,  are  unappropriated  in  the 
mountain  regions  of  North  Carolina,  and  re- 
quire but  little  capital  and  energy  to  apply 
them  to  the  use  for  which  they  were  mainly 
intended.  But,  like  all  cumbrous  articles, 
wool  does  not  bear  our  costly  modes  of  trans- 
portation." 

NoKTii  Carolina  Gold  Mines. — The  editor 
of  the  Ashborough  (N.  C.)  Herald  has  re- 
cently been  making  a  tour  in  the  gold  ri-gion 
of  that  state.  He  thus  speaks  of  the  I'arker 
mines  in  Stanly  county,  wliich  were  discovered 
forty  or  fifty  years  ago,  and  have  been  worked 
with  various  success  ever  sinct;  : 

"The  gold  is  principally  found  in  the  small 
streams  that  flow  tlirough  the  mineral  region, 
or  in  the  low  lands  adjacent  to  Hum,  in  a 
stratum  tliree  or  four  feet  below  the  surface. 
The  hills  are  no  doubt  rich,  but  as  yet  their 
pro  ucts  have  been  small,  no  regular  veins 
having  been  discovered.  Tiie  stratum  alluded 
to  is  dug  up  and  washed  in  the  usual  way, 
by  which  process  gold  is  found  in  a  granular 
state.  Lumps  of  considerable  size  are  some- 
times found.  In  1824,  on  the  lands  of  Mr. 
Howell  Parker,  a  lump  of  four  pounds  ten 
ounces,  steelyard  weiglit,  was  found.  In  1838, 
two  lumps  were  found,  one  weighing  three 
pounds,  the  other  one  pound  two  ounces. 
Many  large  pieces,  the  weight  of  which  we 
could  not  .ascertain,  have  been  found  in  dif- 
ferent localities.  The  gold  found  in  these  is 
very  pure,  being  worth  \)1\  cents  per  penny- 
weight. It  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that 
they  are  not  -worked  on  a  more  extensive 


NAVIGATION SHIP-BUILDING    IN   THE    UNITED    STATES, 


185 


scale,   and  with  means  proportioned   to  the 
profits  which  they  yield.'' 

"Gold  Hill,"  in  kowan  county,  the  editor 
describes  as  "the  prince  of  mines  in  North 
Carolina."  Discovered  by  Archibald  Honey- 
cutt,  Esq.,  al)()ut  seven  years  ago,  it  has  since 
been  the  field  of  extensive  and  profitable 
operations.  At  this  place  there  are  three 
steam  engines  in  operation,  which,  with  the 
machinery  thereby  propelled,  originally  cost 
not  less  than  §30,000.  These  en^^ines  are 
severally  rated  at  forty,  thirty,  and  fifteen 
horse  power,  and  grind  from  fifty  to  one  hun- 
di'ed  and  twenty-five  bushels  of  ore  per  day, 
and  consume  from  sixty  to  eighty  cords  of 
wood  per  month.  The  three  companies  at 
this  place  have  one  hundred  and  sixty  laborers 
in  their  employ,  whose  wages  range  from  $5 
to  $40  per  month.  Experienced  English 
miners,  who  work  under  ground,  receive  $40 
per  month  ;  slaves  who  attend  them,  §13. 

NASHVILLE,  TENNESSEE.— There  is 
not  perhaps  in  the  West  a  more  interesting 
view  than  that  commanded  from  the  summit 
of  the  Capitol  Hill,  in  the  city  of  Nashville. 
Covering  the  base  of  the  hill,  and  crowding  to 
the  extreraest  margin  of  the  business-laden 
Cumberland,  is  the  city  itself,  its  streets  alive 
with  the  bustle  of  an  active  commerce,  and 
its  suburbs  literally  growing  under  the  eye  of 
the  spectator.  Surrounding  the  city  with  a 
border  of  beautiful  cultivation,  lie  extensive 
and  valuable  farms,  intersected  by  the  nu- 
merous turnpikes,  which,  centering  in  the 
city,  radiate  to  opposite  neighborhoods  ;  and 
girdling  in  all  with  a  quiet  security,  rise  a 
range  of  low  and  pleasant  hills,  covered  with 
picturesque  woods  and  graceful  dwellings. 
But  it  is  not  so  much  the  beauty  of  the  pros- 
pect which  attracts  the  traveller's  attention. 
If  he  has  learned  any  thing  of  the  countiy 
through  which  he  has  passed,  and  in  the 
heart  of  which  he  stands,  he  knows  that  he 
stands  in  the  midst  of  an  untold  abundance — 
mineral  wealth  forcing  itself  through  the  soil, 
and  tliat  soil  ready  to  meet  any  demand 
which  agricultural  industry  may  make  for 
produce. 

Nashville  is  situated  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
Cumberl.and,  on  an  elevated  bluff  of  lime- 
stone. Few  towns  in  the  west  present  a 
more  imposing  appearance  as  the  traveller 
approaches  it  from  every  side.  The  eye  is 
delighted  with  the  number  of  eminences 
within  the  city,  some  of  which  are  partly 
covered  with  the  native  cedar,  clothed  m  liv- 
ing green,  which  gives  it  a  cheerful  appear- 
ance even  amid  the  dreariness  of  winter. 

Around  the  city  are  a  number  of  beautiful 
eminences,  commanding  an  extensive,  rich  and 
varied  view  of  the  surrounding  country,  from 
ten  to  fifteen  miles  in  every  direction ;  from 
Capitol  Hill,  within  the  city,  the  eye  ranges 
oyer  a  large  space,  covered  with  rich  farms 


and  neat  country  seats,  cultivated  fields  wav- 
ing with  that  beautiful  specimen  of  the  vege- 
table world,  Indian  corn,  and  that  valuable 
staple,  cotton.  These,  if  they  do  not  indicate 
great  opulence,  at  least  bespeak  that  their 
occupants  are  in  the  enjoyment  of  compe- 
tence, which  generally  produces  a  greater 
amount  of  true  happiness  than  overgrown 
wealth.  The  contemplation  of  such  a  scene 
recalls  the  lines  of  Moore  : 

"If  there's  peace  to  be  found  in  the  world, 

The  heart  that  is  humble  may  look  for  it  here." 

"We  have  among  us  many  who  are  rich, 
but  no  millionaires  who  wallow  in  luxuries, 
and  who  look  down  with  aristocratic  pride 
upon  those  of  humbler  fortune,  and  who 
would,  if  they  could,  introduce  those  distinc- 
tions in  society  that  would  separate  them 
from  the  "  vulgar  herd."  There  are  but  few 
whose  actual  fortunes  would  amount  to  the 
tenth  of  a  million ;  they  may  have  more  in 
possession,  but  that  possession  is  often  accom- 
panied by  a  slight  drawback — sometimes 
called  "  suspicion  of  debt." 

No  town  in  the  great  valley  of  the  west 
enjoys  in  a  greater  degree  the  blessings  of 
health.  Situated  about  36  deg.  30  min.,_it 
possesses  a  temperate  climate,  and  from  its 
local  position,  it  is  free  from  fevers  which 
characterize  many  of  the  towns  of  the  west, 
particularly  such  as  are  situated  upon  water 
courses,  and  the  lands  about  them  subject  to 
inundations.  It  is  true  that  a  small  portion 
of  Nashville,  at  the  upper  and  lower  ends, 
are,  in  times  of  high  floods,  inundated;  but 
tliese  inundations  continue  but  a  few  days, 
and  sometimes  at  intervals  of  several  years, 
and  produce  no  injurious  effect  upon  the 
health  of  the  town.  Although  the  summei-'s 
heat  is  occasionally  oppressive,  the  winters 
are  mild  and  moderate.  We  have  not  the 
severe  cold  of  the  northern  and  eastern  states, 
nor  the  relaxing  heat  of  the  south.  Some 
idea  may  be  formed  of  the  healtiifulness  of 
the  city  from  the  following  statement  of 
deaths  during  the  year  1845,  which  we  take 
from  the  returns  of  the  sexton  of  the  ceme- 
tery, on  the  books  of  the  coipoiation,  by 
which  it  will  be  seen  that  the  whole  number 
of  deaths  was  244,  in  a  population  of  12,394. 

NAVIGATION.— Ship-Buildixg  in  the 
United  States,  but  more  particularly  in 
THE  West. — In  a  recent  number  of  the  Econo- 
mint  we  alluded  to  the  change  then  about  to 
take  place,  and  which  has  since  occurred,  in 
the  navigation  laws  of  Great  Britain,  and  in 
the  operation  of  the  navigation  laws  of  the 
United  States.  We  also  referred  to  the  im- 
petus which  that  prospective  change  had  given 
to  the  ship-building  interest  of  the  former 
country,  causing  an  advance  of  at  least  six 
per  cent,  in  the  price  of  first  class  ships,  with 


186 


NAVIGATION SHIP-BUILDING    IN   THE    UNITED    STATES. 


a  prospect  of  a  still  further  rise.     Capitalists  | 
were  securiny:  wliatever  ships  could  be  })ur- 
chased  at  their  prices,  and  preparations  were 
evidently  making  for  an  effort  to  profit  by 
the  repeal  of  long  existing  restrictions.     The  ] 
trade  and  navigation  returns  of  the  United  1 
Kingdom  for  ten  months,  ending  November 
6th,  afford  additional  evidence  of  the  activity 
prevailing  in  that   branch   of  industry,  and 
in  other  works  requiring  timber.      For   tlie  [ 
month  ending  November  5th,  the  quantity  of ! 
imported   timber,   duty   paid,   was    210,044 
loads,  against  169,711  loads  in  the  same  month 
of  1848 ;  showing  an  increase  of  40,333  loads 
in  one  month. 

There  exists  no  doubt  of  the  expectation  of 
British  ship-builders  and  shippers  to  compete 
successfully  with  the  ship-builders  and  ship- 
pers of  the  United  States — albeit  the  effort 
may  prove  a  splendid  failure.  The  attempt 
will  be  made,  and  it  remains  for  the  latter  to 
decide  upon  the  results. 

Considering  the  many  obstacles  with  which 
the  shipping  interest  of  our  country  has  here- 
tofore had  to  contend,  and  the  steady  increase 
in  tonnage  and  in  the  effectiveness  of  our 
marine,  which,  notwithstanding,  has  taken 
place,  we  hazard  nothing  in  expressing  the 
opinion  that,  whatever  may  be  the  advantages 
derivable  from  the  repeal  of  the  navigation 
laws,  the  United  States  will  reap  her  full 
share. 

The  tonnage  of  this  country  and  Great 
Britain,  including  steam,  compared  in  1848, 
is  as  follows:  British,  3,397,921 ;  United  States, 
3,581,931.  During  the  past  year,  according  to 
the  Dry  Goods  Reporter,  our  mercantile  ma- 
rine has  yieliled  up  to  the  California  trade  a 
navy  of  700  vessels  with  a  tonnage  of  240,000 
tons.  Tliese  vessels  are  nearly  all  in  the 
Pacific,  and  are  likely  to  remain  there  for 
some  time.  Hence  it  is  thought  that  we  are 
not  in  the  most  desirable  condition  to  take 
advantage  of  the  reciprocity  system. 

To  remetly  this  disadvantage,  a  resort  must 
be  had  to  ship-building.  Even  without  the 
California  trade,  and  from  the  natural  increase 
of  business  wiiich  would  arise  from  the  repeal 
of  the  navigation  laws,  and  the  usual  aug- 
mentation of  trade,  we  believe  tliat  a  large 
increase  in  our  shipping  would  be  reijuired. 

A'lmitting,  then,  that  more  vessels  will  be 
needed  in  the  commerce  of  the  two  countries, 
the  next  question  to  determine  is  the  place 
of  their  construction.  If  British  subjects  re- 
quire more  ships,  and  American  built  vessels 
can  be  sold  in  British  ports  and  registered  as 
ships  belonging  to  that  country,  as  is  provided 
by  the  existing  laws,  then,  in  case  we  cannot 
compete  in  the  carrying  trade,  which  no  doubt 
we  can,  we  may,  perhaps,  find  a  market  there 
for  those  ve-^sels  which  may  be  constructed 
at  home.  If  we  can  build  all  kinds  of  vessels 
superior  in  every  respect  to  those  built  in 
Sunderland,  Yarmouth,  and  other  ship-build 


ing  cities  of  England,  and  afford  them  at  a 
cheaper  rate,  wliat  is  there  to  prevent  the 
American  ship-building  interest  from  ulti- 
mately superseding  that  interest  as  carried  on 
in  other  parts  of  the  world,  and  especially  in 
England  ? 

It  is  admitted,  even  on  the  part  of  English 
ship-masters  and  carpenters,  that  American 
vessels  are  superior,  both  in  their  model  and 
effectiveness,  to  those  of  the  same  class  of 
British  construction ;   and  we  know  that,  in 
cost   of    material,  we   have    a   decided   ad- 
vantage.    Every  foot  of  timber  used  in  a 
British  built  vessel  is  imported,  and  subject, 
with   slight  exception,  to  tariff  charges.    To 
these   charges   add  transportation — and    the 
money  cost  of  timber,  hemp,  <tc.,  necessary 
for  the  construction  of  a  perfect  vessel  very 
much  exceeds  the  cost  of  the  same  in  the 
United   States.      The   Neioburyport    Herald, 
very  excellent  authority  in  such  matters,  says : 
"  The  best  ships  in  England  and  Scotland  cost 
about  §97  a  ton.     In  the  United  States  our 
best  ships  cost  about  865  a  ton,  ready  equip- 
ped for  sea."     This  latter  statement  agrees 
with   information   which  we   have   received 
from  an  intelligent  and  practical  shipbuilder 
of  Newport,  R.  I.  The  greatest,  and,  perhaps, 
the   only  advantage  which   British   builders 
have  over  us,  is  in  the  low  rate  of  interest  for 
which  their  capital  is  furnished.     A  vessel  of 
500  tons  will  cost,  in  England,  at  the  rates 
given   above,  §48,500;  the  interest  on  this 
sum,  at  4  per  cent,  is  §1,940.   The  same  ves- 
sel will  cost  in  the  United  States  §32,500 ; 
the  interest  on  which,  at  6  per  cent.,  is  §1,950. 
The  British  ship-builder,  then,  for  his  own 
use,  can  better  afford  to  pay  §97  per  tou  for 
a  vessel  than  the  American  ship-builder  can 
pay  §65  per  ton.     Yet,  if  the  former  should 
attempt  to  construct  vessels  for  the  purpose 
of  seUing  them  in  the  United  States,  or  in 
the  markets  of  the  world,  he  would  be  brought 
in  direct  competition  with  the  .shipbuilders  of 
this  country,  and  could  find  no  purchaser  ex- 
cept at   a  loss.     On  the   other  hand,  if  the 
American  ship-builder  takes  his  vessel  to  the 
ports  of  Great  Britain,  and  sells  it  at  a  less 
money  price  than  it  could  be  built  for  there, 
still  it  yields  him  a  very  handsome  profit 
For  instance,  the  British  owner,  in  order  to 
make  sale  of  his  vessel  of  500  tons  in  any 
market   accessible   to   American    enterprise, 
would  be   forced  to  sell  at  the   cost   of  an 
American  vessel  of  the  same  class,  or  §32,500, 
or  at  a  loss  of  §1 6,000.   The  American  owner, 
howevef,  could  take  his  vesssel  to  a  British 
port,  and  sell  at  the  actual  cost  of  a  British 
vessel  of  the   same  class,  and   yet  make  a 
profit  of  §16,000.     The  advantage,  then,  of 
the  American  ship-builder,  under    the   reci- 
procity system,  is  very  decided  and  import- 
ant    It  is  an  advantage  which  fully  warrants 
the  conclusion  that  the  British  ship-building 
interest  must,  notwithstanding  its  present  flat- 


NAVIGATION — MERCHANT   FLEETS    AND   NAVIES. 


187 


tering  condition,  ultimately  and  speedily  suc- 
cumb to  the  growing  energies  and  capabilities 
of  America. 

In  the  estimates  now  made,  we  have  com- 
pared British  prices  with  those  which  obtain 
m  our  eastern  states,  where  ship-building  is 
chiefly  carried  on,  and  have  found  results 
highly  favorable  to  the  latter.  But  there  is 
another  picture,  upon  which  we  may  look  with 
still  more  satisfaction.  The  west,  the  great 
and  illimitable  west,  with  its  unmeasured  re- 
sources, has  not  yet  entered  into  computation. 
We  turn,  therefore,  to  a  comparison  of  her  ad- 
vantages with  those  of  the  east,  already 
eumcrated. 

For  the  estimates  given  below,  wherein 
reference  is  made  to  eastern  prices,  we  arc 
partly  indebted  to  Mr.  William  C.  Crandall,  an 
intelligent  and  experienced  ship-builder  of 
Newport,  11.  I.,  and  partly  to  the  New- York 
Prices  Current. 

EASTEEX    PEICES   OF    SHIP-BUILDING     MATKaiAL. 

White  oak  timber  per  cubic 

foot 20  to    30  cts. 

Locust  timber  per  cubic  foot, 

depending  on  size 50  "  100    " 

White  oak  scantling  per  1,000 

feet §25  "  830 

White  oak  plank,  2  inch,  per 

1,000  feet • 85  "     60 

Masts  and  spars  sixty  to  sev- 
enty feet  long,  fifteen  to 
twenty  inch 35  "     50 

Masts  and  spars  eighty  to  nine- 
ty feet  long,  twenty  to  twen- 
ty five  inch 75  "  150 

Hemp  per  ton  of  2,240  lbs.. . .   150  "  160 

PUICES    OF    SHIP-BUILDING    MATERIAL     ON    THE 
LOWER    OHIO. 

White  oak  timber  per  cubic  foot  5  to  10  cts. 
Locust  timber  per  cubic  fool, 

depending  on  size 16  "     32  " 

White  oak  scantling,  depending 

on  size,  per  1,000  feet $10  "  §15 

TN  bite  oak  plank,  two  inch-. ...  10 

Masts  and  spars  fi-om  Salt  River,  Ky.,  and 
from  the  Alleghany,  Kanawha,  and  Cumber- 
land rivers,  can  be  furnished  at  less  than  one- 
half  their  eastern  prices. 

Hemp  can  be  afforded  here  at  prices  vary- 
ing from  S70  to  $100  per  ton,  of  2,2-10 
pounds. 

We  have  also  other  timber,  such  as  poplar, 
chesnut,  and  black  walnut,  and  at  correspond- 
ing prices.  We  have  soft  iron  ore  for  fasten- 
ings, anchors,  and  cables. 

The  quality  of  our  timber  is  excellent. 
Some  of  it,  growing  as  it  does  upon  ttie  hills 
bordering  on  the  Ohio,  is  pronounced  by  com- 
petent judges  to  be  superior  to  that  which  is 
often  used  at  the  east 


By  examining  the  above  tables  of  prices,  it 
will  be  observed  that  in  cost  of  materials 
there  enumerated,  our  advantage  over  eastern 
ship-builders  varies  from  50  to  3ii0  per  cent 
Added  to  these  advantages  is  another  import- 
ant item,  and  one  to  which  we  have  fre- 
quently alluded  in  oiu-  former  numbers.  Our 
western  rivers  afford  the  finest  facilities  for 
conveying  large  ships  to  the  ocean,  and  which 
can  be  freighted  with  our  own  produce,  and 
at  our  own  doors.  Even  our  comparatively 
small  streams  in  periods  of  high  water  are 
sufficient  to  float  immense  navies.  Vessels 
thus  loaded  can  proceed  immediately  to  east- 
ern or  foreign  ports,  where  their  cargoes  may 
be  disposed  of  at  greater  profit  than  could  be 
done  were  they  freighted  at  New-Orleans, 
where  our  western  produce  is  subjected  to 
considerable  charges  previous  to  being  ship- 
ped. Considering  the  amount  of  western  pro- 
ducts which  find  an  outlet  to  the  ocean  by 
way  of  New-Orleans,  it  is  worthy  the  atten- 
tion of  shippers  and  capitalists  to  investigate, 
and  ascertain  the  cheapest  modes  by  which  it 
can  be  accomplished. 

To  the  subject  of  western  ship-building  we 
have  but  briefly  adverted,  but  in  that  brevity 
have  endeavored  to  state  some  of  the  facilities 
and  inducements  here  offered  for  the  prosecu- 
tion of  that  species  of  industry.  We  have  no 
disposition  to  deal  in  exaggerated  statements 
— nor  do  the  real  capacities  of  this  western 
country  need  them.  The  west  puts  forth 
her  claims  for  the  consideration  of  the  laborer 
and  capitalist,  unmasked  and  uucolored.  She 
only  stands  up  before  the  world  and  says, 
"  Look  at  me,  and  behold  my  possessions !" 
This  is  all  that  is  necessary.  Enlightened 
self  interest  will  make  the  proper  disposition 
of  those  possessions.  If  this  be  done,  in  refer- 
ence to  the  subject  in  question,  there  need  be 
no  fears  entertained  as  to  the  results,  and  but 
a  short  period  will  elapse  before  old  Neptune 
will  rise  from  his  couch  in  the  deep,  and 
shake  his  "  watery  locks"  in  the  wake  of 
those  navies  which  shall  go  forth  from  our 
inland  streams  to  ride  less  circumscribed  upon 
the  bosom  of  the  great  waters. 

NAVIGATION.— The  Merchant  Fleets 
AND  Navies  of  the  World. 

"  The  armaments  which  thunder,  Btrike  the  walla 
Ol'  rock-built  cities,       *        •        «        • 

•        »»•••• 

The  oak  leviathans  whose  huge  ribs,"  &c.— Byron. 

Every  classical  reader  will  remember  that 
famous  catalogue  of  ships  from  all  countries 
which  Homer  furnishes  us,  before  the  walls  of 
Troy.  After  the  fame  of  their  deeds  and  the 
pomp  of  the  enumeration,  we  are  surprised  to 
reflect  that  they  were  but  "  open  row  boats  or 
canoes !" 

The  Greek  fleet,  600  years  later,  at  Salamia^ 
was  but  half-decked;  the  soldiers  being  sta- 


188 


JTAVIGATION MERCHANT   FLEETS    AND    NAVIES. 


tioned  on  platforms  at  each  extremity,  and 
the  middle  of  the  frail  boats  was  left  open 
for  the  rowers.  The  vessels  cnmposing  the 
expeditiiiii  of  Nearchus  into  India,  long  after 
wards,  were  row-galleys,  capable  of  being 
ha^rfed  up  on  shore  with  convenience,  and  not 
comfortable  enough  to  allow  the  mariners  to 
remain  two  consecutive  nights  on  board  ! 

The  Romans  began  to  build  their  navy  on 
the  model  of  a  Carthaginian  ship  thrown  upon 
their  shores ;  and  the  vessels  were  of  so  large 
a  size  when  Julius  C£esar  invaded  England, 
that  they  could  not  approach  near  enough  to 
the  shore  for  the  soldiers  to  disembark  ;  "  but 
they  were  obliged  to  jump  into  the  water, 
which  was  breast  high." 

The  northern  Sea  Kings,  who  spread  such 
terror  over  Europe  after  the  downfall  of  the 
Roman  power,  covered  every  sea  with  their 
fleets,  which  had  no  other  guides  than  the  sun 
by  day  and  the  stars  by  night.  Their  vessels 
are  described  as  large  flat-bottomed  boats,  of 
light  timber,  the  sides  and  upper  works  of 
wicker,  with  a  covering  of  strong  hides. 
They  were  tran.sported  on  wagons  from  one 
river  to  another.  It  can  scarcely  be  credited 
that  these  vessels  were  used  ou  such  perilous 
voyages. 

But  we  have  not  time  nor  space  to  follow 
with  particularity  the  slow  progress  of  naval 
and  maritime  architecture  from  these  rude 
beginnings.  It  would,  without  dobbt,  be  a 
most  interesting  study. 

Our  purpose  is  now  to  take  up  the  leading 
powers  of  the  world,  and  exhibit  their  re- 
spective naval  and  maritime  strength,  by  a 
consultation  of  the  best  and  latest  authorities 
within  reach. 

1. GREAT   BRITAIN. 

"Look  at  the  already  immense  number  of 
powerful  steam-ships  that  swarm  in  the 
waters  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  enter  every 
port  upon  its  beautiful  shores ;  that  are  found 
careering  in  every  sea  of  Europe,  from  the 
Frozen  Ocean  to  the  Bay  of  Biscay  and  the 
Black  Sea ;  that  have  long  since  driven  every 
other  mode  of  transit  out  of  the  Euphrates 
and  the  Red  Sea;  that  penetrate  the  Indus 
almost  to  its  source ;  that  ascend  the  Canton 
river,  in  spite  of  every  obstacle,  besides 
myriads  of  war-junks,  and  batter  down  the 
walls  of  the  ancient  celestial  cities ;  that  are 
surrounding  every  island  and  entering  every 
harbor  in  the  West  Indies;  that  swarm  along 
the  shores  of  North  America,  from  the  Gulf 
of  St.  Lawrence  to  the  Isthmus  of  Darien ; 
and  that  regula  ly  transmit  the  rich  produce 
of  the  mines  of  South  America,  from  all  its 
principal  ports  on  the  east  and  west  side  to 
the  great  commercial  metropolis  of  the  world 
— crowded,  busy  London.  Look  at  all  this, 
and  see  wiiat  an  element  she  has  to  sustain 
her  in  her  onward  march  for  empire.    At  uo  i 


period  did  Great  Britain  possess  such  a' foun- 
dation for  naval  strength  within  her  bosom  as 
at  present.  She  now  possesses  3,.5O0,O0O  tons 
of  shipping,  and  numbers  160,000  seamen  in 
her  commercial  navy,  while  a  fleet  of  700 
steamboats  (more  than  is  possessed  by  all  the 
rest  of  Europe)  prowl  along  her  shores."* 

In  1793,  the  British  navy  consisted  of  153 
line  of  battle  ships,  hulks  and  vessels  on  the 
stocks. 

LINK   OF  BATTLE   SHIPS   OF   ALL    NATIONS,  1793. 

France   86 

Spain 68 

Russia 36 

Holland 28 

Denmark 24 

Portugal 13 

Turkey,  Naples,  and  Mediterranean  powers  13 
Britain 153 

Or,  a  little  more  than  one  half  possessed  by 
Great  Britain.  In  1844,  Britain  poss^esaed 
nearly  as  many  such  ships  as  all  the  rest  of 
the  world  together. 

LINE    OF    BATTLE    SHIPS,    1844. 

France   45 

Russia    50 

Egypt  and  Turkey 19 

America 10 

Naples 1 

Holland 8 

Spain 3 

Portugal 2 

Denmark 6 

Sweden 10 

Britain   125 

ACCOUNT  OF  THE  PROGRE.SSIVE  INCREASE  OV 
THE  ROYAL  NAVY,  FROM  HENRY  VIU.'s  REIGN 
TO    THE    CLOSE    OF   THE    LAST   WAR,    1814. 

Year.    Ships.  Tons.  Men  voted.  Navy  estimates. 

1521..   16  7,260     No  account. 

1578..   24  10,506  6,700         

1603.,  42  17,055  8,346         

1658.. 157  57,000  21,910         

1688.. 173  1«1,892  42,000         

1702.. 272  159,020  40,000 

1760.. 412  321,134  70,0(i0 

1793.. 498  433,226  45,000 

1800..  767  608,744  135,000 

1808..  809  8'J2,800  143,800 

1814.. 901  966,000  146,000 


£1,056,915 
3.227,143 
5,525,331 
12,422,837 
17,496,047 
18,786,509 


In  1814,  Great  Britain  had  901  ships,  of 
which  177  were  of  the  line  ;  and  in  1830,  921 
ships. 


•  We  are  indebted  for  thepe  facts  to  the  able  work 
of  P.  L.  Siinmouds,  Esq.,  of  Die  Colonial  Aluguiiijie  of 

iiOUdOD. 


UTAVIGATION — MERCHANT    FLEETS    AND    NAVIES. 


BRITISH    NAVY,    1816. 
■"^  In     Ini-om-  Inord'y  I^u"*l"  *^'*J 

■—  At  sea"    pun"  mission;  &  rep'j^    ing;  sliipo; 

Shipsof  tho  lino.,   la'  ll"  i29  130  18      2 

From  5()  to  44  guns.    2        3  5  19  —    — 

Frigates 32        7  40  88  9      1 

Sloop8,&c 14        6  20  24  10 

Ilrisx 46  17  03  117  5      0 

Cutters 3        14  2—0 

SchooiHTs 3        4  7  5  —      0 

Bombs —  —  —  C  —      0 

Hospital  ships,  &.c.  —  —  —  —  —      4 

1)2      49    168        391        33      7 

Grana  total 592 

The  expenses  of  the  navy  for  the  year  end- 
ing 5th  July,  1843,  were  £6,557,201. 

BRITISH    NAVY,   1842. 

In  Ordinary . — No. 

First  Class 16 

Second"   15 

Third     "   46 

Fourth  "  33 

Fifth      "   64 

Si.xth     "   10 

Sloops 8 

Brigs 15 

Packets 11 

Cutters 6 

Steam  Vessels 16  j 

240  I 


In  Commission, 

No.  ships.  Men. 

First  Rates 2  1,050 

Second  "     6  4,700' 

Third     "     7  4,600 

Fourth  "     8  3,801 

Fifth      "     12  4,000 

Sixth     "     14  2,990 

Sloops 41  5,458 

Steam  Vessels ^66  3,666 

Gunboats 39  1,602 

Packet  Brigs 7  808 

Surveying  Vessels 14  1,014 

Yachts 3  289 

Stationary  Ships 14  5,368 


233       39,646 

"We  shall  now  draw  for  the  remainder  of 
our  paper  upon  nflEicial  documents,  presented 
in  1846,  by  Mr.  Bancroft,  to  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States.  They  were  prepaied  by  a 
Board  of  Naval  Officers,  and  embrace  all  the 
nations  of  the  world. 


NAVAL    FORCE    OF   GREAT   BRITAIN,    1840. 


In  Commission. 

No.  Guns. 

Ships  of  the  line 17  1,570 

Frigates 32  1,146 

Sloops,  brigs,  and  bombs 71  856 

Schooners,  cutters,  tenders,  and  ketches 33  66 

Steam  frigates - 6  60 

Steamsloops 54  270 

Steam  packets 21  42 

Other  steamers 9  18 

Transports  and  troop-ships 5  70 

Receiving  ships,  coastguards,  &  other  non-"] 

effective  vessels,  as  coal  depots,  convict  (    „.  .„. 

hulks,  etc.,  employed  in   service  con-  [ 

nected  with  navy J 

Total 332  4,583 


Bui 

Iding. 

In  Ordinary. 

No. 

Guns. 

No. 

Gnus. 

Total, 

23 

2,124 

75 

6,258 

115 

15 

498 

73 

3,066 

120 

21 

305 

40 

521 

132 

— 

— 

6 

18 

89 

12 

120 

4 

40 

22 

20 

100 

6 

SO 

80 

3 

6 

— 

— 

24 

6 

12 

— 

— 

15 

— 

— 

— 

— . 

6 

—  84 


100       3,165     204       9,933       636 


The  official  list  numbers  671  vessels,  but 
names  only  636  ;  whole  number  of  guns  to 
636  vessels,  17.681  ;  number  of  men  in  the 
navy,  27,500;  boys,  2,000  ;  marines,  10,500 — 
total  40,0(j0.  Revenue  vessels,  72,  mounting 
144  guns;  British  Indian  Navy,  1844-'45,  36 
vessels,  of  which  22  <are  steamors — guns  166. 
Total  number  of  steamers  in  the  Engli?h 
navy,  including  35  contract  mail-steamers, 
199.  There  are  eight  East  India  mail-steam- 
ers. 

2. — UNITED    STATES. 

In  1780,  a  Committee  of  Congress  reported 
but  four  American  war  vessels  fit  for  service. 


In  1781,  we  had  but  two  frigates,  the  Al- 
liance and  the  Deane;  tlie  former  of  which, 
being  the  sole  American  war- vessel  remain- 
ing, was  sold  at  the  close  of  the  war.  The 
Algerine  depredations  upon  our  commerce  ia 
the  Mediterranean  convinced  Congress  of  the 
importance  of  providing  a  naval  armament ; 
and  six  frigates  were  authorized  in  1794,  and 
also  ten  vessels  to  be  fitted  as  galleys.  A 
navy,  however,  being  very  unjiopular  in  Con- 
gress, and  a  treaty  of  peace  being  made  with 
Algiers,  but  three  of  these  frigates  were  com- 
pleted. In  the  apprehension  of  French  diffi- 
culties in  1798,  th('  President  was  authorized 
to  build,  buy,  or  hire  twelve  vesstls,  of  not 
more   than   22   guns    each,    and    the  naval 


190 


NAVIGATION — MERCHANT   FLEETS   AND   NAVIES. 


charge  was  taken  from  the  Secretary  of  War 
and  given  to  an  independent  department  In 
1801,  a  treaty  Ix^ing  made  with  France,  the 
President  was  authorized  to  sell  all  the  naval 
vessels,  except  the  frigates  Constitution,  Uni- 
ted States,  Congress,  Constellation,  President, 
Chesapeake,  Essex,  Philadelphia,  New- York, 


Boston,  John  Adams,  Adams,  and  General 

Greene. 
From  this  period,  the  growth  of  the  navy 

has  been  steady,  "  fighting  itself,"  as  it  has 

been  said,  "  into  favor,"  and  into  its  present 
j  stature.  AVe  now  proceed  to  furnish  a  few 
I  tabular  statements. 


AMERICAN    >fAVAI,   VICTOEIES, 
Guns        Killwl  and 
mounted,    wounded. 
Essex 46 — 


Constitution. . . . 

..54... 

...14 

Wai^p 

...18... 

...10 

United  States. . 

...54... 

...12 

Constitution. . . . 

...54... 

...34 

Hornet 

...20... 

...   5 

Enterprise 

.  .  — . . .  . 

...14 

'  Lawrence 

..20... 

...83 

Kiagara 

...20.... 

...27 

Caledonia 

...    8.... 

3 

Ariel 

...  4... 

....   4 

1812—1815.* 

Captnrod  Guns 

vi'ssels.  mounted 

Alert 20. .. 

Guerriere 49. . . 

Frolic 22... 


Killed  and 
wounded. 
...     2 
...76 
...75 


Scorpion 2  . 

Soiners 2 

Trippe 1   , 

Tigress 1    . 

^  Porcupine 1   . 

Peacock 20  . 

Wasp 20   . 

Wasp 20  , 

f  Saratoga 26 

I  Eagle 20  . 

-{  Ticonderoga 17   12. 

I  Preble 7   2. 

1^10  Galleys 16 6. 

Constitution 64  15. 

Hornet 20  12. 


Macedonian 44 104 

Java 49 161 

Peacock 22 40 

Boxer 18 — 

f  Detroit 19 1  " 

I  Queen  Charlotte...  17 | 

J  Lady  Provost 13 

1  Hunter 10 

Little  Belt 3 

[Chippewa. 1 


160 


J 


.  2. 
,26. 
.  3. 
.57. 
.33 


Empervier 18. 

Reindeer 19  . 

Avon 19. 

f  Confiance 39. 

Linnet ..16. 

Chub 11. 

Finch 11. 

13  Galleys 18. 

Levant  and  Cyane 56, 

Penguin 20. 


23 
67 
43 


-1 


UNITED   STATES   VESSELS,    l799.f 

Frigates.  Guns.  Cost. 

United  States 44 $299,330 

Conj^titution 44 302,718 

President 44 220,910 

Constellation 36 314,212 

Congress 36   ...   197,246 

Chesapeake 36 220,677 

New- York 36 159,639 

Philadelphia 32 179,349 

Essex. 32 139,362 

John  Adams 32 113,505 

Adams 32 76,622 

Boston 32 119,590 

General  Greene 24 105,492 

Washington 24 69,024 

Insurgent 36 96,640 

Ships.  Guns.  Cost. 

Ganges 24 §80,6-10 

Portmiouth 24 59,561 

Merrimack 24 46,170 

Connecticut 24 57,260 

Baltimore 20 56,277 


•  Seybert.    For  later  statistics,  sec  future  volumes, 
t  Seybert's  StatisticB  of  United  States. 


Guns. 

Delaware 20. . 

Maryland 20. . 

Patapsco 20.. 

Herald 18.. 

Trumbull 20.. 

Warren 20. . 

Montezuma 20. . 


260 
120 

Cost. 
69,568 
70,249 
73,164 
47,780 
58,494 
34,702 
55,782 


Brigs:  Norfolk,  18  guns;  Richard,  18; 
Augusta,  14;  Pickering,  16;  Siren,  16; 
Argus,  16;  Hornet,  16. — Schooners:  Enter- 
prise, 14;  Experiment,  14;  Vixen,  14; 
Nautilus,  14. — Gai.levs,  South  Carolina,  Char- 
leston, l^eaufort,  St.  Mary's,  Savannah,  Pro- 
tector, Mars,  Governor  Davie,  Governor  Wil- 
liams. 

UNITED    STATES  NAVT,  1812. 

Gun8. 

Constitution 44 

United  States 44 

President 44 

Chesapeake 36 

Constellation 36 

Congress 36 

Essex 82 

New- York  )                 ,,     ( 36 

Boston        ["°seaworthy| g^ 


NAVIGATION MERCHANT   FLEETS    AND    NAVIES. 


191 


Guns. 

Adams 82 

John  Adams 20 

Wasp 16 

Horuet 10 

Siren 16 

Argus 16 

Oucida 16 

Vixen  12 

Nautilus 12 

Enterprise 12 

Yipcr 12 

Bomb  Vessels : 

Etna, 

Vesuvius, 

Venojeance,  and 

Spitfire. 
170  Gun-boats. 

UNITED   STATES   NAVT,    1815. 

24  ships 916  guns 

16  brige 230     " 

29  schooners 94    " 

6  sloops 23  " 

3  ketches 

17  galleys 34  " 

51  barges 84  " 

124  gun-boats 179     " 

5  lighters 6     " 

2  floating  batteries 64     " 


Total  guns 1,636 

During  the  war,  the  Americans  lost  the  fol- 
lowing vessels : 

Nautilus,  1 6  guns,  taken  by  Shannon  frigate. 

Wasp,  taken  by  Poictiers,  74-gun-ship. 

Vixen,  16  guns,  taken  by  Southampton,  38 
guns. 

Chesapeake,  49  guns,  taken  by  Shannon,  53 
guns. 

Argus,  20  guns,  taken  by  Pelican,  22  guns. 

Essex,  46  guns,  taken  by  Phcebe,  53,  and 
Cherub,  28  guns. 

President,  53  guns,  by  Majestic,  and  frigates 
Endymion,  Pomone,  and  Tenedos. 

Rattlesnake,  14  guns,  taken  by  Leander, 
50  guns. 

Frolic,  IS  guns,  taken  by  Orpheus  frigate. 

Viper,  taken  by  Narcissus  frigate. 

Brig  Siren,  taken  by  Plantagenet,  74  guns. 

Adams,  32  guns,  destroyed  to  save  from 
enemy. 

Boston,         32  ]  destroyed  by  order  of  Se- 

New-York,  36  (      cretary  of  Navy,  when 

Argus,  13  j      the  British  were  about 

Columbia,    44  J      entering  Washington. 

AMEEICAN   NAVY    YARDS. 

"The  navy  yards  of  the  United  States,*  like 
those  of  Britain,  are  7  in  number,  viz.,  Ports- 


mouth, in  New-Hampshire ;  Charlestown, 
near  Boston,  Massachusetts  ;  Brooklyn,  New- 
York;  Philadelphia;  Washington;  Gosport 
in  Virginia ;  Peusacola,  Florida.*  None 
of  these,  however,  are  so  extensive,  so  well 
furni.shed  and  stored  with  the  muniments  of 
war,  so  efficiently  kept  up,  or  so  conveniently 
sitiiatcd  on  the  sea-coast,  as  are  our  Ports- 
mouth, Plymouth,  Pembroke,  and  Sheerness 
yards.  The  Americans  have  also  commanders 
of  naval  yards  located  at  Baltimore  and 
Charleston,  two  leading  ports,  but  there  are 
no  regular  government  establishments  or  con- 
veniences for  building  and  repairs  in  those 
harbors. 

"  Portsmouth. — This  dock-yard  is  situate  at 
Navy  Island,  on  the  east  side  of  the  river 
Piscataqua,  three  miles  from  the  ocean.  There 
is  every  convenience  for  the  construction  of 
vessels  of  the  largest  class.  The  harbor  of 
Portsmouth  is  a  fine  one,  with  forty  feet  of 
water  in  the  channel  at  low  tide,  and  is  well 
protected  by  its  islands  and  headlands  from 
storms.  The  tide,  which  here  rises  ten  feet, 
flows  with  so  rapid  a  current  as  to  keep  the 
harbor  free  from  ice. 

"  Boston. — The  navy  yard  of  this  port  is 
situated  at  the  southeast  part  of  Charlestown, 
about  a  mile  to  the  north  of  the  city  of  Bos- 
ton. There  is  a  dry  dock  built  of  hewn 
granite.  The  yard  covers  sixty  acres  of  land, 
on  which  are  erected  a  marine  hospital,  a 
spacious  warehouse,  an  arsen.il,  powder- 
magazine,  and  a  house  for  the  superintendent, 
all  of  brick ;  there  are  also  two  immense 
wooden  sheds,  under  which  the  largest  ves- 
sels of  war  are  built. 

"  Brooklyn. — The  naval  yard,  situated  on 
Wallabout  Bay,  covers  forty  acres  of  ground, 
inclosed  by  a  brick  wall  on  the  land  side,  and 
contains  two  large  ship-houses,  seven  extensive 
timber  sheds,  built  of  brick,  and  several 
workshops,  offices  for  the  oflicers,  and  exten- 
sive store-houses  ;  a  dry  dock  is  in  the  course 
of  formation.  The  yard  is  but  a  short  distance 
from  the  city  of  New- York ;  the  width  of  the 
ferry  is  about  700  yards.  The  naval  hospital 
occupies  a  commanding  eminence  half  a  mile 
east  of  the  yard,  and  is  a  large  building  sur- 
rounded by  thirty-three  acres  of  cultivated 
ground,  inclosed  by  a  brick  wall. 

''Philadelphia. — This  naval  yard  requires 
no  observation.  We  may,  however,  remark, 
that  there  is  in  that  city  a  handsome  naval 
asylum  or  marine  hospital,  capable  of  lodging 
400  persons,  erected  at  a  cost  of  upwards  of 
.$300,000 

"  Washington. — The  navy  yard  is  situated 
on  the  Anacosta  or  eastern  branch  of  the 
Potomac,  295  miles  from  the  ocean  by  the 
course  of  the  river  and  bay.   It  is  about  three 


We  extract  from  Simmonds'  Colonial  Magazine. 


•  Also  add  Charleston,  S.  C,  and  Memphis,  Tonn., 
where  works,  £lc.,  exist. 


192 


NAVIGATION — MERCHANT   FLEETS   AND   NAVIES. 


fourths  of  a  mile  southeast  of  the  capital,  and 
contains  twenty-seven  acres.  It  has  houses 
for  the  officers,  shops  and  warehouses,  two 
large  ship  houses,  a  neat  armory,  aud  every 
kind  of  naval  stores.  Several  ships  of  war, 
some  of  which  w^ere  of  the  largest  class,  have 
been  built  at  this  yard.  The  river  has  water 
of  sufhcient  depth  for  frigates  to  ascend  to  the 
navy  yard  without  being  lightened. 

"Norfolk. — The  extensive  naval  yard  at 
this  port  is  situated  at  Gosport,  opposite  to 
Norfolk,  on  the  south  side  of  the  river  Eliza- 
beth, thirty-two  miles  from  the  ocean.  This 
yard  possesses  a  large  and  extensive  dry 
dock,  constructed  of  hewn  granite,  capaVjle  of 
receiving  a  line  of-battle  ship,  aud  which  cost 
nearly  §1,000,000.  The  harbor  is  safe  aud 
capacious,  having  eighteen  feet  of  water. 

"  PEX.SACOLA. — The  United  States  navy 
yard  here  is  an  important  oue,  distant  eight 
miles  from  the  city,  and  five  from  the  entrance 
of  tlie  harbor,  and  covers  nearly  eighty  acres 
of  ground,  inclosed  by  a  high  brick  wall.  It 
contains  houses  for  the  officers,  and  a  naval 
store  and  other  buildings  adapted  to  the  con- 
venience of  the  establishment." 


N.\MIXG    AMERICAN   NAVAL   VESSELS. 

"There  is  a  matter  connected  with  the 
naming  of  American  vessels,  which  may  be 
incidentally  adverted  to,  for  the  information 
of  professional  men  :  it  is  this : — A  joint  reso- 
lution of  Congress,  of  3d  March,  1819,  re- 
quires vessels  of  the  first  class  to  be  called 
after  the  states  of  the  Union ;  those  of  the 
second  class  after  rircrs;  and  those  of  the 
third  class  after  the  principal  cUies  and  toio/is : 
but  no  two  vessels  in  the  navy  can  bear  the 
same  name." 

3.— THE   FRENCH    NAVT. 

France  had,  as  early  as  1G81,  60,000  sea- 
men, aud  in  1791,  100,000,  commanding  82 
ships  of  the  line  and  73  frigates. 

FRENCH    NAVY,    1839. 

Ships  of  the  line,  first  rates 5 

"  second  rates 1 

tliird       "     : 1 

fourth     "     9—22 

Frigates,  first  class 12 

"         eecond  class 12 

third       "     13—87 

Steamers,  from  4  to  6  guns 25 — 25 


NAVAL  FORCE  OF  FRANCE,  1845. 

"i^m  I"  Commission  Bnilding  In  Ordinary         Total 

fr*^  No  Guns  No  Guns  No  Ouns      Ships 

Ships  of  the  Line 17  1,598  25  2,442  4  340  46 

Frigates 23  1,184  16  810  6  310  45 

Corvettes 17  444  3  90  6  124  2(; 

Brigs 34  464  2  40  21  270  57 

Schooners,  cutters,  and  small  vessels 37  122    .     2  12  8  20  47 

Transports,  (tc 33  132  10  40  14  56  59 

Steam  frigates 5  78  2  12  —  —  7 

Steam  corvettes 8  62  9  54  —  —  17 

Smaller  steamers 41  209  8  15  —  —  44 

Total 215       4,293       72       3,516       59    1,120     340 

Total  guns  when  all  armed,  8,928 ;  men  1  to  be  always  ready  for  sea,  and  20  in  con- 
and  boys  in  service  in  1845,  27,554.  Cannon  j  struction  ;  50  frigates,  of  which  40  to  be  ready 
and  powder  for  service,  manufactured  at  for  sea,  and  10  on  stocks  ;  60  sloops,  60  brigs, 
government  foundries,  itc.  The  Minister  of  i  and  40  lighter  vessels,  besides  transports.  The 
Marine  proposed  to  increase  the  navy  to  the  steamnavy  to  be  composed  of  100  vessels  in  all. 
following  maximum:  40  ships  of  the  line ;  20  ' 

4. — NAVAL    FORCE    OF    RUSSIA. 

Nicholas  has  kept  a  constant  eye  upon  his  naval  affairs,  and  has,  within  fifteen  or  twenty 
years,  created  two  large  fleets  in  the  Baltic  and  on  the  Black  Sea. 

Vessels  Guns  No  of  pins  in  vessels 

Ships  of  the  Line  in  Baltic 30        2,400        Estimated  SO  guns  each 

Frigates  in  Baltic 20  840  "         42         " 

Sloops,  brigs,  and  gun  boats  in  Baltic 40  320  "  8         " 

Steamers  in  Baltic 26  104  "  4         " 

Ships  of  the  Line  in  Black  Sea 17         1,360  "        — 

Frigates  "  10  510         6  of  60,  and  5  of  42  guns 

Sloops  and  brigs  "  12  168         estimated  14  guns  each 

Smaller  vessels  "  18  158  — 

Steamers  "  6  36  "  6         " 

Tile  Baltic  Fleet  has  a  complement 35,000  men 

The  Black  Sea  " 24,000    " 

Total 59,000    " 

Exclusive  of  the  naval  force  in  the  Caspian  Sea. 


NAVIGATION MERCHANT   PLEETS    AND    NAVIES. 


188 


RECAPITULATION. —  ( 1 848.) 


Relative  naval  power  of  each  nation.  Vessels. 

Great  Britain fSSS 

France 215 

Russia 179 

Turkey 62 

Unitctl  States 4*7 

Egypt 35 

Holland 48 

Sweden :):330 

Denmark §iK) 

Austria* 74 

Brazil 31 

Sardinia 11 

Spain 21 

Two  Sicilies* 17 

Portugal 59 

Mexico. 23 


lixsion      I! 

l<iiMi»e.  1 

irclinary,  &.C 

Toti 

al 

No  of     N, 
iiipn       str: 

Guns 

Vessel* 

Guns 

Vessels 

Ouns 

4,583 

304 

13,098 

1636 

17,681 

40,000 

141 

4,293 

131 

4,635 

346 

8,928 

27,554 

68 

5,896 

— 

— 

1179 

5,896 

59,000 

32 

2,6'36 

4 

24 

66 

2.660 

26,820 

9 

1,155 

30 

1,190 

**77 

2,345 

8,724 

5 

1,448 

3 

312 

38 

1,760 



1 

302 

86 

1,344 

134 

1,646 



4 

660 

50 

1.196 

380 

1,856 



o 

344 

12 

732 

108 

1,076 





686 

— 

— 

74 

686 



. 

450 

11 

325 

42 

775 



8 

226 

4 

220 

15 

446 



o 

348 

— 

— 

21 

348 



4 

338 

— 

— 

17 

338 

— 

42      — 


23 


42 


I. COMHKRCIAL   MAEI.NE,   GREAT    BRITAIN. 

Steam  Ot 


United  Kingdom 897 

Isle  of  Guernsey,  Jeisey,  and  Man 3 


Tonnage 

113,232 
445 


23,253 
763 


Tonnage 

2,994,166 
50,226 


Crews 

170,162 
5,559 


Total 900     113,677     24,016     3,044,392     175,691 


VESSELS    ENGAGED    IN    COASTING   AND    FOREIGN    TRADE,    G.   B.,  1844. 

Inward — Foreign  Trade.                                                                      Vessels  Tonnage 

British  and  Irish  vessels 19.687  3,647,463 

Foreign  vessels 9,608  1,402,188 

Coaslincf  Trade. 

Employed  between  G.  B.  and  Ireland 10,147  1,34^,273 

Other  coasting  vessels 123,751  9,615,434 

Outward — Foreign  Trade. 

British  and  Irish  vessels., 19,788  3,852,822 

Foreign  vessels 9,816  1,144,346 

Coastiiiff  Trade. 

Employed  between  G.  B.  and  Ireland 16,948  1,817,756 

Other  coasting  vessels 128,294  9,877,105 


Crews 

195,728 
76,091 


212,924 
77,109 


The  above  list  includes  all  the  arrivals  and  departures  within  the  year,  including  repeated 
voyages  of  the  same  ve.«sels. 

In  183S,  McCulloch  stated  the  whole  number  of  vessels  owned  in  the  British  Empire,  in- 
cluding plantations : 


*  Although  tlie  whole  naynl  force  of  these  nations  has  been  placed  in  the  column  of  "  in  commission," 
it  is  prob  ible  that  a  portion  of  it  is  '•  in  ordinary,"  but  it  is  not  known  what  porlion.  These  nations  have 
a  few  war  steamers,  but  the  number  is  not  known. 

+  Of  the  3:52  vessels  in  commission.  84  bear  but  a  nominal  armament,  although,  by  the  official  navy  list 
for  January,  1846,  they  appear  to  be  employed  in  important  service — as  receiving,  coast-guard,  and  convict 
vessels,  coal  depots,  quarantine  service,  &.c. 
X  323  of  this  number  are  f^un-boats. 
§  86  of  this  number  are  men-of-war  cutters  and  gun-boats. 

Vessels    Guns 

I  Exclusive  of  sailing  vessels  in  the  Indian  navy 14      lOG 

"  steamers  in  the  Indian  navy 22        CO 

"  contract  mail  steamers,  under  control  of  government (a)26        — 

"  revenue  vessels 72      144 


Total 

^  Exclusive  of  the  Caspian  fleet. 


(a)  1843. 


.134      310 


No'  of  vessclsl 

Exclusive  of  United  States  revenue  \  13  sailing, 
vessels,  consisting  of (    8  steam.. 

VOL.  II. 


Total  ton'-; 

..1.443.. 
..3,110.. 


No;  of  I 


OITicers  and  Itletv 
7G9 


13 


194 


NAVIGATION' MEUCHANT   FLEETS    AKD    XAVIES. 


In   1844,  steam 
Enjjliiud 


vessels    in 


In  1844,  steamers  in  Scotland 
"     Ireland 

Guernsey,  «fec.,  and  Colonies 

FisiiEaiES,  1843. 

Northern,  or  Greenland .  1 6  ships 

Spcrnuiceti  whale 68 

Common  oil 1 

85 


29,912  vessels 

2,420,759  tons 

147,857  men 

G79  vessels 

75,04-7  tons 

i;>7  vessels 

20,606  tons 

81  vessels 

17,519  tons 

91  vessels 

12,444  tons 
43. 

ships        800  men 

2,176     " 

«             32     « 

3,008 


H. — UNITED  STATES  COMMEXCIAL  MARINE, 


1845. 


UXITED    STATES. 

American  Foreign 

1842 1,510,111   732,77& 

1843 1,143.523   634,754 

1844 1,977,438   916.992 

1845 2.035,486   910,563 

1846 2,221,028   968,178 

1847 2,101,358  1,120,346 

1848 2.393,482  1,405,191 

1849 2,658,321  1,770,516 

1850 2.573,016  1,779,623 

1851 3,054,349  1,939,091 


Estimated  number  commercial  vessels.      19.720 

"         tonnage 2  416,999 

"         meu 118,l)U0 

Of  these— 

Kei'istpred  and  in  foreign  trade.  .I,n9.'),l"2  tons 

Enrolled  coastwise 1,1911,808     " 

Licensed,  under  20  tons 32,:!2-2     " 

EaroUed  iu  cod  fishery G!),8-25    " 

"  mackerel  fishery 21,413    " 

«  -whale  "     i;D6    " 

"  cod,  (under  20  tons).       7,lt)3    " 

Of  the  registered  tonnage,  745  vessels  are 
in  the  whale  fisliery,  237,000  tons  and  18,625 
men ;  steamboat  tonnage.  United  States, 
316,019 ;  tonnage  of  lakes,  82,933 ;  474  vessels, 
75  being  steam. 

III. FRENCH    COMMERCIAL    MARINE,    1844. 

Number  of  vessels,  (mean  of  two  authorities).  13.782 

Tonnage 839,608 

Of  which,  vessels  employed  in  whale  fishery.         29 

Tonnage Il,9il3 

Crews 806 


GREAT   BEITATN. 

British 

1842 1,680,838 

1843 2,919.528 

1844 3,087,437 

1845 3,689,853 

1846 3,622,808 

1847 4,238,056 

1848 4,020,418 

1849 4,390,375 

18.50 4,070,544 

1851 4,388,248 


Foreign 

974,769 
1,0(15,894 
1,143.896 
1,353,735 
1,407,963 
1,552,095 
1,519.046 
1,680,894 
2,03.5.1.52 
2,599,988 

The  above  table  disclose.s  the  fact  that  in 
our  commercial  navy  we  are  but  six  years 
behind  Great  Britain. 

NAVIGATION.— Vessels  kuilt  in  U.  S. 

Statement,  showing  the  number  and  cla^is  of 
vessels  built  in  the  United  States  since  the 
year  1815. 


181.') 13G 

1816 76 

1817 34 

1818 53! 

In  1840,  the  cod-fishery  employed  458  ves-   \l}^;]\\\  l\ 
sals,  of   54,583  tons;    9,897  men.     In  coast jigoi;;;;;  43 


fishery,  also,  5,849  boat.«,  40,610  tons,  25,000 
fishermen;  private  steamers  in  1844,  225. 

RECAriTULATION,    1848. 

No  of  ve'fl 
Nations  in  the  order  oftlieir  in  conim  & 
coiiimereiut  importance         fisheriea 

Great  liritnin 23,898 

United  Slates 19,t)t;(5 

France 13,782 

Sweden  and  Norway....  5,-l.'>0 

Holland I,r)28 

Knssia Not  known 

Two  Sicilies 9.174 

Austria 0,199 

TnrUcy 2,220 

Sardinia 3,502 

Denmark 3,036 

VortHRal 798 

Spain 2,700 

Brazil Unknown 

Me.vico Unknown 

BHITISn    AND    AMERICAN    TONNAGE,    1842-51. 

Tlie  following  table  sliows  the  amount  of 
tonnage  which  entered  the  ports  of  Great  Bri- 
tain and  the  United  States  for  ten  years: 


t 

To  £uns  to 
cli  lOU.Uili) 

Tonn       tons  comin 

3,007,.''.81 

588 

2,416,999 

97 

839,608 

1,063 

471,772 

2-J4 

211,670 

683 

2:J9,0ni) 

2,406 

213,198 

158 

208,'i')l 

321 

]S--VI(I0 

1,401 

107,361) 

265 

153,408 

7(19 

80,.525 

— 

80,000 

— 

Unknown 

— 

Unknown 

— 

18-.'2 

18-23 

1824 

18-25 

1826 

18-27 

18 -.'8 

1829.... 

1830 

1831.... 
183i.... 
1833.... 
1834. . . . 
183.5.... 
1830.... 
18.37.... 
1838.... 
18301... 
1840.... 
1841.... 
1812.... 
1843.... 
1844.... 
84.5.... 
1846  ... 
1847.... 
1848.... 
1849.... 
1850.... 
1851.... 


132 
144 
98 


.  93 
.  67 
.  06 

.  e3 

.  97 
.114 
.110 
.  58 
.  73 
.  124 
.100 
.  151 
.254 
.198 
.247 
.211 


a 

•" 

ir.O 

« 

H  = 

e           ■&• 

224 

680 

274 

— 

1,314 

1.54  024  Sff 

122 

781 

424 

— 

1,403 

131.068  04 

80 

.559 

394 



1,073 

80,393  37 

8.5 

428 

332 

— 

898 

82,421  20 

82 

473 

242 

— 

a50 

79.817  66 

60 

301 

1.52 



5:w 

47,784  i>l 

89 

?48 

127 

— 

507 

.55  850  01 

131 

260 

168 



623 

75,346  93 

127 

?00 

105 

15 

622 

75.007  57 

1.50 

377 

160 

"7 

781 

90.936  00 

197 

538 

168 

35 

994 

114  997  25 

186 

482 

227 

45 

1,012 

120.439  35 

133 

404 

241 

38 

934 

104,342  07 

108 

474 

196 

33 

884 

98,375  58 

08 

485 

145 

43 

785 

77,098  65 

56 

403 

110 

37 

637 

58,094  24 

95 

410 

94 

34 

711 

8:1,967  68 

143 

508 

122 

I'lO 

1,1165 

1M,":J9  16 

109 

62,5 

185 

65 

1.118 

161.620  36 

94 

497 

180 

08 

957 

118.:i3o  37 

50 

302 

100 

30 

.507 

47  238  52 

Cu 

444 

164 

124 

890 

113  027  49 

507 

108 

135 

249 

122.987  22 

79 

.501 

1.53 

90 

898 

113  1:15  42 

89 

439 

122 

125 

858 

1-^0.988  34 

109 

378 

224 

64 

872 

118,3  9  23 

101 

31t) 

1.57 

78 

702 

118,893  71 

91 

373 

404 

137 

1,021 

179.083  64 

34 

138 

173 

79 

482 

03.017  77 

47 

204 

279 

103 

766 

li:i,537  29 

87 

322 

34! 

163 

1,038 

146.018  02 

164 

.576 

3=.5 

225 

8,4-J4 

188.2'  3  93 

168 

689 

392 

198 

1,.598 

243,732  67 

174 

701 

547 

175 

1,-51 

3 18,' 75  54 

148 

623 

370 

268 

1 ,547 

251  ,:!77  47 

117 

547 

2<)0 

1.59 

1,300 

:i71,718  .54 

C5 

532 

326 

233 

1,307 

298/^02  60 

NAVIGATION — MERCHANT   FLEETS    AND    NAVIES. 


196 


TOWAGE    OF    THE   STATES. 

Staiement,  showing  the  amount  of  Tonnage 
0W7ied  by  each  state,  engaged  hi  foreign  and 
domestic  commerce,  for  the  fiscal  gears  1850 
and  1851. 

1851. 

536,114  44 

25,427  54 

3,032  31 

694,402  93 

38,050  42 

110,179  85 

1,841,013  62 

88,895  90 

284,373  64 

11,880  83 

204,444  54 

69,769  42 

40,722  17 

44,187  46 

24,185  24 

7,042  08 

21,327  08 

1,404  09 

253,284  93 

34,005  46 

23,103  45 

12,937  60 

3,587  67 

58,352  24 

41,774  86 

4,913   16 

58,476  02 

2,946   10 

22,903   45 

1,068  43 


1850. 

Maine 501,424  78 

New-Hampshire...  23,096  38 

Vermont 4,530  35 

Mai»?acliusetta 685,442  76 

Rhode  Mand 40,499  81 

Connecticut 113,086  78 

New- York 944,349  20 

New-Jersey. 80,300  46 

Pennsylvania 258,939  48 

Delaware 16,719  57 

Maryland 193,087  40 

Virginia 74,266  05 

Nortli  Carolina..  ..  74  218  49 
South  Carolina.. ..  30,072  13 

Georgia 21,690  14 

Florida 11,272  76 

Alabama 24,157  60 

Mississippi 1,827 

Louisiana 250,089 

Missouri 28,907 

Illinoi.s 21,242 

Kentucky 14,820  19 

Tennessee 3,770  05 

Ohio 27,146  .54 

Michigan 38,144  49 

Texas 3,897  42 

California ]  7,591  77 

"Wisconsin 

Dis.  of  Columbia.   17.010  61 
Oregon 1,063  48 


62 
80 
67 
17 


Total 3,535,454  23     3,771,439  43 


Steam  Tonnage  of  the  U.  S.  in  1850  and  1851- 

1850.  1851. 

Steam     registered 

tonnage... tons.  44,942  25  62,390  18 

Steam  enrolled  and 

licensed 481,004  65         521,210  87 


525,940  90         583,607  06 


Increase 67,760  10 

Comparison  of  Tonnage  for  1850  and  1851. 

1850.  1851. 
Registered  ton- 
nage  1,585,711   22        1,726,307   23 

Enrolled  and  li- 
censed  1,949,743  01        2,046,132  20 


Total  tonnage.. 3, 536,454  23        3,772,439  43 

COJIMERCE   OF   THE    UNITED     STATES ^TONNAGE, 

ETC.,  OF   THE    COUNTRY. 

Statement,  exhibiting  the  Tonnage  of  the 
United  States  for  a  series  of  gears  ;  also, 
shoiving  the  comparative  increase  since  the 
year  1815;  and  the  proportion  engaged  in 
the  foreign,  rvhaling,  and  coasting  trade. 


Tears.  tonnage. 

1815 854,294  76 

1838 822  951  86 

1839 834,244  54 

1840 899,764  74 

1841 845,803  42 

l'!42 975,358  74 

1843 1,009.305  01 

1814 1,068,764  91 


Enrolled  and  Total 

icen-^ed  tonnage,        tonnage. 

513,833  04  1,368,127  78 

1,173,047  89  1995  039  80 

1,262,234  27  2,(i96.478  81 

1,280,999  35  2.180,764  16 

1,184,940  90  2,130,744  37 

1,117,(31  90  2,(190.391)  69 

1,149,297  62  2,158,601  93 

1,211,330  11  2,2^0,695  07 

1,321,829  57  2,417,002  06 


1845 1,095,172  44 

1846 1. 131.286  49  1,431798  32  2,.562,'(  84  81 

1847 1,241,312  92  1,597,732  80  2.839.045  77 

1848 1,360.886  85  1,793, 155  00  3,154.041  85 

1849 1,438,941  53  1,895,073  71  3,334,015  29 

11-50 1,585,711  22  1,949,743  01  3,.'-.35,4,i4  23 

1851 1,720,307  23  2,030,132  20  3,772,439  43 


Proportion  of  the  Enrolled  and  Licensed  Tonnage  employed  in  the 


Registered  tonnage 

Years  m  whale  fishery. 

1815 — 

1838 119,629  89 

1839 131,845  25 

1840 136,726  64 

1841 157,405  17 

1842 151,612  74 

1843 152,374  89 

1844 108,293  63 

1845 190,095  65 

1840 180,980  10 

1847 193,858  72 

1848 192,170  90 

1849 180,186  29 

1850 146,916  71 

1851 184,644  52 


Coasting 

Mackerel 

Whalo 

trade. 

Cod  fishery. 

fishery. 

fishery. 

435,066  87 

26,370  33 

— 

1,229  92 

1,041,105  18 

80,004  60 

56,649  16 

5.229  55 

1,153,551   80 

72,258  68 

35,983  87 

439  69 

1,176,694  46 

76,035  65 

28,269  19 



1,107,067  88 

66,551   84 

11,321   13 

— 

1,045,753  39 

54,804  02 

16,096  83 

377  31 

1,076,155  59 

61,224  25 

11,775  70 

142  33 

1,109,614  44 

85,224  77 

16,170  66 

320  14 

1.190,898  27 

69,825  66 

21,413  16 

206  92 

1,289,870  89 

72,516  17 

36,463   16 

439  68 

1,452,023  35 

70,177  52 

81,451    13 



1,020,988  10 

82,651  82 

43,558  78 

432  75 

1,730,410  84 

42,970  19 

73,853  78 



1,755,796  32 

85,646  30 

58,111  94 

— 

1,896,401  40 

87,475  89 

69,539  01 

— 

196 


NEGRO    MAKIA. 


NEGRO-MANIA  *  —  The  Negro  and 
OTHER  Races  ok  Mkn. — This  is  too  useful  a 
work  to  be  lightly  passeil  over  with  the  short 
notice  we  gave  it  in  our  Docemlier  number. 
A  most  valuable  compilation  it  is  ou  the  sub- 
ject of  the  races ;  a  worli  of  which  it  would  be 
difficult  to  show  all  the  merits  in  a  review,  for 
almost  every  line  and  word  of  it  deserves  to 
be  paused  upon.  It  is  itself  a  review  of,  and 
selection  from,  sundry  distinguished  authors, 
who  have  boldly  dared  to  face  the  storm  of 
fanaticism,  and  in  spite  of  tlie  almost  universal 
prejudice  of  the  world,  to  roll  back  its  tide  of 
eiTor,  ;ind  with  the  god-like  power  of  intellect 
to  pronounce  the  almighty  fiat.  "Thus  far,  and 
no  farther !"  Some  names  unknown  to  science 
are  introduced,  to  prove  by  arguments  of  com- 
mon sense  the  necessity  of  those  relations 
which  science  shows  to  be  inevitable. 

The  author  of  this  compilation  makes  no 
pretense  to  originality,  but  his  work  is  not 
therefore  the  less  m  ritorious,  and  y)erhaps  it 
is  even  the  more  useful,  as  he  has  in  many  of 
bis  authorities  given  such  names  as  only  the 
grossest  ignorance  can  refuse  to  bow  to.  A 
collection  of  judicious  selections,  judiciously 
commented  upon,  forms  in  itself  a  volume  of 
infinite  value ;  and  while  we  disclaim  the 
ability  of  laying  before  the  public,  in  a  short 
review,  all  its  merits,  we  are  anxious,  as  far  as 
we  can,  to  draw  popular  attt^ntion  to  it.  The 
aim  of  our  author  is  to  pupularize  his  subject, 
to  make  attainable  to  the  every-day  reader 
the  results  of  learned  investigation,  and  to  let 
every  tnan  tind  wit iiiu  his  reach  a  coiu[)endium 
of  such  authorities  as  he  oftei*  could  not 
afford  to  purchase,  or  may  not  have  leisure 
to  study  in  full.  Most  warmly  do  we  wish 
him  success  in  his  e.xperiment,  and  most 
heartily  recommend  his  work  to  all.  It  is  time 
that  the  subject  should  be  investigated  in  all 
its  bearings. 

Among  the  authors  cited  by  Mr.  Campbell, 
we  find  advocates  both  for  the  unity  and  the 
diversity  of  man's  origin.  I'richard,  cfec,  have 
^  -been  boldly  quoted,  while  Morton,  Lawrence, 
I  Kno.Y,  Smith,  Browne,  (ilidilon,  &c.,  are  called 
'  iijjon,  and  most  triumpliantly,  to  prove  the 
fallacy  of  their  conchHions.  Many  strong 
names  whicli  the  author  might  iiave  sum- 
moned on  his  own  side  of  tlie  question,  ho  has 
(partly  perhaps  from  superabundant  material) 
left  aside.  From  among  ourselves,  Nott — no 
mean  authority — .should  perhaps  not  have 
been  entirely  forgotten;  but  such  oblivion 
may  well  be  pardoned  in  ct)n-ideration  of 
what  he  has  given  us,  and  he  has  fioin  a  very 
prop'jr  motive  drawn  his  resources  K-s  from 
southern  meU  than  from  Englirihmen  and 
northerners,  among  whom  certaitdy  no  one 


•  Neobo-Mania  :  being  an  examination  of  tlio 
fnlRcly-ussiimcd  ciiiialily  ot  the  various  nices  of  uhmi. 
By  .lohii  Campbell.  Pliilatlelphia :  CaraijbeU  &.  Power. 
Octavo,  pp.  549. 


j  can  look  for  any  weakness  or  bias  towards  our 
southern  institutions,  in  the  decision  of  a 
I  question  which  is  of  such  vital  importance  to 
j  UK.  It  is  singular,  however,  that  the  great 
{  Agassiz  should  not  liave  been  named  by  him. 
i  Tlie  opinions  of  Mr.  Agassiz  upon  this  subject 
I  are  well  known,  and  it  shows  the  richness  of 
I  material — the  overwhelming  mass  of  proof, 
that  such  a  supporter  could  be  dispensed  with. 
1  Our  author  enters  onlv  incidentally  upon 
the  question  of  the  origin  of  the  races,  and 
rather  turns  the  force  of  his  argument  to  prove 
their  inequality.  The  races  exist,  and  exist 
with  different  powers,  different  instincts,  and 
different  capacities.  These  differences  are 
inalienable  and  unchangeable.  Such  are,  in 
few  words,  the  propositions  of  his  argument, 
and  every  authority  quoted  (even  that  of 
Prichard,  the  principal  upholder  of  the  unity 
theory)  tends  to  couJirm  this  position.  'When- 
ever and  however  men  have  appeared  upon 
this  earth,  (we.  in  common  with  our  author, 
consider  the  diversity  of  origin  proved  beyond 
dispute,)  here  they  now  are — unlike  in  all 
things — with  the  marks  of  race  stamped  inef- 
faceably  upon  them,  in  body  and  in  mind  ;  in 
form,  color,  instinct  and  reason — differing  in 
all,  and  having  differed,  as  is  most  indisputably 
proved  by  historical  monuments,  for  4,000 
years,  and  by  every  philosophical  deduction 
must  continue  so  to  ditfer.  Man's  handiwork 
will  scarce  bring  about  a  revolution  in  despite, 
as  Carlyle  would  say,  "  of  the  immortal  gods." 
Should  he  try  to  force  it,  forgetting  the  neces- 
sary conditions  of  bis  existence, "  which  Nature 
and  the  Eternal  Powers  have  by  no  nuxnner 
of  mea'js  forgotten,  but  do,  at  all  moments, 
keep  in  mind,  these,  they  will  at  the  right 
moment,  with  due  impressiveness,  perhaps  in 
rather  a  terrible  manner,  bring  again  to  our 
mind  also." 

The  highest  capacity  of  man,  and  its  noblest 
use,  is  the  discovery  and  execution  of  the 
Almighty  behests,  —  thus  enabling  him  to 
second  instead  of  opposing  the  beautiful  order 
of  God's  developed  thought  in  creation.  If 
the  negro  be  an  inferior  man,  the  struggle 
against  God's  will,  which  aims  at  putting  him 
uj)on  the  same  footing  as  the  superior,  is  only 
not  an  imjiious  work,  in  so  far  as  it  is  a  blind 
and  a  foolish  one.  Folly,  unfortunately,  often 
leads  to  consequences  fatal  as  vice,  and  there 
is  nothing  more  mischievous  than  active  ig- 
norance. In  the  fanaticism  which  now  ac- 
tually desolates  some  of  the  most  favored 
and  l)eauliful  parts  of  our  globe,  threatening 
others  even  at  the  risk  of  dragging  to  earth 
the  highreiU'ed  momunents  of  num's  civili- 
zation, we  find  vicious  malevolence  ami  igno- 
rance combining  their  power  to  raise  some 
higher  law  than  any  which  God  has  sanc- 
tioned ;  and  because  the  black  man  cannot 
reach  the  level  of  the  white,  they  would  even 
drag  down  and  degrade  the  white  to  his  capa- 
cities. 


NEGRO    MANIA. 


191 


Can  it  be  that  in  an  a^c  when  science  walk?  ' 
abroad,  astunishing  tlie  world  by  a  progress 
hitherto  iinoqualled  in  her  annals— when  no 
longer,  with  snail-like  advance,  she  labors  the 
ascent  to  knowledge,  but  rather  leaps  forward 
to  her  magnificent  conclusions — when  she 
eirdles  the  world  with  steam,  and  flashes  her 
lightning  thought,  even  with  lightning  speed, 
througli  the  expanse  of  a  continent — when  we 
see  her  vutJiries,  (in  the  eloquent  language  of 
Professor  Lieber,)  "  like  priests  of  nature,  re- 
vealing her  gveat  mj^stcries  and  showing 
thought, — one  thought, — the  thought  of  God, 
pervading  the  universe  and  its  phases" — oh  ! 
can  it  be  that  this  is  to  be  swept  aside,  or 
rather  crushed  down  to  the  level  of  a  Haytieu 
civilization  ?  Can  it  be  that  the  great  otie 
thought,  that  tlwught  of  God,  so  beautifuUj' 
pictured  out  even  in  the  lowest,  as  in  the 
highest  of  his  works,  is  to  be  tinkered  at  and 
defaced,  patched  and  plastered,  by  a  set  of 
madmen,  whose  one  idea  seems  to  be  built 
upon  some  whining,  Wilberforcian,  Clarkson- 
ized  wail  of  "black  brethren"  and  "  negro  im- 
provement?" Verily,  nature  "  suffereth  long 
and  is  kind,"  or,  ere  this,  had  her  curse  fallen 
upon  us.  We  struggle  against  her,  we  fiercely 
resist  her  teachings,  and  fancy  that  these  poor 
heads  of  ours — to  say  nothing  of  black  Sambo's 
and  Cuffee's — can  regulate  matters  by  a  higher 
law  than  hers.  But  the  time  cometh  when 
our  probation  can  last  no  longer.  TJien,  and 
in  "  I'ather  a  terrible  manner,"  it.  is  to  be  feared, 
we  will  receive  our  lessen  !  Is  it  not  even 
now,  alas,  beginning?  What  is  this  cry  over 
Europe,  echoing  even  to  our  own  shores  ? 
What  means  this  darkly-shadowed  caricature 
of  good  — this  horrible  disfigurement  of  Chris- 
tian charity — which,  but  that  it  stalks  in  ter- 
rible reality  before  us,  would  seem  like  the 
mockery  of  some  fearful  dream  ?  The  angel 
form  which  we  have  gazed  upon  and  wor- 
shipped as  Christian  charity  and  brotherly 
love,  now  suddenly  starts  forth,  grinning  upon 
us  in  hideous  deformity  of  vice,  and  gibbering 
out  its  horrible  obscenities  of  "  socialism"  and 
"  communism,"  drags  along  upon  its  track  the 
shouting  mob,  who,  in  their  ravings  for  "negro 
abolition"  and  "  universal  equality,"  trample 
under  foot  at  once  God's  law  and  man's  law 
— virtue  and  decency.  The  demon  is  un- 
chained. This  wide-spread  and  wider-spread- 
ing evil  figures  forth,  not  badly,  the  beast  of 
the  Apocalypse,  unto  "whom  was  given  a 
mouth  speaking  great  things  and  blasphe- 
mies ;"  "  and  he  opened  his  mouth  in  blas- 
phemy against  God  to  blaspheme  his  name," 
"  and  power  was  given  him  over  all  kindreds, 
and  tongue.s,  and  nations." 

The  strength  of  his  hideous  power  is  now 
interesting  itself  largely  in  the  negro  canse ; 
and  because  the  innovators  find  the  impossi- 
bility of  putting  into  execution  their  crude 
theories  among  their  white  brethren,  and 
more  nearly  equalized  populution,  they,  in 


their  agony  for  action,  look  about  for  some- 
thing tangible,  something  less  iin]iossible,  and 
fancy  that  it  is  found  in  the  aV)olition  of  negro 
slavery.  Alas !  for  tlie  mistaken  folly  of 
those  who,  in  thus  acting,  act  sincerely.  Their 
well-meaning  and  otMcioiis  ignorance  is  pushed 
on  by  tin-  ])ow('rful  levorof  fanaticism  to  ends 
from  which  tliey  would  shrink  in  affright  could 
they  see  tliem  in  full  development ;  but  which, 
in  half-way  execution,  tliey  rejoice  over,  as  the 
poor  idiot  gazes  in  delighted  wonder  and 
warms  his  fingers  by  the  blaze  which  is  de- 
molishing his  dwelling,  fancying  the  while 
tliat  he  has  done  a  wise  thing  in  the  api^lica- 
tion  of  the  spark  which  has  lighted  to  their 
destruction  his  own  and  his  neighbors'  homes. 
Alas  for  their  f(jlly  !  But  woe  !  woe  !  a  woe 
of  darkness  and  of  death  !  a  woe  of  hell  and 
perdition  to  those  who,  better  knowing,  goad 
folly  on  to  such  an  extreme  I  This  is  indeed 
the  sin  not  to  be  forgiven  ;  the  sin  against  the  - 
Holy  Ghost  and  against  the  Spirit  of  God. 
The  beautiful  order  of  Creation,  breathed 
down  from  Almighty  intelligence,  is  to  be 
mouliled  and  wrought  by  fanatic  intelligence! 
until  dragged  down  at  last  to  negro  intelli- 
ligence ! ! 

Tlie  Almighty  has  thought  well  to  place 
certiSn  of  his  creatures  in  certain  fixed  posi- 
tions in  this  world  of  ours,  for  what  cause  he 
has  not  seen  fit  to  make  quite  clear  to  our 
limited  capacities ;  and  why  an  ass  is  not  a 
man,  or  a  man  an  ass,  will  probably  for  ever 
remain  a  mystery  to  our  limited  intellects. 
One  thing,  however,  he  has  in  his  mercy  made 
clear  enough,  viz.,  that  by  no  manner  of  edu- 
cation ;  no  stocks,  braces,  nor  regimental  drill- 
ings; no  problems,  theories,  nor  definitions; 
neither  by  steam  nor  by  telegiaph — neither 
by  mesmerism  nor  by  chloroform,  can  our  un- 
fortunate brother  ass,  whether  mentally  or 
corporeally,  be  induced  to  consider  himself  as 
a  gentleman,  and  act  accordingly.  Hf,  at 
least,  is  not  capable  of  attaining  the  ivliite 
civilization  of  this  our  lyth  century.  We 
hope  that  our  philanthropic  friends  will  allow 
us  this.  We  would  fain  have  sonje  sure 
ground  to  stand  upon,  but  do  not  feel  quite 
certain  that  they  may  not  come  with  some 
new  fangled  theory  of  communism  to  knock 
this  platform  also  from  under  our  feet.  Be- 
lieving, however,  that  (until  the  spirit  of  im- 
provement rises  a  step  or  two  higher)  they 
will  allow  us  our  position,  we  would  beg  them 
to  instruct  us  upon  what  principle  of  justice 
this  unfortunate  brother  ass — this  iiirsute  rel- 
ative— should  be  .so  be-devilled  and  trampled 
upon.  Why  should  he  not  lie  amidst  feathers 
and  velvet,  as  well  as  the  best  in  the  land 
And  why,  above  all,  must  he  help  work  to 
make  such  feathers  and  velvet  comfortable 
lodgings  for  his  so-called  betters? 

God  given  intellect  ami  power  to  attain, 
count  for  nothing  in  this  modern  system  of 
arguing.     The  ass  has  as  good  a  right  to  the 


198 


NEGRO    MANIA. 


possession  of  intellect  as  the  man;  and  if  I  existence.  Only  the  hirsute  can  flourish  then ; 
God  has  not  ijivfii  it  to  him,  we  must  remedy  |  ranging  at  Avill  tlivougli  beauteous  regions,  cast 
the  injustice  hv  some  patent  "  free-aud-equal"  ;  back  again  to  wikiuess  and  the  desert.  There 
system.  Tiie  process  is  easy  enough.  It  the  j  nature's  bounty  may  furnisli  grass  to  the  hir- 
aas  cannot  f^t^uid  on  two  leg.<,  knock  the  man  sute,  but,  truly,  no  bread  to  the  piped.  Black 
down  to  all  fours,  (notiiing  is  simpler,)  and  !  Quashee  cannot  understand  this ;  God  has  not 
vive  la  fratemUe  .'  Wliy  did  not  tlie  Al- 1  given  him  tlie  intellect  for  it;  and  if  we  teach 
mighty  save  us  all  this  trouble,  and  make  the  I  him  to  bray  out  for  liberty,  i.  e.,  for  idleness, 
ass  a  man,  or  the  man  an  ass,  from  the  begin-  j  verily  it  is  as  easy  for  him  to  bray  out  to  that 
nir)i;  ?  Truly,  'lis  a  problem  liard  to  solve,  |  tune,  as  to  any  other.  But  the  white  man — 
and  poor  donkey,  with  his  lamentable  braying,  j  of  what  is  he  dreaming,  when  he  li.'ftens  even 
comes  as  near  an  explanation  as  all  our  for  a  moment  to  such  cant  ?  To  him  God  has 
philosophizipg  can  do.  God  made  the  world  I  given  intellect  (would  he  V;ut  use  it  I)  to  see 
— God  gave  tliee  there  thy  place,  my  hirsute  i  the  truth.  Brother,  (for  if  acting  conscien- 
brother  ;  and  according  to  all  eartldy  prob- 1  tiously,  and  no  devil's  firebrand  sent  by. Satan 
abilities  and  possibilities,  it  is  tliy  destiny  [  to  our  undoing,  even  as  a  brother,  although 
therein  to  roniain,  bray  as  thou  wdt.  From  |  differing,  we  hail  thee,)  brother,  thou  speakest, 
the  same  great  power  have  our  sable  friends,  \  perchance,  in  ignorance.  Hast  thou  e\er  live3\ 
Messr.«.  Sambo,  Cutfee  &  Co.,  received  their  i  alongside  of  Ciuashee  ?  noticed  liis  habits,  his  1 
position  also;  with  which  position,  allow  us  [  mind,  his  character,  his  tastes,  his  virtues  and  ' 
io  remark,  the  worthy  ancestors  of  Messrs.  j  his  vices  ?  Clothed  him  in  health,  and  nursed  j 
Sambo,  Cuffee  <fc  Co.  have  continued  perfectly  him  in  sickness^  cheered  him  in  merriment,| 
satisfied  for  some  four  thousand  years,  (longer,  i  and  comforted  him  in  sorrow  1  rejoiced  withj 
perchance,  but  records  go  no  farther,)  and  their  ,  him,  and  sulfered  with  him?  laughed  with| 
descendants  would  most  undoubtedly  have  so  i  him,  and  wept  with  him?     Thou  hast  not;\ 


continued  ;  but  behold,  Satan,  as  when 

"  S(niat  like  a  toad,  close  at  the  ear  of  Eve, 
Ass:iyini(  by  his  devilish  arts  to  reach 
Tlic  oigaiis  ol  her  raucy,"  % 

comes  now  in  the  likeness  of  an  "  all  men  are 
born  free  and  equal"  advocate,  to  raise 

"  Vain  hopes,  vain  aims,  inordinate  desires," 


but  there  be  those  who  have ;  "  go  thou  and 
do  likewise,"  and  when  (if  ever)  thou  do8t,| 
thou  wilt  cease  to  be  an  abolitionist.  Thej 
white  man,  whose  heart  truly  warms  to  the! 
fate  of  the  negro,  would  cease  to  agitate  this] 
question  in  that  moment  that  he  would  be-| 
come  well  acquainted  with  him,  for  thu3| 
would  he  learn  its  utter  impracticability.  At  I 
the  hideous  thought  of  amalgamation,  eveal 
Alas, !  the  abolitionist    Avhite-blood   shudders.     The/ 


in  poor  Coffee's  hitherto  quiet  brain 

"  my   poor   black    brother  1"    thou,  like   the  j  white  and  the  black  race  can  only  exist  toge^ 

hirsute,  must  do  thy  braying  in  vain.     Where  j  ther  in  their  present  relations.     Abolition  isi 

God  has  placed  thee,  there  must  thou  stay,   the  extinction  of  the  one  or  the  other.  \ 

"  You,  (iuaslu'C,  my  pumpkin,  (not  a  bud  fel- 1  > 

low  either,  this  poor  Quashee,  when  tolerably  I '  ■'^  '?  'l^""'     . 

guided,)  idle  Quashee,  I  say,  you  must  get  the    Like  ii  beast  wif 


devil  sent  awai/  from  your  elbow,  my  poor 
dark  friend  !  In  this  world  there  will  be  no 
existence  for  you  otherwise."  To  the  im- 
mortals, perchance,  this  tempest  in  a  tea-pot, 
this  little  hubbub  on  our  little  globe,  niav  look 


lower  pains ! 
Slated  with  a  siiualid  s.ivag 

or  dime? 
/  the  heir  of  all  the  ages,  in  the 

The  civilized  man  must  retain  his  position, 


trifling  enough,  they  seeing  very  certainly  that ,  or  perish, 
at  the  end  of  some  score  of  centuries  all  things  |  We  beg  pardon  of  Mr.  Campbell,  however, 
■will  go  right  again.  Quashce  will  either  have  whom  we  liave,  like  a  garrulous  host,  kept  for 
gone  back  to  ins  quiet  corner  in  this  world's  a  long  time,  hat  in  hand,  ready  to  make  his 
civilization,  or,  perchance,  liave  vacated  it  I  bow  to  the  reader,  while  we,  instead  of  re- 
fer ever  in  favor  of  some  higher  claimant.  It  '  membeiiiig  our  duty  of  introducing  him,  have 
matters  little  in  all  likelihood  to  the  supreme  been  proving  away  upon  his  text.  Mr.  Camp- 
spect;itors  of  this  world's  game,  what  con- 1  bfll  is,  he  tells  us,  a  niember_ttf.  the  Social 
fusion  of  clierking  and  elieckinating  may  be  j  Improvement  Society  of  ~l'hilad£l|jhra  ;  at 
going  on  in  our  little  ant  hill.  The  thought  of  ]  divers  meetings  of  "which "^bcTety,  '^'various 
Goil  must  conquer  finally,  and  the  f^core  or  so  of  j  and  talented  speakers,''  (we  use  Mr.  C.'a 
centuries  more  or  less  would  be  but  a  moment  words.)  white  and  black,  joined  in  the  discus- 
in  its  development.  Buttou.s,  my  brothers,  and  !  sion  of  this  question:  ''Can  the  colored  races 
our  children  these  twenty  centuries,  what  are  I  of  men  be  made  mentally,  politically  and 
they?  White  and  black,  were  it  not  well  to  j  socially  equal  with  the  white?''  This  is  a 
think  on  thi-j  a  little?  Truly  to  us,  my  jiiped  !  rather  startling  outset;  and  judging  from  the 
brethren  of  all  (■omj)lexion.'<,  this  abolitioiii.st  i  re.-ults  usually  emanating  lium  such  parti- 
Satan  is  preparing  (it  so  be  we  chain  him  not  j  colored  associations,  our  first  impulse  was  to 
iu  time)  a  son-y  chase  through  this  world's  |  withdraw  from  Mi*.  Campbell's  extended  hand. 


KEGKO    MANIA^ 


199 


<3ulping  down  tlie  doubt,  however,  we  boldly 
enlist  uiidc-r  tin;  motto  lie  adopts — "  Prove  all 
things  ;  hold  last  that  which  is  good  ;"  aiul  we 
are  rewarded  by  iimiiug  that  he  honestly  and 
manfully  meets  the  question.  Here,  then, 
we  liave  a  collectiuii  of  extracts,  seh'Cted  by  a 
Dortliein  man,  who  has  entered  freely  into  the 
discussion  of  the  subject  with  minds  of  all 
hues, 
"  Black  spirits  and  ■white,  blue  spirits  and  gray;" 

enthusiast  and  fanatic ;  whose  important  scien- 
tific authorities  are  all,  without  exception,  Eng- 
lishmen or  northern  United  States  men.  Sure- 
ly no  bias  should  be  here  expected  in  favor  of 
southern  United  States  institutions,  and  yet  a 
stronger  defense  of  them  it  would  be  difficult 
to  tiud. 

In  answer  to  the  question,  "  Can  the  colored 
races  of  luen  be  made  meutally,  politically, 
and  socially  equal  witii  the  white?"  our  au- 
thor first  states  the  indisputable  fact,  that 
/neveri  from  the  most  remote  antiquity  until 
J  now,  has  there  appeared  a  race  of  negroes, 
\  that  iSj,  'f  men  with  woolly  heads,  flat  noses, 
thick  aud  protruding  lips,  whicJi  has  ever 
emerged  from  a  state  of  savagism  or  barbar- 
ism to  even  a  demi-civilization."  "  Look  to 
the  West  In.  lies,  to  Brazil,  to  Austi'alia,  to  the 
Gold  Coast,  to  Zauguebar,  to  Congo,  to  Seue- 
'->gambia,  to  Ashaatee,  nay,  to  the  civilization 
Jinder  his  imperial  highness  Faustiu  the  First, 
Empei-or  of  Hayti,  and  a-nswer  me,  ye  Garri- 
sons, and  Phillipses,  and  Burleys,  and  Folsoms, 
and  Smiths,  what  has  this  race  done  in  five 
thousaiul  years  '{"  To  those  wImj  advance  the 
argument  that  the  negro  has  never  had  an 
opportunity  for  development,  becau.se  the 
white  man  has  always  oppressed  him,  our 
author  says :  "  They  foi-get  that  the  latter 
portion  of  this  propositiwi  refutes  the  fwmer. 
If  the  white  man  has  always  oppressed  the 
3iegro,  it  goes  to  establish  the  fact  claimed  by 
me,  that  tlie  white  man  is  meutally  superior, 
becau-e  if  the  white  man  has  l)een  always 
powerful  enough  to  debar  the  negro  from  im 
Droving  his  intellect,  it  establishes  the  com- 
plete fiiroe  of  my  views;  '  tliat  no  amount  of 
educationpr  trai,niyg.can  ever  ma"I?e"llie  negfo 
equal  in  iuteile-ct  with  the  white.'  Knowledge 
is  power  ;  and  it  is  evident  to  all,  that  und';r 
no  circumstances  has  the  negro  race  ever  been 
able  to  compete  with  the  white."  "  We  see 
around  us  iu  every  tiirectiou  evidences  of  the 
fact,  that  the  negro  is  naturally  iulVrior  to  the 
white ;  but  it  is  unfair  to  institute  compari- 
soES  where  this  race  is  held  in  bondage  by 
the  white.  We  will  give  them  all  tiie  advan- 
tages of  a  fair  examinatioji.  We  will  travel 
to  that  quiU'ter  of  the  globe  wliich  seems  to 
be  the  native  land  of  this  race,  and  to  winch 
they  appear  to  be  indigenous.  We  will  go 
where  the  white  man  has  never  oppressed 
them,"  ami  what  do  we  find  ?  "Monuntental 
luins  of  Dahomey,  foity  ages  do  not  look 


down  upon  you  !  Strewn  columns  of  A.shan- 
tee,  where  shall  we  find  you  ?  Echo  answers, 
'Where!''  Decaying  towers  of  Zanguebar, 
.shall  any  traveller  ever  discover  your  name- 
less and  undiscovered  and  undiscoverable 
foundations  5  Sculptured  temples  of  Guinea, 
what  hieroloifist  shall  be  able  to  decipher 
your  extinguished  hieroglyphics?"  "  If  only 
one  great  negro  name  could  be  pi'oduced  to 
redeem  a  whole  race,  then  I  will  retriict  all 
I  have  ever  said  of  negro  inferiority ;  but  this 
one  only  name,  this  rara  avis,  this  white 
blackbird,  this  phoenix,  is  not  forthcoming. 
'  You  cannot  make  a  silk  purse  out  of  a  sow's 
lug,'  is  an  old  and,  homely  adage,  but  not  the 
less  true  ;  so  can  you  not  make  any  thing 
from  a  negro  but  negroism,  which  means  bar- 
barism and  inferiority."'  "  Have  the  woolly- 
headed  races  of  men  ever  produced  one,  even 
only  one  man,  famous  either  as  lawgiver, 
statesman,  poet,  priest,  painter,  historian,  ora- 
tor, architect,  musician,  soldier,  sailor,  engi- 
neer, navigator,  astronomer,  linguist,  mathe- 
matician, anatomist,  chemist,  physician,  natur- 
alist, or  philosoplier  i''  Not  one  in  the  whole 
expanse  of  the  world's  history  fur  4,000  years ; 
and  yet  there  are  men  who  dare  to  babble  of 
circumstance,  disadvantage,  oppression,  and 
universal  equality.  What  might  the  negro 
iiave  done,  1f — and  if — and  if  ?  What  might 
the  jackass  have  done,  if — and  if — and  if? 
The  proof  is  as  fair  in  the  one  case  as  iu  the 
other — the  same  iu  kind,  differing  only  in  de- 
gree. As  God  made  them,  so  they  have  been, 
so  they  iire,  and  so  they  will  be ;  the  white 
man,  tlie  negro  and  the  jackass,  each  to  his 
kind,  and  each  to  his  nature  ;  true  to  the  fin- 
ger of  destiny,  (which  is  tlie  finger  of  God,) 
and  undeviatiugly  pursuing  the  track  which 
that  finger  as  undeviatiugly  points  out. 
Where  rebel  reason  in  its  little  pride  of  might 
would  try  to  change  that  track,  there  does 
the  restless  vehemence  of  disorganized  natiu'e 
prove  its  own  avenger.  The  negro,  become 
master,  extinguishes  that  civilization  which 
his  nature  abhors,  to  revel  in  savagism  to 
which  his  instincts  limit  him.  Philanthropy 
( >r'raf her" pb i liT-Tlohk ey i sni ,  has  never  yet  ex- 
perimented how  the  ass  would  act  under 
similar  circumstances  ;  but  we  are  fully  au- 
thorized from  logical  induction,  to  conclude 
that  green  grass  and  the  wilderness  would  be 
tlie  order  of  the  day  under  his  r('{/ime,  and 
humauity,  both  black  and  white,  would  be 
fairly  kicked  out  of  existence.  To  the  white 
man,  then,  the  philosopher,  poet,  orator,  his- 
torian ;  to  hind, 

"  The  heir  of  all  the  ages,ia  the  foremost  files  of  time," 

it  matters  little  whether  donkeyism  or  negro- 
ism predominate  ;  either  to  hiia  would  be  ex- 
tinction. 

To  return  to  the  question  of  inferiority  of 
the  negro,  we  liaye  then,  iu  all  houest  reason- 


200 


TSESRO    MANIA. 


iDg,  the  full  right  to  rlednce  it  from  constant  | 
unvaryinfl.  and  unstruii^gling  inferiority  of  po 
eitioi) ;  unci  the  observations  of  naturalists  al 
go  to  lontirni  tliis  position  by  iiis  anatoinica 
inferiority.  Mr.  Campbell  quotes  largely  to 
tliis  ertVct,  and  gires  us  extracts  even  from 
Df.  Prichard,  acknowledging  that  by  a  com- 
parison with  the  highest  of  the  simiis,  the 
chimpanzee  and  the  orang,  there  is  apparent 
in  certain  parts  of  the  skeleton  "  an  a|>pf()ach 
towards  the  forms  of  these  latter  species."* 

Lawrence,  after  eimmerating  the  various 
points  of  anatomical  ditference,  continues : 
"In  all  the  particulars  just  eimmerated,  the 
Hegro  structure  approxima.tes  unequivocally 
to  that  of  the  monkey.  It  not  only  differs 
from  the  Caucasian  model,  but  is  distinguished 
from  it  in  two  respects :  the  intellectual  cha- 
racters are  reduced,  the  animal  features  en- 
larged and  exaggerated."  Knos,  of  the  dark 
races  generally,  remarks :  "  The  whole  shape 
of  the  skeleton  differs  from  ours  ;  and  so  also, 
I  find,  do  the  forms  of  almost  every  muscle 
of  the  body."  Of  the  Hottentots,  he  says : 
"  Their  skeleton  presents  of  course  peculiari- 
ties; such  as  the  extreme  narrowness  of  the 
nasal  bones,  which  run  into  one  in  early  age, 
not  unfrequently  as  we  find  in  apes.  I3ut  it 
is  the  exterior  which  is  the  most  striking;  and 
this,  no  doubt,  is  wonderful.  Ko  one  can  be- 
lieve them  to  be  of  the  same  race  with  our- 
selves, yet  unquestionably  they  belong  to  the 
genus  man." 

The  now  exploded  assumption  that  the  an- 
cient Egyptians  were  negroes,  is  met  by  Mr. 
Camjibell  with  such  a  mass  of  authorities,  that 
we  must  refer  the  reader  who  is  curious  on 
the  subject  to  his  book.  One  can  but  smile 
io  reading  them,  at  the  idea  that  such  an 
error  could  ever  have  obtained  credence 
enough  to  make  it  worth  combating.  "  Now 
that  we  distinguish  the  several  human  races 
by  the  bones  of  the  head,  (remarks  Lawrence,) 
it  is  easy  to  prove  that  whatever  may  have 
been  the  hue  of  their  (the  Egyptians')  skin, 
they  belonged  to  the  same  race  with  our- 
selves;" "that  they  formed  no  exception  to 
that  cruel  law,  (a  cruel  law  which  God  has 
made !  and  shall  we  better  it  ?)  which  seems 
to  have  doomed  to  eternal  inferiority  all  the 
tribes  of  our  species  which  are  unfortunate 
enough  to  have  a  depressed  and  compi-essed 
cranium."  The  great  Cuvier  had  already 
long  before  pronounced,  that  "neither  the 
Gallas,  nor  the  Bosjesmen,  nor  any  race  of 
negroes  produced  that  celebrated  people;" 
and  Morton  f  (a  name  at  which  we  bow  our 


•  Our  quotations,  let  it  be  understood,  are  hence- 
forward invnriiibly  taken  at  BecouJ-liaiid  troni  Mr. 
Campbell.  It  is  our  objccl  to  show  what  he  has 
done,  and  to  qive  his  book,  as  far  a.s  in  our  power, 
ttie  circulatioh  which  it  so  well  de.ser?es. 

■f  It  is  but  juslice  to  Uiis  dislin;;uished  raau  to  re- 
mark, that  we  havo  ourselves  heard  Agossiz  (himself 
thejrreateat  of  livin;;  naturalists)  nay,  that  he  was  an 
authority  iafurior  to  ncne  iu  ethnology. 


heads  in  sorrow,  that  so  early  sbotild  hare 
been  closed  a  life  whose  labors  science  can 
ill  spare)  gives  a  stream  of  tlecisive  evidence 
on  the  subject.  A  translation  of  a  deed  on 
p^ipyrus  of  the  reign  of  Ptolemy,  Alexander 
First,  giving  a  description  of  the  persons,  par- 
ties to  a  sale  of  laud  at  Thebes,  describes  one 
of  tliem  as  of  a  dark  coiuplesion,  the  remain- 
ing five  as  sallow.  The  Egyptians  them- 
selves, on  their  monuments,  have  represented 
the  men  red,  the  women  yellow  ;  :iud  both 
with  features  entirely  distinct  from  the  negro, 
who  appears  among  them  with  all  tlie  char- 
acteristic features  of  his  race,  and  always  in 
a  condition  of  boixlage  or  inferiority.  "  Ne- 
groes (observes  Morton)  were  numerous  in 
Egypt,  bi>t  their  position  in  ai>cient  times  was 
the  same  that  it  now  is,  that  of  servants  and 
slaves."  "The  hair  of  the  Egyptians  resembled 
in  texture  that  of  the  fairest  Europeans  of 
the  present  day." 

Equally  fotile,  and  ^ecjually  rejected  by 
science,  is  the  assuniption  that  clmitite^^r 
habit  of  life  can  account  for  the  dififerencea of 
race.  "  The  physical  or  organic  character's 
which  distinguish  the  several  races  of  men 
are  as  old  (says  Morton)  as  the  oldest  records 
of  our  species."  We  frequently  find  one  race 
inhabiting  an  extent  of  country  whidi  serves 
at  once  to  prove  the  irrationality  of  the  con- 
clusion, that  climate  can  have  had  any  influ- 
ence in  stumping  upon  it  its  characteristic 
differences.  "  The  flat  face  of  the  Chinese 
(observes  Lawrence)  not  only  extends  through- 
out that  vast  empire,  which  covers  nearly  forty 
degrees  of  latitude  and  seventy  of  longitude; 
but  also  over  the  neighboring  regioi>s  of  cen- 
tral and  northern  Asia,  the  tx)rth  of  Europe 
and  of  America,  over  a  very  large  portion  of 
the  globe,  inehuling  every  possible  variety  of 
heat  and  cold,  elevation  and  lowness,  moisture 
and  dryness,  wood,  mar>h,  and  plain.  That 
Europetiu  Creoles  in  the  West  IiKlies,  in  Ame- 
rica and  in  the  East,  have  preserved  theijr 
native  features  iu  all  instances  where  no  in- 
termixture of  blood  has  occurred,  is  proved 
by  the  uninterrupted  experience  of  the  Span- 
iiirils,  Portuguese  and  English,  who  have  had 
foreign  colonies  in  climates  most  tliffering 
from  their  own,  longer  than  tmy  other  nation. 
The  modern  Gipseys  an<l  the  Jews  iift'ord  ex- 
amples of  peculiar  and  distinctive  cirsts  of 
countenance  beit)g  preserved  in  every  climatCi 
Volney  has  attempted  to  account  for  the  pe- 
culiarities of  the  negro  features  in  tlie  follow- 
ing w^himsical  maimer.  We  translate,  for  the 
benefit  of  those  to  whom  tlk;  Ereneh  may  not 
be  quite  familiar  :  "  I  observe  that  the  fear 
tures  of  the  negro  re|)reseut  precisely  the 
state  of  contr;vclion  which  our  faces  assume 
when  struck  by  the  light  and  a  strong  rever- 
beration of  heal — then  the  brow  frowns,  the 
ball  of  the  cheek  rises,  the  eyelid  contracts, 
and  the  mouth  draws  itself  together,  {/ait  U 
moue.).   Is  it  not  natural  that  this  coatractioo^ 


NEGRO    MANIA. 


201 


hicb  takes  place  continually  in  the  naked 
and  hot  country- of  the  negro,  should  become 
the  permanent  characteristic  of  his  face  ?" 
"Unfortunately  (answers  Lawrence)  for  these 
speculations,  the  negro  features  occur  in  nu- 
merous tribes  spiead  over  a  very  great  extent 
of  country,  with  various  climates,  and  in  many 
instances  where  the  heat  is  by  no  means  ex- 
cessive ;  the  character,  too,  is  permanent  after 
any  number  of  generations,  when  the  negro  is 
1  taken  into  other  climes."  Blumenbach  seri- 
"~ousTy"quote8  some  wiseacre,  even  more  fanci- 
ful than  Volney,  who  would  fain  account  for 
the  flat  nose  and  swollen  lips,  by  the  fact 
that  the  mothers  carrying  the  children  on  their 
backs,  "  in  the  violent  motion  required  for 
their  hard  labor,  as  in  beating  and  pounding 
millet,  cfec,  the  face  of  the  young  one  is  con- 
stantly thumping  against  the  back  of  the 
mother."  Povero  liainbino  !  one  would  ima- 
gine that  thumps  violent  enough  to  flatten 
its  poor  little  nose,  must  keep  the  juvenile 
martyr  in  a  state  of  constant  depletion  from 
that  important  organ.  Wha*^^,  moreover,  be- 
comes of  this  theory  in  a  barbarous  country 
like  our  own,  where,  when  the  mother  goes  to 
work,  the  child  is,  by  order  of  her  brutal  mas- 
ter, actually  taken  from  her  until  her  labor  is 
done,  and  consigned  to  its  cradle,  or  to  the 
arms  of  a  nurse,  who  holds  it  in  the  ordinary 
fashion  for  the  carrying  of  such  commodities, 
while  basking  in  the  sun  or  sitting  by  a  com- 
fortable fire,  according  to  circumstances? 
Farther — to  call  in  science  to  our  aid — '.^All 
the  peculiarities  of  the  negro  cranium  (says 
Lawrence)  exist  in  the  fretus.  Tlie  prominent 
jaws,  flat  nose,  and  other  characteristics  are 
found  as  strongly  marked  in  the  youngest 
embryo  as  in  the  adult.  That  climate  has  no 
transmittible  effect  on  the  skin,  is  evident 
from  the  fact  that  the  children  of  the  hus- 
bandman, or  of  the  sailor  whose  countenance 
bears  the  marks  of  other  climes,  are  just  as 
fair  as  those  of  the  most  delicate  and  pale  in- 
habitants of  a  city,  Jfay^  the  Moors,  who 
have  lived  for  ages  under  a  burning  sun, 
still  have  white  children;  and  the  off^^pring  of 
Europeans  in  the  Indies  have  the  original 
tint  of  their  progenitors.  On  the  hypothesis 
-wfetch  assigns  the  varieties  of  mankind  to  the 
operation  of  climate  as  their  cause,  we  should 
expect  to  find  in  Africa  all  ti'ibes  under  the 
equator  of  the  most  intensely  black  color ; 
the  tinge  should  become  lighter  and  lighter 
as  we  proceed  thence  towards  the  south,  and 
the  complexion  ought  to  be  white  when  we 
arrive  at  regions  which  enjoy  a  European 
climate.  This,  however,  is  by  no  means  the 
case.  The  Abyssinians  on  the  east,  with  daik 
olive  col(3r  and  long  hair,  are  placed  near  the 
equator,  and  surrounded  by  negroes.  In  the 
same  part,  also,  the  Gallas,  a  great  and  bar- 
barous nation,  having,  according  to  Bruce, 
long  black  hair  and  white  skin,  verging  to 
brown,  occupy  extensive  regions  under  the 


equator  itself.  On  the  other  hand,  as  we  pro- 
ceed from  the  equator  towards  the  south, 
through  tribes  of  negroes,  we  find  the  black 
Color  continue  with  undiminished  intensity. 
It  is  known  in  the  West  Indies  that  the;  Con- 
go negroes,  in  the  blackness  of  their  skin  and 
woolly  hair,  equal  any  tribe  of  Africans.  The 
Island  of  ]\Iadagascar,  which  is  cooled  by  the 
mild  breezes  of  the  Indian  Ocean,  aixl  ought, 
therefore,  to  continue  a  white  race,  has  two 
kinds  of  natives  :  one  of  olive  color  with  dark 
hair,  the  other  true  negroes.  When  we  con- 
sider how  large  an  extent  of  Africa  is  occu- 
pied by  the  black  woolly-haired  negroes,  and 
that  these  regions  vary  in  their  latitude,  their 
elevation,  and  every  other  point,  that  th«y 
include  sandy  deserts,  coasts,  rivers,  hills, 
valleys,  and  veiy  great  varieties  of  climate, 
the  conclusion  that  these  adventitious  circum- 
stances do  not  influence  the  color  or  other 
properties  of  the  race,  is  irresistil)le."  Knox 
says:  "My  esteemed  friend.  Dr.  Andrew 
Smith,  informs  me  that  he  attentively  looked 
at  a  family  descended  from  forefathers  who 
came  to  South  Africa  with  the  first  settlers. 
Three  hundred  years  then  had  elapsed  since 
their  first  arrival.  Their  descendants  at  this 
moment  are  as  fair  as  the  fairest  of  Euro- 
peans." Cases  there  are  of  white  families, 
under  similar  circumstances,  being  lost  to  the 
whites  and  only  known  in  their  negro  descend- 
ants ;  but  there  is  abundant  proof  that  this 
is  the  result  of  constant  mingling  with  negro 
blood  until  the  white  has  run  out;  which  the 
commonest  observer  knows  must  be  the  case 
where  the  supply  of  white  blood  is  not  con- 
stantly renewed.  We  in  the  United  States 
of  America,  whether  north  or  south,  seem  to 
be  in  little  danger  of  changing  our  skins ;  and 
our  children  are  as  fair  as  their  Saxon  or 
Celtic  ancestors,  although  occupying  the  very 
grounds  on  which  the  red  man  lived  aud  died, 
leaving  his  scattered  graves  as  memorials  of 
ages  of  possession. 

The  wool  of  the  negro,  another  mooted 
point,  our  author  most  satisfactorily  settles 
for  us,  through  the  minute  and  learned  argu- 
ment of  P.  A.  Browne.  Most  unwillingly  do 
we  pass  over  a  discussion  showing  such  close 
research,  and  so  triumphantly  carried  through. 
Our  bounds  will  not,  however,  allow  its  inser- 
tion, and  we  can  only  entreat  our  readers  to 
study  it  for  themselves.  The  garbled  view 
which  our  very  limited  extracts  could  give 
would  be  doing  it  hijustice.  Suffice  it  to  say, 
that  Mr.  Browne  not  only  proves  his  point  by 
producing  fact  upon  fact  in  a  way  which  it  is 
difficult  for  a  candid  mind  to  oppose,  but 
gives  us  also  an  insight  of  the  extremely  slov- 
enly and  careless  manner  in  which  Prichard 
occasionally  pushes  forward  his  positions.  The 
CQ^tiring  of  the  negro  head  is  most  indisputa- 
bly woo/.  Hair  will  not  felt,  but  wool  will; 
and  the  covering  of  the  negro's  head  will 
felt — has  been  felted."  With  reference  to  the 


202 


NEGRO    MANIA. 


color  of  the  skin,  which  a  few  lines  back  we 
were  dipciis^sini^.  Mr.  Browne  cites  the  author- 
ity of  M.  Fliiiir<.ns,  an  oniincnt  French  physi- 
ologist, who  "  found  four  distinct  layers  be- 
tween the  cuticle  and  the  cutis;"  the  second 
of  which,  he  says,  is  a  mucous  membrane,  a 
distinct  organized  body,  underlaying  the  pig- 
ment, and  existing  in  persona  of  dark  color 
only.  M.  Flourens  sought  in  vain  for  this 
membrane  between  the  cutis  and  outer  lamina 
of  the  epidermis  of  the  white  man  ;  and  yet 
this  is  the  seat  of  the  discoloration  produced 
Iq  his  complexion  by  exposure  to  the  sun. 
From  these  examinations  this  distinguished 
naturalist  and  anatomist  was  able  to  pro- 
nounce definitely  that  the  discoloration  in  the 
skin  of  the  white  man  is  totally  different  in 
kind  from  the  cause  of  blackness  in  the  negro, 
and  therefore  justly  concludes  that  the  negro 
and  European  are  separate  species  of  beings." 
Have  we  yet  given  enough  proof  of  differ- 
ence of  race  and  negro  inferiority  ?  Lawrence 
remarks,  that  the  difference  of  color  "between 
the  whiti^  and  the  black  races  is  not  more 
striking  than  the  preeminence  of  the  former 
in  moral  feelings  and  iu  mental  endowments." 
The  negroes  "  indulge  almost  universally  in 
disgusting  debauchery  and  sensuality,  and 
display  gross  selfishness,  indifference  to  the 
pains  and  pleasures  of  others;  insensibility  to 
beauty  of  form,  order  and  harmony,  and  an 
almost  entire  want  of  what  we  comprehend 
altogether  under  the  expression  of  elevated 
sentiments,  manly  virtues,  and  moral  feeling. 
The  hideous  savages  of  Van  Diemen's  Land, 
of  New-Holland,  New- Guinea,  and  some 
neighboring  islands,  the  negroes  of  Congo  and 
some  other  parts,  exhibit  the  most  disgusting 
moral,  as  well  as  physical  portraits  of  man." 
And  j-et,  we  repeat  with  Carlyle,  "not  a  bad 
fellow  either,  this  poor  Cinasliee,  when  tolera- 
bly guided"  Guidance,  however,  he  does  need. 
Colonel  Charles  Hamilton  Smith,  whose  pre- 
dilections are,  as  Mr.  Campbell  remarks,  in 
favor  of  the  oppressed  and  degraded  races, 
who  resided  long  in  the  West  Indies,  and  con- 
tinued for  years  his  investigations  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  races,  says  of  the  negroes:  "  War 
is  a  passion  that  excites  in  them  a  brutal  dis- 
regard of  humau  feelings;  it  entails  the  delib- 
erate murder  of  prisoners,  and  victims  are 
slain  to  serve  the  manes  of  depai  ted  chiefs. 
Even  cannibalism  is  frequent  among  tribes  of 
the  interior.  Tiie  perceptive  faculties  of  the 
children  are  far  from  contemptible,  bearing 
good  comparison  with  the  white,  but  tliey 
droj)  behind  about  the  twelfth  year,  when 
the  reflective  powers  begin  to  have  the  as- 
cendency," and  when  the  mind  of  the  white 
is  just  developing  itself.  Is  this  not  an  ap- 
proach to  the  state  of  the  brute,  whose  mind, 
or  instinct — call  it  as  you  will — is  certainly, 
in  early  infancy,  more  developed  than  tiie 
human  being  ?  A  lamb,  a  calf,  or  a  colt  of  a 
day  or  a  week  old,  shows  to  much  greater 


I  advantage  than  an  infant  of  the  same  age. 
I "  Collectively  (continues  Colonel  Smith)  the 
j  untutored  negro  mind  is  confiding  and  single- 
hearted,  naturally  kind  and  hospitable.  Both 
sexes  are  easily  ruled,  and  appreciate  what  is 
'  good,  under  the  guidance  of  common  justice 
and  prudence ;"  but  "  they  have  never  com- 
!  prehended  what  the}'  have  learned,  nor  re- 
tained a  civilization  taught  them  by  contact 
I  with  more  refined  nations,  losing  it  as  soon  as 
\  that  contiict  has  ceased.  Conquest  with  them 
j  has  been  confined  to  kindred  tribes,  and  pro- 
I  duced  only  slaughter.  Even  Christianity  of 
more  than  three  centuries,  in  Congo,  has 
i  scarcely  excited  a  progressive  civilization. 
Thus,  even  the  good  qualities  given  to  the 
1  negro  by  the  bounty  of  nature,  have  seemed 
\  only  to  make  him  a  slave,  trodden  down  by 
every  remorseless  foot,  and  to  brand  him  for 
ages  with  the  epithet  of  outcast"  "And  true 
I  it  is  that  the  worst  slavery  is  his  lot  at  home, 
for  he  is  there  exposed  to  the  constant  peril 
j  of  becoming  also  a  victim,  slaughtered  with 
the  most  revolting  torments.  Tyrant  of  his 
blood,  he  traffics  in  slavery  as  it  were  mer- 
chandise; makes  war  purposely  to  capture 
neighbors,  and  sells  even  his  own  wives  and 
children." 

Is  the  negro  made  for  slavery  ?  God  in  hea- 
ven !  what  are  we,  that  because  we  cannot  un- 
derstand the  mystery  of  this  tliy  will, we  should 
dare  rise  in  rebellion  and  call  it  wrong,  un- 
just, and  cruel?  The  kindness  of  nature  fits 
each  creature  to  fulfil  its  destiny.  The  very 
virtues  of  the  negro  fit  him  for  slavery,  and 
his  vices  cry  aloud  for  the  checks  of  bondage. 
Would  it  not  be  more  worthy  of  thinking  men, 
instead  of  endeavoring  to  brand  with  iofamy  a 
system  so  evidently  marked  out  by  the  finger  of 
God,  rather  to  combine  their  c-ftbrts  to  make 
that  system  what  it  should  be  i  Instead  of  driv- 
ing the  slaveholder,  by  an  interference  which 
puts  his  property  and  life  in  danger,  to  acts  of 
harshness  and  restraint  entirely  unnecessary 
by  the  laws  of  nature,  would  it  not  be  more 
wise,  more  human,  anil  more  philanthropic  to 
aid  in  removing  obstacles,  to  soften  difficulties, 
and  thus  prevent  the  abuses  of  a  system  which, 
sanctified  by  the  laws  of  nature,  needs  but  the 
fair  operation  of  those  laws  to  be  like  every 
other  result  of  God's  thought,  beautiful  in  the 
undeviating  order  of  creation  ?  Beaulil'iil  it 
is  in  its  fulfilment ;  hitleous  only  in  the  unna- 
tural struggle  which,  opposing  man's  law  to 
God's  law,  rouses  tHe  evil  passions  of  men  in 
a  vain  eflort  to  correct  the  works  of  Omnisci- 
ence. But  let  us  sum  up  this  branch  of  our 
subject  in  the  words  of  Dr.  T.  D.  English,  from 
a  letter  addressed  to  the  author  of  "  Negro- 
mania:"  "The  steady  advance  of  the  white 
species  meets  with  no  parallel  in  the  black. 
The  latter  has  proved  itself,  when  left  to  itself 
to  be  incapable  of  progress.  Even  when  taught 
by  a  superior  species,  it  soon  retrogrades  to 
hopeless  barbarism.    To  give  it  dominance  ig 


NEGRO    MANIA. 


203 


to  extiniSfnishaj^ricuUiire,  destroy  the  meclumic  ;  of  the  weaker  race;  and  nowhere  has  this 
arts,  and  root  out  science.  .Such  an  apijarent  '■  system  been  exiiibited  in  more  perfection,  and 
exception,  as  may  be  feen  isi  Liberia,  gladly  i  freer  from  the  abuses  (for  every  system  has 
as  the  philanthropist  m;iy  ha  1  it,  proves  only  [its  abuses)  with  which  it  is  stained,  than  la 
the  power  given  by  the  infusion  of  other  bloo<i.  I  the  negro  slavery  of  our  southern  states. 
The  mulattoes  there,  as  here,  have  tiie  most  |  Knox  has  shown  us  everywhere  thewhite  blood 
intellectual  force.  When  these  wear  out,  as  I  treading  down  and  exterminating  tlie  darker 
they  will  iu  time,  a  recurrence  to  the  charac- 1  races.  "  The  Saxon  (he  remarks)  will  not 
teristics  of  the  predominant  original  race  will  I  mingle  with  any  dark  race,  nor  will  he  allow 
reproduce  barbarism,  unless,  indeed,  this  ca- 1  him  to  hold  an  acre  of  land  in  the  country 
lamity  be  averted  by  a  renewed  amalgama- 1  occupied  by  him.''  "  Already  we  have  cleared 
tion.  Nor  do  the  isolated  cases  of  negro  smart-  ■  Van  Diemen's  Land  of  every  human  aborigi- 
ness  in  this  country  prove  any  thing  more  than  !  nal ;  Auslralia,  of  course,  follows,  antl  New- 
the  value  of  a  Caucasian  atlmixture.  Nature  !  Zealand  next.  There  is  no  denying  the  fact, 
has  marked,  by  unerring  lines,  the  distinction  i  that  the  Saxon,  call  him  by  what  name  you 
between  the  species,  and  her  tokens  cannot  be  I  will,  has  a  perfect  horror  for  liis  darker  breth- 
wiped  out,  by  either  the  sophistry  of.theiren.  Hence  the  folly  of  the  war  carried  on 
negrophilisfc,  or  the  cant  of  the  fanatic.  The  !  by  the  philanthropists  of  Britain  against  na- 
manifest  moral,  intellectual,  and  physical  in- i  ture."  "  The  Anglo-Saxon  has  already  cleared 
feriority  of  the  negro  issues  from  the  decree  I  out  Tasmania.  It  was  a  cruel,  coM  blooded, 
of  God,  which  no  efforts  of  man  can  either  alter  heartless  deed.  Australia  is  too  large  to  at- 
or  abrt^ate.  Even  modification  must  be  but ,  tempt  the  same  plan  there  ;  but  by  shooting 
partial  at  least.  It  is  the  destiny  of  the  negro,  the  natives  as  freely  as  we  do  crows  in  other 
if  by  himse/f,  to  be  a  savage,  if  by  the  white,  to  \  countries,  the  population  must  become  thin 
be  a  serf.  He  may  be  a  savage  in  name  and  fvnd  scarce  in  time."  "  It  would  be  revolting 
in  fact,  as  in  Africa,  or  in  fact  only  as  iu  Hayti. ;  (says  Col.  C.  H.  Smith,  whom  we  have  already 
He  may  be  a  serf  in  name  and  in  fiict,  as  in  j  quoted  as  the  advocate  of  the  dark  races)  to 
the  southern  states,  or  in  fact  only,  as  in  the  ,  believe  that  the  less  gifted  tribes  were  predes- 
northern  states ;  but  savage  or  serf  he  must '  tined  to  perish  beneath  the  conquering  and 
be.  No  man  who  values  himself,  who  has  siny  :  all-absorbing  covetousness  of  European  civili- 
regard  for  sound  morality,  or  who  feels  any  i  zation,  without  an  enormous  load  of  responsi- 
desire  to  see  intellectual  progress  mace  cer-  {  bility  resting  on  the  perpetrators.  Yet  this 
tain,  can  join  in  the  absurd  attempt  to  raise  j  fate  appears  lo  be  sealed  in  many  quarters,  and 
the  negro  to  his  o^vn  level.  A  movement  for  seems,  by  a  pre-ordained  law,  to  be  an  effect 
such  ends  is  necessarily  impotent,  and  can  only  ot  more  mysterious  import  than  human  reason 
result  at  the  best  for  the  negro  in  the  degra- !  can  grasp."  Revolting  though  it  may  be  to 
dation  of  the  white.  Kindness  to  these  unfor-  i  our  eye,  which  pierces  but  the  outer  thought 
tunate  beings  is  the  duty  f>f  every  man.  They  |  of  creation's  plan,  if  this  be  really  the  ^Jre- 
may  be  styled  human  beings,  though  of  an  in-  i  ordained  law  of  our  existence,  shall  we  better 


herently  degraded  species.  To  attempt  to 
relieve  them  from  their  natural  inferiority  is 
idle  in  itself,  and  may  be  mischievous  in  its 
results.  Calculated  as  it  is  to  arouse  evil  pas- 
sions, it  ma}-  one  day  provoke  a  necessity  not 
to  be  contemplated  without  horror.  It  may 
lead  to  a  war  between  the  species,  which  must 
result  in  the  extirpation  of  the  negro.      True 


matters  by  strugghng  against  it  ?  One  only 
door  seems  opened  by  nature  to  prevent  such  a 
catastrophe,  and  that  is,  through  the  beneficent 
.system  of  serfdom,  or  otherwise  slavery.  The 
word  is  of  little  import :  the  thing  is  the  same. 
The  negro,  docile  iu  subjection,  attached  like 
the  household  dog  to  his  master — only  in  pro- 
portion to  his  intellect  in  a  far  higher giade  of 


philanthropy — not  that  sickly  sentiment  which  [  being — is  satisfied  and  happy  in  the  half 
neglects  the  interests  of  the  white  laborer  to  civilized  condition,  which,  with  us,  his  imita- 
cant  about  the  black — but  a  true  and  honest  |  tiveness  enables  him  to  attain.  Liberated — 
regard  for  the  best  interests  of  mankind,  will ;  in  other  words,  unprotected,  and  starving  for 
maintain  the  negro  undisturbed  in  the  relation  ,  want  of  protection,  the  dog,  as  the  negro,  re- 
whicl)  God  has  marked  out  for  him"  What :  turns  to  the  untaught  habits  and  instincts  of 
that  relation  is,  can,  we  think,  be  pretty  fairly  '  nature.  Thievish  and  wolfish,  the  dog,  poor 
deduced  from  such  testimony  as  we  have  here  I  fellow,  is  easily  disposed  of,  and  a  gun  or  a  rope 
seen  advanced.  The  alternatives  are  serfdom  !  settles  the  difHculty,  as  far  as  he  is  concerned, 
or  savagedora  ;  a  state  of  equality  being,  we  |  The  negro  is,  it  seems,  according  to  Mr.  Knox, 
think,  honestly  proved  impossible.  The  an-  j  occasionally  disposed  of  by  the  same  summaiy 
tagonisni  of  races  is  working  itself  out  in  every  I  process.  In  more  civilized  communities,  where 
instance  where  two  races  are  put  in  collision  I  law  protects  him,  he  will  still,  if  the  black  pop- 
by  the  quicker  or  slower  extinction  of  the  iu-  j  ulation  be  comparatively  small,  dwindle  and 
ferior  and  feebler  race.  The  only  exceptions  j  disappear  before  the  antagonism  of  race,  as 
to  this  rule,  which  the  world  has  ever  seen,  are  we  see  now  in  the  process  of  extinplification  in 
where  the  beneficent  system  of  serfdom  (;.  e.  our  northern  states.  But  where  the  propor- 
slavery)  has  come  to  the  rescue  and  protection  i  tioa  is  in  an  opposite  ratio,  the  negro,  whose  iu- 


204 


NEGRO    MANIA. 


dividual  is,  as  a  man,  protected  by  the  law, 
become:?  Hwn,  in  the  aggregate,  too  powerful 
for  the  law.  Tiien  cornea  the  cla-^h  of  race, 
hideou^lv  developed  in  all  its  horrible  propor- 
tions. The  bruti--li  propensities  of  the  negro 
now  unchecked,  there  remains  no  road  for 
their  full  exercise,  (unless  the  white  man  vol- 
untarily retreats  before  him,)  but  in  the 
slaughter  of  his  white  master,  and  through 
that  slaughter  he  strities  (unless  he  himself  be 
exterminated)  to  the  full  exercise  of  his  native 
barbaiity  and  savagism.  And  this,  then,  is 
the  consummation  so  devoutly  to  be  wished ! 
Congo  civilization!  Hottentot  civilizatioa  ! ! 
Haytien  civilization! ! ! 

Jamaica  is  fast  treading  on  the  tracks  of 
Hayti.  Britisli  philantlnopy  lias  already  suc- 
ceeded in  making  the  rich  lands  of  that  fair 
isle  so  utterly  valueless,  that  the  white  man 
must  soon  abandon  his  right  to  live  in  it.  And 
the  vast  and  beautiful  territory  composing  the 
southern  and  southwestern  states  of  America; 
this  territory,  whose  giant  youth  is  governing 
the  world  by  its  vast  produce,  wliich  holds  the 
reins  of  Europe,  and  spins  round  it,  even  with 
the  fine  web  of  its  cotton  fibre,  a  net- work,  the 
destruction  of  which  is  the  destruction  of  civili- 
zation— is  this  country,  too,  to  be  abandoned 
to  the  desert  and  the  waste,  to  negroism  and 
barbarity,  that  abolitionism  may  chant  its  lo 
pceans  over  our  ashes? 

Abolition  is  not  the  abolition  of  slavery. 
Equality  is  no  thought  nor  creation  of  God. 
Slavery,  under  one  name  or  another,  will  exist 
as  long  as  man  exists ;  and  abolition  is  a 
dream  whose  execution  is  an  impossibility.  In- 
tellect is  the  only  divine  right.  Intellect  seeks 
freedom  from  its  own  proper  impulses,  and 
attains  it  by  its  own  proper  power.  The  negro 
cannot  be  schooled,  nor  argued,  nor  driven 
into  a  love  of  freedom.  Piis  intellect  cannot 
grasp  it,  nor  can  he  love  an  abstraction,  whic'h 
it  is  beyond  his  intellect  to  understand.  The 
apostle  of  freedom  can  to  the  negro  be  nothing 
more  tiian  the  apostle  of  temporary  license 
and  permanent  savagism.  "  Heaven's  laws 
are  not  repealable  by  earth,  however  earth 
may  try." 

We  have  in  our  article  entirely  forgotten  the 
odious  plea  fur  amalgamation — a  thouglit  from 
which  nature  shrinks;  but  as  all  points  are  to 
be  met,  we  arc  glad  to  find  it  in  Mr.  Campbell's 
book  most  ably  discussed  by  more  than  one 
learned  author.  Knox,  over  and  over  again, 
stronglypronounces  against  the  possible  perma- 
nent existence  of  a  hybrid  race,  and  as  sucii  lie 
unhesitatingly  classes  all  mulattoes.  "  Na- 
ture's laws  are  stronger  than  bayonets."  "  Nr) 
mixed  race  will  she  support."  P.  A.  Browne, 
whom  we  have  already  noticed  as  so  trium- 
phantly inei'ting  Prichard  on  the  question  of 
the  woolly  head,  comes  here  to  our  assistance 
in  a  manner  e(pially  decisive,  confuting  him 
from  iiis  own  words,  and  proving  iiis  utter  in- 
capacity for  the  argument  he  undertakes.  Let 


'  us  remark,  en  jmasanf,  of  Prichard,  that  he 
has  been  hitherto  strangely  overrated.       His 
ponderous  tomes  are  calculated,  from  theirim- 
pnsing  ap]ioarance,  and  tlieir  real  merit  a^  a 
'  collection  of  facts,  to  make  a  great  impression 
upon  that  large  proportion  of  readers  who  read 
!  without  close  observation,  and  adopt  without 
dispute  the  conclusions  of  their  author;   but 
we  are  glad  to  believe  that  a  more  just  appre- 
ciation is  now  being  formed  of  his  labors.    We 
have  seen  a  notice,  among  other  similar  arti- 
cles, of  a  review  of  his  works,  in  the  form  of 
'  a  treatise,  by  Dr.  Caldwell  (Cincinnati :  James,) 
by  which  the  false  positions  of  Dr.  Prichard  are 
!  said  to  be  ably  exposed,  and  the  unphilooophi- 
cal  tendency  of  his  work  thoroughly  combated. 
We  have  not  room  for  the  argument  of  Mr.- 
Browne,  but  he    satisfactorily    proves,   what 
manv  of  us  know  from  our  own  unlearned  ob- 
servation, that  no  mulatto  race  is  self-j)erpetu- 
;  ating.    They  are  subject  to  the  law  of  hybrids, 
and  can  onl}'  continue  to  exist  so  long  as  they 
continue  to  receive  supplies  from  the  original 
races  whence  they  sprang.      Tliese  ceasing  to 
flow  in,  with  equipoised  proportions,  the  pre- 
dominating race  gains  the  ascendant.     Could 
we  suppose,  therefore,   the   possibility  of  a 
general  amalgamation  of  the  races,  the  certain 
result  would  be,  that  as  the  dark  races  by  far 
outnumber  the  white,  the  white  must,  by  the 
j  course  of  nature,  become  in  time  extinct.     But 
'  such  "  is  not  the  ultimate  issue;  no,  not  that." 
God  has  implanted  in  the  white  races,  for  their 
I  own  preservation    and  for  the    perfecting  of 
their  iiigh  destiny,  that   strong   antagonistic 
feeling  of  race,  which  holds  them  aloof  in  their 
purity.      The  white  and  the  dark  races  can 
never    amalgamate.      "  Nature's    laws    are 
stronger  than  bayonets" — stronger  than  the 
full  tide  of  abolition  and  colonization  soci(;ties, 
with  all  their  old  women  and  negro  men,  Lu- 
crelia   Mutts  and   Fred.   Douglasses  to  boot 
Wilberforce  was  a  good  man,  no   doubt;  a 
well-meaning,  sentimentally  good  man  ;  but  all 
the  vice,  and  all  the  crimes  of  all  the  hardened 
and  ruffianly  criminals  whom  the  gallows  has 
disposed   of  for  the  last  century,  could  not,  if 
j  allowed  the  full  .scope  of  their  career,  have 
!  accomplisht'd  one  tenth  of  the  ill,  one  shadow 
i  of  the  evil  which  this  same  sentimental  yood- 
ne-'S  has  occasionetl.     The  first  piddles  in  little 
'  murders ;  tbe  last  sweeps  away  nations.  Good- 
i  ness,  which  in  its  wellineaning  ignorance  as- 
I  sumes  an  antagonistic  jiosilion  to  nature's  laws, 
j  becomes  infinitely  mi.sdiievous.     Those  laws, 
'  embodying,  as  they  do,  the  thought  of  God, 
'  nuist  finally  ])revail;  but,  alas  for  the  genera- 
tions u])on  whose  destinies  such  antMgonistic 
influences  act  !       For  them  at  least  the  beau- 
tiful thought  of  God,  the  all-conquering  order 
of  nature,  becomes  a  fearful  scourge.     Placed 
I  in  antagonism  with  it,  they  caimot  destroy  it; 
it  must  destroy  (hem.       The  thought  of  God 
prevails,  and   generations    are    swept    away. 
I  Depart,  ye  quack-rithkn  mcompetent ! 


NEGRO    SLAVERY MEMOIR    ON. 


205 


"  Every  one  knows  (says  Blackwood)  how 
easy  it  is  to  get  up  a  shout  upon  any  vague 
pretext  of  Immauity,  and  liow  frequently  the 
creduhty  of  the  people  of  England  has  been 
imposed  on  by  specious  and  designing  hypo- 
crites. With  this  set  of  men  Africa  has  been 
for  many  years  a  pet  subject  of  complaint. 
They  have  made  the  wrongs  of  the  negro  a 
short  and  profitable  cut  to  fame  and  fortune, 
and  their  spurious  philanthropy  has  never 
failed  to  engage  the  suj^port  of  a  large  num- 
ber of  weak,  but  well-meaning  individuals,who 
are  totally  ignorant  of  the  real  objects  which 
lie  at  the  bottom  of  the  agitations."  "  An  abo- 
lition meeting  (remarks  Mr.  Campbell)  is  held 
at  some  town  in  Ohio,  New- York,  or  Pennsyl- 
vania ;  speeches  are  made,  negro  wrongs  are 
dwelt  upon,  Burns  is  quoted, '  A  man's  a  man 
for  a'  that,'  and  Terence  also, '  Homo  sum  et 
nihil  a  me  alleimm  puto'  '  My  black  brother,' 
and  'AH  men  are  born  free  and  equal.'  The 
meeting  terminates ;  an  impression  is  made, 
and  frequently  even  upon  strong  minds.  There 
are  no  libraries  within  reach ;  the  different 
authors'  works  are  too  expensive,  and  the 
abolition  poison  runs  through  the  mental  sys- 
tem, as  hydrophobia  through  the  physical,  un 
til  the  patient  becoraesa  rabid,  raving  fanatic." 
The  author  goes  on  to  say  that  his  volume  is 
intended  to  popularize  the  subject,  and  thus 
to  counteract  this  evil.  Most  heartily  do  we 
wish  him  success.  Full  time  it  is  that  some- 
thing were  doing,  sinking  as  we  are,  to  use 
the  words  of  Carlyle,  "  in  deep  froth  oceans  of 
'  benevolence,' '  fraternity,'  'emancipation-prin- 
ciple,' and  '  Christian  philanthropy,'  and  other 
most  amiable-looking,  but  most  baseless,  and, 
in  the  end,  baleful  and  all-bewildering  jargon." 
"  Never  till  now  did  the  sun  look  down  on  such 
a  jumble  of  human  nonsense?."  "  We  have  a 
long  way  t  >  travel  back,  and  terrible  flounder- 
ings  to  make,  and  in  fact  an  immense  load  of 
nonsense  to  dislodge  from  our  poor  heads,  and 
manifokl  cobwebs  to  rend  from  our  poor  eyes, 
before  we  get  into  the  road  again,  and  can 
begin  to  act  as  serious  men  that  have  work  to 
do  in  this  universe,  and  no  longer  as  windy 
sentimentalists,  that  merely  have  speeches  to 
deliver, and  speeches  to  write."  "Our  own  white 
or  sallow  Ireland,  sluttishly  starving  from  age 
to  age  on  its  act  of  parliament  freedom,  was 
hitherto  the  flower  of  mi-jmanagement  among 
nations ;  but  what  will  this  be  to  a  negro  Ire- 
land, with  pumpkins  themselves  fallen  short 
like  potatoes '(  Imagination  cannot  fathom 
such  an  object ;  the  belly  of  Chaos  never  held 
the  like.  The  human  mind  in  its  wide  wan- 
dering-i  has  not  dreamt  yet  of  such  a  '  freedom ' 
as  thatwill  be."  "  Terrible  must  be  the  struggle 
to  return  from  our  delusions,  floating  rapidly 
on  which,  not  the  West  Indies  alone,  but 
Europe  generally,  is  nearing  the  Niagara 
Falls." 

We  agree  with  Mr.  Campbell  that  a  full 
an  d  open  discussion  on  the  subject  of  the  races, 


is  the  likeliest  mode  of  warding  off  the  terrible 
evil  which  hangs  over  us.  We  are  hardly 
sanguine  enough  to  believe  with  him  "  that 
there  is  a  rapid  change  going  on  in  the  public 
mind  of  our  northern  .states  favorable  to  negro 
slavery  ;"  but  we  do  believe  that  nothing  would 
go  farther  towards  expediting  such  a  change 
than  the  bold  expression  of  such  fair  and  hon- 
orable views  as  he  has  not  hesitated  to  ad- 
vance. "  Let  our  citizens  (he  says)  understand 
the  real  merits  of  the  question  af  issue,  and 
there  is  no  fear  but  a  healthy  tone  will  be  given 
to  public  opinion,  and  that  maudlin,  silly  hu- 
manitarianism  will  give  way  to  true  ideas  and 
plain,  practical  common  sense."  "  It  is  only  ne- 
cessai'y  to  demand  discussion — open,  fair,  and 
free  discussion — to  prove  to  our  working  citi- 
zens the  extreme  wickedness  of  freeing  the 
negro  under  any  pretext  at  all."  Fain  would  we 
believe  this,  and  from  our  hearts  we  thank  Mr. 
Campbell  for  his  manly  effort  in  the  true  cause 
of  civilization  and  humanity.  It  is  indeed  a 
noble  cau-e,  and  high  the  meed  of  praise  to  those 
who  contribute  to  unmask  the  hideous  form 
which  now,  under  the  assumed  name  of  phi- 
lanthropy, covering,  like  the  veiled  prophet  of 
Khorassan,  its  fearful  loathsomeness  with  the 
garb  and  appurtenances  of  divinity,  claims  the 
worship  of  the  world. 

"Not  the  long-promised  light,  the  brow  whose  beaming 
Was  to  come  forth  all-conquering,  all-redeeming, 
But  features  horribler  than  hell  e'er  tratied 
On  its  own  brood." 

'  There,  ye  wise  saints,  behold  your  light,  your  star ; 
Ye  would  be  dupes  and  victims,  and  ye  are." 

L.  S.  M. 

NEGRO    SLAVERY— Memoir    on,    by 
Chancellor   Harper;    prepared   for,  and 

READ  before,  THE  SoCIETY  FOR  THE  AD- 
VANCEMENT OF  Learning,  of  South  Caro- 
lina— Part  I. — The  institution  of  domestic 
slavery  exists  over  far  the  greater  portion  of 
the  inhabited  earth.  Until  within  a  very  few 
ce'iituries,  it  may  be  said  to  have  existed  over 
the  whole  earth — at  least  in  all  those  portions 
of  it  which  had  made  any  advances  toward 
civilization.  We  might  safely  conclude,  then, 
that  it  is  deeply  founded  in  the  nature  of 
man  and  the  exigencies  of  human  society. 
Yet,  in  the  few  countries  in  which  it  has  been 
abolished — claiming,  perhaps  justly,  to  be 
farthest  advanced  in  civilization  and  intelli- 
gence, but  which  have  had  the  smallest  op- 
portunity of  observing  its  true  character  and 
effects — it  is  denounced  as  the  most  intolera- 
ble of  social  and  political  evils.  Its  exist- 
ence, and  every  hour  of  its  continuance,  is 
regarded  as  the  crime  of  the  communities  in 
which  it  is  found.  Even  by  those  in  the 
countries  alluded  to,  who  regard  it  with  the 
most  indulgence  or  the  least  abhorrence — who 
attribute  no  criminality  to  the  present  genera- 
tion, who  found  it  in  existence,  and  have 
not  yet  been  able  to  devise  the  means  of 
abolishing  it — it  is  pronounced  a  mislbrtune 


206 


KEGRO    SLAVERY — MEMOIR   ON". 


and  a  curse  injurious  and  dangerous  always, 
aud  wiiich  must  be  finally  fatal  to  the  socie- 
ties whii-li  admit  it.  This  is  no  lunger  regard- 
ed as  a  suljfct  of  argument  and  investigation. 
The  ()i>iiiions  referred  to  are  assumed  as  set- 
tled, or  the  truth  of  them  as  self-evident.  If 
any  voice  is  raised  among  ourselves  to  exten- 
uate or  to  vindicate,  it  is  unheard.  Tlie  judg- 
ment is  made  u|i.  We  can  have  no  hearing 
before  the  tribunal  of  the  civilized  -world. 

Yet,  on  tliis  very  accouut,  it  is  more  impor- 
tant tiiat  we,  the  inhabitants  of  the  slave- 
holding  states  of  America,  insulated  as  we 
are  by  tliis  institution,  and  cut  off,  in  some 
degree,  from  the  connuunion  aud  sympatliies 
of  the  world  by  wliich  we  are  surrounded,  or 
witli  wliich  we  have  intercourse,  and  exposed 
continually  to  tlieir  auiinadversions  and  at- 
tacks, shoiild  thoroughly  unrierstaud  tliis  sub- 
ject, and  our  strength  aud  weakness  in  rela- 
tion to  it.  If  it  be  thus  criminal,  dangerous 
and  fatal — and  if  it  be  possible  to  devise 
means  of  freeing  ourselves  from  it — we  ought 
at  once  to  set  about  the  employing  ot  those 
means.  It  would  be  the  most  wretclied  and 
imbecile  fatuity,  to  shut  our  eyes  to  the  im- 
pending dangers  and  liorrors,  and  "drive 
darkling  down  the  current  of  our  fate,"  till 
we  are  overwhelmed  in  the  final  destruction. 
If  we  are  tyrants — cruel,  unjust,  oppressive — 
let  us  humble  ourselves  and  repent  in  the 
sight  of  Heaven,  that  the  foul  stain  may  be 
cleansed,  aud  we  enabled  to  stand  erect,  as 
having  common  claims  to  humanity  with  our 
fellow-men. 

But  if  we  are  nothing  of  all  this ;  if  we 
commit  no  injustice  or  cruelty ;  if  the  mainte- 
nance of  our  institutions  be  essential  to  our 
prosperity,  our  character,  our  safety,  and  the 
safety  of  all  tliat  is  dear  to  us — let  us  enlight- 
en our  minds,  and  fortify  our  hearts  to  delend 
them. 

It  is  a  somewhat  singular  evidence  of  the 
indisposition  of  the  rest  of  the  world  to  hear 
anything  more  on  this  subject,  that  perhaps 
the  most  profound,  original  and  truly  piiilo- 
sophical  treatise,  which  has  appeared  witiiin 
the  time  of  my  recollection,*  seems  not  to 
have  attracted  the  slightest  attention  out  of 
the  limits  of  the  slaveholdiiig  states  them- 
selves. If  truth,  reason,  and  conclusive  argu- 
ment, propountled  with  admirable  temper  and 
perfect  candor,  might  be  supposed  to  liave  an 
effect  on  tlie  minds  of  nmn,  we  sliould  think 
this  work  would  luive  put  an  end  to  agitation 
on  the  subject.  The  author  ha.s  rendered  in- 
ajipreciable  service  to  the  south  in  enlighten 
ing  them  on  tlie  subject  of  their  own  iiislitu- 
tions,  and  turning  back  that  monstrous  tide  of 
folly  and  madness,  which,  if  it  liad  rolled  on, 
would  have  involved  his  own  great  state, 
along  with  the  rest  of  the  slaveholding  states, 


•  PreHiJciit  DewV  Rovicw  of  the  Virijiuiu  Debates 
on  tlie  subject  of  Sluvtry. 


in  a  common  ruin.  But  beyond  these,  he 
seems  to  have  produced  no  effect  whatever. 
The  denouncers  of  slavery,  wiih  wh<).<o  pro- 
ductions the  press  groans,  seem  to  be  una- 
ware of  his  existence — uuaware  that  there  is 
I  reason  to  be  encountered,  or  argument  to  be 
answered.  Tliey  assume  that  the  truth  is 
known  and  settleti,  and  only  requires  to  be 
enforced  by  denunciation. 

Anf)ther  vindicator  of  the  south  has  ap- 
peared in  au  individual  who  is  among  those 
that  have  dune  honor  to  American  literature.* 
With  conclusive  argument,  and  great  force  of 
expression,  he  has  defended  slavery  from  the 
charge  of  injustice  or  immorality,  and  shown 
clearly  the  unspeakable  cruelty  and  mischief 
which  must  result  from  any  scheme  ol  aboli- 
tion. He  does  not  live  among  slaveholders, 
aud  it  cannot  be  s:iid  of  him,  as  of  others,  tliat 
his  mind  is  warpeil  by  interest,  or  his  moral 
sense  blunted  by  habit,  arul  familiarity  with 
abuse.  These  circumstances,  it  might  be 
supposed,  would  have  secured  him  hearing 
and  consideration.  He  seems  to  be  equally 
unheeded,  and  the  work  of  denunciation,  dis- 
daining argument,  still  goes  on. 

President  Dew  has  shown  that  the  institu- 
tion of  slavery  is  a  principal  cause  of  civiliza- 
tion. Perhaps  nothing  can  be  more  evident 
than  that  it  is  the  sole  cause.  If  any  thing 
can  be  predicated  as  universally  true  of  un- 
cultivated man,  it  is,  that  he  will  not  labor 
beyond  what  is  absolutely  necessary  to  main- 
tain his  existence.  Labor  is  pain  to  those 
who  are  unaccustomed  to  it,  ami  the  nature  ot 
man  is  averse  to  pain.  Even  with  all  the 
training,  the  helps  and  motives  of  civilization, 
we  find  that  this  aversion  cannot  be  overcome 
in  many  individuals  of  the  most  cultivated 
societies.  The  coercion  of  slavery  alone  is 
adequate  to  form  man  to  habits  of  labor. 
Without  it  there  can  be  no  accumulation  of 
pro])erty,  no  prcjvitlence  for  the  future,  no  taste 
for  comforts  or  elegancies,  which  are  the  cha- 
racteristics and  essentials  of  civilization.  He 
who  has  obtained  the  command  of  another's 
labor,  first  begins  to  accumulate  and  jnovide 
for  the  future,  and  the  foundations  of  civiliza- 
tion are  laid.  Wo  find  confirmed  by  ex- 
perience that  which  is  so  evident  in  theory. 
8ince  the  existence  of  man  upon  the  eaith, 
with  no  exception  whatever,  either  of  ancient 
or  modern  times,  every  .society  which  has  at- 
tained civilization  has  ailvanced  to  it  tlirough 
this  process. 

Will  those  who  regard  slavery  as  immoral, 
or  crime  in  itself,  tell  us  that  man  was  not  in- 
tended for  civilization,  but  to  mam  the  earth  as 
a  biped  brute  J  That  he  is  not  to  raise  his 
e3'es  to  heaven,  or  be  conformed  in  his  nobler 
faculties  to  the  image  of  his  Maker?  Or  will 
they  say  that  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  has 
done  wrong  in  oixlainiug  the  means  by  which 


PuuldiDg  on  islavery. 


NEGRO    SLAVERY — MEMOIR  ON". 


20Y 


alone  that  end  can  be  attained  3  It  is  true, 
that  the  Creator  ciin  make  the  wicketlness  as 
well  as  tlie  wrath  «f  man  to  praise  him,  and 
bring  forth  tlie  most  benevolent  results  from 
the  most  atrocious  actions.  But,  in  such  cases, 
it  is  the  motive  of  the  actor  alone  which  con- 
demns the  action.  The  act  itself  is  good,  if  it 
promotes  the  good  purposes  of  God,  and  would 
be  approved  by  him,  if  that  result  only  were 
inteiuied.  Do'^thoy  not  blaspheme  the  provi- 
dence of  God  wiio  denounce  ixs  wickedness 
and  outrage  that  which  is  rendered  indispen- 
sable to  his  purposes  in  the  government  of  the 
world  ?  Or  at  what  stage  of  the  progress  of 
society  will  they  say  that  slavery  ceases  to  be 
necessary,  and  its  very  existence  becomes  sin 
and  crime  ?  I  am  aware  that  such  argument 
would  have  little  effect  on  those  with  whom 
it  would  be  degrading  to  contend — who  per- 
vert the  inspired  writings — which,  in  some 
parts,  expressly  sanction  slavery,  and,  through- 
out, nidicate  most  clearly  that  it  is  a  civil  in- 
stitution, with  which  religion  has  no  concern — 
with  a  shallowness  and  presumption  not  less 
flagrant  and  shameless  than  his,  who  would 
justify  murder  from  the  text,  "and  Phineas 
arose  and  executed  judgment." 

Tliere  seems  to  be  something  in  this  subject 
which  blunts  the  perceptions  and  darkens  and 
confuses  the  understandings  and  moral  feel- 
ings of  men.  Tell  them  that,  of  necessity,  in 
every  civilized  society,  there  must  be  an  infi- 
nite variety  of  conditions  and  employments, 
from  tiie  most  eminent  and  intellectual  to  the 
most  servile  and  laborious;  that  the  negro 
race,  from  their  temperament  and  capacity, 
are  peculiarly  suited  to  the  situation  which 
they  occupy,  and  not  less  happy  in  it  thau  any  j 
other  corresponding  class  to  be  found  in  the 
world;  prove,  incontestably,  that  no  scheme  , 
of  emancipation  could  be  carried  into  effect  i 
without  the  most  intolerable  mischiefs  and 
calamities  to  both  master  and  slave,  or  without 
probably  throwing  a  large  and  fertile  portion 
of  the  earth's  surface  out  of  the  pale  of  civil- 
ization— and  you  have  done  nothing.  They 
reply,  that  whatever  may  be  the  consequence, 
you  are  bound  to  do  rigid ;  that  man  lias  a 
right  to  himself  and  man  cannot  have  a  prop- 
erty in  man;  that  if  the  negro  race  be  nat- 
urally inferior  in  mind  and  character,  they  are 
not  less  entitled  to  the  right  of  humanity ; 
that  if  they  are  happy  in  tlieir  condition,  it  af- 
fords but  the  stronger  evidence  of  their  de- 
gradation, and  renders  them,  still  more,  objects 
of  commiseration.  Tliey  repeat,  as  the  funda- 
mental maxim  of  our  civil  policy,  that  all  men 
are  born  free  and  equal,  and  quote  from  our 
Declaration  of  Independence,  "that  men  are 
endowed  by  their  Creator  with  certain  inalien- 
able rlf//i'x,  auiong  which  are  life,  liberty,  and 
the  pursuit  of  hai)piness." 

It  is  not  tlie  first  time  that  I  have  had  oc- 
casion to  ob-icrve  that  men  may  repeat,  with 
tlie  utmost  confidence,  some  maxim  or  senti- 


mental phrase  as  selPevident  or  admitted 
truth,  which  is  either  palpably  false,  or  to 
whicii,  upon  examination,  it  will  be  found  they 
attach  no  definite  idea.  Notwithstanding  our 
respect  for  the  important  document  which 
ilechired  our  independence,  yet,  if  any  thing 
be  found  in  it — and  especially  in  what  may 
be  regarded  rather  as  its  ornament  than  its 
substance— false,  sopliistical  or  unmeaning, 
that  resj)ect  should  not  screen  it  from  the  freest 
examination. 

All  men  are  horn  free  and  eqiml.  Is  it  not 
palpably,  nearer  the  truth  to  say,  that  no  man 
was  ever  born  free,  and  that  no  two  men  were 
ever  born  equal  ?  Man  is  born  in  a  state  of 
the  most  helpless  dependence  on  others.  He 
continues  subject  to  the  most  absolute  control 
of  others,  and  remains  without  many  of  the 
civil,  and  all  of  the  political,  privileges  of  his 
society,  until  the  period  which  the  laws 
have  fixed,  as  that  at  which  he  is  supposed  to 
attain  the  maturity  of  his  faculties.  Then 
inequality  is  further  developed,  and  becomes 
infinite  in  every  society,  and  under  whatever 
form  of  government.  Wealth  and  poverty, 
fame  or  obscurity,  strength  or  weakness, 
knowledge  or  ignorance,  ease  or  labor,  power 
or  subjection,  make  the  endless  diversity  in 
the  condition  of  men. 

But  we  have  not  arrived  at  the  profundity 
of  the  maxim.  This  inequality  is,  in  a  great 
measure,  the  result  of  abuses  in  the  institu- 
tions of  society.  They  do  not  speak  of  what 
exists,  but  of  what  ought  to  exist.  Every  one 
should  be  left  at  liberty  to  obtain  all  the  ad- 
vantages of  society  which  he  can  compass  by 
the  free  exertion  of  his  faculties,  unimpeded 
by  civil  restraints.  It  may  be  said,  that  this 
would  not  remedy  the  evils  of  society  which 
are  complained  of  The  inequalities  to  which 
I  have  referred,  with  the  misery  resulting 
from  them,  would  exist,  in  fact,  under  the 
freest  and  most  popular  form  of  government 
that  man  could  devise.  But  what  is  the  foun- 
dation of  the  bold  dogma  so  confidently  an- 
nounced ?  Females  are  human  and  rational 
beings.  They  may  be  found  of  better  facul- 
ties, and  better  qualified  to  exercise  political 
privileges,  and  to  attain  the  distinctions  of  so- 
ciety, than  many  men;  yet  who  complains  of 
the  order  of  society  by  which  they  are  ex- 
cludetl  from  them  ?  For,  I  do  not  speak  of 
the  few  who  would  desecrate  them ;  do  vio- 
lence to  the  nature  which  their  Creator  has 
impressed  upon  them;  drag  them  from  the 
position  which  they  necessarily  occupy  for  the 
existence  of  civilized  society,  and  in  which 
they  constitute  its  blessing  and  ornament — 
the  only  position  which  they  have  ever  occu- 
pied in  any  human  society — to  place  them  in 
a  situation  in  which  they  would  be  alike 
miserable  and  degraded.  Low  as  we  descend 
in  combating  the  theories  of  presumptuous 
dogmatists,  it  cautiot  be  necessary  to  stoop  to 
this.     A  youth  of  eighteen  may  iiave  powers 


208 


NEGRO    SLAVERY MEMOIR    OX. 


which  cast  into  the  sh^de  those  of  any  of  his 
more  ativanceii  contemporaries.  He  may  be 
capable  of  serviiiu^  or  .saviug  his  country,  and 
if  not  permitted  to  do  so  now,  the  occasion 
may  liave  been  lost  for  ever.  But  he  can  ex- 
ercise no  political  privilege,  or  iv*pne  to  any 
p)litical  distinction.  It  is  said  that,  of  ne- 
cessity, society  must  exclude  from  some  civil 
and  political  privileges  those  who  are  un- 
fitted to  exercise  thom  by  intirniity,  unsuita- 
bleness  of  character,  or  defect  of  discretion; 
that,  of  neces.sity,  there  must  be  some  general 
rule  on  the  subjt-ct,  and  that  anj'  rule  which  can 
be  devised  will  operate  with  hardship  and  in- 
justice on  individuals.  This  is  all  that  can  be 
said,  and  all  that  need  be  said.  It  is  saying, 
in  other  words,  that  the  privileges  in  question 
are  no  matter  of  natural  right,  but  to  be  set- 
tled by  convention,  as  the  good  and  safety  of 
society  may  require.  If  society  should  dis- 
franchise individuals  convicted  of  infamous 
crimes,  would  this  be  an  invasion  of  natural 
right  i  Yet  this  would  not  be  justified  on  the 
scoi-e  of  their  moral  guilt,  but  that  the  good 
of  society  required,  or  would  be  promoted  by 
it.  We  admit  the  existence  of  a  moral  law, 
binding  on  societies  as  on  individuals.  Society 
must  act  in  good  faith.  No  man,  or  body  of 
men,  has  a  right  to  inflict  pain  or  privation  on 
others,  unless  with  a  view,  after  full  and  im- 
partial deliberation,  to  prevent  a  greater  evil. 
If  this  deliberation  be  had,  and  the  decision 
made  in  good  faith,  there  can  be  no  imputa- 
tion of  moral  guilt  Has  any  politician  con- 
tended that  the  very  existence  of  governments 
in  which  there  are  orders  privileged  by  law, 
constitutes  a  violation  of  morality ;  that  their 
continuance  is  a  crime,  which  men  are  bound 
to  i)ut  an  end  to,  without  any  consideration  of 
the  good  or  evil  to  result  from  the  change  ? 
Yet  this  is  the  natural  inference  from  the  dog- 
ma of  the  !iatural  equality  of  men  as  applied 
to  our  institution  of  slavery — an  equality  not 
to  be  invaded  without  injustice  and  wrong, 
and  requiring  to  be  restored  instantly,  unqua- 
lifiedly, and  without  reference  to  conse(juences. 
This  is  sufhciently  common-place,  but  we 
are  sometimes  driven  to  common-place.  It 
is  no  less  a  false  and  shallow  than  a  pre 
sumptuous  philosophy,  wliich  theorizes  on  the 
affairs  of  men  as  of  a  problem  to  be  solved 
by  some  unerring  rule  of  human  reason, 
■without  reference  to  the  designs  of  a  superior 
Intelligence,  so  far  as  he  has  been  pleased  to 
indicate  them,  in  tlieir  creation  and  deetiny. 
Man  is  born  to  subjection.  Not  only  during 
infancy  is  he  dependent  and  under  the  control 
of  others ;  at  all  ages,  it  is  the  very  bias  of 
his  nature,  that  the  strong  and  wise  should 
control  the  weak  and  ignorant.  So  it  has 
been  since  (he  days  of  Nimrod.  The  exist- 
ence of  some  form  of  slavery  in  all  ages  and 
countries,  is  proof  enough  of  this.  He  is  bora 
to  subjection  as  he  is  born  in  sin  and  igno- 
rance.    To  make  any  considerable  progress 


in  knowledge,  the  continued  efforts  of  suc- 
cessive generations,  and  the  diligent  training 
and  unwearied  exertions  of  the  individual  are 
re<iuiaite.  To  make  progress  in  moral  virtue, 
not  less  time  and  effort,  aided  by  superior 
help,  are  necessary  ;  and  it  is  only  by  the 
matured  exercise  of  his  knowledge  and  his 
virtue,  that  he  can  attain  to  civil  freedom. 
Of  all  things,  the  existence  of  civil  liberty  is 
most  the  result  of  artificial  institution.  The 
proclivity  of  the  natural  man  is  to  domineer 
or  to  be  subservient.  A  noble  result,  indeed ; 
but,  in  the  attaining  of  which,  as  in  the  in- 
stances of  knowledge  and  virtue,  the  Creator, 
for  his  own  purposes,  has  set  a  limit,  beyond 
which  we  cannot  go. 

But  he  who  is  most  advanced  in  know- 
ledge, is  most  sensible  of  liis  own  ignorance, 
and  how  much  must  for  ever  be  unknown  to 
man  in  his  present  condition.  As  I  liare 
heard  it  expressed,  the  further  you  extend  the 
circle  of  light,  the  wider  is  the  horizon  of 
darkness.  He  who  has  made  the  greatest 
progress  in  moral  purity,  is  most  sensible  of 
the  depravity,  not  only  of  the  world  around 
him,  but  of  his  own  heart,  and  the  imperfec- 
tion of  his  best  motives;  and  this  he  knows 
that  men  must  feel  and  lament,  so  long  as 
they  continue  men.  So,  when  the  greatest 
progress  in  civil  liberty  has  been  made,  the 
enlightened  lover  of  liberty  will  know  that 
there  must  remain  much  inequality,  much  in- 
justice, much  slavery,  which  no  human  wis- 
dom or  virtue  will  ever  be  able  wholly  to 
prevent  or  redress.  As  I  have  before  had 
the  honor  to  say  to  this  Society,  the  condition 
of  our  whole  existence  is  but  to  struggle  with 
evils — to  compare  them — to  choose  between 
them — and,  so  far  as  we  can,  to  mitigate  them. 
To  say  there  is  evil  in  any  institution,  is  only 
to  say  that  it  is  human. 

And  can  we  doubt  but  that  this  long  disci- 
pline and  laborious  process,  by  which  men  are 
required  to  work  out  the  elevation  and  im- 
provement of  their  inilividual  nature  and  their 
social  condition,  is  imposed  for  a  great  and 
benevolent  end  ?  Our  faculties  are  not  ade- 
quate to  the  solution  of  the  mystery,  why  it 
should  be  so  ;  but  the  truth  is  clear,  that  the 
world  was  not  intended  for  the  scat  of  univer- 
sal knowledge  or  goodness,  or  happiness,  or 
freedom. 

Man  has  been  endowed  by  his  Creator  with 
certain  inalienable  rights,  among  which  are 
life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness. 
What  is  meant  by  the  inalienable  right  of 
liberty  ?  Has  any  one  who  has  used  the 
words  ever  asked  himself  this  question  ?  Does 
it  mean  that  a  man  has  no  right  to  alienate 
his  own  liberty — to  sell  himself  and  his  pos- 
terity for  slaves  ?  This  would  seem  to  be  the 
more  obvious  meaning.  When  the  word  right 
is  used,  it  has  reference  to  some  law  which 
sanctions  it,  and  would  be  violated  by  its  in- 
vasion ;  it  must  refer  either  to  the  general 


HEORO    SLAVERY MEMOIR    ON. 


209 


law  of  morality  or  the  law  of  the  country — 
the  law  of  Ood  or  the  law  of  man.  If  tl)e  law 
of  any  country  permitted  it,  it  would  of  course 
be  absurd  to  say  that  the  law  of  liiat  country 
■was  violated  by  such  alienation.  If  it  have 
anj- meaning  hi  this  respect,it  must  mean  tliat, 
though  the  law  of  the  country  permitted  it, 
the  man  would  be  guilty  of  an  immoral  act 
who  should  thus  alienate  his  liberty.  A  fit 
question  for  schoolmen  to  discuss,  and  the  con- 
sequences resulting  from  its  decision  as  im- 
portant as  from  any  of  theirs.  Yet,  who  will 
say  that  the  man,  pressed  by  famine  and  in 
the  prospect  of  death,  would  be  criminal  for 
such  an  act?  Self-preservation,  as  is  truly 
said,  is  the  first  law  of  nature.  High  and 
peculiar  characters,  by  elaborate  cultivation, 
may  be  taught  to  prefer  death  to  slavery,  but 
it  would  be  folly  to  prescribe  this  as  a  duty 
to  the  mass  of  mankind. 

If  any  rational  meaning  can  be  attributed 
to  the  sentence  I  iiave  quoted,  it  is  this :  that 
the  society,  or  the  individuals  who  exercise 
the  powers  of  government,  .are  guilty  of  a 
violation  of  the  law  of  God  or  of  monality, 
when,  by  any  law  or  public  act,  they  deprive 
men  of  life  or  liberty,  or  restrain  them  in  the 
pursuit  of  h.appiness.  Yet  every  government 
does,  and  of  necessity  must,  deprive  men  of 
life  and  liberty  for  offenses  against  society. 
Restrain  them  in  the  pursuit  of  happiness! 
Why,  all  the  laws  of  society  are  intended  for 
nothing  else  but  to  restrain  men  from  the 
pursuit  of  happiness,  according  to  their  own 
ideas  of  happiness  or  advantage — which  the 
phrase  must  mean  if  it  means  anything.  And 
by  what  right  does  society  punish  by  the  loss 
of  life  or  liberty  ?  Not  on  account  of  the 
moral  guilt  of  the  criminal — not  by  impiously 
and  arrogantly  assuming  the  prerogative  of 
the  Almighty,  to  dispense  justice  or  suffering, 
according  to  moral  desert.  It  is  for  its  own 
protection — it  is  the  right  of  self-defense.  If 
there  existed  the  blackest  moral  turpitude, 
which,  by  its  example  or  consequences,  could 
be  of  no  evil  to  society,  government  would 
Lave  nothing  to  do  with  that.  If  an  action, 
the  most  harmless  iu  its  moral  character, 
could  be  dangerous  to  the  security  of  society, 
society  would  have  the  perfect  riglit  to  puni.sh 
it..  If  the  possession  of  a  black  skin  would 
be  otherwise  dangerous  to  society,  society 
has  the  same  right  to  protect  itself,  by  dis- 
franchising the  pos.sessor  of  civil  privileges, 
and  to  continue  the  disability  to  his  posterity, 
if  the  same  danger  would  be  incurred  by  its 
removal.  Society  inflicts  these  forfeitures  for 
the  security  of  the  lives  of  its  members ;  it 
inflicts  them  for  the  security  of  their  property, 
the  great  essential  of  civilization;  it  inflicts 
them,  also,  for  the  protection  of  its  political 
institutions — the  forcible  attempt  to  overturn 
■which,  has  always  been  justly  regarded  as  the 
greatest  crime ;  and  who  has  questioned  its 
right  so  to  inflict  ?  "  Man  cannot  have  prop- 
VOL.  II. 


erty  in  man" — a  phrase  as  full  of  meaning 
as,  "who  slays  fat  oxen,  should  himself  be 
fat."  Certainly  he  may,  if  the  laws  of  society 
allow  it ;  and,  if  it  be  on  sufficient  grounds, 
neither  he  nor  society  do  wrong. 

And  is  it  by  this — as  we  must  call  it,  how- 
ever reconmieuded  to  our  liigher  feelings  by 
its  association.s — well  sounding,  but  unmean- 
ing verbiage  of  natural  equality  and  inalien- 
able rights,  that  our  lives  are  to  be  put  in 
jeopardy,  our  property  destroyed,  and  our 
political  institutions  overturned  or  endnn- 
gered  ?  If  a  people  had  on  its  borders  a  tribe 
of  barbarians,  whom  no  treaties  or  faith  could 
bind,  and  by  whose  attacks  they  were  con- 
stantly endangered,  against  wliom  they  could 
ilevisu  no  security,  but  tiiat  tiiey  t-hould  be  ex- 
terminated and  en.^laved — would  tbey  not 
have  the  right  to  euslave  them,  and  keep  them 
in  slavery  so  long  as  the  same  danger  would 
be  incurred  by  their  manumission  ?  If  a 
civilized  man  and  a  savage  were  by  chance 
placed  together  on  a  desolate  Lsland,  and  the 
former,  by  the  supei-ior  power  of  civilization, 
could  reduce  the  latter  to  subjection,  would 
he  not  have  the  same  right  ?  Would  this  not 
be  the  strictest  self-defense  ?  I  do  not  now 
consider  how  far  we  can  make  out  a  similar 
case  to  justify  our  enslaving  the  negroes.  I 
speak  to  those  who  contend  for  inalienable 
rights,  and  that  the  existence  of  slavery, 
alw.ays,  and  under  all  circumstances,  involves 
injustice  and  crime. 

As  I  have  said,  we  acknowledge  the  ex- 
istence of  a  moral  law.  It  is  not  necessary 
for  us  to  resort  to  the  theory  which  resolves 
all  right  into  force.  The  existence  of  such  a 
law  is  imprinted  on  the  hearts  of  all  human 
beings.  But,  though  its  existence  be  acknow- 
ledged, the  mind  of  man  has  hitherto  been 
tasked  in  vain  to  discover  an  unerring  standard 
of  morality.  It  is  a  common  and  undoubted 
maxim  of  morality,  that  you  shall  not  do  evil 
that  good  may  come.  You  shall  not  do  in- 
justice or  commit  an  invasion  of  the  rights 
of  others,  for  the  sake  of  a  greater  ulterior 
good.  But  what  is  injustice,  and  what  are 
the  rights  of  others  ?  And  why  are  we 
not  to  commit  the  one  or  invade  the  others  ? 
It  is  because  it  inflicts  pain  or  suffering, 
present  or  prospective,  or  cuts  them  off  from 
enjoyment  which  they  might  otherwise  at- 
tain. The  Creator  has  sufficiently  revealed 
to  us  that  happiness  is  the  great  end  of  ex- 
istence— the  sole  object  of  all  animated  and 
sentient  beings.  To  this  he  has  directed 
their  aspirations  and  efforts,  and  we  feel  that 
we  thwart  his  benevolent  purposes  when  we 
destroy  or  impede  that  happiness.  This  is 
the  only  natural  right  of  man.  All  other 
rights  result  from  the  conventions  of  society, 
and  these,  to  be  sure,  we  are  not  to  invade, 
whatever  good  may  appear  to  us  likely  to  fol- 
low. Yet  are  we  in  no  instance  to  inflict 
pain  or  suffering,  or  disturb  enjoyment,  for 

14 


210 


NEGRO    SLAVERY MEMOIR    ON. 


the  sake  of  producing  a  greater  good  ?  Is 
the  madman  nut  to  be  rt'Strained  who  would 
bring  destruction  on  liim*elf  or  others  ?  Is 
pain  not  to  be  inHicted  on  the  child,  when  it 
is  the  only  means  by  which  he  can  be  effect- 
ually in-tructed  to  provide  for  his  own  future 
hapi)inei?s  ?  Is  the  surgeon  guilty  of  wrong 
who  amputates  a  limb  to  preserve  life  ?  Is  it 
not  the  object  of  all  penal  legislation,  to  in- 
flict suffering  for  the  sake  of  greater  good  to 
be  secured  to  society  ? 

By  what  right  is  it  that  man  exercises 
dominion  over  tlie  beasts  of  the  field;  sub- 
dues tliem  to  painful  labor,  or  deprives  them 
of  life  for  hit  sustenance  or  enjoyment  2  They 
are  not  rational  beings.  No,  but  they  are  the 
creatures  of  God,  sentient  beings,  capable  of 
suffering  and  enjoyment,  and  entitled  to  enjoy 
according  to  the  measure  of  their  capacities. 
Does  not  the  voice  of  nature  inform  everyone 
that  he  is  guilty  of  wrong  when  he  inflicts  on 
them  pain  without  necessity  or  object  ?  If 
their  existence  be  limited  to  the  present  life,  it 
affords  the  stronger  argument  for  affording 
them  the  brief  enjoyment  of  which  it  is  ca- 
pable. It  is  because  the  greater  good  is  ef- 
fected, not  only  to  man  but  to  the  inferior 
animals  themselves.  The  care  of  man  gives 
the  boon  of  existence  to  myriads  who  would 
never  otherwise  liave  enjoyed  it,  and  the  en- 
joyment of  their  existence  is  better  provided 
for  while  it  lasts.  It  belongs  to  the  being  of 
superior  faculties  to  judge  of  the  relations 
which  shall  su'byist  between  himself  and  the 
inferior  animals,  and  the  use  he  shall  make  of 
them;  and  he  may  justly  consider  himself, 
who  lias  the  greater  capacity  of  enjoyment, 
in  the  first  instance.  Yet  he  must  do  this 
conscientiously  ;  and,  no  doubt,  moral  guilt  has 
been  incurred  by  the  infliction  of  pain  on 
these  animals,  with  no  adequate  benefit  to  be 
expected.  I  do  no  disparagement  to  the 
dignity  of  human  nature,  even  in  its  humblest 
form,  when  I  say,  that  on  the  very  same 
foundation,  with  the  difference  only  of  circum- 
stance and  degree,  rests  the  right  of  civilized 
and  cultivated  man  over  the  savage  and 
ignf)rant.  It  is  the  order  of  nature  and  of 
God,  that  the  being  of  superior  faculties  and 
knowledge,  and  therefore  of  superior  power, 
should  control  and  dispose  of  those  who  are 
inferior.  It  is  as  much  in  the  order  of  nature, 
that  men  should  enslave  each  other,  as  that 
otlieranimals  should  prey  upon  each  (.)ther.  I 
admit  that  he  does  this  under  the  highest 
moral  responsibility,  and  is  most  guilty  if  he 
wantonly  inflicts  misery  or  privation  on  beings 
more  capable  of  enjoyment  or  of  suttering 
than  brutes,  without  necessity  or  any  view  to 
the  greater  good  which  is  to  result.  If  we 
conceive  of  society  existing  without  govern- 
ment, and  that  one  man,  by  his  superior 
strength,  courage  or  wisdom,  could  obtain  the 
maste'y  of  his  fellows,  he  wouhl  have  a  per- 
fect right  to  do  so.    He  would  be  morally 


responsible  for  the  use  of  his  power,  and 
guilty  if  he  failed  to  direct  them  so  as  to  pro- 
mote their  happiness  as  well  as  liis  own. 
Moralists  have  denounced  the  injustice  and 
cruelty  which  have  been  practised  toward 
our  aboriginal  Indians,  by  which  they  have 
been  driven  from  their  native  seats  and  exter- 
minated, and  no  doubt  with  much  justice. 
No  doubt  much  fraud  an  !  injustice  has  been 
practised,  in  the  circumstances  and  the  man- 
ner of  their  removal.  Yet  who  has  contended 
that  civilized  man  had  no  moral  right  to  pos- 
sess himself  of  the  country  i  That  he  was 
bound  to  leave  this  wide  and  fertile  continent, 
which  is  capable  of  sustaining  uncounted 
myriads  of  a  civilized  race,  to  a  few  roving 
and  ignorant  barbarians  ?  Yet  if  any  thing 
is  certain,  it  is  certain  that  there  were  no 
means  by  which  he  could  possess  the  country, 
without  exterminating  or  enslaving  them. 
Savage  and  civilized  man  cannot  live  together, 
and  the  savage  can  only  be  tamed  by  being 
enslaved  or  by  having  slaves.  By  enslaving, 
alone,  could  he  have  preserved  them.*  And 
who  shall  take  upon  himself  to  decide  that 
the  more  benevolent  course,  and  the  one  more 
pleasing  to  God,  was  pursued  toward  them, 
or  that  it  would  not  have  been  better  that 
they  had  been  enslaved  generally,  as  they 
were  in  particular  instances  ?  It  is  a  refined 
philosophy,  and  utterly  false  in  its  application 
to  general  nature  or  to  the  mass  of  human 
kind,  which  teaches  that  existence  is  not  the 
greatest  of  boons,  and  worthy  of  being  pre- 
served even  under  the  most  adverse  circum- 
stances. The  strongest  instinct  of  all  animated 
beings  sufficiently  proclaims  this.  When  the 
last  red  man  shall  have  vanished  from  our 
forests,  the  sole  remaining  traces  of  his  blood 
will  be  found  among  our  enslaved  popula- 
tion.f  The  African  slave-trade  has  given,  and 
will  give,  the  boon  of  existence  to  millions 
and  millions  in  our  country,  who  would,  other- 
wise, never  have  enjoyed  it,  and  the  enjoy- 
ment of  t!;eir  existence  is  better  provided  for 
while  it  lasts.  Or  if,  for  the  rights  of  man 
over  inferior  animals,  we  are  referred  to  Rev- 
elation, which  pronounces — "Ye  shall  have 
dominion  over  tlie  beasts  of  the  field,  and 
over  the  fowls  of  the  air,"  we  refer  to  the 
same,  which  declares  not  less  explicitly — 

"Both  the  bondmen  and  bondmaids  which 
(hou  shalt  have,  shall  be  of  the  heathen  that 
are  among  you.  Of  them  shall  you  buy 
bondmen  and  bondmaids." 

'"Moreover,  of  the  children  of  strangers 
that  do  sojourn  among  you,  of  them  shall  ye 
buy,  and  of  their  families  that  are  with  you, 
which  they  begot  in  your  land,  and  they 
shall   be  your    possession.     And  ye    shall 


*  I  refer  to  Prosident  Dc-.w  on  this  subject. 

+  II  is  not  uncommon,  cspecinlly  in  Cluirleslon,  to 
see  slaves,  aOer  niiiny  descents,  and  havlna;  niingled 
their  blood  with  the  Africans,  possessing  Indian  hair 
and  features. 


NEGRO    SLAVERY MEMOIR   ON, 


211 


fciVe  tliem  as  an  inheritance  for  your  children  I 
■after  you,  to  iuhorit  tliem  by  possession.  | 
They  shiiU  ho  your  bondmen  for  ever."  j 

In  moral  inve.stJgiiUons,  ambiguity  is  often 
occasioned  by  confounding  the  intrinsic  nature  ; 
of   an  action,  as   determined    by  its   conse-  j 
quence,  with  the  motives  of  the  actor,  involv- 
ing moral  guilt  or  innocence.     If  poison  be  ' 
given  witli  a  view  to  desti'oy  another,  and  ' 
it  cures  him  of  disease,  the  poisoner  is  guilty, 
but  tlie  ^act  is  beneficent  in  its  results.     If 
medicine  be  given  with  a  view  to  heal,  and  it  { 
happens  to  kill,  he  who  administered  it  is  in- 1 
nocent,  but  the  act  is  a  noxious  one.     If  they 
who  began  and  prosecuted  the   slave-trade, ' 
practised  horrible  cruelties  and  inflicted  nnicli 
suffering — as  no  doubt  they  did,  though  these 
have   been   much   exaggerated — for   merely 
selfish  purposes,  and  with  no  view  to  future 
good,  they  were  morally  most  guilty.     So  far 
as  unnecessary   cruelty    was   practised,   the  | 
motive  and  the  act  were  alike  bad.     But  if 
■we  could  be  sure  that  the  entire  effect  df  the 
trade   has  been  to  produce  more  happiness 
than  would  otherwise  have  existed,  we  must 
pronounce  it  good,  and  that  it  has  happened 
m  the  orderidg  of  God's  providence,  to  whom 
evil  cannot  be  imputed.     Moral  guilt  has  not '. 
been  imputed  to  Las  Oases,  and  if  the  im- 
portation of  African  slaves  into  America  had 
the  effect  of  preventing  more  suffering  than  it  I 
inflicted,  it  was  good  both  in  the  motive  and 
the  result.     I  freely  admit,  that  it  is  hardly 
possible  to  justify,  morally,  those  who  began 
and  carried  on  the  slave-trade.     No  specula- 
tion of  future  good  to  be  brought  about  could 
compensate  the  enormous  amount  of  evil  it 
occasioned. 

If  we  could  refer  to  the  common  moral  sense  j 
of  mankind,  as  determined  by  their  conduct  in 
all  ages  and  countries,  for  a  standard  of  mo- 
ralit}^,  it  would  seem  to  be  in  favor  of  slavery. 
The  will  of  God,  as  determined  by  utility, 
•would  be  an  infallible  standard,  if  we  had  an 
unerring  measure  of  utility.  The  utilitarian 
philosophy,  as  it  is  commonly  understood, 
referring  only  to  the  animal  wants  and  em- 
ployments and  physical  condition  of  man,  is 
utterly  false  and  degrading.  If  a  sufficiently 
extended  definition  be  given  to  utility,  so  as 
to  include  every  thing  that  may  be  a  source 
of  enjoyment  or  suffering,  it  is,  for  the  most 
part,  useless.  How  can  you  compare  the 
pleasures  resulting  from  the  exercise  of  the 
understanding,  the  taste  and  the  imagination, 
with  the  animal  enjoyments  of  the  senses — 
the  gratification  derived  from  a  fine  poem, 
with  that  ftom  a  rich  banquet  ?  How  are  we 
to  weigh  the  pains  and  enjoyments  of  one 
man,  highly  cultivated  and  of  great  sensi- 
bility, against  those  of  many  meft  of  blunter 
capacity  for  enjoyment  or  suffering?  And  if 
we  could  determine,  with  certainty,  in  what 
utility  consists,  we  are  so  short-sighted  with 
respect  to  consequences — the  remote  results 


of  our  best  considered  actions  are  so  often 
wide  of  our  anticipations,  or  contrary  to  them 
— that  we  should  still  be  very  mucli  in  the 
(lark.  But,  though  we  cannot  arrive  at  abso- 
lute certainty  with  ntspect  to  the  utility  of 
actions,  it  is  always  fairly  matter  of  argument. 
Thongli  an  imperfect  standard,  it  is  the  best 
we  have,  and  perhaps  the  Creator  did  not 
intend  that  we  should  arrive  at  perfect  cer- 
tainty with  regard  to  the  morality  of  many 
actions.  If,  aftei'  the  most  careful  examina- 
tion of  consequences  that  we  are  able  to 
make,  with  due  distrust  of  ourselves,  we  im- 
partially, and  in  good  faith,  decide  for  that 
which  ajipears  likely  to  produce  the  greatest 
good,  we  are  free  from  moral  guilt.  And  I 
would  impress  most  earnestly,  that  with  our 
imperfect  and  limited  faculties,  and  short- 
sighted as  we  are  to  the  future,  we  can  rarely, 
very  rarely  indeed,  be  justified  in  producing 
considerable  present  evil  or  suffering,  in  the 
expectation  of  remote  future  good — if,  indeed, 
this  can  ever  be  justified. 

In  considering  this  subject,  I  shall  not  re- 
gard it,  in  the  first  instance,  in  reference  to  the 
present  position  of  the  slaveholding  states,  or 
the  difficulties  which  lie  in  the  way  of  their 
emancipating  their  slaves,  but  as  a  naked,  ab- 
stract question — whether  it  is  better  that  the 
institution  of  predial  and  domestic  slavery 
should,  or  should  not,  exist  in  civilized  society. 
And  though  some  of  my  remarks  may  seem 
to  have  such  a  tendency,  let  me  not  be  under- 
stood as  taking  upon  myself  to  determine 
that  it  is  better  it  should  exist.  God  forbid 
that  the  responsibility  of  deciding  such  a 
question  should  ever  be  thrown  on  me  or  my 
countrymen.  But  this  I  will  say,  and  not 
without  confidence,  that  it  is  in  the  power  of 
no  human  intellect  to  establish  the  contrary 
proposition— that  it  is  better  it  should  not 
exist.  This  is  probably  known  but  to  one 
Being,  and  concealed  from  human  sagacity. 

There  have  existed  in  various  ages,  and  we 
now  see  existing  in  the  world,  people  in  every 
stage  of  civilization,  from  the  most  barbarous 
to  the  most  refined.  Man,  as  I  have  said ,  is 
not  born  to  civilization.  He  is  born  rude  and 
ignorant.  But  it  will  be,  I  suppose,  admitted, 
that  it  is  the  design  of  the  Creator  that  he 
should  attain  to  civilization ;  that  religion 
should  be  known,  that  the  comforts  and  ele- 
gancies of  life  should  be  enjoyed,  that  letters 
and  arts  should  be  cultivated ;  in  short,  that 
there  should  be  the  greatest  possible  develop- 
ment of  moral  and  intellectual  excellence.  It 
can  hardly  be  necessary  to  say  any  thing  of 
those  who  have  extolled  the  superior  virtues 
and  enjoyments  of  savage  life  —  a  life  of 
physical  wants  and  sufferings,  of  continual  in- 
security, of  furious  passions  and  depraved 
vices.  Those  who  have  praised  savage  life, 
are  those  who  have  known  nothing  of  it,  or 
who  have  become  savages  themselves.  But, 
as  I  have  said,  so  far  as  reason  or  universal 


212 


ITEGRO   SLAVERY — MEMOIR    OK. 


experiences  in?tmct  us,  the  institution  of 
slverv  is  an  ci^sential  process  in  emerging 
from  snvafje  life.  It  must  tben  produce 
good,  :uk1  promote  the  designs  of  the  Creator. 

SlaVEIIY  ANTICIFATESTnE  BENEFITS  OF  CfV- 
IlIZATrO>f  AND  RETARDS  ITS  EviI.S;  StUUGGLES 
OF  SoriKTY  AND   THE    COMPETITION    OK    InTER 

ESTs;  Poor  Laws  contrasted  •with  the  Re- 
lation OF  Master  and  Slave. — Part  II. — I 
add,  further,  that  slavery  ant'icipatfn  the  bene- 
■fits  of  civilization,  and  retards  the  evils  of  civ- 
ilization.  The  former  part  of  this  prnjwsi 
tion  has  been  so  fully  established  by  a  writer 
of  great  power  of  thought — thougli  I  fear  his 
practical  conclusions  will  be  found  of  little 
value — that  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  urge 
it*  Property — the  accumulation  of  capital, 
as  it  is  commonly  called — is  the  first  ele- 
mentary civilization.  But  to  accumulate  or 
to  use  capital  to  any  considerable  extent, 
the  combination  of  labor  is  necessary.  In 
early  stages  of  society,  when  people  are 
thinly  scattered  over  an  extensive  territory, 
the  labor  necensary  to  extensive  works  cannot 
be  commanded.  Men  are  independent  of  each 
other.  Having  the  command  of  abundance  of 
land,  no  one  will  submit  to  be  employed  in 
the  service  of  his  neighbor.  No  one,  therefore, 
can  employ  more  capital  than  he  can  use  with 
his  own  hands,  or  those  of  his  family,  nor  have 
an  income  much  beyond  the  necessaries  of  life. 
There  can,  therefore,  be  little  leisure  for  intel- 
lectual pursuits,  or  means  of  acquiring  the  com- 
forts or  tlegancies  of  life.  It  is  hardly  neces- 
sary to  say,  however,  that  if  a  man  has  the 
command  of  slaves,  he  may  combine  labor 
and  use  capital  to  any  required  extent,  and 
therefore  accumulate  wealth.  He  shows  that 
no  colonies  have  been  successfully  planted 
without  some  sort  of  slavery.  So  we  find  the 
fact  to  be.  It  is  only  in  the  slaveholding  states 
of  our  confederacy  that  wealth  can  be  acquired 
by  agriculture,  which  is  the  general  employ- 
ment of  our  whole  country.  Among  us,  we 
know  there  is  no  one,  however  humble  his  be- 
ginning, who,  with  persevering  industry,  intel- 
ligence, and  orderly  anil  virtuous  habits,  may 
not  attain  to  con.siderable  opulence.  So  far  as 
wealth  has  been  accumulated  in  the  states 
which  do  not  possess  slaves,  it  has  been  in 
cities,  by  the  pursuits  of  commerce ;  or,  lately, 
by  manufactures.  But  the  products  of  slave 
labor  furnish  more  than  two  thirds  of  the  ma- 
terials fif  our  foreign  commerce,  which  the  in- 
dustry of  tljose  states  is  eini)loyod  in  transport- 
ing and  exchanging ;  and  among  the  slave- 
holding  states  is  to  be  found  the  great  market 


♦  The  nutlinr  nf  "ICnslniid  and  .Amcriru."  Wc  do, 
howevor,  most  iiidi;rn.intly  rcpu<iiato  his  conchipioii 
—thai  wo  are  buuiul  to  nubinit  to  ii  tariff  oC  protec- 
tion, as  nn  cxpoi'.ient  for  rutainii)!<  our  slavos :  "  'J'lie 
force  of  Ihe  wliolu  Cnioii  bciii),'  r'uuirud  to  prisurve 
slavery— to  keep  down  the  slaves." 


for  all  the  productions  of  their  indiistry,  of 
whatever  kind.  The  prosperity  of  those. -states, 
therefore,  and  tlie  civilization  of  their  cities, 
have  been,  f  )r  the  most  part,  created  by  the 
existence  of  slavery.  Evt-n  in  the  citiis,  but 
for  a  class  of  population  which  our  institutions 
have  marked  as  servile,  it  would  be  scarcely 
possible  to  preserve  the  ordinary  habitudes  of 
civilized  life  by  commanding  the  necessivry 
menial  and  domestic  service. 

Eveiy  stage  of  human  society,  from  the 
most  barl>arous  to  the  most  refined,  ha«  its 
own  peculi  ir  evils  to  mark  it  as  the  condition 
of  morality  ;  and  perhaps  there  is  none  but 
Omnipotence  who  can  say  in  which  the  scale 
of  good  or  evil  ir»ost  preponderates.  We  need 
say  nothing  of  tlie  evils  of  savage  life.  Tiiere 
is  a  stale  of  society,  elevated  somewhat  above 
it,  which  is  to  be  found  in  some  of  the  more 
thinly  populated  portions  of  our  own  country 
— the  rudest  agricultural  state — which  is  thus 
characterized  by  the  author  to  whi>m  I  have 
referred  :  "  The  American  of  the  backwoods 
has  often  been  described  to  the  English  as 
grossly  ignorant,  dirty,  unsocial,  delighting  in 
rum  and  tobacco,  attached  to  nothing  but  his 
rifle,  adventurous,  restless,  more  than  half  sav- 
age. Deprived  of  social  enjoyments  or  ex- 
citements, he  has  i-ecourse  to  those  of  savage 
life,  and  becomes  (for  in  this  respect  the 
Americans  degenerate)  unfit  for  society."  This 
is  no  very  inviting  picture,  which,  though  ex- 
aggerated, we  know  not  to  be  without  likeness. 
The  evils  of  such  a  state,  I  suppose,  will  hardly 
be  thought  compensated  by  unbounded  free- 
dom, perfect  equahty,  and  ample  means  of 
subsistence. 

But  let  us  take  another  stage  in  the  progress 
— which,  to  manj"^,  will  appear  to  offer  all  (hat 
is  desirable  in  existence — and  realize  another 
Utopia.  Let  us  suppose  a  state  of  society  in 
which  all  shall  have  property,  and  there  sliall 
be  no  great  inequality  of  property  ;  in  which 
society  shall  be  so  much  condensed  as  to  afford 
the  means  of  social  intercourse,  without  being 
crowded,  so  as  to  create  difficulty  in  olitaining 
the  means  of  subsistence ;  in  whidi  every  fam- 
ily that  chooses  may  have  as  much  land  as 
will  employ  its  own  hands,  while  others  may 
employ  their  industry  in  forming  such  ]iro- 
ducts  as  it  may  be  desirable  toexchanye  with 
them.  Schools  are  generally  established,  and 
the  rudiments  of  education  universally  fiiffused. 
Religion  is  tauglit,  and  every  village  has  its- 
church,  neat,  though  liumble,  lif'ti  g  its  spire 
to  heaven.  Here  is  a  situation  a]iparently  the 
most  favoi'able  to  liappiness.  1  say  appa- 
renllji,  for  the  greatest  source  of  human  misery 
is  not  in  external  circumstances,  Vnit  in  men 
tliemselves — in  their  depraved  inclinations, 
their  wayward  passions  and  perverse  wills. 
Here  is  r^om  for  all  the  ])otty  comi)etition,  the 
envy,  liatred,  malice,  and  dissiinulaHon  that 
torture  the  heart  in  what  may  be  supposed 


NEGRO    SLAVERY MEMOIR    ON. 


213 


the  most  sophisticated  states  of  society,  and, 
thouiijh  less  niiirked  and  offensive,  there  may 
be  much  of  the  licentiousness. 

But,  apart  from  tliis,  in  such  a  condition  of 
society,  if  tlieie  is  little  suffering,  there  is  little 
high  enjoyment.  The  even  flow  of  life  forbids 
the  high  excitement  which  is  necessary  for  it. 
If  there  is  little  vice,  there  is  little  place  for 
the  eminent  virtues  which  employ  themselves 
in  coufroUingthe  disorders  and  remedying  the 
evils  of  society,  which,  like  war  and  revolution, 
call  forth  the  highest  powers  of  man,  whether 
for  good  or  for  evil.  If  there  is  little  misery, 
there  is  little  room  for  benevolence.  Useful 
public  institutions  we  may  suppose  to  be  cre- 
ated, but  not  such  as  are  merely  ornamental. 
Elegant  arts  can  be  little  cultivated,  for 
there  are  no  means  to  reward  the  artists  nor 
the  higher  literature,  for  no  one  will  have  lei- 
sure or  means  to  cultivate  it  for  its  own  sake. 
Those  who  acquire  what  may  be  called  lib- 
■eral  education,  will  do  so  in  order  to  employ 
it  as  the  means  of  their  own  subsistence  or 
advixncemeut  in  a  profession,  and  literature 
itself  will  partake  of  the  sordidness  of  trade. 
In  short,  it  is  plain  that,  in  such  a  state  of 
society,  the  moral  and  intellectual  faculties 
cannot  b-j  cultivated  to  their  highest  perfec- 
tion. 

But,  whether  that  which  I  have  described 
be  the  most  desirable  state  of  society  or  no, 
it  is  certain  that  it  cannot  continue.  Mutation 
and  progress  is  the  condition  of  human  affairs. 
Though  retarded  for  a  time  by  extraneous  or 
accidental  circumstances,  the  wheel  must  roll 
on.  The  tendency  of  population  is  to  beconae  ' 
crowded,  increasing  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  i 
subsistence.  There  will  be  some  without  any  j 
property  except  the  capacity  for  labor.  This  ; 
they  must  sell  to  those  who  have  the  means 
of  employing  them,  thereby  swelling  the 
amount  of  their  capital  and  increasing  inequal- 
ity. The  process  still  goes  on.  The  number 
of  laborers  increases,  until  there  is  a  difficulty 
in  obtaining  employment.  The  competition 
is  establishetL  I'he  remuneration  of  the  laborer 
becomes  gradually  lees  and  less;  a  larger  and 
larger  proportiou  of  the  product  of  his  labor 
goes  to  swell  the  fortune  of  the  capitalist ;  in- 
equality becomes  still  greater  and  more  in- 
vidious, until  the  process  ends  in  the  establish- 
ment of  such  a  state  of  things  as  the  same 
author  describes  as  now  existing  in  England. 
After  a  most  imposing  picture  of  her  greatness 
and  resources ;  of  her  superabounding  capital 
and  allperrading  industry  and  enterprise;  of 
her  public  institutions  for  purposes  of  art, 
learning,  and  beuevolenee ;  her  public  im- 
provements, by  which  intercourse  is  facilitated 
and  the  convenience  of  man  subserved ;  the 
conveniences  and  luxuries  of  life  enjoyed  by 
those  who  are  in  possession  of  fortune  or  have 
profitable  em])loymeuts  ;  of  all,  in  short,  that 
places  her  at  the  head  of  modern  civilisation, 
he  proceeds  to  give  .therBverse  of  the  picture. 


And  here  I  shall  use  his  own  words  :  "  The 
laboring  class  compose  the  bulk  of  the  people ; 
the  great  body  of  the  people ;  the  vast  major- 
ity of  the  people.  These  are  the  terms  by 
which  English  writers  and  speakers  usually 
describe  those  whose  only  property  is  their 
labor. 

"  Of  comprehensive  words,  the  two  most 
frequently  used  in  English  politics  are  distress 
and  pauperism.  After  these,  of  expressions 
applied  to  the  state  of  the  poor,  the  most  com- 
mon are  vice  and  misery,  wretchedness,  suffer- 
ings, ignorance,  degradation,  discontent,  depra- 
vity, drunkenness,  and  the  increase  of  crime, 
with  many  more  of  a  like  nature." 

He  goes  on  to  give  the  details  of  this  in- 
equality and  wretchedness,  in  terms  calculated 
to  sicken  and  appal  one  to  whom  the  picture 
is  new.  That  he  has  painted  strongly  we  may 
suppose ;  but  there  is  ample  corroborating 
testimony,  if  such  were  needed,  that  the  re- 
presentation is  substantially  just.  Where  so 
much  misery  exists,  there  must,  of  course,  be 
much  discontent,  and  many  have  been  disposed 
to  trace  the  sources  of  the  former  in  vicious 
legislation,  or  the  structure  of  government; 
and  the  author  gives  the  various  schemes, 
sometimes  contradictory,  sometimes  ludicrous, 
which  projectors  have  devised  as  a  remedy  for 
all  this  evil  to  which  flesh  is  heir.  That  ill- 
judged  legislation  may  have  sometimes  aggra- 
vated the  general  suffering,  or  that  its  extre- 
mity may  be  mitigated  by  the  well-directed 
efforts  of  the  wise  and  virtuous,  there  can  be 
no  doubt.  One  purpose  for  which  it  has  been 
permitted  to  exist  is,  that  it  may  call  forth  such 
efforts  and  awaken  powers  and  virtues  which 
would  otherwise  have  slumbered  for  want  of 
object.  But  remedy  there  is  none,  unless  it  be 
to  abandon  tlieir  civilization.  This  inequality, 
this  vice,  this  misery,  this  slavery,  is  tlie  price 
of  England's  civilization.  They  suftW  the  lot 
of  humanity.  But  perhaps  we  may  be  per- 
mitted humbly  to  hope  that,  great,  intense,  and 
widely  spread  as  this  misery  undoubtedly  is 
in  reality,  it  may  yet  be  less  so  than  in  appear- 
ance. We  can  estimate  but  very,  very  imper- 
fectly the  good  and  evil  of  individual  condition, 
as  of  different  states  of  society.  Some  unex- 
'  pccted  solace  arises  to  animate  the  severest 
,  calamity.  Wonderful  is  the  power  of  custom 
in  making  the  hardest  condition  tolerable;  the 
most  generally  wretched  life  has  circumstaiices 
of  mitigation  and  moments  of  vivid  enjoyment, 
of  which  the  more  seemingly  happy  caa 
'  scarcely  conceive  ;  though  the  lives  of  intlivi- 
I  duals  be  shortened,  the  aggregate  of  existence 
j  is  increased ;  even  the  various  forms  of  death, 
'  accelerated  by  want,  familiarized  to  the  con- 
templation, like  death  to  the  soldier  on  the 
field  of  battle,  may  become  scarcely  more  for- 
midable than  what  we  are  accustomed  to  re- 
j  gard  as  nature's  ordinary  outlets  of  existence. 
I  If  we  could  perfectly  analyze  the  enjoyments 
J  and  sufferings  of  the  most  happj  and  the  most 


214 


KEGRO    SLAVERY MEMOIR    OK. 


miserable  man,  \re  should,  perhaps,  be«tartlecl 
to  find  the  difference  so  much  less  than  our 
previous  impressions  had  led  us  to  conceive. 
But  it  is  not  for  us  to  a«?ume  the  province  of 
Omniscience.  The  particular  theory  of  the 
author  quoted  seeins  to  be  founded  on  an  as- 
sumption of  this  sort— that  there  is  a  certain 
stage  in  the  progress  when  there  is  a  certain 
balance  between  the  demand  for  labor  and  the 
supply  of  it,  which  is  more  desirable  than  any 
other — when  the  territory  is  so  thickly  peopled 
that  all  cannot  own  land  and  cultivate  the 
soil  for  themselves,  but  a  portion  will  be  com- 
pelled to  sell  their  labor  to  others,  still  leaving, 
however,  the  wages  of  labor  high  and  tlie 
laborer  independent.  It  is  plain,  howerer, 
that  this  would,  in  like  manner,  partake  of  the 
good  and  the  evil  of  other  states  of  society. 
There  would  be  less  of  equality  and  less  rude- 
ness than  in  the  early  stages ;  less  civilization 
and  less  suffenng  than  in  the  later. 

It  is  the  competition  for  employment,  which 
is  the  source  of  this  misery  of  society,  that 
gives  rise  to  all  excellence  in  art  and  know- 
ledge. When  the  demand  for  labor  exceeds 
the  supply,  the  services  of  the  most  ordinarily 
qualified  laborer  will  be  eagerly  retained. 
When  the  supply  begins  to  exceed,  and  com 
petition  is  established,  higher  and  higher  qua- 
lifications will  be  required,  until,  at  length, 
when  it  becomes  very  intense,  none  but  the 
most  consummately  skilful  can  be  sure  to  be 
employed.  Nothing  but  necessity  can  drive 
men  to  the  exertions  wliich  are  necessary  so 
to  qualify  themselves.  But  it  is  not  in  arts, 
merely  mechanical  alone,  that  this  superior 
excelU'ncc  will  be  required.  It  will  be  ex- 
tended to  every  intellectual  employment ;  and, 
though  this  may  not  be  the  effect  in  the  in- 
stance of  every  individual,  yet  it  will  fix  the 
habits  and  character  of  the  society,  and  pre- 
scribe, evei'ywhere,  arul  in  every  department, 
the  highest  possible  standard  of  attainment. 

But  how  is  it  that  the  existence  of  slavery, 
as  with  us,  will  retard  the  evils  of  civilization  ? 
Very  obviously.  It  is  the  intense  competition 
of  civilized  life  that  gives  rise  to  the  excessive 
cheapness  of  labor;  and  the  excessive  cheap- 
ness of  labor  is  the  cause  of  the  evils  in  ques- 
tion. Shive  labor  can  never  be  so  cheap  as 
what  18  Called  free  lalx)r.  Political  economists 
have  established  as  the  natural  standard  of 
wages,  in  a  fully  peopled  country,  the  value 
of  the  laborer's  subsistencp.  I  shall  not  stop 
to  inquire  into  the  precise  truth  of  fhispn)po- 
sition.  It  certanily  approximates  the  truth 
Where  com]>etition  is  intense,  men  will  lalior 
for  a  bare  subsistence,  and  hvm  than  a  con)pe- 
tent  subsistence.  The  cmpli>yer  of  free  la- 
borers obtains  their  services  during  the  time 
of  their  health  and  vigor,  without  the  charge 
of  rearing  them  from  infancy,  or  supporting 
them  in  sickne.-is  or  old  age.  This  chargi?  is 
imposed  on  the  employer  of  .slave  labor,  who, 
therefore,  pays  higher  wages,  and  cuts  off  the , 


principal  source  of  misery — the  wants  andauf^ 
ferings  of  infancy,  sickness,  and  old  age.  La- 
borers, too,  will  be  le.ss  skilful  and  perform 
less  work — enhancing  the  price  of  that  sort  of 
labor.  The  poor  laws  of  England  are  an  at- 
tempt, but  an  awkward  and  empiric  attempt, 
to  supply  the  place  of  that  which  we  should 
suppose  the  feelings  of  every  human  heart 
would  declare  to  be  a  natural  obligation — that 
he  who  has  received  the  Vji-nefil  of  the  laborer's 
s-ervices  durir)g  his  health  and  vigor,  should 
maintain  him  when  he  becomes  unable  to  pro- 
vide for  his  own  support.  They  answer  their 
purpose,  however,  very  imperfectly,  and  are 
unjustly  and  unequally  imposed.  There  is 
no  attempt  to  apportion  the  burden  according 
to  the  benefit  received ;  and,  perhaps,  there 
could  be  none.  This  is  one  of  the  evils  of  their 
condition. 

In  periods  of  commercial  revulsion  and  dis- 
tress, like  the  present,  the  distress,  in  countries 
of  free  labor,  falls  principally  on  the  laborers. 
In  those  of  slave  labor,  it  falls  almost  exclu- 
sively on  the  employer.  In  the  former,  when 
a  business  becomes  unprofitable,  the  employer 
dismisses  his  laborers,  or  lowere  their  wages. 
But  with  us  it  is  the  very  period  at  which  we 
are  least  able  to  dismiss  our  laborers;  and  if 
we  Avould  not  suffer  a  further  loss,  we  cannot 
reduce  their  wages.  To  receive  the  benefit  of 
the  services  of  which  they  are  capable,  we 
must  proviile  for  maintaining  their  health  and 
vigor.  In  point  of  fact,  we  know  that  this  is 
accounted  among  the  necessary  expenses  of 
management.  If  the  income  of  every  pl.mte? 
of  the  southern  states  were  permanently  re- 
duced one  half,  or  even  much  more  than  that^ 
it  woukl  not  take  one  jot  from  the  support  and 
comforts  of  the  slaves.  And  this  can  never 
be  materially  altered  until  they  shall  become 
so  unprofitable  tliat  slavery  nuist  be  of  neces- 
sity abandoned.  It  is  probable  that  the  ac- 
cumulation of  individual  wealth  will  never  be 
carried  to  quite  so  great  an  extent  in  a  slave- 
holding  country  as  in  one  of  free  labor ;  but  a 
consequence  will  be  that  there  will  be  less  in- 
equality and  less  suffering. 

Servitude  is  the  condition  of  civilization.  It 
was  decreed  wlifu  tlw  command  was  given^ 
"Be  fruitful,  and  multiply,  and  replenish  the 
earth,  awl  subdue  it,"  and  when  it  was  added, 
"  In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt  thou  eat  bread."* 
And  what  human  being  shall  arrogate  to  him- 
self the  authority  to  pronounce  that  our  form 
of  it  is  worse  in  itself,  or  more  displeasmg  to 
God,  than  that  which  exists  ol.sewbere  'i  Shall 
it  be  said  that  tlie  servitude  of  other  countries 
grows  out  of  the  exigency  of  their  eiicum- 
stances,  aixl  therefore  society  is  ix)t  responsi- 
ble for  it?  But  if  we  know  that  in  the  pro- 
gress of  things  it  is  to  come,  would  it  not  seem 
the  ])art  of  wisdom  and  foresight  to  make 
provision  for  it,  and  thereby,  if  we  can,  miti- 
gate the  severity  of  its  evils  i  But  the  fact 
is  not  so.    Let  any  one  who  doubts  read  the 


KEGRO    SLAVERT MEMOIR    ON. 


215 


book  to  which  I  have  several  times  referred, 
and  he  may  be  satisfied  that  it  was  forced 
upon  us  by  the  extremest  exigency  of  circum- 
stances, in  a  struggle  for  very  existence.  Witli- 
out  it,  it  is  doubtful  whether  a  white  man 
would  be  now  existing  on  this  continent — cer- 
tain, that  if  there  w^ere,  they  would  be  in  a 
state  of  the  utmost  destitution,  weakness,  and 
misery.  It  was  forced  on  us  by  necessity, 
and  further  fastened  upon  us  by  the  superior 
authority  of  tlie  mother  country.  I,  for  one, 
neither  deprecate  nor  resent  the  gift.  Nor 
did  we  institute  slavery.  The  Africans 
brought  to  us  had  been  —  speaking  in  the  gen- 
eral— slaves  in  their  own  country,  and  only  un- 
derwent a  change  of  masters.  In  the  coun- 
tries of  Eunipe  and  the  states  of  our  confed- 
eracy, in  which  slavery  has  ceased  to  exist,  it 
was  abolished  by  [)ositive  legislation.  If  the 
order  of  nature  has  been  departed  from,  and 
a  forced  and  artiticial  state  of  things  introduced, 
it  has  been,  as  the  experience  of  all  the  world 
declares,  by  them  and  not  by  us. 

That  there  are  great  evils  in  a  society  where 
slavery  exists,  and  that  the  institution  is  liable 
to  great  abuse,  I  have  already  said.  To  say 
otherwise  would  be  to  say  that  they  were  not 
human.  But  the  whole  of  human  life  is  a  sys- 
tem of  evils  and  compensations.  We  have 
no  reason  to  believe  that  the  compensations 
with  us  are  fewer  or  smaller  in  proportion  to 
the  evils  than  those  of  any  other  condition  of 
society.  Tell  me  of  an  evil  or  abuse  ;  of  an 
instance  of  cruelty,  oppression,  licentiousness, 
crime,  or  suffering;  and  I  will  point  out,  and 
often  in  fivefold  degree,  an  equivalent  evil  or 
abuse  in  countries  where  slavery  does  not 
exist ! 

Let  us  examine,  without  blenching,  the  ac- 
tual and  alleged  evils  of  slavery,  and  the  array 
of  horrors  which  many  suppose  to  be  its  uni- 
versal concomitants.  It  is  said  that  the  slave 
is  out  of  the  protection  of  the  law  ;  that  if  the 
law  purports  to  protect  him  in  life  and  limb, 
it  is  but  imperfectly  executed;  that  he  is  still 
subject  to  excessive  labor,  degrading  blows, 
or  any  other  sort  of  torture  which  a  master, 
pampered  and  brutalized  by  the  exercise  of 
arbitary  power,  may  think  proper  to  inflict ; 
he  is  cut  off  from  the  oppori  unity  of  intellec- 
tual, moral,  or  religious  improvement,  and  even 
positive  enactments  are  directed  against  his 
acquiring  the  rudiments  of  knowledge;  he  is 
cut  off  for  ever  from  the  hope  of  raising  his 
condition  in  society,  whatever  may  be  his 
merit.talents,  or  virtues,  and  therefore  deprived 
of  the  strongest  incentive  to  useful  and  praise- 
worthy exertion ;  his  physical  degrailation 
begets  a  corresponding  moral  degradation ;  he 
iswithout  moral  principle,  and  addicted  to  the 
lowest  vices,  particularly  theft  and  falsehood  ; 
if  marriage  be  not  disallowed,  it  is  little  better 
than  a  state  of  concubinage,  from  which  re- 
sults general  licentiousness,  and  the  want  of 
diastit.y  among  females — this  indeed  is  not 


protected  by  law,  but  is  subject  to  the  out- 
rages of  brutal  lust ;  both  sexes  are  liable  to 
have  their  dearest  affections  violated,  to  be 
sold  like  brutes,  husbands  to  be  torn  from 
wives,  children  from  parents.  This  is  the  pic- 
ture commonly  presented  by  the  denouncers 
of  slavery. 

It  is  a  somewhat  singular  fact,  that,  when 
there  existed  in  our  state  no  law  for  punishing 
the  murderer  of  a  slave,  other  than  a  pecuni- 
ary tine,  there  were,  I  will  venture  to  .say,  at 
least  ten  murders  of  freemen  for  one  murder  of 
a  slave.  Yet  it  is  supposed  they  are  less  pro- 
tected or  less  secure  than  their  masters.  Why, 
they  are  protected  by  their  very  situation  in 
society,  and  therefore  less  need  the  protection 
of  law.  With  any  other  person  than  iheir 
master,  it  is  hardly  possible  for  them  to  come 
in  such  sort  of  collision  as  usually  gives  rise  to 
furious  and  revengeful  passions  ;  they  offer  no 
temptation  to  the  murderer  for  gain ;  against 
the  master  himself  they  have  the  security  of 
his  own  interest,  and  by  his  superintendence 
and  authoritj-  they  are  protected  from  the  re- 
vengeful passions  of  each  other.  I  am  by  no 
means  sure  that  the  cause  of  humanity  has 
been  served  by  the  change  in  jurisprudence, 
which  has  placed  their  murder  on  the  same 
footing  with  that  of  a  freeman.  ^  The  change 
was  made  in  the  subserviency  to  the  o])inions 
and  clamor  of  others,  who  were  utterly  incom- 
petent to  form  an  opinion  on  the  subject ;  and 
a  wise  act  is  seldom  the  result  of  legislation 
in  this  spirit.  From  the  fact  which  I  have 
stated,  it  is  plain  that  they  less  need  protec- 
tion. Juries  are,  therefore,  less  willing  to  con- 
vict, and  it  may  sometimes  happen  that  the 
guilty  will  escape  uU  punishment.  ISecurity 
IS  one  of  the  compen^^ations  of  their  humble 
position.  We  challenge  the  comparison,  that 
with  us  there  have  been  fewer  murders  of 
slaves  than  of  parents,  children,  apprentices, 
and  other  murders,  cruel  and  unnatural,  in  so- 
ciety where  slavery  does  not  exist. 

But,  short  of  life  or  limb,  various  cruelties 
may  be  practised,  as  the  passions  of  the  mas- 
ter may  dictate.  To  this  the  same  reply  has 
been  often  given — that  they  are  secured  by  the 
master's  interest.  If  the  state  of  slavery  is 
to  exist  at  all,  the  master  must  have,  and 
ought  to  have,  such  power  of  punishment  as 
will  compel  them  to  perform  the  duties  of 
their  station.  And  is  not  this  for  their  advan- 
tage as  well  as  'his  ?  No  human  being  can  be 
contented,  who  does  not  perform  the  duties  of 
his  station.  Has  the  master  any  temptation 
to  go  beyond  this  ?  If  he  inflicts  on  him  such 
punishment  as  will  permanentl}  impair  his 
strength,  he  inflicts  a  loss  upon  himself;  and 
so  if  he  requires  of  him  excessive  labor.  Com- 
pare the  labor  required  of  the  slave  with  those 
of  the  free  agricultural  or  manufacturing  la- 
borer in  Europe,  or  even  in  the  more  thickly 
peopled  portions  of  the  nou-slaveholding  states 
of  our  confederacy — though  these  last  are  no 


216 


NEGRO    SLAVERY MEMOIR    ON. 


fair  Pubjfcts  of  comparison,  tliey  enjoying,  as 
I  have  sail!,  in  a  grout  clet,'ree,  the  advantages 
of  slavery  along  with  those  of  an  early  and 
simple  state  of  society.  Read  the  English 
parlianienlary  reports,  on  the  condition  of 
the  inaimfacturing  operatives,  and  the  chil- 
dren employed  in  factories.  And  such  is  the 
impotence  of  man  to  remedy  the  evils  which 
the  condition  of  his  existence  has  imposed  on 
him,  that  it  is  much  to  be  doubted  whether 
the  attempts  by  legislation  to  inijjrove  their 
situation  will  not  aggravate  its  evils.  Tliey 
resort  to  this  excessive  labor  as  a  clioice  of  evils. 
If  so,  the  amount  of  their  compensation  will 
be  lessened  also  with  the  diniinislied  labor ; 
for  this  is  a  matter  which  legislation  cannot 
regulate.  Is  it  the  part  of  benevolence,  then, 
to  cut  them  off  even  from  this  miserable  liberty 
of  choice  ?  Yet  would  these  evils  exist  in  the 
same  degree,  if  tlie  laborers  were  the  propcrti/ 
of  the  master,  having  a  direct  interest  in  pre- 
sei'ving  their  lives,  their  health,  and  strength  ? 
Who  but  a  drivelling  fanatic  has  thought  of 
the  necessity  of  protecting  domestic  animals 
from  the  cruelty  of  their  owners  ?  And  yet, 
are  not  great  and  wanton  cruelties  practised 
on  these  animals  ?  Compare  the  whole  of 
the  cruelties  inflicted  on  slaves  throughout  our 
southern  country  with  those  elsewhere  in- 
flicted, by  ignorant  and  depraved  portions  of 
the  community,  on  those  whom  the  relations 
of  society  put  into  their  power ;  of  brutal  hus- 
bands on  their  wives  ;  of  brutal  parents — sub- 
dued against  the  strongest  instincts  of  nature 
to  that  brutality  by  tiie  extremity  of  their 
misery — on  their  children  ;  of  brutal  masters 
on  apprentices.  And  if  it  should  be  asked. 
Are  not  similar  cruelties  inflicted  and  miseries 
endured  in  your  societies  ?  I  answer.  In  no 
comparable  degree.  The  class  in  question  are 
placed  under  the  control  of  others,  who  are 
interestetl  to  restrain  their  excesses  of  cruelty 
or  rage.  Wives  are  protected  from  their  hus- 
bands, and  children  from  their  parents.  And 
this  is  no  inconsiderable  compensation  of  the 
evils  of  t)ur  system;  and  would  so  appear,  if 
we  could  form  any  conception  of  the  immense 
amount  of  misery  which  is  elsewhere  thus  in- 
flicted. The  other  class  of  society,  more  ele- 
vated in  their  position,  are  also  (speaking  of 
course  in  the  general)  more  elevated  in  char- 
acter, and  more  responsible  to  public  opinion. 
But  besides  the  interest  of  their  master,  there 
is  another  security  against  cruelty.  The  re- 
lation of  master  and  slave,  when  there  is  no 
mischi(!Vou8  interference  between  them,  is,  as 
the  experience  of  all  the  world  declares,  na- 
turally one  of  kindness.  As  to  the  fact,  we 
should  be  held  interested  witnesses,  but  we 
appeal  to  universal  naturt;.  Is  it  not  natural 
that  a  man  should  be  attached  to  that  which 
is  his  own,  and  which  has  contributed  to  his 
convenience,  his  enjoyment,  or  his  vanity  f 
This  is  felt  even  towards  animals  and  inani- 
mate objects.   How  muck  more  toward  a  being 


of  superior  intelligence  and  usefulness,  who 
can  appreciate  our  feelings  toward  him,  and 
return  them  !  Is  it  not  natural  that  we  should 
1)6  interested  in  that  which  is  dependent  oa 
us  for  protection  and  support  ?  Do  not  men 
every  where  contract  kind  feelings  toward 
their  dependents  ?  Is  it  not  natural  that  men 
shoulil  be  more  attached  to  those  \vhotn  they 
have  long  known — whom,  perhaps,  they  have 
reared  or  been  associated  with  from  infancy — 
than  to  one  with  whom  their  connection  has 
been  casual  and  temporary  '.  What  is  there 
in  our  atmosphere  or  institutions  to  producea 
])erversion  of  the  general  feelings  of  nature  ? 
To  be  sure,  in  this  as  in  all  otiier  relations,  there 
is  frequent  cause  of  offense  or  excitement — on 
one  side,  for  some  omission  of  duty,  on  the 
other,  on  account  of  reproof  or  punishment  in- 
flicted. But  this  is  common  to  the  relation  of 
parent  and  child  ;  and  I  will  venture  to  say  that 
if  punishment  be  justly  inflicted — and  there 
is  no  temptation  to  inflict  it  unjustly — it  is  as 
little  likely  to  occasion  permanent  estrange- 
ment or  resentment  as  in  that  case.  Slaves 
are  perpetual  children.  It  is  not  the  common 
nature  of  man,  unless  it  be  depraved  by  its 
own  misery,  to  delight  in  witnessing  pain.  It 
is  more  grateful  to  behold  contented  and 
cheerful  beings  than  sullen  and  wretched  ones. 
That  men  are  sometimes  wayward,  depraved, 
and  brutid,  we  know.  That  atrocious  and  bru- 
tal cruelties  have  been  perpetrated  on  slaves, 
and  on  those  who  were  not  slaves,  by  such 
wretches,  we  also  know.  But  that  the  institu- 
tion of  slavery  has  a  natural  tendenc}'  to  form 
such  a  character,  that  such  crimes  are  more 
common  or  more  aggravated  than  in  other  states 
(»f  society,  or  produce  among  us  less  surprise 
and  horror,  we  utterly  deny,  and  challenge  the 
comparison.  Indeed,  I  have  little  hesitation 
in  saying,  that  if  full  evidence  could  be 
obtained,  the  comparison  would  result  in  our 
favor,  and  that  the  tendency  of  slavery  ia 
rather  to  humanize  than  to  brutalize. 

The  accounts  of  travellers  in  Oriental  coun- 
tries give  a  very  favorable  representation  of 
the  kindly  relations  which  exist  between  the 
master  and  slave ;  the  latter  being  often 
the  friend,  and  sometimes  the  heir  of  tiie  for- 
mer." C4enerally,  however,  especially  if  they 
be  English  travellers,  if  they  say  any  thing 
which  may  seem  to  give  a  favorable  cmnplex- 
i(m  to  slavery,  they  think  it  necessary  to  en- 
ter their  protest,  that  they  sliidl  not  be  taken 
to  give  any  sanction  to  slavery  as  it  exists  in 
America.  Yet  human  nature  is  tiie  same  in 
all  countries.  There  are  very  obvious  reasons 
why  in  those  countries  there  should  be  a  nearer 
approach  to  etjuality  in  their  manners.  The 
master  and  slave  are  often  cognate  races,  and 
therefore  tend  more  to  assimilate.  There  is, 
in  fact,  less  inequality  in  mind  and  character 
'  where  the  niiister  is  but  imperfectly  civilized. 
I  Less  labor  is  exacted,  because  the  master  has 
J  fewer  motives  to  accumulate.    But  is  it  an 


NEGRO    SLAVERY MEMOIR    ON. 


21Y 


injury  to  a  human  bpinir,  that  regular,  if  not 
excessive,  labor  should  be  required  of  him  i 
The  primeval  curse,  with  the  usual  benignity 
of  provitiential  contrivance,  lias  been  turned 
into  the  solace  of  an  existence  that  would  be 
much  morti  intolerable  without  it.  If  they 
labor  less,  they  are  much  more  subject  to  the 
outraijes  of  capricious  passion.  If  it  were  put 
to  the  choice  of  any  human  beiufr,  would  he 
prefer  to  be  the  slave  of  a  civilized  man,  or  of 
a  barbarian  or  semi-barVmrian  ?  But  if  the 
general  tendency  of  the  institution  in  those 
countries  is  to  create  kindly  relations,  can  it 
be  imagined  why  it  should  operate  differently 
in  this  ?  It  is  true,  as  suggested  by  President 
Dew,  with  the  exception  of  the  ties  of  close 
consanguiuity,  it  forms  one  of  the  most  inti- 
mate relations  of  society.  And  it  will  be 
more  and  more  so,  the  longer  it  continues  to 
exist.  The  harshest  features  of  slavery  were 
created  by  those  who  were  strangers  t<  s  Li- 
very— who  supposed  that  it  consisted  in 
keeping  savages  in  subjection  by  violence  and 
terror.  The  severest  laws  to  be  found  on  our 
statute  book  were  enacted  by  such,  and  such 
are  still  found  to  be  the  severest  masters. 
As  society  becomes  settled,  and  the  wander- 
ing habits  of  our  countrymen  altered,  there 
will  be  a  larger  and  larger  proportion  of 
those  who  were  reared  by  the  owner,  or  de- 
rived to  him  from  his  ancestors,  and  who, 
therefore,  will  be  moie  and  more  intimately 
regarded  as  forming  a  portion  of  his  family. 
It  is  true  that  the  slave  is  driven  to  labor 
by  stri|)es;  and  if  the  object  of  punishment  be 
to  produce  obedience  or  reformation,  with  the 
least  permanent  injury,  it  is  the  best  method 
of  punishnient.  But  is  it  not  intolerable  that 
a  being  formed  in  the  image  of  his  Maker 
should  be  degraded  by  blows  ?  This  is  one  of 
the  perversions  of  mind  and  feeling  to  which 
I  shall  have  occasion  again  to  refer.  Such 
punishment  would  be  degrading  to  a  freeman, 
■who  had  the  thoughts  and  aspirations  of  a 
freeman.  In  general,  it  is  not  degrading  to  a 
slave,  nor  is  it  felt  to  be  so.  The  evil  is  the 
bodily  pain.  Is  it  degrading  to  a  child  ?  Or 
if  in  any  particular  instance  it  would  be  so  felt, 
it  is  sure  not  to  be  inflicted,  unless  in  those 
rare  cases  which  constitute  the  startling  and 
eccentiic  evils,  from  which  no  society  is  ex- 
empt, and  against  which  no  institutions  of 
society  can  provide. 

Objection  Answered — "  The  Slave  is  cut 
off  fuom  the  me.\ns  of  intellectual,  moral, 
AND  Religious  Improvement,  and  in  conse- 
quence HIS  Moral  Character  becomes  De- 
praved,    AND     he    addicted     TO    DEGRADING 

Vices." — Part  III. — The  slave  is  cut  off'  from 
the  meann  of  intellectual,  moral,  and  religious 
improvement,  and  in  consequence  hin  moral 
character  becomes  depraved,  and  he  addicted  to 
degradiiift  vices.  The  slave  receives  such 
instruction  as  qualifies  him  to  discharge  the 


duties  of  his  particular  station.  The  Creator 
did  not  intend  that  every  individual  human 
being  should  be  highly  cultivated,  morally 
and  intellectually,  for,  as  we  have  seen,  he  has 
imposed  conditions  on  society  which  would 
render  tliis  impossible.  There  must  be  gen- 
eral mediocrity,  or  the  highest  cultivation 
must  exist  along  with  ignorance,  vice,  and 
degradation.  But  is  there,  in  the  aggregate 
of  society,  less  opportunity  f<jr  intellectual  and 
moral  cultivation,  on  account  of  the  existence 
of  slavery?  We  must  estimate  institutions 
from  their  aggregate  of  good  or  evil.  I  refer 
to  the  views  which  I  have  before  expressed 
to  this  society.  It  is  by  the  existence  of  sla- 
very, exempting  so  large  a  portion  of  our  citi- 
zens from  the  necessity  of  bodily  labor,  that 
we  have  a  greater  proportion  than  any  other 
people  who  have  leisure  for  iutellectu.al  pur- 
suits, and  the  means  of  obtaining  a  liberal 
education.  If  we  throw  away  this  opportu- 
nity, we  shall  be  morally  responsible  for  the 
neglect  or  abuse  of  our  advantages,  and  shall 
most  unquestionably  pay  the  penalty.  I?ut 
the  blame  will  rest  on  ourselves,  and  not  on 
the  character  of  our  institutions. 

I  add  further,  notwithstanding  that  equality 
seems  to  be  the  passion  of  the  day,  if,  as 
Providence  has  evidently  decreed,  there  can 
be  but  a  certain  portion  of  intellectual  excel- 
lence in  any  community,  it  is  better  that  it 
should  be  uneqtialhidWided.  It  is  better  that 
a  part  should  be  fully  and  highly  cultivated, 
and  the  re.st  utterly  ignorant.  To  constitute 
a  society,  a  variety  of  offices  must  be  dis- 
charged, from  those  requiring  but  the  lowest 
degree  of  intellectual  power  to  those  requir- 
ing the  very  highest,  and  it  should  seem  that 
the  endowments  ought  to  be  apportioned  ac- 
cording to  the  exigencies  of  the  situation.  In 
the  course  of  human  affairs,  there  arise  diffi- 
culties which  can  only  be  comprehended  or 
surmounted  by  the  strongest  native  power  of 
intellect,  strengthened  by  the  most  assiduous 
exercise,  and  enriched  by  the  most  extended 
knowledge;  and  even  these  are  sometimes 
found  inadequate  to  the  exigency.  The  first 
want  of  society  is — leaders.  Who  shall  esti- 
mate the  value  to  Athens  of  Solon,  Aristides, 
Themistoeles.  Cymon,  or  Pericles  ?  If  society 
have  not  leaders  qualified  as  I  have  said, 
they  will  have  those  who  will  lead  them 
blindly  to  their  loss  and  ruin.  Men  of  no 
great  native  power  of  intellect,  and  of  imper- 
fect and  superficial  knowledge,  are  the  most 
mischievous  of  all;  none  are  so  busy,  med- 
dling, confident, presumptuous,  and  intolerant. 
The  whole  of  society  receives  the  benefit  of 
the  exertions  of  a  mind  of  extraordinary  en- 
dowments. Of  all  communities,  one  of  the 
least  desirable  would  be  that  in  which  imper- 
fect, superficial,  half-education  should  be  uni- 
versal. The  first  care  of  a  state  wliicli  regards 
its  own  safety,  prosperity  and  honor,  should 
be,  that  when  minds  of  extraordiuaiy  power 


218 


NEGRO    SLAVERY MEMOIR    ON. 


appear — to  whatever  department  of  know- 1  tant  to  the  free  laborer,  who  is  the  transactor 
ledge,  art,  or  science  their  exertions  may  be  :  of  his  own  affairs,  and  the  guardian  of  his  own 
directed— the  means  should  be  provided  of  j  interests ;  but  of  what  use  would  they  be  to 
their  most  consummate  cultivation.  Next  to  the  slave  ?  These  alone  do  not  elevate  the 
this,  tliat  education  should  be  as  widely  ex- 1  mind  or  character;  if  such  elevation  were  de- 
tendi'd  as  possible.  sirable. 

Odium  lias  been  cast  upon  our  legislation!  If  we  estimate  their  morals  according  to 
on  aci'Dunt  of  its  forbidding  the  elements  of  |  that  which  sliould  be  the  standard  of  a  free 
education  to  be  communicated  to  slaves.  But,  man's  morality,  then  I  grant  they  are  de- 
in  truth,  wliat  injury  is  done  to  them  by  this  ? '  graded  in  morals  though  by  no  means  to  the 
He  who  works  during  the  day  with  his  hands,  i  extent  which  those  who  arc  unacquainted 
does  not  read  in  intervals  of  leisure  for  his  [  with  the  institution  seem  to  suppose.  We 
amusement  or  the  improvement  of  his  mind — i  justly  suppose,  that  the  Creator  will  require 
or  the  exceptions  are  so  very  rare  as  scarcely  j  of  man  the  performance  of  the  duties  of  the 
to  need  the  being  provided  for.  Of  the  many  '  station  in  which  his  providence  liiis  placed 
slaves  whom  I  have  known  capable  of  read- 1  him,  and  the  cultivation  of  the  virtues  which 
ing,  I  have  never  known  one  to  read  any  thing  are  adapted  to  tlieir  performance;  that  He 
but  the  Bible,  and  this  task  they  impose  on  j  will  make  allowance  for  all  imperfection  of 
themselves  as  matter  of  duty.  Of  all  meth-  knowledge,  and  the  absence  of  the  usual  helps 
ods  of  religious  instruction,  however,  this,  of  and  motives  which  lead  to  self-correction  and 
reading  for  themselves,  would  be  the  most  [  improvement.  The  degradation  of  morals 
inefficient — their  comprehension  is  defective,  j  relates  principally  to  loose  notions  of  honesty, 
and  the  employment  is  to  them  an  unusual  I  leading  to  pi'tty  thefts;  to  falsehood,  and  to 
and  laborious  one.  There  are  but  very  few  I  licentious  intercourse  between  thf  sexes, 
who  do  not  enjoy  other  means,  more  effectual  j  Though  with  respect  even  to  these,  I  protest 
for  religious  instruction.  There  is  no  place  of  j  against  the  opinion,  which  seems  to  be  else- 
worship  opened  for  the  white  population  from  where  entertained,  that  they  are  universal,  or 
which  they  are  excluded.  I  believe  it  a  mis-  that  slaves,  in  respect  to  them,  might  not  well 
take  to  say  that  the  instructions  there  given  bear  a  comparison  with  the  lowest  laborious 
are  not  adapted  to  their  comprehension,  or  class  of  other  countries.  But  certainly  there 
calculated  to  improve  them.  If  they  are  i  is  much  dislionesty,  loading  to  petty  thefts, 
given  as  they  ought  to  be,  practically  and  !  It  leads,  however,  to  nothing  else.  They  have 
without  pretension,  and  are  such  as  are  gen-  j  no  contracts  or  dealings  which  might  be  a 
erally  intelligible  to  the  free  part  of  the  audi- [  temptation  to  fraud,  nor  do  I  know  that 
ence,  comprehending  all  grades  of  intellectual  their  characters  have  any  tendency  that  way. 
capacity,  they  will  not  be  unintelligible  to  |  They  are  restrained  by  the  constant,  vigilant, 
slaves.  I  doubt  whether  this  be  not  better  I  and  interested  superintendence  which  is  exer- 
than  instruction  addressed  specially  to  them- ,  cised  over  tliem,  from  the  commission  of  of- 
selves,  which  they  might  look  u]ion  as  a  de- 1  fensesofgreatcr  magnitude,  even  if  they  were 
vice  of  the  master's,  to  make  them  more  '  disposed  to  them,  which  I  am  satisfied  they 
obedient  and  profitable  to  himself.  Their  \  are  not.  Nothing  is  so  rarely  heard  of  as  an 
minds,  generall}',  show  a  strong  religious  ten-  atrocious  crime  committed  by  a  slave;  especi- 
dency,  and  they  are  fond  of  assuming  the  office  ,  ally  since  they  have  worn  off  the  savage  char- 
of  religious  instructors  to  each  other;  and  per-  acter  which  their  progenitors  brought  with 
haps  their  religious  notions  are  not  much  j  them  from  Africa.  Their  offenses  are  con- 
more  extravagant  than  those  of  a  large  '  fiiieil  to  petty  depredations,  princijially  for 
portion  of  the  free  population  of  our  country,  i  the  gratification  of  their  appetites,  and  these, 


i  am  not  sure  that  there  is  a  much  smaller 
proportion  of  them  than  of  the  free  popula- 
tion, who  make  some  sort  of  religious  profes- 
sion. It  is  certainly  the  master's  interest 
that  they  should  have  proper  religious  senti- 
ments, and  if  he  fails  in  his  duty  towards  them, 
we  may  be  sure  thit  the  consequences  will 
be  visited  not  upon  them,  but  upon  him. 

If  there  were  any  chance  of  their  elevating 
their  rank  and  condition  in  society,  it  might 
be  matter  of  liardship  that  they  should  be 
debarred  those  rudiments  of  knowledge  whidi 
open  the  way  to  further  attainments.  But 
this  they  know  cannot  be,  and  that  furtlier 
attainments  would  bo  useless  to  them.  Of 
the  evil  of  thi-i  I  shall  speak  hereafter.  A 
knowledge  of  reading,  writing,  and  the  ele- 
ments of  arithmetic  is  convenient  and  impor- 


for  reasons  already  given,  are  chiefly  confined 
to  the  property  of  their  owner,  which  is  most 
exposed  to  them.  They  could  make  no  use 
of  a  considerable  booty,  if  they  should  obtain 
it.  It  is  plain  that  this  is  a  less  evil  to  soci- 
ety, in  its  consequences  and  example,  than  if 
committed  by  a  freeman,  who  is  a  master  of 
his  own  time  and  actions.  With  reference  to 
society,  then,  the  offense  is  less  in  itself — and 
may  we  uot  hope  it  is  less  in  the  sight  of 
(tocI  ?  A  slave  has  no  liope  that,  by  a  course 
of  integrity,  he  can  materially  elevate  his  con- 
dition in  society,  nor  can  his  offense  materially 
depress  it,  or  affect  lii-<  meaus  of  support  or 
that  of  his  family.  Coniparocl  to  the  freeman, 
he  has  no  character  to  establish  or  to  lose.  He 
has  not  been  exercised  to  self-government, 
and,  being  without  intellectual  resources,  can 


NEGRO    SLAVERY — MEMOIR    OK. 


219 


less  resist  the  solicitations  of  appetite.  Theft 
in  a  freeman  is  a  crime  ;  in  a  slave,  it  is  a  vice. 
I  recollect  to  have  heard  it  said,  in  reference 
to  some  question  of  a  shive's  theft,  which  was 
agitated  iii  a  court — "  Courts  of  justice  have 
no  more  to  do  witli  a  slave's  stealing  than 
witli  iii^  lying — that  is  a  matter  for  the  do- 
mestic forum."  It  was  truly  said — the  theft 
of  a  slave  is  no  offense  against  society.  Com- 
pare all  the  evils  resulting  from  this,  with  the 
enormous  amount  of  vice,  crime,  and  depra- 
vity which  in  a  European,  or  one  of  our 
northern  cities,  disgusts  the  moral  feelings, 
and  renders  life  and  j^roperty  insecure.  So 
with  respect  to  his  falsehood.  I  have  never 
heard  or  observed  that  slaves  have  any  par- 
ticular proclivity  to  falsehood,  unless  it  be  in 
denying  or  concealing  their  own  offenses,  or 
those  of  their  fellows.  I  have  never  heard  of 
falsehood  told  by  a  slave  for  a  malicious  pur- 
pose. Lies  of  vanity  are  sometimes  told,  as 
among  the  weak  and  ignorant  of  other  con- 
ditions. Falsehood  is  not  attributed  to  an  in- 
dividual charged  with  an  offense  before  a 
court  of  justice,  who  pleads  not  r/uilty  ;  and 
certainly  the  strong  temptation  to  escape 
puni?hriient,  in  the  highest  degree  extenuates, 
if  it  does  not  excuse,  falsehood  told  by  a  slave. 
If  the  object  be  to  screen  a  fellow-slave,  the 
act  bears  some  semblance  of  fidelity,  and  per- 
haps truth  could  not  be  toltl  without  breach 
of  confidence.  I  know  not  how  to  character- 
ize the  falsehood  of  a  slave. 

It  has  often  been  said  by  the  denouncers  of 
slavery,  that  marriage  does  not  exist  among 
slaves.  It  is  difficult  to  understand  this,  un- 
less wilful  falsehood  were  intended.  We 
know  that  marriages  are  contracted;  may 
be,  and  often  are,  solemnized  with  the  forms 
usual  among  other  classes  of  society,  and  often 
faith fidly  adhered  to  during  life.  The  law 
has  not  provided  for  making  those  marriages 
indissoluble,  nor  could  it  do  so.  If  a  man 
abandons  his  wife,  being  without  property, 
and  being  both  property  themselves,  he  can- 
not be  required  to  maintain  her.  If  he  aban- 
dons his  wife,  and  lives  in  a  state  of  concu- 
binage with  another,  the  law  cannot  punish 
him  for  bigamy.  It  may,  perhaps,  be  meant, 
that  the  chastity  of  wives  is  not  protected  by 
law  from  the  outrages  of  violence.  I  answer, 
as  with  respect  to  their  lives,  that  they  are 
protected  by  manners,  and  their  position. 
Who  ever  heard  of  such  outrages  being  offer- 
ed? At  least  as  seldom,  I  will  venture  to 
say,  as  in  other  communities  of  different  forms 
of  polity.  One  reason,  doubtless,  may  be, 
that  often  there  is  no  disposition  to  resist. 
Another  reason,  also,  may  be,  that  there  is 
little  temptation  to  such  violence,  as  there  is 
so  large  a  proportion  of  this  class  of  females 
who  set  little  value  on  chastity,  and  afford 
easy  gratification  to  the  hot  passions  of  men. 
It  might  bo  supposed,  from  the  representa- 
tions of   some  writers,  that  a  slaveholding 


country  were  one  wide  stew  for  the  indulgence 
of  unbridled  lust.  Particular  instances  of 
intemperate  antl  shameless  debaucliery  are 
related,  which  may,  pfuhaps,  be  true,  and  it 
is  left  to  be  inferred  that  this  is  tl  e  universal 
state  of  manners.  Brutes  and  shameless  de- 
bauchees there  are  in  every  country ;  we  know 
that  if  such  things  are  related  as  general  or 
characteristic,  the  representation  is  false. 
Who  would  argue  from  the  existence  of  a 
Col.  Chartres  in  England,  or  of  some  individ- 
uals who  mi^ht,  perhaps,  be  named  in  other 
portions  of  this  country,  of  the  horrid  disso- 
luteness of  manners  occasioned  by  the  want  of 
the  institution  of  slavery  ?  Yet  the  argument 
might  be  urged  quite  as  fairly,  and  really,  it 
seems  to  me,  with  a  little  more  justice — for 
there,  such  depravity  is  attended  with  niuch 
more  pernicious  consequences.  Yet  let  U3 
not  deny  or  extenuate  the  truth.  It  is  true 
that  in  this  respect  the  morals  of  this  class  are 
very  loose,  (by  no  means  so  universally  so  as 
is  often  supposed,)  and  that  the  passions  of 
men  of  the  superior  caste  tempt  and  find 
gratification  in  the  easy  chastity  of  the 
females.  This  is  evil,  and  to  be  remedied,  if 
we  can  do  so,  without  the  introduction  of 
greater  evil.  But  evil  is  incident  to  every 
condition  of  society,  and,  as  I  have  said,  we 
have  only  to  consider  in  which  institution  it 
most  predominates. 

Compare  these  prostitutes  of  our  country, 
(if  it  is  not  injustice  to  call  them  so,)  and  their 
condition,  with  those  of  other  countries — the 
seventy  thousand  prostitutes  of  Loudon,  or  of 
Paris,  or  the  ten  thousand  of  New-York,  or 
our  other  northern  cities.  Take  the  picture 
given  of  the  first  from  the  author  whom  I 
have  before  quoted  :  "  The  laws  and  customs 
of  England  conspire  to  sink  this  class  of  Eng- 
lish women  into  a  state  of  vice  and  misery 
below  that  which  necessarily  belongs  to  their 
condition.  Hence  their  extreme  degrailation, 
their  troopers'  oaths,  their  love  of  gin,  their 
desperate  recklessness,  and  the  shortness  of 
their  miserable  lives." 

"  English  women  of  this  class — or  rather 
girls,  for  few  of  them  live  to  be  women — die 
I  like  sheep   with  the  rot  ;  so  fast  that   soon 
[  there  would   be  none  left,  if  a  fiesh  supply 
!  were  not  obtained  equal  to  the  number  of 
;  deaths.     But  a  fresh  supply  is  always  obtain- 
ed without  the  least  trouble  :  seduction  easily 
keeps   pace  with    prostitution    or    mortality. 
Those  that  die  are,  like  factory  children  that 
die,  instantly  succeeded  by  new  competitors 
for  misery  and  death."     There  is  no  hour  of  a 
summer's  or  a  winter's  night,  in  which  there 
may  not  be  found  in  the  streets  a  ghastly 
wretch,  expiring  under  the  double  tortures  of 
disease  and  fatuine.     Though  less  aggravated 
in  its  features,  the  picture  of  prostitution  in 
New-York  or  Philadelphia  would  be  of  like 
character. 

In  such  communities,  tbe  unmarried  wonian 


220 


KEGRO    SLAVERY MEMOIR    ON. 


■who  becomes  a  mother  is  an  outcast  from 
society;  and  thougli  sentimentalists  lament 
the  hardship  of  tlie  case,  it  is  justly  and  ne- 
cessarily so.  Slie  is  cut  off  from  the  Iiope  of 
useful  aud  profitable  employment,  and  driven 
by  necessity  to  further  vice.  Her  miser}', 
and  the  hopelessness  of  retrieving,  render  her 
desperate,  until  she  sinks  into  every  depth  of 
depravity,  and  is  prepared  for  every  crime 
that  can  contaminate  and  infest  society.  She 
has  given  birth  to  a  human  being  who,  if  it 
be  so  unfortunate  as  to  .survive  its  miserable 
infancy,  is  commonly  educated  to  a  like  course 
of  vice,  depravity,  and  crime. 

Compare  with  tliis  the  female  slave  under 
similar  circumstances.  Slie  is  not  a  less  use- 
ful member  of  society  than  before.  If  .«hame 
be  attached  to  her  conduct,  it  is  such  a  shame 
as  would  be  elsewhere  felt  for  a  venial  impro- 
priety. Slie  h;i»  not  impaired  her  means  of 
support,  nor  materially  impaired  her  charac- 
ter, or  lowered  iier  station  in  society  ;  she  has 
done  no  great  injury  to  herself,  or  any  other 
humau  being.  Her  offsprmg  is  not  a  burden, 
but  an  acquisition  to  her  owner;  his  support 
ia  provided  for,  and  he  is  brought  up  to  use- 
fulness ;  if  the  fruit  of  intercourse  with  a  free- 
man, his  contlition  is  perhaps  raised  somewhat 
above  that  of  his  mother.  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances, with  imperfect  knowledge,  tempt- 
ed by  the  strongest  of  humau  passions,  un- 
restraiaed  by  the  motives  which  operate  to 
restrain,  but  are  so  often  found  insufficient  to 
restrain  the  conduct  of  females  elsewhere,  can 
it  be  matter  of  surprise  that  she  should  so 
often  yield  to  the  temptation  ?  Is  not  the 
evil  less  in  itself,  and  in  reference  to  society — 
much  less  in  the  sight  of  God  and  man  ?  As 
was  said  of  theft,  the  want  of  chastity — which 
among  females  of  other  countries  is  sometiuies 
vice,  sometimes  crime,  among  the  free  of  our 
own,  much  more  aggravated — among  slaves, 
hardly  deserves  a  harsher  term  than  that  of 
weakness.  I  have  heard  of  complaint  made 
by  a  free  prostitute,  of  the  greater  counte- 
nance and  indulgence  .shown  by  society  to- 
wards Colored  per,soas  of  her  profession,  (al- 
ways regarded  as  of  an  inferior  and  servile 
class,  though  individually  free,)  than  to  those 
of  her  own  complexion.  Tlie  former  readi- 
ly obtain  employment,  are  even  admitted 
into  families,  and  treated  with  some  degree 
of  kindness  and  familiarity,  while  any  ap- 
proach to  intercourse  with  the  latter  is  shim- 
ned  as  contaminatiou.  The  distinction  is  ha- 
bitually made,  and  it  is  founded  on  the  unerr- 
ing instinct  of  nature.  The  colored  prostitute 
is,  in  fact,  a  far  less  contaminateil  and  de- 
praved being  Still,  many,  in  spite  of  temp- 
tation, do  preserve  a  perfectly  virtuous  con- 
duct, and  I  imagine  it  hardly  ever  entered 
into  the  mind  of  one  of  these  that  she  was 
likely  to  be  forced  from  it  by  authority  or 
violence. 

It  may  be  asked,  if  we  have  no  prostitutes 


from  the  free  class  of  society  among  our- 
selves? I  answer,  in  no  assignable  propor- 
tion. With  general  truth  it  might  be  said 
that  there  are  none.  When  such  a  case  oc- 
curs, it  is  among  the  rare  evils  of  society. 
And  apart  from  other  and  better  reasons, 
which  we  believe  to  exist,  it  is  plain  that  it 
must  be  so,  from  the  comparative  absence  of 
temptation.  Our  brothels,  comparatively  very 
few— and  these  should  not  be  permitted  to 
exist  at  all — are  filled,  for  the  most  jiart,  by 
importation  from  the  cities  of  our  confederate 
states  where  slavery  does  not  exist.  In  return 
fi'r  the  benefits  which  they  receive  from  our 
slavery,  along  with  tariffs,  libels,  opinions 
moral,  religious  or  political,  they  furnish  us 
also  with  a  supply  of  thieves  and  prostitutes. 
Never,  but  in  a  single  instauce,  have  I  heard 
of  an  imputation  on  the  general  purity  of 
manners  among  the  free  females  of  the  slave- 
holding  states.  Such  an  imputation,  however, 
and  made  in  coarse  terms,  we  have  never 
heard  here — here,  where  divorce  was  never 
known  ;  where  no  court  was  ever  polluted  by 
an  action  for  criminal  conversation  with  a 
wife;  where  it  is  related  rather  as  a  matter  of 
tradition,  not  uumingled  with  wonder,  that  a 
Carolinian  woman  of  education  aud  family 
proved  false  to  her  conjugal  faith— an  impu- 
tation deserving  only  of  such  reply  as  self- 
respect  would  foibid  us  to  give,  if  respect  for 
the  author  of  it  did  not.  Anl  can  it  be 
doubted  that  this  purity  is  caused  by,  and  ia 
a  compensation  for,  the  evils  resultiiig  from 
the  existence  of  an  enslaved  class  of  more  re- 
laxed morals  ? 

It  is  mostly  the  warm  passions  of  youth 
which  give  rise  to  licentious  intercourse.  But 
I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  the  intercourse 
which  takes  place  with  enslaved  females  is 
less  depraving  in  its  effects  than  when  it  is 
carried  on  with  females  of  their  own  caste.  In 
the  first  place,  as  like  attracts  like,  that  which 
is  unlike  repels;  and  though  the  strength  of 
passion  be  suflicient  to  overcome  the  repul- 
sion, still  the  attraction  is  less.  He  feels  tiiat 
he  is  connecting  himself  with  one  of  an  infe- 
rior and  servile  caste,  and  that  there  is  some- 
thing of  degradation  in  the  act.  Tlie  inter- 
course is  generally  casual ;  he  does  not  make 
her  habitually  an  associate,  and  is  less  likely 
to  receive  anj'  taint  from  her  habits  and  man- 
ners. He  is  less  liable  to  those  extraordinary 
fascinations  with  wliieh  worthless  women 
sometimes  entangle  their  victims,  to  the  utter 
destruction  of  all  principle,  worth,  and  vigor 
of  character.  The  female  of  his  own  race 
offers  greater  allurements.  The  haunts  of 
vice  often  present  a  show  of  elegance,  and 
various  luxury  tempts  the  senses.  They  are 
made  an  habitual  resort,  and  their  iimiates  as- 
sociates, till  the  general  character  receives  a 
taint  from  the  corruoled  atmospheie.  Not 
only  the  practice  is  licentious,  but  the  under- 
standing is  sophisticated ;  the  moral  feelinga 


NEGRO   SLA^^:RT — MEMOIR   ON. 


221 


are  bewildevpd,  and  (lie  boundarios  of  virtue  j 
and  vice  conftis-ed.  Where  such  licentiousness 
very  extensively  prevails,  society  is  rotten  to 
the  heart. 

But  is  it  a  small  compensation  for  the  evils 
atten<lii)LC  the  relation  of  the  sexes  among;  the 
enslaved  elnss,  that  they  have  universally  the 
opportunity  of  iudulginji;  the  first  instinct  of 
nature,  hy  fortuing  matrimonial  connections? 
What  painful  restraint — what  constant  effort  to 
strufjj^le  against  the  strongest  impulses.are  hab- 
itually practised  elsewhere,  and  by  other  class- 
es I  And  they  must  be  practised,  unless  greater 
evils  would  be  encountered.  On  the  one  side, 
nil  the  evils  of  vice,  with  the  miseries  to  which 
it  leads  ;  on  the  other,  a  marriage  cursed  and 
made  liateful  by  want,  the  sufferings  of  chil- 
dren, and  agonizing  a]")prehensions  concerning 
their  future  fate.  Is  it  a  small  good  that  the 
slave  is  free  from  all  this  ?  He  knows  that 
his  own  subsistence  is  secure,  and  that  his 
children  will  be  in  as  good  a  condition  as  him- 
self. To  a  refined  and  intellectual  nature,  it 
may  not  be  diflficult  to  practise  the  restraint 
of  which  I  have  spoken.  But  the  reasoning 
from  such  to  the  great  mass  of  mankind  is 
most  fallacious.  To  these,  the  supply  of  their 
natural  and  physical  wants,  and  the  indul- 
gence of  the  natural  domestic  affections,  must, 
for  the  most  part,  afford  the  greatest  good  of 
■which  they  are  capable.  To  the  evils  which 
sometimes  attend  their  matrimonial  connec- 
tions, arising  from  their  looser  morality,  slaves, 
for  obvious  reasons,  are  comparatively  insen- 
sible. I  am  no  apologist  for  vice,  nor  would 
I  extenuate  the  conduct  of  the  profligate  and 
unfeeling,  who  would  violate  the  sanctity  of 
even  these  engagements,  and  occasion  the 
pain  which  such  violations  no  doubt  do  often 
inflict.  Yet  such  is  the  truth,  and  we  cannot 
make  it  otherwise.  We  know  that  a  woman's 
having  been  before  a  mother,  is  very  seldom 
indeed  an  objection  to  her  being  made  a  wife. 
I  know  perfectly  well  how  this  will  be  re- 
garded, by  a  class  of  reasoners  or  declaimers, 
as  imposing  a  character  of  deeper  horror  on 
the  whole  system;  but  still,  I  will  say,  that  if 
they  are  to  be  exposed  to  the  evil,  it  is  mercy 
that  the  sensibility  to  it  should  he  blunted. 
Is  it  no  compensation,  also,  for  the  vices  in- 
cident to  slavery,  that  they  are  to  a  great  de- 
gree secured  against  the  temptation  to  greater 
crimes  and  more  atrocious  vices,  and  the  mis- 
eries which  attend  them ;  against  their  own 
dispo>ition  to  indolence,  and  the  profligacy 
which  is  its  common  result  ? 

But  if  they  are  subject  to  the  vices,  they 
have  also  the  virtues  of  slaves.  Fidelitj- — 
often  proof  against  all  temptation,  even  death 
itself;  an  eminently  cheerful  and  social  tem- 
per; what  the  Bible  imposes  as  a  duty,  but 
which  might  seem  an  equivocal  virtue  in  the 
code  of  modern  morality — submission  to  con- 
stituted authority,  and  a  disposition  to  be  at- 
tached to,  as  well  as  to  respect  those  whom 


they  are  taught  to  regard  as  superiors.  They 
may  liave  all  the  knowledge  which  will  make 
them  useful  in  the  station  in  whicli  Goil  liaa 
been  pleased  to  place  them,  and  may  culti- 
vate the  virtues  which  will  render  them  ac- 
ceptable to  him.  But  what  has  the  slave  of 
any  country  to  do  with  heroic  virtues,  libcjral 
kno\\l('ilge,  or  elegant  accomplishments  ?  It 
is  for  the  master  — arising  out  of  his  situation, 
imposed  on  him  as  a  duty,  dangerous  and 
disgraceful  if  neglected — to  conij)ensafe  for 
tliis,  by  his  own  more  assiduous  cultivation  of 
the  more  generous  virtues  and  liberal  attain- 
ments. 

It  has  been  supposed  one  of  the  great  evils 
of  slavery,  that  it  affords  the  slave  no  op- 
portunity of  raising  himself  to  a  liighir  rank 
in  society,  and  that  he  has  therefore  no  in- 
ducement to  meritorious  exertion  or  the  cul- 
tivation of  his  faculties.  The  indolence  and 
carelessness  of  the  sIavc,  and  the  less  produc- 
tive quality  of  his  labor,  are  traced  to  the 
want  of  such  excitement.  The  first  compen- 
sation for  this  disadvantage  is  his  security. 
If  he  can  rise  no  higher,  he  is  just  in  tlie  same 
degree  secured  against  the  chances  of  falling 
lower.  It  has  been  sometimes  made  a  ques- 
tion, whether  it  were  better  for  man  to  be 
freed  from  the  perturbations  of  hope  and  fear, 
or  to  be  exposed  to  their  vicissitudes.  But  I 
suppose  there  could  be  little  question  with 
respect  to  a  situation  in  which  the  fears  must 
greatly  predominate  over  the  hopes.  And 
such  I  apprehend  to  be  the  condition  of  the 
laboring  poor  in  countries  where  slavery  does 
not  exist.  If  not  exposed  to  present  suffering, 
there  is  continual  apprehension  for  the  future, 
for  themselves,  for  their  children,  of  sickness 
and  want,  if  not  of  actual  starvation.  They 
expect  to  improve  their  circumstances !  Would 
any  one  person  of  ordinary  candor  say  that 
there  is  one  in  a  hundred  of  them  who  does 
not  well  know  that,  with  all  the  exertion  he 
can  make,  it  is  out  of  his  power  materially  to 
improve  his  circumstances  ?  I  speak  not  so 
much  of  menial  servants,  who  are  generally 
of  a  superior  class,  as  of  the  agricultural  and 
manufacturing  laborers.  They  labor  with  no 
such  view.  It  is  the  instinctive  struggle  to 
preserve  existence,  and  when  the  superior  ef- 
ficiency of  their  labor  over  that  of  our  slaves 
is  pointed  out  as  being  animated  by  a  free- 
man's hopes,  might  it  not  well  be  replied — it 
is  because  they  labor  under  a  sterner  compul- 
sion ?  The  laws  interpose  no  obstacle  to  their 
raisirg  their  conditiou  in  society.  'Tis  a  great 
boon ;  but  as  to  the  great  mass,  they  know 
that  they  never  will  be  able  to  raise  it ;  and 
it  should  seem  not  very  important  in  effect, 
whether  it  be  the  interdict  of  law.  or  imposed 
by  the  circumstances  of  the  society.  One  in 
a  thousand  is  successful.  But  does  his  suc- 
cess compensate  for  the  sufferings  of  the  many 
who  are  tantalized,  baffled,  and  tortured  iu 
vain  attempts  to  attain  a  like  result  ?     If  the 


222 


NEGRO  SLAVERy — ^MEMOIR  ON. 


individual  be  conscious  of  intellectual  power, 
the  i?iiflViing  is  greater.  Even  where  success 
is  appanntly  attained,  he  sometimes  gains  it 
but  to  die,  or,  witli  all  capacity,  to  enjoy  it  ex- 
hausted, worn  out  in  the  struggle  with  for- 
tune. If  it  be  true  that  the  African  is  an  in- 
ferior variety  of  the  lumian  race,  of  less  ele- 
vated character  and  more  limited  intellect,  ie 
it  not  desirable  that  the  inferior  laboring  class 
should  be  made  up  of  such,  who  will  conform 
to  their  condition  without  painful  aspirations 
and  vain  struggles  ? 

The  slave  is  certainly  liable  to  be  sold. 
But  perhaps  it  may  be  questioned  whether 
this  is  a  greater  evil  than  the  liability  of  the 
laborer,  in  fully  peopled  countries,  to  be  dis- 
nii^-sed  by  his  employer,  with  the  uncertainty 
of  being  able  to  obtain  employment  or  the 
means  of  subsistence  elsewhere.  With  us,  the 
employer  Ciuinot  dismiss  his  laborer  without 
providing  him  with  another  employer.  His 
means  of  subsistence  are  secure,  and  this  is  a 
compensation  for  much.  He  is  also  Ijahle  to 
be  separated  from  wife  or  child — though  not 
more  frequently,  that  I  am  aware  of,  than 
the  exigency  of  their  condition  compels  the 
sepiu-ation  of  families  among  the  laboring 
poor  elsewhere — but,  from  native  character 
and  temperament,  the  separation  is  much  less 
severely  felt.  And  it  is  one  of  the  compen- 
eatioua,  that  he  may  sustain  these  relations 
■without  suffering  a  still  severer  penalty  for 
the  indulgence. 

The  love  of  liberty  is  a  noble  passion — to 
have  the  free,  uncontrolled  disposition  of  our- 
selves, our  words  and  actions.  But,  alas !  it 
is  one  in  which  we  know  that  a  large  p(jrtion 
of  the  human  race  can  never  be  gratified.  It 
is  inockery  to  say  'hat  the  laborer  any  where 
has  such  disposition  of  himself,  though  there 
may  be  an  approach  to  it  in  some  peculiar — 
and  those,  perhaps,  not  the  nio.st  desirable — 
states  of  society.  But  unless  he  be  properly 
disciplined  and  prepared  for  its  enjoyment,  it 
is  the  most  fatal  boon  that  could  be  confer- 
red— fatal  to  himself  and  others.  If  slaves 
have  less  freedom  of  action  than  other  labor- 
ers, which  I  by  no  means  admit,  they  are 
saved  in  a  great  degree  from  the  responsibil- 
ity of  self-government,  and  the  evils  spring- 
ing from  tiieir  own  perverse  wills.  Those 
who  have  looked  most  closely  into  life,  and 
know  how  great  a  portion  of  liuinan  misery 
is  derived  from  these  sources — the  undecided 
and  Wiivermg  purpose,  producing  ineffectual 
exertion,  or  indolence  with  its  thousand  at- 
tendant evils — the  wayward  conduct,  intem- 
perance or  profligacy — will  most  appreciate 
this  benefit.  The  line  of  a  slave's  duty  is 
niarkcrl  out  wilh  precision,  and  he  has  no 
choice  but  to  follow  it.  He  is  saved  the  dou- 
ble dilTiculty,  first  of  determiniHg  the  projier 
course  for  himself,  and  llieu  of  sununoning  up 
the  energy  whicli  will  sustain  him  iu  pursuing 
it. 


If  some  superior  power  should  impose  on 
the  laborious  poor  of  any  other  country,  this 
as  their  unalterable  condition  :  You  shall  bo 
saved  from  the  torturing  anxiety  concerning 
your  own  future  support,  and  that  of  your 
children,  which  now  juirsues  you  through  life 
and  haunts  you  in  death  ;  you  shall  be  under 
the  necessity  of  regular  and  healthful,  though 
not  excessive  labor ;  in  return,  you  shall  have 
the  ample  supply  of  your  natural  wants  ;  you 
may  follow  the  instinct  of  nature  in  becoming 
parents,  without  apprehending  that  this  sup- 
ply will  fail  yourselves  or  your  children  ;  you 
shall  be  supported  and  relieved  in  sickness, 
and  in  old  age  wear  out  the  remains  of  ex- 
istence among  familiar  scenes  and  accustomed 
associates,  without  being  driven  to  beg,  or  to 
resort  to  the  hard  and  miserable  charity  of  a 
workhouse ;  you  shall  of  necessity  be  temper- 
ate, and  shall  have  neither  the  temptation  nor 
opportunity  to  commit  great  crimes,  or  prac- 
tise the  more  destructive  vices — how  inap- 
preciable would  the  boon  be  thought !  And 
is  not  this  a  very  near  approach  to  tlie  condi- 
tion of  our  slaves  ?  The  evils  of  their  situa- 
tion they  but  lightly  feel,  and  would  hardly 
feel  at  all,  if  they  were  not  sedulously  in- 
structed into  sensibility.  Certain  it  is.  that  if 
their  fate  were  at  the  absolute  disjjosal  of  a 
council  of  the  most  enlightened  philanthro- 
pists in  Christendom,  with  unlimitecl  resources, 
they  could  place  them  in  no  situation  so  fa- 
vorable to  tliemselves  as  that  which  they  at 
present  occupy.  But  whatever  good  there 
may  be,  or  whatever  mitigation  of  evil,  it  is 
worse  than  valueless,  because  it  is  the  result 
of  slavery. 

I  am  aware  that,  however  often  answered, 
it  is  likely  to  be  repeated  again  and  again — 
How  can  that  institution  be  tolerable  by  which 
a  large  class  of  society  is  cut  off  from  the 
hope  of  improvement  in  knowledge  ;  to  whom 
blows  are  not  degrading,  theft  no  more  than 
a  fault,  falsehood  and  the  want  of  chastity 
almost  venial ;  and  iu  which  a  husband  or 
parent  looks  with  comparative  indifi'erence  on 
chat  which  to  a  freeman  would  be  the  dis- 
honor of  a  wife  or  child  ? 

But  why  not,  if  it  jiioduces  the  greatest  ag- 
gregate of  good  ?  Sin  and  ignorance  are  only 
evils  because  they  lead  to  misery.  It  is  not 
our  institution,  but  the  institution  of  nature, 
that  in  the  progress  of  society  a  portion  of  it 
.«hould  be  exposed  to  want,  and  the  misery 
which  it  brings,  and  therefore  involved  in  ig- 
norance, vice,  and  dei)ravity.  In  anticipating 
some  of  the  good,  we  also  anticipate  a  por- 
tion of  the  evil  of  civilization.  But  we  have 
it  in  a  mitigated  form.  The  want  and  the 
misery  arc  unknown  ;  the  ignorance  is  less  a 
misfortune,  because  the  being  is  not  the  guar- 
dian of  himself,  and  partly  on  account  of  that 
involuntary  ignorance,  the  vice  is  less  vice — 
less  hurtful  to  man,  and  less  displeasing  to 
God. 


NEGRO   SLAVERY — MEMOIR   ON. 


223 


In  wnAT  OCR  Slavery  differs  from  the  I 
Servitude  of  other  Countries — General 
Influences  of  Slavery. —  Part  IV. — Tliere 
is  gonietliing  in  tlii.'<  word  Slnvtry  wliidi  seems 
to  partnkc  of  the  qualities  of  tlie  insane  root, 
and  di.stempera  the  minds  of  nieu.  'J'hat 
wbicli  wouUl  be  true  in  relation  to  one  predica- 
ment, they  misapply  to  another,  to  which  it 
has  no  application  at  all.  -Some  of  the  virtues 
of  a  freenian  would  be  the  vices  of  slaves. 
To  submit  to  a  blow  would  be  degradinj^  to  a 
freeman,  because  he  is  the  protector  of  him- 
self. It  is  not  degrading  to  a  slave — neither 
is  it  to  a  priest  or  a  woman.  And  is  it  a  mis- 
fortune that  it  should  be  so  ?  The  freeman  of 
other  countries  is  compelled  to  submit  to  in- 
dignities hardly  more  endurable  than  blows — 
indignities  to  make  the  sensitive  feelings 
shrink,  and  the  proud  heart  swell ;  and  this 
very  name  of  freeman  gives  them  double  ran- 
cor. If,  when  a  man  is  born  in  Europe,  it 
were  certainly  foreseen  that  he  was  destined 
to  a  life  of  painful  labor — to  obscurity,  con- 
tempt, and  privation — would  it  not  be  mercy 
that  he  should  be  reared  in  ignorance  and 
apathy,  and  trained  to  the  endurance  of  the 
evils  he  must  encounter  ?  It  is  not  certainly 
foreseen  as  to  any  individual,  but  it  is  foreseen 
as  to  the  great  mass  of  those  born  of  the 
laboring  poor ;  and  it  is  for  the  mass,  not  for 
the  exception,  that  the  institutions  of  society 
are  to  provide.  Is  it  not  better  that  the  cha- 
racter and  intellect  of  the  individual  should 
be  suited  to  the  station  which  he  is  to  occupy  ? 
Would  you  do  a  benefit  to  the  horse  or  the  ox, 
by  giving  hun  a  cultivated  understanding,  or 
fine  feelings  ?  So  far  as  the  mere  laborer  has 
the  pride,  the  knowledge,  or  the  aspirations  j 
of  a  freeman,  he  is  unfitted  for  his  situation, 
and  must  doubly  feel  its  infelicity.  If  there 
are  sordid,  servile,  and  laborious  offices  to  be 
performed,  is  it  not  better  that  there  should 
be  sordid,  servile,  and  laborious  beings  to  per- 
form them  ?  If  there  were  infallible  marks 
by  which  individuals  of  inferior  intellect,  and 
inferitir  character,  could  be  selected  at  their 
birth,  would  not  the  interests  of  society  be 
served,  and  would  not  some  sort  of  fitness 
seem  to  require,  that  they  should  be  selected 
for  the  inferior  and  servile  offices?  And  if 
this  race  be  generally  marked  by  such  in- 
feriority, is  it  not  fit  that  they  should  fill  them  ? 
I  am  well  aware  that  those  whose  aspira- 
tions are  after  a  state  of  society  from  which 
evil  shall  be  banished,  and  who  look  in  life 
for  that  which  life  will  never  afford,  contem- 
plate that  all  the  offices  of  life  may  be  per- 
(^  formed  without  contempt  or  degradation — all 
be  regarded  as  equally  liberal,  or  equally  re- 
spected. But  theorists  cannot  control  Nature 
and  bend  her  to  their  views,  and  the  inequality 
of  which  I  have  before  spoken  is  deeply 
foundefl  in  nature.  The  offices  which  employ 
knowledge  and  intellect  will  always  be  re- 
garded as  more  liberal  than  those  which  only 


require  the  labor  of  the  liand.s.  Wlien  there 
is  competition  for  employment,  he  whi)  give."! 
it  bestows  a  favor,  and  it  will  be  so  received. 
He  will  assume  superiority  from  the  power  of 
dismissing  his  laborers,  and  from  fear  of  this, 
the  latter  will  practise  deference,  often  jiinount- 
ing  to  servility.  Such  in  time  will  becdme  the 
established  relation  between  the  employer  and 
the  employed,  the  rich  and  the  poor.  If  want 
be  accompanied  with  sordidness  and  squalor, 
though  it  be  pitied,  the  pity  will  be  mixed 
with  some  degree  of  contempt.  If  it  lead  to 
misery,  and  misery  to  vice,  there  will  be  dis- 
gust and  aversion. 

What  is  the  essential  character  of  Slavery, 
and  in  what  does  it  differ  from  the  servitude  of 
other  countries?      If  I  should  venture  on  a 
definition,  I  should  say  that  where  a  man  is 
compelled  to  labor  at  the  will  of  another,  and 
to  give  him  much  the  greater  portion  of  the 
product  of  his  labor,  there  Blaverif  exists ;  and 
it  is  immaterial  by  what  sort  of  com|)ulsion 
the  will  of  the  laborer  is  subdued.    It  is  what 
no  human  being  would  do  without  some  sort 
of  compulsion.     He  cannot  be  compelled  to 
labor   by   blows.     No — but  what    difference 
does  it  make,  if  you  can  inflict  any  other  sort 
of  torture  which  will  be  equally  effectual  in 
subduing  the  will  ?  if  you  can  starve  him,  or 
alarm  him  for  the  subsistence  of  liiiuf^elf  or 
his  family  ?     And  is  it  not  under  this  compul- 
sion that  the  freeman  labors  1     I  do  not  mean 
in  every  particular  case,  but  in  the  general. 
Will  any  one  be  hardy  enough  to  say  that  he 
is  at  his  own  disposal,  or  has  the  government 
of  himself?      True,  he  may  change  his  em- 
ployer if  he  is  dissatisfied  with  his  conduct  to- 
wards him ;  but  this  is  a  privilege  he  would 
in  the  majority  of  cases  gladly  abandon,  and 
render  the  connection  between  them  indi-ssolu- 
1  ble.    There  is  far  less  of  the  interest  and  at- 
j  tachment    in   his  relation   to  his   emphiyer, 
I  which  so  often  exists  between  the  master  and 
I  the  slave,  and  mitigates  the  condition  of  the 
i  latter.     An  intelligent  English  traveller  lias 
i  characterized  as  the  most  miserable  and  de- 
j  graded  of  all  beings,  "a   masterless   slave." 
:  And  is  not  the  condition  of  the  laboring  ])Oor 
I  of  other  countries  too  often  that  of  masterless 
slaves?     Take  the  following  description  of  a 
free  laborer,  no  doubt  highly  colored,  quoted 
;  by  the  author  to  whom  1  have  before  referred  : 
I      "  What  is  that  defective  being,  with  calfless 
legs  and  stooping  shoulders,  weak  in  body  and 
mind,  inert,  pusillanimous,  and  stupid,  whose 
premature  wrinkles  and  furtive  glance  tell  of 
i  misery  and  degradation?     That  is  an  English 
peasant  or  pauper,  for  the  words  are  synony- 
mous.   His  sire  was  a  pauper,  and  his  mothers 
milk  wanted  nourishment.     From  infancy  his 
food  has  been  bad,  as  well  as  insufficient;  and 
he  now  feels  the  pains  of  unsatisfied  hunger 
nearly  whenever  he    is    awake.      I5ut    half 
clothed,  siud  never  supplied  with  more  warmth 
than  BufSces  to  cook  hia  scanty  meals,  cold  and 


224 


NEGRO   SLATERT — MEMOIR   ON. 


wet  come  to  him,  and  stay  by  him  with  the 
weatiier.  He  is  married,  of  course  ;  for  to  this 
he  wonlcl  have  been  driven  by  the  poor  hiws, 
even  if  he  had  been,  as  he  never  was,  suffi- 
cientlv  coinfurtabh!  and  prudent  to  dread  the 
burden  (if  a  family.  Out  th(iui,di  instinct  and 
the  overseer  have  <j:iven  him  a  wife,  he  has  not 
tasted  tlie  highest  joys  of  luisband  and  father. 
His  partner  and  his  Uttle  ones  being,  lil<e 
himself,  often  luingry,  sehloni  warm,  some 
times  sicli  witliont  aid,  and  always  sorrowful 
without  hope,  are  greedy,  eeltis^h^and  vexing; 
so,  to  use  his  own  expression,  he  hates  the 
sight  of  them,  and  resorts  to  his  hovel  only 
because  a  hedge  affords  less  shelter  from  the 
wind  and  rain.  Compelled  by  parish  law  to 
support  his  family,  which  means,  to  join  them 
in  consuming  an  allowance  from  the  parish,  he 
frequently  conspires  with  his  wife  to  get  that 
allowance  increased,  or  prevent  its  being  dimi- 
nished. This  brings  beggary,  tiickery,  and 
quarrelling,  and  ends  in  settled  craft  Though 
he  have  tlie  inclination,  he  wants  the  courage 
to  become,  like  more  energetic  men  of  his 
class,  a  poacher  or  smuggler  on  a  small  scale, 
but  he  pilfers  occasionally,  and  teaches  his 
chihlren  to  lie  and  steal.  His  subdued  and 
slavish  manner  towards  his  great  neighbors 
shows  that  they  treat  him  with  suspicion  and 
harshness.  Consequently,  he  at  once  hates 
and  dreads  them;  but  he  will  never  harm 
them  by  violent  means.  Too  degraded  to  be 
desperate,  he  is  only  thoroughly  depraved. 
His  miserable  career  will  be  sliort ;  rlieuma- 
tism  and  asthma  are  conducting  hmi  to  the 
workhouse,  where  he  will  breathe  his  last 
without  one  pleasant  recollection,  and  so  make 
room  for  another  wretcli,  who  may  live  and  die 
in  the  same  way."  And  this  description,  or  some 
other  not  much  less  revolting,  is  applied  to 
the  "  bulk  of  the  people — the  great  body  of 
the  people."  Take  the  following  descrii)tion 
of  the  condition  of  childhood,  which  has  justly 
been  called  eloquent:* 

"The  children  of  the  very  poor  have  no 
young  times.  It  makes  the  very  heart  bleed 
to  ovt  rhear  th(^  casual  street  talk  between  a 
poor  woman  and  her  little  girl — a  woman  of 
the  better  .sort  of  poor,  in  a  condition  rather 
above  the  squalid  beings  we  have  been  con- 
templating. It  is  not  of  toys,  of  nursery 
books,  of  summer  holidays  (fitting  that  age), 
of  the  promised  sight  or  l)lay,  of  ])raised  suffi- 
cienc)'  at  school ;  it  is  of  mangling  and  clear- 
starching— of  the  price  f>f  coals  or  of  jwtatoes. 
The  questions  of  the  child,  ihat  should  be  the 
very  outpouring.'*  of  ciniosity  in  idleness,  are 
marked  with  furA-ast  and  melancholy  provi- 
dence. It  has  come  to  be  a  woman  belbre  it 
was  a  child.  It  has  learned  to  go  to  market; 
it  chaffers,  it  liaggles,  it  envies,  it  murmurs; 
it  is  knowing, acute,  sharpened;  it  never  prat- 
tles."    Imagine  such  a  description  applied  to 


EBsnys  of  Elia. 


f  the  children  of  negro  slaves,  the  most  vacant 
of  human  beings,  whose  life  is  a  holiday. 

And  this  people  to  whom  these  horrors  are 
familiar,  are  those  who  fill  the  world  with 
clamor  concerning  the  injustice  and  crneltj  of 
slavery.  I* speak  in  no  invidious  spirit;  nei- 
ther the  laws  nor  the  government  of  England 
are  to  be  rej)roached  with  the  evils  which  are 
in.separable  from  tlie  state  of  their  society. 
As  little,  undoubtedly,  are  we  to  be  re- 
proached with  the  existence  of  our  slavery. 
Including  the  whole  United  States — and,  for 
reasons  already  given,  the  whole  ought  to  be 
mcluded,  as  receiving  in  no  unequal  degree  the 
benefit — may  we  not  say  justly  that  we  have 
less  slavery,  and  more  mitigated  slavery,  than 
any  country  in  the  civilized  world  ? 

That  they  are  called  free,  undoubtedly  ag- 
gravates the  sufferings  of  the  slaves  of  other 
regions.  They  see  the  enormous  inequality 
which  exists,  and  feel  their  own  misery,  and 
can  hardly  conceive  otherwise  than  that  there 
is  some  injustice  in  the  institutions  of  society 
to  occasion  these.  They  regard  the  apparently 
more  fortunate  class  as  oppressors ;  and  it 
adds  bitterness  that  they  should  be  of  the 
same  name  and  race.  They  feel  indignity 
more  acutely,  and  more  of  discontent  and  evil 
passion  is  excited.  They  feel  that  it  is  mock- 
ery that  calls  them  free.  Men  do  not  so  much 
hate  and  envy  those  who  are  separated  from 
them  by  a  wide  distance,  and  some  apparently 
impassable  barrier,  as  those  who  approach 
nearer  to  their  own  condition,  and  with  whom 
they  habitually  bring  themselves  into  com- 
parison. The  slave  with  us  is  not  tantalized 
with  the  name  of  freedom,  to  which  his  whole 
condition  gives  the  lie,  and  would  do  so  it  he 
were  emancipated  to-morrow.  The  African 
slave  sees  that  Nature  lierself  lias  marked  him 
as  a  separate — and  if  left  to  himself,  I  have 
no  doubt  he  would  feel  it  to  be  an  inferior — 
race,  and  interposed  a  barrier  almost  insuper- 
able to  his  becoming  a  member  of  the  same 
society,  standing  on  the  same  footing  of 
right  and  privilege  with  his  master. 

That  the  African  negro  is  an  inferior  variety 
of  the  Imman  race,  is,  1  think,  now  generally 
admitted,  and  his  distinguishing  characteristics 
are  such  as  peculiarly  mark  him  out  for  the 
situation'  which  he  occupies  among  us;  and 
those  are  no  less  marked  in  their  original 
countr}'  than  we  have  daily  occasion  to  ob- 
serve them.  The  most  remar];able  is  their  in- 
difference to  personal  liberty.  In  this  they 
have  followecl  their  instincts,  since  wc  have 
any  knowledge  of  tiieir  continent,  by  enslav- 
ing each  other ;  but,  contrary  to  the  experience 
of  every  other  race,  the  possession  of  slaves 
has  no  material  effect  in  raising  the  character, 
and  promoting  the  civilization,  of  the  master. 
Another  trait  is  the  want  of  domestic  affec- 
tions, and  insensibility  to  the  ties  of  kindred. 
In  the  travels  of  the  Landers,  after  speaking 
of  a  single  exception,  in  the  person  of  a  wo- 


NEGRO    SLAVERY MEMOIR    ON. 


225 


rmca  who  betrayed  some  transient  emotion  in 
passing  by  the  country  from  which  she  had 
been  torn  as  a  sUive,  the  autlior  adds— "That : 
Africans,  (generally  speaking,  betray  the  most 
perfect  indifference  ou  losing  their  hberty  and 
being  deprived  of  their  relatives,  while  love 
of  country  is  equally  a  stranger  to  their 
breasts,  as  social  tenderness  or  domestic  aflfec- 
tion."  "  Marriage  is  celebrated  by  the  natives 
as  unconcernedly  as  possible ;  a  man  thinks 
as  little  of  taking  a  wife  as  of  cutting  an  ear 
of  corn ;  affection  is  altogether  out  of  the 
question."  They  are^  however,  very  submis- 
sive to  authority,  and  seem  to  entertain  great 
reverence  for  chiefs,  priests,  and  masters.  No 
greater  indignity  can  be  offered  an  individtval 
than  to  tlirow  op{)n»brium  on  his  parents. 
On  this  point  of  their  character  I  tiiink  I 
have  remarked  that,  contrary  to  the  instincts 
of  nature  in  other  races,  they  entertain  less 
regard  for  children  than  for  parents,  to  whose 
authority  they  have  been  accustomed  to  sub- 
mit. Their  character  is  thus  summed  up 
by  the  traveller  quoted : — "  The  few  opportu- 
nities we  have  had  of  studying  their  charac- 
ters induce  us  to  believe  that  they  are  a  sim- 
ple, honest,  inoffensive,  but  weak,  timid,  and 
cowardly  race.  They  seem  to  have  no  social 
tenderness,  very  few  of  those  amiable  pri- 
vate virtues  which  could  win  our  affections, 
and  none  of  those  public  qualities  that  claim 
respect  or  command  admiration.  The  love  of 
country  is  not  strong  enough  in  their  bosoms 
to  entice  them  to  defend  it  against  a  despica- 
ble foe ;  and  of  the  active  energy,  noble  sen- 
timents, and  contempt  of  danger,  which  dis- 
tinguish the  North  American  tribes,  and  other 
savages,  no  traces  ere  to  be  found  among  this 
slothful  people.  Regardless  of  the  past,  as 
reckless  of  the  future,  the  present  alone  infiu 
ences  their  actions.  In  this  respect  they  ap- 
proach nearer  to  the  nature  of  the  brute  crea- 
tion than  perhaps  any  other  people  on  the 
face  of  the  globe."  Let  me  ask,  if  this  peo- 
ple do  not  furnish  tlve  very  material  out  of 
which  slaves  ought  to  be  made ;  and  whether 
it  be  not  an  improving  of  their  condition  to 
make  tli€m  the  slaves  of  civilized  masters? 
There  is  a  variety  in  the  character  of  the  tribes. 
Some  are  brutally  and  savagely  ferocious  and 
bloody,  whom  it  woiild  be  mercy  to  enslave. 
From  the  travellers'  account,  it  st-ems  not  un- 
likely that  the  negro  race  is  tending  to  exter- 
mination, being  daily  encroached  on  and  over- 
run by  the  superior  Arab  race.  It  may  be, 
that  when  they  shall  have  been  loosed  from 
their  native  seats,  they  may  be  found  numer- 
ous, and  in  no  unhappy  condition,  on  the  con- 
tinent to  which  they  have  been  transplanted. 
The  opinion  which  connects  form  and  fea- 
tures with  character  and  intellectual  power, 
is  one  so  deeply  impressed  on  the  human  mind, 
that  perhaps  there  is  scarcely  any  man  who 
does  not  almost  daily  act  upon  it,  and  in  some 
measiue  verify  its  truth.  Yet  in  spite  of  this 
VOL.  II. 


intimation  of  nature,  and  though  the  anatomist 
and  physiologist  may  tell  them  that  the  races 
differ  in  ev«ry  bone  and  muscle,  and  in  the 
proportion  of  brain  and  nerves,  yet  there  are 
some  who,  with  a  most  bigot«d  and  fanatical 
determination  to  free'  themselves  from  what 
they  have  prejudged  to  be  prejudice,  will  still 
mainttiin  that  this  physif)gnomy,  evidently 
tending  to  that  of  the  brute,  when  compared 
with  that  of  the  Caucasian  race,  may  be  en- 
lightened by  as  mueh  thought,  and  animated 
by  as  lofty  sentiments.  We,  who  have  the 
best  opportunity  of  judging,  are  pronounced 
to  be  incompetent  to  do  so,  and  to  be  blinded 
l)y  our  interests  and  prejudices — often  by 
those  who  have  no  opportunity  at  all.  Are 
I  we  to  be  tauglvt  to  distrust  or  disbelieve  that 
!  which  we  daily  observe,  and  familiarly  know, 
I  on  such  authority  ?  Our  prejudices  are  spoken 
I  of.  But  the  truth  is,  that,  until  very  lately, 
since  circumstances  have  compelled  us  to 
I  think  of  oui-selves,  we  took  our  opinion  on 
:  this  subject,  as  on  every  other,  ready  formed, 
'  from  the  country  of  our  origin.  And  so  deep- 
ly rooted  were  they,  that  we  adhered  to  them, 
as  most  men  will  do  to  deeply  rooted  opinions, 
even  against  the  evidence  of  our  own  obser- 
vations and  our  own  senses.  If  the  inferiority 
exists,  it  is  attributed  to  the  apathy  and  deg- 
radation produced  by  slavery.  Though  of  the 
hundreds  of  thousands  scattered  over  other 
Countries,  where  the  laws  impose  no  liaVjility 
upon  them,  none  has  given  evidence  of  an  ap- 
proach to  even  mediocrity  of  intellectual  ex- 
cellence, this,  too,  is  attributed  to  the  slavery 
of  a  portion  of  their  race.  They  are  regarded 
as  a  servile  caste,  and  degi-aded  by  opinions, 
and  thus  every  generous  effort  is  repressed. 
Yet,  though  this  should  be  the  general  effect, 
this  very  estimation  is  calculated  to  produce 
the  contrary  effect  in  particular  instances.  It 
is  observed  by  Bacon,  with  respect  to  deformed 
persons  and  eunuchs,  that  though  in  general 
there  is  something  of  perversity  in  their  cha- 
racter, the  disadvantage  often  leads  to  extra- 
ordinary displays  of  virtue  and  excellence. 
"Whosoever  hath  anything  in  his  person  that 
doth  induce  contempt,  hath  also  a  perpetual 
spur  in  himself,  to  rescue  and  deliver  himself 
from  scorn."  So  it  would  be  with  them  if 
they  were  capable  of  European  aspirations; — 
genius,  if  they  possessed  it,  would  be  doubly 
fired  with  noble  rage  to  rescue  itself  from  this 
scorn.  Of  course  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that 
there  may  not  be  found  among  them  some  of 
superior  capacity  to  many  white  persons;  but 
that  great  intellectual  powers  are,  perhaps, 
never  found  among  them,  and  that  in  general 
their  capacity  is  very  limited,  and  that  capa- 
city animal  and  coarse,  fitting  them  peculiarly 
to  discharge  the  lower  and  merely  mechanical 
offices  of  society.  And  why  should  it  not  be 
so  ?  We  have  among  domestic  animals  infi- 
nite varieties,  distinguished  by  various  degrees 
of  sagacity,  courage,  strength,  swiftness,  and 
15 


226 


KEGRa  SLAVERT — MEMOIR   OK. 


other  qualities.  And  it  ma)-  be  observed, 
that  this  is  no  ohjectiun  to  tlieir  being  derived 
from  a  common  ori<;in,  which  we  sup]30se 
them  to  have  ))ad.  Yet  these  accidental  qua- 
lities, as  they  may  be  termed,  however  ac- 
quired in  the  first  instaniK,  we  know  that  they 
transmit  unimpaired  to  their  posterity  for  an 
indehnite  succession  of  generations.  It  is 
most  important  that  these  varieties  should 
be  preserved,  and  tluit  each  should  be  applied 
to  the  purposes  for  whicli  it  is  best  adapted. 
No  philo  zoist,  1  believe,  has  suggested  it  as 
desintbie,  that  these  varieties  should  be  melt- 
ed down  into  one  equal,  undistinguished  race 
of  curs  or  road-horses.  Slavery,  as  it  is  said 
in  an  eloquent  article  published  in  a  southern 
periodical  work,*  to  which  I  am  indebted  for 
other  ideas,  "  has  done  more  to  elevate  a  de 
graded  race  in  the  scale  of  humanity ;  to  tame 
the  savage ;  to  civilize  the  barbarous ;  to  soft- 
en the  ferocious;  to  enlighten  the  ignorant; 
and  to  spread  the  blessings  of  Christianity 
among  the  heathen,  than  all  the  missionaries 
that  philanthropy  and  religion  have  ever  sent 
forth."  Yet,  unquestionable  as  this  is,  and 
though  human  ingenuity  and  thought  may  be 
tasketl  in  vain  to  devise  any  other  means  by 
which  these  blessings  could  have  been  con- 
ferred, yet  a  sort  of  sensibility  which  would  be 
only  mawkish  and  contemptible,  if  it  were 
not  mischievous,  affects  still  to  weep  over  the 
wrongs  of  "  injured  Africa."  Can  there  be  a 
doubt  of  the  immense  benefit  which  has  been 
conferred  on  the  race,  by  transplanting  them 
from  their  native,  dark,  and  barbarous  regions, 
to  the  American  continent  and  islands  ?  There 
three  fourths  of  the  race  are  in  a  state  of  the 
most  deplorable  personal  slavery.  And  those 
who  are  not,  are  in  a  scarcely  less  deplorable 
condition  of  political  slavery  to  barbarous 
chiefs,  who  value  neither  life  nor  any  other 
human  right,  or  enthralled  by  priests  to  the 
most  abject  and  atrocious  superstitions.  Take 
the  following  testimony  of  one  <if  the  most 
distinguished  observers,  who  has  had  an  op- 
portunity of  observing  them  in  both  situations:! 
"  The  wild  savage  is  the  child  of  passion,  un- 
aided by  one  ray  of  religion  or  morality  to 
direct  his  course,  in  consequence  of  which  his 
existence  is  stained  with  every  crime  that  can 
debase  human  nature  to  a  level  with  the  brute 
creation.  Who  can  say  that  the  slaves  in  our 
colonies  are  such?  Are  they  not,  by  compa- 
rison with  their  still  savage  brethren,  enlight 
encd  beings?  Is  not  the  West  Indian  negro, 
therefore,  greatly  indeb'ed  to  his  master  for 
making  him  what  lie  is— for  having  nvised  him 
from  the  state  of  debasement  in  which  he  was 
born,  and  placed  him  in  a  scale  of  civiiizeti 
society  ?     How  can  he  repay  him  i     He  is 

•  Sotilhorn  T,iiernry  Mcsseiiijer  for  .January,  183.'). 

+  .y<)iirnal  of  iiii  (ifficor  omployccl  in  the  oxiieililioii 
under  the  commanii  of  (^'aptaiu  t)wcu,  on  the  VVust- 
eru  Ouu8t  of  Africa,  1&J2. 


possessed  of  nothing — the  only  return  in  h» 
power  is  hi.<»  servitmle.  The  man  who  has 
Seen  the  wild  African,  roaming  in  his  native 
woods,  and  the  well-fed,  happy-looking  negro 
of  the  West  Indies,  may,  peihaps,  be  able  to 
judge  of  their  comparative  li:tp])ines-i :  the 
former,  I  strongly  suspect,  woukt  be  glad  to- 
change  his  state  of  boasted  freedom,  starva- 
tion and  disease,  to  become  the  slave  of  sin- 
ners, and  the  commiseration  of  saints."  It 
was  a  useful  and  beneficent  work,  approach- 
ing the  heroic,  to  tame  the  wild  horse,  and 
subdue  him  to  the  use  of  man  ;  how  much 
more  totame  the  nobler  animal  that  is  capa- 
ble of  reason,  and  subdue  him  to  usefulness. 

We  believe  that  the  tendency  of  slavery  ia 
to  elevate  the  character  of  the  master.  Na 
doubt  the  character — especially  of  youth — 
has  sometimes  received  a  taint  and  prema- 
ture knowledge  of  vice,  fi-om  the  contact 
and  association  with  ignorant  and  servile 
beings  of  gross  manners  and  morals.  Yet 
still  we  believe  that  the  entire  tendency  is 
to  inspire  disgust  and  aversion  towards 
their  peculiar  A'ices.  It  was  not  without  a 
knowledge  of  nature  that  the  tSpartans  ex- 
hibited the  vices  of  slaves  by  way  of  nega- 
tive example  to  their  children.  We  flatter 
ourselves  that  the  view  of  this  degradation, 
mitigated  as  it  is,  has  the  effect  of  making 
probity  more  strict,  the  pride  of  character 
more  high,  the  sense  of  honor  more  strong, 
than  is  commonly  found  where  this  institu- 
tion does  not  exist.  Whatever  may  be  the 
prevailing  faults  or  vices  of  the  masters  of 
slaves,  they  have  not  commonly  been  under- 
stood to  be  those  of  dishonesty,  cowardice, 
meanness,  or  falsehood.  And  so  most  un- 
questionably it  ought  to  be.  Our  institu- 
tions would  indeed  be  intolerable  in  the 
sight  of  God  and  man,  if,  condemning  one 
portion  of  society  to  hopeless  ignorance  and 
comparative  degradation,  they  should  make 
no  atonement  by  elevating  the  other  class 
by  higher  virtues  and  more  liberal  attain- 
ments— if,  besides  degraded  slaves,  there 
should  be  ignorant,  ignoble,  and  d<'graded 
freemen.  There  is  a  broad  and  well  marked 
line,  beyond  which  no  slavish  vice  sliould  be 
regarded  with  the  least  toleration  or  allow- 
ance. One  class  is  cut  off  from  all  intei'cstin 
the  state — that  abstraction  so  potent  to  the 
feelings  of  a  generous  nature.  The  other 
must  make  comjiensation  by  increased  assi- 
duity and  devotion  to  its  honor  and  welfare. 
The  love  of  wealth — so  laudable  when  kept 
within  proper  limits,  so  base  and  mischiev- 
ous when  it  exceeds  tiiem — so  infections  in 
its  example,  an  infection  to  which,  1  fear, 
we  have  been  too  much  ex))osed — should  be 
pursued  by  no  arts  in  any  degree  equivocal, 
or  at  any  risk  of  injustice  to  others.  So 
surely  as  there  is  a  just  niid  wise  Governor 
of  the  universe,  whoi)unishes  the  sins  of  na- 
tions and  communities,  as  well  as  of  indivi- 


NEGRO    SLAVERY MEMOIR    ON. 


227 


dnals,  so  surely  shall  we  suffer  punishment, 
if  we  are  indirterent  to  that  moral  and  in- 
tellectnal  cidtivation  of  which  the  means  are 
furnished  to  us,  and  to  which  we  are  called 
and  incited  by  our  situation. 

I  would  to  Heaven  I  could  express,  as  I 
feel,  the  conviction  how  necessary  this  culti- 
vation is,  not  only  to  our  prosperity  and 
consideration,  bat  to  our  safety  and  very 
existence.  We,  the  slaveholding  states,  are 
in  a  hopeless  minority  in  our  own  confeder- 
ated republic — to  say  nothing  of  the  great 
confederacy  of  civilized  states.  It  is  admit- 
ted, I  believe,  not  only  by  slaveholders,  but 
by  others,  that  we  have  sent  to  our  common 
councils  more  than  our  due  share  of  talent, 
high  character,  and  eloquence.  Yet  in  spite 
of  all  these,  most  strenuously  exerted  mea- 
sures have  been  sometimes  ado])ted,  which 
we  believed  to  be  dangerous  and  injurious 
to  us,  and  threatening  to  be  fatal.  What 
would  be  our  situation,  if,  instead  of  these, 
we  were  only  represented  by  ignorant  and 
grovelling  men,  incapable  of  raising  their 
views  be3'ond  a  job  or  a  petty  office,  and  in- 
capable of  commanding  hearing  or  consider- 
ation ?  May  I  be  permitted  to  advert — by 
no  means  invidiously — to  the  late  contest 
carried  on  by  South  Carolina  against 
federal  authority,  and  so  happily  terminat- 
ed by  the  moderation  which  prevailed  in 
our  public  councils?  I  have  often  reflect- 
ed what  one  circumstance,  more  than  any 
other,  contributed  to  the  successful  issue  of 
a  contest,  apparently  so  hopeless,  in  which 
one  weak  and  divided  state  was  arrayed 
against  the  whole  force  of  the  confederacy 
— unsustained  and  uncountenanced  even  by 
those  who  had  a  common  interest  with  her. 
It  seemed  to  me  to  be,  that  we  had  for 
leaders  an  unusual  number  of  men  of  great 
intellectual  power,  cooperating  cordially  and 
in  good  faith,  and  commanding  respect  and 
confidence  at  home  and  abroad,  by  elevated 
and  honorable  character.  It  was  from  these 
that  we — the  followers  at  home — caught 
hope  and  confidence  in  the  gloomiest  aspect 
of  our  afl'airs.  These,  by  their  eloquence 
and  the  largeness  of  their  views,  at  least 
shook  the  faith  of  the  dominant  majority  in 
the  wisdom  and  justice  of  their  measures, 
or  the  practicability  of  carrying  them  into 
successful  effect,  and  by  their  bearing  and 
well-kuown  character,  satisfied  them  that 
South  Carolina  would  do  all  that  she  had 
pledged  herself  to  do.  Without  these,  how 
different  might  have  been  the  result  1  And 
who  fhall  say  what  at  this  day  would  have 
been  the  aspect  of  the  now  flourishing  fields 
and  cities  of  South  Carolina  ?  Or  rather 
without  tliese,  it  is  probable  the  contest 
would  never  have  been  begun ;  but  that, 
without  even  the  animation  of  a  struggle, 
we  should  have  sunk  silently  into  a  hope- 
less  and   degrading  subjection.      While   I 


have  memory — in  the  extremity  of  age — in 
sickness — under  all  the  reverses  and  calami- 
ties of  life — I  shall  have  one  source  of  pride 
and  consolation — that  of  having  been  asso- 
ciatetl,  according  to  my  humbler  position, 
with  the  noble  s])irits  who  stood  jirepared 
to  devote  themselves  for  Liberty — the  Con- 
stitution— the  Union.  May  such  character 
and  such  talent  never  be  wanting  to  South 
Carolina ! 

I  am  sure  that  it  is  unnecessary  to  say  to 
an  assembly  like  this,  that  the  conduct  of 
the  master  to  his  slave  should  be  distin- 
guished by  the  utmost  humanity.  That  we 
siiould  indeed  regard  them  as  wards  and 
dependants  on  our  kindness,  for  whose  well 
being  in  every  way  we  are  deeply  respon- 
sible. This  is  no  less  the  dictate  of  wisdom 
and  just  policy,  than  of  right  feeling.  It  is 
wise  with  respect  to  the  services  to  be  ex- 
pected from  them.  I  have  never  heard  of 
an  owner  whose  conduct  in  their  manage- 
ment was  distinguished  by  undue  severity, 
whose  slaves  were  not  in  a  great  degree 
worthless  to  him.  A  cheerful  and  kind  de- 
meanor, with  tlie  expression  of  interest  in 
themselves  and  their  affairs,  is,  perhaps,  cal- 
culated to  have  a  better  effect  on  them,  than 
what  might  be  esteemed  more  substantial 
favors  and  indulgences.  Throughout  nature, 
attachment  is  the  reward  of  attachment.  It 
is  wise,  too,  in  relation  to  the  civilized 
world  around  us,  to  avoid  giving  occasion 
to  the  odium  Avhich  is  so  industriously  ex- 
cited against  ourselves  and  our  institutions. 
For  this  reason,  public  opinion  should,  if 
possible,  bear  even  more  strongly  and  in- 
dignantly than  it  does  at  present,  on  masters 
who  practise  any  wanton  cruelty  on  their 
slaves.  The  miscreant  who  is  guilty  of  this, 
not  only  violates  the  law  of  God  and  of 
humanity,  but  as  far  as  in  him  lies,  by  bring- 
ing odium  upon,  endangers  the  institutions 
of  his  country,  and  the  safety  of  his  country- 
men. He  easts  a  shade  upon  the  character 
of  every  individual  of  his  fellow-citizens,  and 
does  every  one  of  them  a  personal  injury. 
So  of  him  who  indulges  in  any  odious  ex- 
cess of  intemperate  or  licentious  ])assion.  It 
is  detached  instances  of  this  sort,  of  wliich 
the  existence  is,  perhaps,  hardly  known 
among  ourseh-es,  that,  collected  with  jierti- 
nacious  and  malevolent  industry,  afford  the 
most  formidable  weapons  to  the  mischievous 
zealots,  who  array  them  as  being  charac- 
teristic of  our  general  manners  and  state  of 
society. 

I  would  by  no  means  be  understood  to 
intimate,  that  a  vigorous,  as  well  as  just 
government,  should  not  be  exercised  over 
slaves.  This  is  part  of  our  duty  towards 
them,  no  less  obligatory  than  any  other 
dutv,  and  no  less  necessary  towards  their 
well-being  than  to  ours.  I  believe  that  at 
least  as  much  injury  has  been  done  and  euf- 


228 


XEGRO    SLAVERY MEMOIR    OX. 


fering  inflicted  by  weak  and  injudicious  in- 
dulgence, as  by  inordinate  severity.  He 
whose  business  is  to  labor,  should  be  made 
to  labor,  and  that  with  due  diligence,  and 
should  be  viirorously  rf^strained  from  excess 
or  vice.  This  is  no  less  necessary  to  liis 
happiness  than  to  his  usefulness.  Tlie  master 
who  neglects  this,  not  only  makes  his  slaves 
xmprofitable  to  himself,  but  discontented 
and  wretched — a  nuisance  to  his  neighbors 
and  to  society. 

I  have  said  that  the  tendency  of  our  in- 
stitution is  to  elevate  the  female  character, 
as  well  as  that  of  the  other  sex,  and  for  simi- 
lar reasons.  In  other  states  of  society,  there 
is  no  well-defined  limit  to  separate  virtue 
and  vice.  Tliere  are  degrees  of  vice,  from 
the  most  flagrant  and  odious,  to  that  which 
scarcely  incurs  the  censure  of  society. 
Many  individuals  occupy  au  unequivocal 
position;  and  as  society  becomes  accustomed 
to  this,  there  will  be  a  less  peremptory  re- 
quirement of  purity  in  female  manners  and 
conduct ;  and  often  the  whole  of  the  society 
will  he  in  a  tainted  and  imcertain  condition 
with  respect  to  female  virtue.  Here,  there 
is  that  certain  and  marked  line,  above  which 
there  is  no  toleration  or  allowance  for  any 
approach  to  license  of  manners  or  conduct, 
and  she  who  falls  below  it,  will  fall  far  be- 
low even  the  slave.  How  many  will  incur 
this  penalty  ? 

And  permit  me  to  say,  that  this  elevation 
of  the  female  character  is  no  less  important 
and  essential  to  us,  than  the  moral  and  in- 
tellectual cultivation  of  the  other  sex.  It 
would  indeed  be  intolerable,  if,  when  one 
class  of  society  is  necessarily  degraded  in 
this  respect.,  no  compensation  were  made  by 
the  superior  elevation  and  ))urity  of  the 
other.  Not  only  essential  [)urity  of  conduct, 
but  the  utmost  purity  of  manners,  and,  1 
will  add,  though  it  may  incur  the  formidable 
charge  of  aff'ectation  or  prudery,  a  greater 
severity  of  decorum  than  is  required  else- 
where, is  necessary  among  us.  Alw.ays 
should  be  strenuously  resisted  the  attempts 
which  have  been  sometimes  made  to  intro- 
duce among  us  the  freedom  of  foreign  Euro- 
pean, and  especially  of  continental  manners. 
This  freedom,  the  remotest  in  the  world 
from  that  which  sometimes  spi-ings  from 
simplicity  of  manners,  is  calculated  and  com- 
monly intended  to  confound  the  outward 
distinctions  of  virtue  ami  vice.  It  is  to  pre- 
pare the  way  for  licentiousness — to  jtroduce 
this  effect — that,  if  those  who  are  clothed 
with  the  outward  color  and  garb  of  vice 
may  be  well  received  by  society,  those  who 
are  actually  guilty  may  hope  to  be  so  too. 
It  may  be  said,  that  there  is  often  perfect 
purity  where  there  is  very  great  freedom  of 
manners.  And,  I  have  no  doubt,  this  may 
be  true  in  particular  instance.",  but  it  is  never 
true  of  any  society  in  which  this  is  the  general 


state  of  manners.  What  guards  can  there 
be  to  purity,  when  every  thing  that  may 
posnihly  be  done  innocently,  is  habitually 
practised ;  when  there  can  be  no  inipro- 
jiriety  which  is  not  vice?  And  what  must 
lie  the  depth  of  the  depravity,  wdien  there 
is  a  departure  from  that  which  they  admit  as 
principle  ?  Besides,  things  which  may  perhaps 
be  jjractised  innocently  where  they  are  familiar, 
produce  a  moral  dilaceration  in  the  course  of 
their  being  introduced  where  they  are  new. 
Let  us  say,  we  will  not  have  the  mannera  of 
South  Carolina  changed. 

I  have  before  said,  that  free  labor  is 
cheaper  than  the  labor  of  slaves,  and  so  far  as 
it  is  so,  the  condition  of  the  free  laborer  is 
worse.  But  I  think  President  Dew  has  suffi- 
ciently shown  that  this  is  only  true  of  northern 
countries.  It  is  matter  of  familiar  remark, 
that  the  tendency  of  warm  climates  is  to  relax 
the  human  constitution  and  indispose  to  labor. 
The  earth  yields  abundantly — in  some  regions 
almost  spontaneously — under  the  influence  of 
the  sun,  and  the  means  of  supporting  hfe  are 
obtained  with  but  slight  exertion ;  and  men  will 
use  no  greater  exertion  than  is  necessary  to 
the  purpose.  This  very  luxuriance  of  vegeta- 
tion, where  no  other  cause  concurs,  renders  the 
air  less  salubrious,  and  even  when  positive 
malady  does  not  exist,  the  health  is  habitually 
impaired.  Indolence  renders  the  constitution 
more  liable  to  these  eff^ects  of  the  atmosphere, 
and  these  again  aggravate  the  indolence.  No- 
thing but  the  coercion  of  slavery  can  overcome 
the  repugtiance  to  labor  under  these  circum- 
stances, and  by  subduing  the  soil,  improve 
and  render  wholesome  the  climate. 

Concluding  Reflections. — Paet  V. — It  is 
worthy  of  remark,  that  there  does  not  now 
exist  on  the  face  of  the  earth  a  people  in  a 
tropical  climate,  or  one  approaching  to  it, 
wheie  slaver}' does  not  exist,  that  is  in  a  state 
of  high  civilization,  or  exliibits  the  energies 
which  mark  the  jirogress  towards  it.  Mexico 
and  the  South  American  republics,*  starting 


*  The  author  of  England  and  America  thus  speaks 
of  the  Colombian  republic:  :...■  ^d 

"  During  some  yeari!,  this  colony  has  been  an  inde- 
pendent state;  but  the  people  dispersed  over  these 
vast  and  fertile  plains  have  almost  ceased  to  cultivate 
the  good  land  at  their  disposal ;  they  subsist  priuei- 
pally,  ni;iny  of  them  entirely,  on  the  fltsh  of  wild 
cattle;  they  have  lost  must  of  the  arts  of  civilized 
life ;  not  a  few  of  them  are  in  a  stale  of  deplorable 
misery;  and  if  they  should  continue,  asil  seems  prob- 
able they  will,  to  retrograde  i.s  at  present,  the  beau- 
tiful pampas  of  Buenos  .Vyres  will  soon  be  fit  for  an- 
other experiment  in  colonization.  Slaves,  black  or 
yellow,  would  have  cultivated  those  plains,  would 
have  kept  together,  woidd  have  been  made  to  assist 
eiicli  other  ;  would,  by  keeping  together  and  assisting 
each  other,  have  raised  a  surplus  produce  exchange- 
able in  distant  markets ;  would  have  kept  their  mas- 
ters together  for  the  sake  of  markets ;  would,  by  com- 
bination of  labor,  have  pres'Tved  among  their  masters 
tlio  aits  and  habits  of  civilized  life."  Yet  this  writer, 
the  whole  practical  effect  of  whose  work,  whatever 
he  may  have  thought  or  intended,  is  to  show  the  ab- 


NEGRO    SLAVERY — MEMOIK    ON. 


23^ 


on  their  new  career  of  independence,  and 

Lavinjj  gone  through  a  farce  of  abolishing  shi- 
very, are  raiiidiy  degenerating,  even  from 
semi-barbarism.  '  The  only  portion  of  the 
South  American  continent  which  seems  to  be 
making  any  favorable  progress,  in  spite  of  a 
weak  and  arbitrary  civil  government,  is  Bra- 
zil, in  which  slavery  has  been  retained.  Cuba, 
of  the  same  race  with  the  continental  repub 
lies,  is  daily  and  rapidly  advancing  in  indus- 
ti-y  and  civilization;  and  this  is  owing  exclu 
sively  to  her  slaves.  St.  Domingo  is  struck 
out  of  the  map  of  civilized  existence,  and  the 
British  West  Indies  will  shortly  be  so.  On 
the  other  continent,  Spain  and  Portugal  are 
degenerate,  and  their  rapid  progress  is  down- 
ward. Their  southern  coast  is  infested  with 
disease,  arising  from  causes  which  industry 
might  readily  overcame,  but  that  industry 
they  will  never  exert.  Greece  is  still  barbar- 
ous and  scantily  peopled.  Tiie  work  of  an 
English  physician,  distinguished  by  strong 
sense  and  power  of  observation,*  gives  a 
most  affecting  picture  of  the  condition  of  Italy, 
especially  south  of  the  Apennines.  With  the 
decay  of  industry,  the  climate  has  ilegenerated 
towards  the  condition  from  which  it  M'as  first 
rescued  by  the  labor  of  slaves.  There  is 
poison  in  every  man's  veins,  affecting  the  very 
springs  of  life,  dulling  or  extinguishing,  with 
the  energies  of  the  body,  all  energy  of  mind, 
and  often  exhibiting  itself  in  the  most  appall- 
ing forms  of  disease.  From  year  to  year  the 
pestilential  atmosphere  creeps  forward,  nar- 
rowing the  circles  within  which  it  is  possible 
to  sustain  human  life.  With  disease  and 
misery,  industry  still  more  rapidly  decays,  and 
if  the  process  goes  on,  it  seems  that  Italy  will 
soon  be  ready  for  another  experiment  of  colo- 
nization. 

Yet   once  it  was   n6t  so,  when  Italy  was 

Sossessed  by  the  masters  of  slaves ;  when 
ome  contained  her  millions,  and  Italy  was  a 
garden ;  when  their  iron  energies  of  body 
corresponded  with  the  energies  of  mind,  which 
made  them  conquerors  in  every  climate  and 
on  every  soil;  rolled  the  tide  of  conquest,  not 
as  in  later  times,  from  the  south  to  the  north  ; 
extended  their  laws  and  their  civihzation,  and 
created  them  lords  of  the  earth. 

"What  conflux  issuina;  forth  or  entering  in ; 
Prastors,  pro-consuls  to  their  provinces, 
Hrtstiu'.?,  or  oa  return  in  robes  of  state. 
Lictors  and  rods,  the  ensii^us  of  their  power, 
Legious  and  cohorts,  turms  of  horse  and  wings; 
Or  embassiea  from  regions  far  remote, 
In  various  habits,  ou  the  Appiuu  road, 
Or  on  th'  Emiiian ;  some  from  farthest  south, 


eolute  necessity  and  immense  benefits  of  slavery, 
finds  it  necessary  to  add,  I  suppose,  in  deference  to 
the  general  sentiment  of  his  couiitryuioti,  '•  that  sla- 
very rni|.'ht  have  done  all  this,  seem.'*  not  more  plain 
than  that  so  much  good  would  have  been  buucjlit  loo 
dear,  if  its  price  had  been  slavery."  Well  may  we 
Bay  that  the  word  makes  men  mad. 
•  Johnson  on  Change  of  Air, 


Syene,  and  where  the  shadow  both  way  falls, 

Meroe,  Nilotic  isle,  and  more  to  wejt. 

The  realms  of  Bocchus  to  llie  Hlaekmoor  sea; 

Trom  th'  Asian  kings,  and  Parthian  among  these ; 

From  India  and  the  polden  Ohersonose, 

And  utmost  India's  isle.  Taprobona, 

Dusk  lace',  with  white  silken  turbans  wreathed, 

From  (lallia,  Gades,  and  the  British  West; 

(iermansi  and  Scythians,  and  ^"•rnlatians,  north 

Beyond  Danubius  to  the  Tauric  Pool '. 

All  nations  now  to  Rome  obedience  pay," 

Such  was  and  such  is  the  picture  of  Italy- 
Greece  presents  a  contrast  not  less  striking. 
Whiit  is  the  cause  of  the  great  change  ? 
Many  causes,  no  doubt,  have  concurred  ;  but 
though 

"  War,  famine,  pestilence,  and  flood  and  fire 
Have  dealt  upon  the  seven-hilled  city's  pride,"  , 

I  will  venture  to  say  that  nothing  has  dealt 
upon  it  more  heavily  than  the  loss  of  domestic 
slavery.  Is  not  this  evident?  If  they  had 
slaves,  with  an  energetic  civil  government, 
would  the  deadly  miasma  be  permitted  to 
overspread  the  Camp  igna  and  invade  Rome 
herself?  Would  not  the  soil  be  cultivated, 
and  the  wastes  reclaimed  ?  A  late  traveller* 
mentions  a  canal,  cut  for  miles  through  rock 
and  mountain,  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  off" 
the  waters  of  the  lake  ot  Celeuo,  on  which 
thirty  thousand  Roman  slaves  were  employed 
for  eleven  years,  and  which  remains  almost 
perfect  to  the  present  day.  This,  the  govern- 
ment of  Xaples  was  ten  years  in  repairing 
with  an  hundred  workmen.  The  imperishable 
works  of  Rome  which  remain  to  the  present 
day  were,  for  the  most  part,  executed  by 
slaves.  How  different  would  be  the  condition 
of  Xaples,  if  for  her  wretched  lazzaroni  were 
substituted  negro  slaves,  employed  in  render- 
ing productive  the  plains  whose  fertility  now 
serves  only  to  infect  the  air ! 

To  us,  on  whom  this  institution  is  fastened, 
and  who  could  not  shake  it  off  even  if  we  de- 
sired to  do  so,  the  great  republics  of  antiquity 
offer  instruction  of  inestimable  value.  They 
teach  us  that  slavery  is  compatible  with  the 
freedom,  stability,  and  long  duration  of  civil 
government,  with  denseuess  of  population, 
great  power,  and  the  highest  civilization.  And 
in  wiiat  respect  does  this  modern  Europe, 
which  claims  to  give  opinions  to  the  world,  so 
far  excel  them — notwithstanding  the  immense 
advantages  of  the  Christian  religion  and  the 
discovery  of  the  art  of  pruitiiig?  They  are 
not  more  free,  nor  have  perfoiined  more  glo- 
rious actions,  nor  displayed  more  exalted  vir- 
tue. In  the  higher  department  of  intellect— = 
in  all  that  relates  to  taste  and  imagination — . 
they  will  harilly  venture  to  claim  equality. 
Where  they  have  gone  beyond  them  in  the 
results  of  mechanical  philosophy,  or  discoveries 
which  contribute  to  tlie  wants  and  enjoyments 
of  physical  life,  they  liave  done  so  by  the  help 

*  Eight  days  in  the  Abruzzi. — Btackwood^s  .Maga- 
zine, JVocembcr,  1835, 


230 


NEGRO    SLAVERY MEMOIR    ON. 


of  means  with  -which  the}'  were  furnished  by 
the  Grecian  niiiid — tlie  motlierof  civilization — 
and  only  pursued  a  little  farther  the  track 
vrhich  that  liad  always  pointed  out.  In  the 
developnient  of  intellectual  power,  they  will 
hardly  bear  comparison.  Those  noble  repub- 
lics,'in  the  pr^Je  of  their^^  strength  and  great- 
ness, mav  have  anticipated  for  ihemselves — as 
some  of  their  poets  did  for  them — an  ever- 
lasting duration  and  predominance.  But  they 
could  not  have  anticipated,  that  wlien  they 
had  fallen  under  barbarous  arms,  that  when 
arts  and  civilization  were  lost,  and  the  whole 
earth  in  darkness,  the  first  light  should  break 
from  their  tombs;  that  in  a  renewed  world, 
unconnected  with  them  by  ties  of  locality, 
•language,  or  descent,  they  should  still  be  held 
the  models  of  all  that  is  profound  in  science, 
or  elegant  in  literature,  or  all  that  is  great  in 
character,  or  elevated  in  imagination.  And 
perhaps  when  England  herself,  who  now  leads 
the  war  with  which  we  are  on  all  sides 
threatened,  shall  have  fulfilled  lier  mission, 
and  like  the  other  glorious  things  of  the  earth, 
shall  have  passed  away ;  when  she  shall  have 
diffused  her  noble  race  and  noble  language, 
her  laws,  her  literature,  and  her  civilization, 
over  all  quarters  of  the  earth,  and  shall  per- 
haps be  overrun  by  some  northern  horde — 
sunk  into  an  ignoble  and  anarchical  demo- 
cracy,* or  subdued  to  the  dominion  of  some 
Cfesar, — demagogue  and  despot, — then,  in 
southern  region^,  there  may  be  found  many 
republics,  triumphing  in  Grecian  arts  and 
civilization,  ami  worthy  of  British  descent  and 
Roman  institutions. 

If  after  a  time,  when  the  mind  and  al- 
most the  memory  of  the  republic  were 
lost.  Romans  degenerated,  tliey  furnish  con- 
clusive evidence  that  this  was  owing  not  to 
their  domestic,  but  to  their  political  slavery. 
The  same  thing  is  observed  over  all  the 
eastern  monarchies ;  and  so  it  must  be,  wher- 
ever property  is  insecure,  and  it  is  dangerous 
for  a  man  to  raise  himself  to  such  emi- 
nence by  intellectual  or  moral  excellence  as 
would  give  him  influence  over  his  society. 
So  it  is  in  Egypt  and  the  other  regions 
bordering  the  Mediterranean,  which  once 
comprehended  the  civilization  of  the  world, 
where  Carthage,  Tyre,  and  Phcenicia  flour- 
ished. In  short,  the  uncontradicted  exjjerience 
of  the  world  is,  that  in  soutlurn  states  where 
good  government  and  praclial  and  domestic 
slavery  are  found,  there  are  prosperity  and 
greatness;  where  either  of  these  coiiililious  is 
wanting,  degeneracy  and  barbarism.  The 
former,  however,  is  equally  essential  in  all 
climates  and  under  all  institutions.  And  can 
we  suppose  it  to  be  the  design  of  the  Creator 


•  1  do  not  use  tlie  word  deinocrncy  in  the  Atlieniiiu 
sense,  but  to  ile-xcribe  the  goverunieiit  in  wliich  tln' 
slave  aud  his  master  have  an  equal  voice  in  public 
affairs. 


that  these  regions,  constituting  half  of  the 
eartli's  surface,  and  the  more  fertile  half  and 
more  capable  of  .sustaining  life,  should  be  aban- 
doned for  ever  to  depopulation  and  barbar- 
ism ?  Certain  it  is,  that  they  will  in-ver  be 
reclaimed  by  the  labor  of  freemen.  In  our 
own  country,  look  at  the  lower  valley  of  the 
Mississijipi,  which  is  capable  of  being  made  a 
far  greater  Egypt.  In  our  own  state,  there 
are  extensive  tracts  of  the  most  fertile  soil, 
which  are  capable  of  being  made  to  swarm 
with  life.  These  are  at  present  pestilential 
swamps,  and  valueless,  because  there  is 
ahiuKlance  of  other  fertile  soil  in  more  favor- 
able situations,  which  demand  all  and  more 
than  all  the  labor  which  our  country  can  sup- 
ply. Are  these  regions  of  fertility  to  be 
abandoned  at  once  and  for  ever  to  the  alliga- 
tor and  tortoise— with  here  and  there  perhaps 
a  miserable,  shivering,  crouching  frie  black 
savage  ?  Does  not  the  finger  of  Heaven  itself 
seem  to  point  to  a  race  of  men— not  to  be  en- 
slaved by  us,  but  already  enslaved,  and  who 
will  be  in  every  way  benefited  by  the  change 
of  masters — to  whom  such  climate  is  not  un- 
congenial; who,  though  disposed  to  indolence, 
are  yet  patient  and  capable  of  labor ;  on  whose 
whole  features,  mind,  and  character,  nature 
has  indelibly  written — slave;  and  indicate 
that  we  shouUl  avail  ourselves  of  these  in 
fulfilling  the  first  great  command,  to  tubdue 
and  replenish  the  earth  \ 

It  is  true  that  this  labor  will  be  dearer  than 
that  of  northern  countries,  where,  under  the 
name  of  freedom,  they  obtain  cheaper  and 
perhaps  better  slaves.  Yet  it  is  the  best  we 
can  have,  and  this  too  has  its  compensation. 
We  see  it  compensated  at  present  by  the  su- 
perior value  of  our  agricultural  products. 
And  this  superior  value  they  must  probably 
always  have.  The  southern  climate  admits 
of  a  greater  variety  of  productions.  Wliat- 
ever  is  produced  in  northern  climates,  the 
same  thing,  or  something  equivalent,  may  be 
produced  m  the  southern.  But  the  northern 
have  no  equivalent  for  the  products  of  south- 
ern cliiiiates.  The  C(inse(pience  Avill  be,  that 
the  products  of  southern  regions  will  be  de- 
mandetl  all  over  the  civilized  world.  The 
agricultiiral  products  of  northern  regions  are 
chiefly  for  their  own  consum})tion.  They 
must  therefore  apply  themselves  to  the  man- 
ufacturing of  articles  of  iuxur}',  elegance,  con- 
venience or  necessity — which  requires  cheap 
labor — for  the  purpose  of  exchanging  them 
with  their  southern  neighbors.  Tims  nature 
herself  indicates  that  agriculture  should  be 
the  predominating  employment  in  southern 
countries,  and  manufact  tires  in  northern.  Com- 
merce is  necessary  to  both  — but  less  indispen- 
sable to  the  southern,  which  produce  within 
themselves  a  gri'ater  variety  of  things  desira- 
ble to  life.  They  will  therefore  have  some- 
what less  of  the  commercial  spirit.  We  must 
avail  ourselves  of  such  labor  as  we  can  com- 


NBGRO    SLAVERY — MEMOIR    ON. 


2ai 


mand.  Tlie  slave  must  labor,  and  is  inured 
to  it ;  wliile  the  necessity  of  energy  iu  his 
government,  of  watchfulness,  and  of  prepara- 
tion and  power  to  suppress  insurrectifm,  added 
to  the  moral  force  derived  from  tiie  habit  of 
•command,  may  help  to  prevent  the  degener- 
acy of  the  master. 

The  task  of  keeping  down  insurrection  is 
commonly  suppt)sed,  by  tiiose  who  are  stran- 
gers to  our  institution,  to  be  a  very  formidable 
one.  Even  among  ourselves,  accustomtd  as  we 
have  been  to  take  our  opinions  on  this  as  on 
every  other  subject,  ready  formed  from  those 
whom  we  regarcfed  as  instructors,  in  the  teeth 
of  our  own  observation  and  experience,  fears 
have  been  entertained  which  are  absolutely 
ludicrous.  We  have  been  supposed  to  be 
DJghtly  reposing  over  a  mine,  which  may  at 
any  instant  explode  to  our  destruction.  The 
first  thought  of  a  foi-eigner  sojourning  in  one 
of  our  cities,  who  is  awakened  by  any  nightly 
alarm,  is  of  servile  insurrection  and  massacre. 
Yet  if  any  thing  is  certain  in  human  affairs,  it 
is  certain,  and  from  the  most  obvious  consid- 
-erations,  that  we  are  more  secure  in  this  re- 
spect than  any  civilized  and  fully-peopled  so- 
ciety upon  the  face  of  the  earth.  In  every 
such  society,  there  is  a  much  larger  proportion 
than  with  us,  of  jiersons  who  have  more  to 
gain  than  to  lose  by  the  overthrow  of  govern- 
ment, and  the  embroiling  of  social  order.  It 
is  in  such  a  state  of  things  that  those  who 
were  before  at  the  bottom  of  society,  rise  to 
the  surfiiee.  From  causes  already  considered, 
they  are  peculiarly  apt  to  consider  their  suf- 
ferings the  result  of  injustice  and  misgovern- 
ment,  and  to  be  rancorous  and  embittered  ac- 
<;ordingly.  They  have  every  excitement  there- 
fore of  resentful  passion,  and  every  tempta- 
tion which  the  hope  of  increased  opulence  or 
power  or  consideration  can  hold  out,  to  urge 
them  to  innovation  and  revolt.  Supposmg 
the  same  disposition  to  exist  iu  equal  degree 
among  our  slaves,  what  are  their  comparative 
means  w  prospect  of  gratifying  it  *  The  poor 
of  other  countries  are  called  free.  They  have, 
at  least,  no  one  interested  to  exercise  a  daily 
and  nigtitly  superintendence  and  control  over 
their  conduct  ;uid  actions.  Emissaries  of  their 
class  may  traverse,  unchecked,  every  portion 
■of  the  country,  for  the  purpose  of  organizing 
insurrection.  From  their  greater  intelligence, 
they  have  greater  means  of  communicating 
with  each  other.  They  may  procure  and  se- 
crete arms.  It  is  not  alone  tbe  ignorant,  or 
those  who  are  commonly  called  the  poor,  that 
will  be  tempted  to  revolution.  Tlierewill  be 
many  disappointed  men,  and  men  of  desperate 
fortune — men  perhaps  of  talent  and  daring — 
to  combine  then^  and  direct  their  energies. 
Even  those  in  the  higher  ranks  of  society  who 
contemplate  no  such  result,  will  contribute  to 
it,  by  declaiming  on  their  hardships  and 
rights. 
,_^With  us,  it  is  almost  physically  impossible 


that  there  should  be  any  very  extensive  com- 
bination among  tiie  slaves.  It  is  absolutely 
impossible  that  they  should  procure  and  con- 
ceal efficient  arms.  Their  emissaries  travers- 
ing the  country  would  caiTy  their  conunission 
on  tlieir  foreheads.  If  we  suppose  among 
them  an  jndividual  of  sufficient  talt-nt  and 
energy  to  qualify  him  for  a  revolutionary 
leader,  he  could  not  be  so  extensively  known 
as  to  command  the  confidence  which  would 
be  neces.«ary  to  etiable  him  to  combine  and 
direct  them.  Of  the  class  of  freemen,  there 
would  be  no  individual  so  poor  or  degraded 
(with  the  exception  jierhaps  of  here  and  there 
a  reckless  and  desperate  outlaw  and  felon) 
who  would  not  have  much  to  lose  by  tin;  suc- 
cess of  such  an  attempt;  every  one  therefore 
would  be  vigilant  and  active  to  detect  and 
suppress  it.  Of  all  impossible  things,  one  of 
the  most  impossible  would  be  a  successful  in- 
surrection of  our  slaves,  originating  with 
themselves. 

Attempts  at  insurrection  have  indeed  been 
made — excited,  we  believe,  by  tiie  agitation 
of  abolitionists  and  declaimers  on  slavery ; 
but  these  have  been  in  every  instance  prompt- 
ly suppressed.  We  fear  not  to  compare  the 
riots,  disorder,  revolt  and  bloodshed  which 
have  been  committed  in  our  own,  with  those 
of  ajiy  other  civilized  conmiunities,  duiing  the 
same  lapse  of  time.  And  let  it  be  observed 
under  what  extraordinary  circumstaucea  our 
peace  has  been  preserved.  For  the  last  half 
century,  one  half  of  our  population  has  been 
admonished,  in  terms  the  most  calculated  to 
madden  and  excite,  that  they  are  the  victims 
of  the  most  grinding  and  cruel  injustice  and 
oppression-  We  know  that  these  exhortations 
continually  reach  them,  through  a  thousand 
channels  we  cannot  detect,  as  if  carried  by  the 
birds  of  the  air;  and  what  human  being,  es- 
pecially when  unfavorably  distinguisheil  by 
outward  circumstances,  is  not  ready  to  give 
credit  when  he  is  told  that  he  is  the  victim  of 
injustice  and  oppression  ?  In  effect,  if  not  in 
terms,  they  have  been  continually  exhorted 
to  insurrection.  The  master  has  been  ])ainted 
a  criminal,  tyrant  and  robber,  justly  obnoxious 
to  the  vengeance  of  God  and  man,  mid  they 
have  been  assured  of  the  countenance  and 
sympathy,  if  not  of  the  active  assistance  of 
all  the  rest  of  the  world.  We  ourselves  have 
in  some  measure  pleaded  guilty  to  the  im- 
peiichment.  It  is  not  long  since  a  great  ma- 
jority of  our  free  population,  servile  to  the 
opinions  of  those  whose  opinions  they  had 
been  accustomed  to  follow,  would  have  ad- 
mitted slavery  to  be  a  great  evil,  unjust  and 
iudefensible  in  principle,  and  only  to  be  vindi- 
cated by  the  stern  necessity  whicli  was  im- 
posed upon  us.  Thus  stimulated  by  every 
motive  and  passion  which  ordinarily  actuate 
human  beings — not  as  to  a  criminal  enterprise, 
j  but  as  to  something  generous  and  hciuic — 
what  has  been  the  result  i    A  few  imbecile 


232 


KEGRO    SLAVERY MEMOIR    O::^. 


and  UDCombined  plots — in  every  instance  de- 
tected before  tliey  broke  out  into  action,  and 
"whicb,  periiaps,  if  undetected,  would  never 
have  broken  into  action ;  one  or  two  sudden, 
unpremeditated  attempts,  frantic  in  their 
character,  if  not  prompted  by  actual  insanity, 
and  these  instantly  crushed.  As  it  is,  we  are 
not  less  assured  «f  safety,  order  and  internal 
peace  than  any  other  people  ;  and  but  for  the 
pertinacious  and  fanatical  a^itatioD  of  the  sub- 
ject, would  be  much  more  so. 

This  experience  of  security,  however,  should 
admonish  us  of  the  folly  and  wickedness  of 
those  who  have  sometimes  taken  upon  them- 
selves to  supersede  the  regular  course  of  law, 
and  by  rash  and  violent  acts  to  punish  sup- 
posed disturbers  of  the  peace  of  society.  This 
can  admit  of  no  justiiication  or  palliation  what- 
ever. Burke,  I  think,  somewhere  remarks 
something  to  this  effect, — that  when  society  is 
in  the  last  stage  of  depravity,  when  all  par- 
ties are  alike  corrupt  and  alike  wicked  and 
unjustifiable  in  their  measvires  and  objects,  a 
good  man  may  content  himself  with  standing 
neuter,  a.  sad  disheartened  spectator  of  the 
conflict  between  the  rival  vices.  But  are  we 
in  this  wretched  condition?  Ifc  is  fearful  to 
see  with  what  avidity  the  worst  and  most 
dangerous  characters  of  society  seized  on  the 
occasion  of  obtaining  the  countenance  of  bet 
ter  men-,  for  the  purpose  of  throwing  off  the 
I'estraints  of  law.  It  is  always  these  who  are 
most  zealous  and  forward  in  constituting  them- 
selves the  protectors  of  the  public  peace.  To 
sucli  men — men  without  reputation  or  prin- 
ciple or  stake  in  society — disorder  is  the  natu- 
ral element.  In  that,  desperate  fortunes  and 
the  want  of  all  moral  principle  and  moral 
feeling  constitute  power.  They  are  eager  to 
avenge  themselves  upon  society.  Anarchy  is 
not  so  much  the  absence  of  government  as  the 
government  of  the  worst — not  aristocracy  but 
kakistocracy — a  state  of  thintrs  which,  to  the 
honor  of  our  nature,  has  seldom  obtained 
amongst  them,  and  which  perhaps  was  only 
fully  exemplified  during  the  worst  times  of 
the  French  revolution,  when  that  horrid  hell 
burnt  witli  its  most  lurid  flame.  In  such  a 
state  of  things,  to  be  accused  is  to  be  con- 
demned— to  protect  the  innocent  is  to  be 
guilty  ;  and  v/hat  perhajis  is  the  worst  effect, 
even  men  of  betti'r  nature,  to  whom  their 
own  deeds  are  abhorrent,  are  goaded  by  ter- 
ror to  be  forward  and  emulous  in  deeds  of 
gnilt  and  violence.  The  scenes  of  lawless 
violence  which  have  been  acted  in  some  por- 
tions of  our  country,  rare  and  restricted  as 
they  have  been,  have  done  more  to  tarnish  its 
reputation  than  a  thousand  libels.  Tliey  have 
done  more  to  discredit,  and  if  aivy  thing  could, 
to  endanger,  not  only  our  domestic,  but  our 
republican  institutions,  than  the  abolitionists 
themselves.  Men  can  never  be  permanently 
and  effectually  disgraced  but  by  themselves, 
and  rarely  endangered  but  hy  thoix*  own  in- 


judicious conduct,  giving  advantage  to  the 
enemy.  Better,  far  better,  would  it  be  to  en- 
counter the  dangers  with  which  we  are  sup- 
posed to  be  threatened,  than  to  employ  such 
means  for  averting  them.  But  the  truth  is, 
that  in  relation  to  this  matter,  so  far  as  re- 
spects actual  insurrection,  when  alarm  is  once 
excited,  danger  is  absolutely  at  an  end.  So- 
ciety can  then  employ  legitimate  and  more 
effectual  measures  for  its  own  protection. 
The  very  commission  of  such  deeds  is  pi-oof 
that  they  are  unnecessary.  Let  those  who 
attempt  them  then,  or  make  any  demonstra- 
tion towards  them,  understand  that  they  will 
meet  only  the  discountenance  and  abhorrence 
of  all  good  mea,  and  the  just  putiishment  of 
the  laws  they  have  dared  to  outrage. 

It  has  commonly  been  supposed,  that  this 
institution  will  prove  a  source  of  weakness  in 
relation  to  militai'y  defense  against  a  foreign 
enemy.  I  will  venture  to  say,  that  in  a  slave- 
holding  community,  a  larger  military  force 
may  be  maintained  permanently  ia  the  field, 
than  in  any  state  where  there  are  not  slaves. 
It  is  plain  that  almost  the  whole  of  the  able- 
bodied  free  male  population,  making  half  of 
the  entile  able-bodied  male  population,  may 
be  maintained  in  the  field,  and  this  without 
taking  in  any  material  degree  from  the  labor 
and  resources  of  the  country.  In  general  the 
labor  of  our  country  is  performed  by  slaves. 
In  other  countries,  it  is  their  laborers  that  form 
the  material  of  tlieir  armies.  What  propor- 
tion of  these  can  be  taken  away  without 
fatally  crippling  their  industry  and  resources? 
In  the  v/ar  of  the  Revolution,  though  the 
strength  of  our  state  was  wasted  and  parsi- 
lyzed  by  the  unfortunate  divisions  which  exist- 
ed among  ourselves,  yet  it  may  be  said  with 
general  truth,  that  every  citizen  was  in  the 
field,  and  acquired  much  of  the  qualities  of 
the  soldier. 

It  is  true  that  this  advantage  will  be  at- 
tended with  its  compensating  evils  and  disad- 
vantages ;  to  which  we  must  learn  to  submit, 
if  we  are  determined  on  the  maintenance  of 
our  institutitinj^s.  We  are  as  yet  haydly  at  all 
aware  how  little  the  maxims  and  practices  of 
modern  civilized  government  will  apply  to 
us.  Standing  armies,  as  they  are  elsewhere 
constituted,  we  cannot  have ;  for  we  have  not, 
and  for  generations  cannot  have,  the  materials 
out  of  which  they  are  to  be  formed.  If  we 
should  be  involved  in  serious  wars,  I  have  no 
doubt  but  that  some  sort  of  conscription,  re- 
quiring the  services  of  all  citizens  f()r  a  con- 
siderable term,  will  be  necessary.  Like  the 
people  of  Athens,  it  will  be  necessary  that 
every  citizen  shoukl  bo  a  soldier,  and  quali- 
fied to  discharge  efficiently  the  duties  of  a 
soldier.  It  may  seem  a  melancholy  consid- 
eration, that  an  army  so  made  up  should  bo 
opposed  to  tlie  disciplined  mercenaries  of 
foreign  nations.  But  we  must  learn  to  kuovr 
oav  true  sitmvtion.     But  may  w«  not  liope- 


NEGRO    SLAVERY MEMOIR   OJT. 


23B 


that,  made  of  superior  materials,  of  men  hav- 
ing home  and  country  to  defend ;  inspired  by 
higher  priile  of  cliaracter,  of  greater  intelli- 
gence, and  trained  by  an  effective,  though 
honorable  discipline,  such  an  army  will  be 
more  than  a  match  for  mercouaries?  The 
efficiency  of  an  army  is  determined  by  the 
qualities  of  its  officers;  and  may  we  not  ex- 
pect to  have  a  greater  proportion  of  men  bet- 
ter ciuaiitied  for  officers,  and  possessing  the 
true  spirit  of  military  command  ?  And  let  it 
be  rect)llected,  that  if  there  were  otherwise 
reason  to  apprehend  danger  from  insurrection, 
there  will  be  the  greatest  security  when 
there  is  the  largest  force  on  foot  within  the 
country.  Then  it  is  that  any  such  attempt 
would  be  most  instantly  and  effectually 
crushed. 

And  perhaps  a  wise  foresight  should  in- 
duce our  state  to  provide,  that  it  should  have 
within  itself  such  military  knowledge  and 
skill  as  may  be  sufficient  to  organize,  disci- 
pline and  command  armies,  by  etablishing  a 
military  academy  or  school  of  discipline.  The 
school  of  the  militia  will  not  do  for  this. 
From  the  general  opinion  of  our  weakness,  if 
our  country  should  at  any  time  come  into  hos- 
tile collision,  we  shall  be  selected  for  the 
point  of  attack  ;  making  us,  according  to  Mr. 
Adams'a  anticipation,  the  Flanders  of  the 
United  States.  Come  from  what  quarter  it 
may,  the  storm  will  fall  upon  us.  It  is  known 
that  lately,  when  there  was  apprehension  of 
hostility  with  France,  the  scheme  was  in- 
stantly devised  of  invading  the  southern 
states  and  organizing  insun-ection.  In  a  popu- 
lar English  periodical  work,  I  have  seen  the 
plan  .suggested  by  an  officer  of  high  rank  and 
reputation  in  the  British  army,  of  invading 
the  SI  uthern  states  at  various  points  and  op- 
erating by  the  same  means.  He  is  said  to  be 
a  gallant  officer,  and  certainly  had  no  concep- 
tion that  he  was  devising  atrocious  crime,  as 
alien  to  the  true  spirit  of  civilized  warfare  as 
the  poisoning  of  streams  and  fountains.  But 
tlie  folly  of  such  schemes  is  no  less  evident 
tliau  tlieir  wickedness.  Apart  from  the  con 
sideration  of  that  which  experience  has  most 
fully  proved  to  be  true — that  in  general  their 
attachment  and  fidelity  to  their  masters  is 
not  to  bo  shaken,  and  that  from  sympathy 
with  the  feelings  of  those  by  whom  they  are 
surrounded,  and  from  whom  they  derive  their 
impressions,  they  contract  no  less  terror  and 
aversion  towards  an  invading  enemy — it  is 
manifest  that  this  recourse  would  be  an  hun- 
dred fold  more  available  to  us  thau  to  such  an 
enemy.  They  are  already  in  our  possession, 
and  we  might  at  will  arm  and  organize  them 
in  any  number  that  we  might  think  proper. 
The  Helots  were  a  regular  constituent  part  of 
the  Si)artan  armies.  Tlioroughly  acquainted 
with  tlieir  characters,  and  accustomed  to  com- 
mand them,  we  might  use  any  strictness  of 
discipline  which  would  be  necessary  to  render 


them  effective,  and  from  their  habits  of  sub- 
ordination already  formed,  this  would  be  a 
task  of  less  difficulty.  Though  morally  most 
timid,  they  are  by  no  means  wanting  in 
physical  strength  of  nerve.  They  are  excitable 
by  praise;  umi,  directed  by  those  in  whom 
tiiey  have  confidence,  would  rush  fearlessly 
and  unquestioning  upon  any  sort  of  danger. 
With  white  officers  and  accompanied  by  a 
strong  white  cavalry,  there  are  no  troops  in 
the  world  from  whom  there  would  be  so  Uttle 
reason  to  apprehend  insubordination  or  mu- 
tiny. 

This  I  admit  might  be  a  dangerous  resource, 
and  one  not  to  be  resorted  to  but  in  great  ex- 
tremity. But  I  am  supposing  the  case  of  our 
being  driven  to  extremity.  It  might  be  dan- 
gerous to  disband  such  an  army,  and  reduce 
them,  with  the  habits  of  soldiers,  to  their  for- 
mer condition  of  laborers.  It  might  be  found 
necessary,  when  once  embodied,  to  keep  them 
so,  and  subject  to  military  discipline — a  per- 
manent standing  army.  This  in  time  of  peace 
would  be  expensive,  if  not  dangerous.  Or,  if 
at  any  time  we  should  be  engaged  in  hoslil- 
ities  with  our  neighbors,  and  it  were  thought 
advisable  to  send  such  an  army  abroad  to 
conquer  settlements  for  themselves,  the  in- 
vaded regions  might  have  occasion  to  think 
that  the  scourge  of  God  was  again  let  loose 
to  afflict  the  earth. 

President  Dew  has  very  fully  shown  how 
utterly  vain  are  the  fears  of  those  who,  though 
there  may  be  no  danger  for  the  present,  yet 
apprehend  great  danger  for  the  tuture,  when 
the  number  of  slaves  shall  be  greatly  increas- 
ed. He  has  shown  that  the  larger  and  more 
condensed  society  becomes,  the  easier  it  will 
be  to  maintain  subordination,  supposing  the 
relative  numbers  of  the  different  classes  to  re- 
main the  same — or  even  if  there  should  be  a 
very  disproportionate  increase  of  the  enslaved 
class.  Of  all  vain  things,  the  vainest,  and  that 
in  which  man  most  shows  his  impotence  and 
folly,  is  the  taking  upon  himself  to  provide  for 
a  very  distant  future — at  all  events,  by  any 
material  sacrifice  of  the  present.  Though  ex- 
perience has  shown  that  revolutions  antl  po- 
litical movements — unless  when  they  have 
been  conducted  with  the  most  guarded  cau- 
tion and  moderation — have  generally  termi- 
nated in  results  just  the  opposite  of  what  was 
expected  from  them,  the  angry  ape  will  still 
play  his  fantastic  tricks,  and  put  in  motion 
machinery,  the  action  of  which  he  no  more 
comprehends  or  foresees  than  he  comprehends 
the  mysteries  of  infinity.  The  insect  tiiat  is 
borne  upon  the  current,  will  fancy  that  he 
directs  its  coui-se.  Besides  the  fear  of  insur- 
rection and  servile  war,  there  is  also  alarm 
lest  when  their  numbers  shall  be  greatly  in- 
creased, their  labor  will  become  utterly  UI^ 
profitable,  so  that  it  will  be  equally  difficult 
for  the  master  to  retain  and  support  them, 
or  to  get  rid  of  them.  But  at  what  age  of  the 


234 


NEGRO    SLAVERY MEMOIR    ON. 


world  is  this  likely  to  happen  ?  At  present, 
it  maj'  be  said  that  almost,  the  whole  of  the 
southern  portion  of  this  continent  is  to  he  sub 
dued  to  cultivation ;  and  in  the  order  of 
providt-nce,  this  is  the  tas^k  allotted  to  them. 
For  this  purpose,  more  labor  will  be  required 
for  generations  to  come  than  they  will  be 
able  to  supply.  When  that  task  is  accom- 
plished, there  will  be  many  objects  to  which 
their  labor  may  be  directed. 

At  jjresent  they  are  eniployed  in  accumu- 
lating individual  wealth,  and  this  in  one  way, 
to  wit,  as  agricultural  laborers ;  and  this    is  [ 
perhaps  the  most  useful  purpose  to  which  j 
their   labor  can  be   applied.     The   effect  of} 
slavery  has  uot  been  to  counteract  the  tend- 
ency to  dispersion,  which  seems  epidemical ! 
among  our  countrymen,  invited  by  the  un- 
bounded  extent   of  fertile  and  unexhausted 
soil,  though  it  counteracts  many  of  the  evils 
of  dispersion.    All  the  customary  trades,  pro- ! 
fessions,  and  employments,  except  the  agri- ' 
cultural,  require   a  condensed  population  for 
their   profitable   exercise.     The  agriculturist 
who  can  command  no  labor  but  that  of  his 
own  hands  or  that  of  his  family,  must  remain 
compara.ively  poor  and  rude.     He  who  ac- 
quires wealth  by  the  labor  of  slaves,  has  the 
means  of  improvement  for  himself  and  his 
children.     He  may  have  a  more  extended  in- 
tercourse, and  consequently  means  of  informa- 
tion and  refinement,  and  may  seek  education 
for  his  children  where  it  may  be  found.     I 
say,  what  is  obviously  true,  tliat  he  has  the 
means  of  obtaining  those  advantages ;  but  I 
say  nothing  to  palliate  or  excuse  the  conduct 
of  him  who,  having  such  means,  neglects  to 
avail  himself  (jf  them. 

I  believe  it  to  be  true,  that  in  consequence 
of  our  dispersion,  though  individual  wealth  is 
acquired,  the  face  of  the  country  is  less  adorned 
and  improved  by  useful  and  ornamental  pub- 
lic works,  than  in  other  societies  of  more  con- 
densed papulation,  where  there  is  less  wealth. 
But  this  is  an  effect  of  that  which  consti- 
tutes perhaps  our  mosfi  conspicuous  advantage. 
Where  population  is  condensed,  they  must 
have  the  evils  of  condensed  population,  and 
among  these  is  the  difficulty  of  finding  profit- 
able employment  for  capital.  He  who  has 
accumulated  even  an  inconsiderable  sum,  is 
often  puzzled  to  know  what  use  to  make  of 
it.  Ingenuity  is  therefore  tasked  to  cast  about 
for  every  enterprise  which  may  afford  a 
chance  of  profitable  investment.  Works 
useful  and  ornamental  to  tlie  country  are 
thus  undertaken  and  accomplished,  and 
though  the  proprietors  may  fail  of  profit,  the 
community  no  less  receives  the  benefit. 
Among  us,  tliere  is  no  such  difficulty.  A  safe 
and  pioliiable  metliod  of  investment  is  offered 
to  every  one  wlio  has  capital  to  dispose  of, 
which  is  further  recommended  to  his  feelings 
by  the  sen>e  of  independence  and  the  com- 
parative leisure  which  the  employmeot  affords 


to  the  proprietor  engaged  in  it.  It  is  for  this 
reason  that  few  of  our  citizens  engage  in  the 
pursuits  of  commerce.  Though  these  may 
be  more  profitable,  they  are  also  more  hazard- 
ous and  more  laborious. 

Wlien  the  demand  for  agricultural  labor 
shall  be  fully  supplied,  then  of  course  the  la- 
bor of  slaves  will  be  directed  to  other  em- 
ployments and  enterprises.  Already  it  be- 
gins to  be  found,  that  in  some  instances  it  may 
be  used  as  profitably  in  works  of  public  im- 
provement. As  it  becomes  cheaper  and 
cheaper,  it  will  be  applied  to  more  various 
purposes  and  combined  in  larger  masses.  It 
may  be  commanded  and  combined  with  more 
facility  than  any  other  sort  of  labor ;  and  the 
laborer,  kept  in  stricter  subordination,  will  be 
less  dangerous  to  the  security  of  society  than  r 
in  any  other  country,  which  is  crowiled  and  ' 
overstocked  with  a  class  of  what  are  called  j 
free  laborers.  Let  it  be  remembered,  that 
all  the  great  and  enduring  monuments  of 
human  art  and  industry — the  wonders  of 
Egypt,  the  everlasting  works  of  Rome— were 
created  by  the  labor  of  slaves.  There  will 
come  a  stage  in  our  progress  when  we  shall 
have  facilities  for  executing  works  as  great  as 
any  of  these — more  useful  than  the  pyramids 
— not  less  magnificent  than  the  sea  of  Moiris. 
What  tlie  end  of  all  is  to  be ;  what  mutations 
lie  hid  in  the  womb  of  the  distant  future  ;  to 
what  convulsions  our  societies  may  be  ex- 
posed; whether  the  master,  finding  it  impos- 
sible to  live  with  his  slaves,  may  not  be  com- 
pelled to  abandon  the  country  to  them;  of 
all  this  it  were  presumptuous  and  vain  to 
speculate. 

I  have  hitherto,  as  I  proposed,  considered  it 
as  a  naked,  abstract  question  of  the  compar- 
ative good  and  evil  of  the  institution  of  sla- 
very. Very  far  different  indeed  is  the  practi- 
cal question  presented  to  us,  when  it  is  pro- 
posed to  get  rid  of  an  institution  which  has 
interwoven  itself  with  every  fibre  of  tlie  body 
politic  ;  which  has  formed  tlie  habits  of  our 
society,  and  is  consecrated  by  the  usage  of 
generations.  If  this  be  uot  a  vicious  prescrip- 
tion, which  the  laws  of  God  forbid  to  ripen 
into  right,  it  has  a  just  claim  to  be  respected 
by  all  tribunals  of  man.  If  the  negroes  were 
now  free,  and  it  were  proposed  to  enslave 
them;  then  it  would  be  incumbent  on  those 
who  proposed  the  measure  to  show  clearly 
that  their  liberty  was  incompatible  with  the 
public  security.  When  it  is  proposed  to  in- 
novate on  the  established  state  of  things,  the 
burthen  is  on  those  who  propose  the  innova- 
tion, to  show  that  advantage  will  be  gained 
from  it.  There  is  no  reform,  however  neces- 
sary, wholesome  or  moderate,  which  will  not 
be  accompanied  with  some  degree  of  inconve- 
nience, risk  or  suffering.  Those  who  acqui- 
esce in  the  state  of  things  which  they  found 
existing,  can  hardly  be  thought  criminal.  But 
most  deeply  criminal  are  they  who  give  rise  to 


NEGRO    SLAVERY MEMOIR    ON. 


235 


the  enormous  evil  -with  whicb  great  revolu- 
tions in  society  are  always  attended,  witliout 
the  fullest  assurance  of  the  t:;reater  good  to 
be  ultimately  obtained.  But  if  it  can  be 
made  to  ajipear,  even  probably,  tiiat  no  good 
•will  be  obtained,  but  tbat  the  results  will  be 
evil  and  calamitous  as  the  process,  what  can 
justify  such  iiuiovations  ?  No  human  being 
can  be  so  miscliievous,  if  acting  conscientious- 
ly, none  can  be  so  wicked,  as  those  who,  find- 
ing evil  in  existing  institutions,  rush  blindly 
upon  change,  uutoreseeing  and  reckless  of 
consequences,  and  leaving  it  to  chance  or  fate 
to  determine  whether  the  end  shall  be  im- 
provement, or  greater  and  more  intolerable 
evil.  Certainly  the  instincts  of  nature  prompt 
to  resist  intolerable  oppression.  For  this  re- 
sistance no  rule  can  be  prescribed,  but  it  must 
be  left  to  the  instincts  of  nature.  To  justify 
it,  however,  the  insurrectionists  should  at 
least  have  a  reasonable  probability  of  success, 
and  be  assured  that  their  condition  will  be 
improved  by  success.  But  most  txtraordinary 
is  it,  when  those  who  complain  and  clamor 
are  not  those  who  are  supposed  to  feel  the 
oppression,  but  persons  at  a  distance  from 
them,  and  who  can  hardly  at  all  appreciate 
the  good  or  evil  of  tlieir  situation.  It  is  the 
unalterable  condition  of  humanity,  that  men 
must  achieve  civil  liberty  for  themselves. 
The  a-sistance  of  allies  has  sometimes  enabled 
nations  to  repel  the  attacks  of  foreign  power ; 
never  to  conquer  liberty  as  against  theu*  own 
internal  government. 

In  one  thing  I  concur  with  the  abolitionists: 
that  if  emancipation  is.  to  be  brought  about, 
it  is  better  that  it  should  be  immediate  and 
total.  But  let  us  suppose  it  to  be  brought 
about  in  any  manner,  and  then  inquire  what 
would  be  the  effects. 

The  first  and  most  obvious  effect  would  be 
to  put  an  end  to  the  cultivation  of  om-  great 
southern  staple.  And  this  would  be  equally 
the  result,  if  we  suppose  the  emancipated  ne- 
groes to  be  in  no  way  distinguished  from  the 
free  laliorers  of  other  countries,  and  that  their 
labor  would  be  equally  effective.  In  that 
case,  they  would  soon  cease  to  be  laborers 
for  hire,  but  would  scatter  themselves  over 
our  uiibouniied  territory,  to  become  indepen- 
dent land-owners  themselves.  The  cultiva- 
tion of  the  soil  on  an  extensive  scale  can  only 
be  carried  on  where  there  are  slaves,  or  in 
countries  superabounding  with  free  labor. 
No  sucli  operations  are  carried  on  in  any  por- 
tion of  our  own  country  where  there  are  not 
slaves.  Such  are  carried  on  in  England, 
where  there  is  an  overflowing  population  and 
intense  competition  for  employment.  And 
our  institutions  seem  suited  to  the  exigencies 
of  our  respective  situations.  There,  a  much 
greater  number  of  laborers  is  required  at  one 
season  of  tlie  year  than  at  anotl)er,  and  the 
farmer  may  enlarge  or  dimmish  the  quantity 
of  labor  he  employs,  as  circumstances  may 


require.  Here,  about  the  same  quantity  of 
labor  is  required  at  every  season,  and  the 
planter  suffers  no  inconvenience  from  retain- 
ing his  laborers  throughout  the  year.  Ima- 
gine an  extensive  rice  or  cotton  plantation  cul- 
tivated by  free  lalxirers,  who  might  perhaps 
strike  for  an  increase  of  wages  at  a  season 
when  the  neglect  of  a  few  days  would  insure 
the  destruction  of  the  whole  crop :  even  if  it 
were  possible  to  procure  laborers  at  all,  what 
planter  would  venture  to  carry  on  his  opera- 
tions under  such  circumstances  ?  I  need 
hardly  say,  that  these  staples  cannot  be  pro- 
duced to  any  extent  where  the  proprietor  of 
the  soil  cultivates  it  with  his  own  hands.  He 
can  do  little  more  than  pro(hice  the  necessary 
food  for  himself  and  his  family. 

And  what  would  be  the  effect  of  putting 
an  end  to  tiie  cultivation  of  these  staples,  and 
thus  annihilating  at  a  blow  two  thirds  or 
three  fourths  of  our  foreign  commerce  ?  Can 
any  sane  mind  contemplate  such  a  result  with- 
out terror  ?  I  speak  not  of  the  utter  poverty 
and  misery  to  which  we  ourselves  would  be 
reduced,  and  the  desolation  which  would  over- 
j  spread  our  own  portion  of  the  country.  Our 
slavery  has  not  only  given  existence  to  mil- 
lions of  slaves  within  our  own  territories,  ifc 
has  given  the  means  of  subsistence-,  and  there- 
fore existence,  to  millions  of  freemen  in  our 
confederate  states ;  enabling  them  to  send 
forth  their  swarms,  to  overspread  the  plains 
and  forests  of  the  west,  and  appear  as  the 
!  harbingers  of  civilization.  The  products  of 
;  the  industry  of  those  states  are  in  general 
;  similar  to  those  of  the  civilized  world,  and  are 
little  demanded  in  their  markets.  By  ex- 
changing them  for  ours,  which  are  every 
where  sought  for,  the  people  of  these  states 
are  enabled  to  acquire  all  the  products  of  art 
and  industry,  all  tliat  contributes  to  conveni- 
ence or  luxury,  or  gratifies  the  taste  or  the 
intellect,  which  the  rest  of  the  world  can 
supply.  Not  only  on  our  own  continent,  but 
on  the  other,  it  has  given  existence  to  hun- 
j  dreds  of  thousands,  and  the  means  of  com- 
I  fortable  subsistence  to  millions.  A  distinguish- 
ed citizen  of  our  own  state,  than  whom  none 
can  be  better  quaUfied  to  form  an  opinion, 
has  lately  stated  that  our  great  staple, 
cotton,  has  contributed  more  than  any  thing 
else  of  later  times  to  tiie  progress  of  civili- 
zation. By  enabling  the  poor  to  obtain  cheap 
and  becommg  clothing,  it  has  inspired  a 
taste  for  comfort,  the  first  stimulus  to  civili- 
zation. Does  not  self-defense  then  demand  of 
us  steadily  to  resist  the  abrogation  of  that 
which  is  productive  of  so  much  good  \  It  is 
more  than  self-defense.  It  is  to  defend  mil- 
lions of  human  beings,  who  are  far  removed 
from  us,  from  the  intensest  suffering,  if  not 
from  being  struck  out  of  existence.  It  is  the 
I  defense  of  human  civilization. 
I  But  this  is  but  a  small  part  of  the  evil 
1  which  would  be  occasioned.    After  President 


23C 


KEGRO    SLAVERY MEMOIR    OK. 


Dew,  it  is  unnecessary  to  say  a  single  word  i 
on  the  practicability  of  colonizing  our  slaves. 
The  two  races,  so  widely  separated  from  each 
other  by  tlie  impress  of  nature,  must  remain 
together  in  the  same  country.  Whether  it  be 
accounted  the  result  of  prejudice  or  reason, 
it  is  certain  that  the  two  races  will  not  be 
blended  together  so  as  to  form  a  homogene- 
ous population.  To  one  who  knows  any  thing 
of  the  nature  of  man  and  human  society,  it 
would  be  unnecessaiy  to  argue  that  this  state  of 
things  cannot  continue;  but  that  the  one  race 
must  be  driven  out  by  the  other,  or  extermi- 
nated, or  again  enslaved.  I  have  argued  on 
the  supposition  that  the  emancipated  negroes 
would  be  as  efficient  as  other  free  laborers. 
But  whatever  theorists,  who  know  nothing  of 
the  matter,  may  think  proper  to  assume,  we 
well  know  that  this  would  not  be  so.  We 
know  tiiat  nothing  but  the  coercion  of  slavery 
can  overcome  their  propensity  to  indolence, 
and  that  not  one  in  ten  would  be  an  efficient 
laborer.  Even  if  this  disposition  were  not 
grounded  in  their  nature,  it  would  be  a  result 
of  their  position.  I  have  somewhere  seen  it 
observed,  that  to  be  degraded  by  opinion  is 
a  thousand  fold  worse,  so  far  as  the  feelings  of 
the  intlividual  are  concerned,  than  to  be  de- 
graded by  the  laws.  They  would  be  thus 
degraded,  and  this  feeling  is  incompatible 
with  habits  of  order  and  industry.  Half  our 
population  would  at  once  be  paupers.  Let 
an  inhabitant  of  New- York  or  Philadelphia 
conceive  of  the  situation  of  their  respec- 
tive states,  if  one  half  of  theh'  population 
consisted  of  free  negroes.  The  tie  wliich 
now  connects  them  being  broken,  the 
different  races  would  be  estranged  from 
each  other,  and  hostility  would  grow  up  be- 
tween them.  Having  the  command  of  their 
own  time  and  actions,  they  could  more  effect- 
ually combine  insurrection  and  provide  the 
means  of  rendering  it  formidable.  Released 
from  the  vigilant  superintendence  wdiich  now 
restrains  them,  they  would  infallibly  be  led 
from  petty  to  greater  crimes,  until  all  life  and 
property  woukl  be  rendered  insecure.  Ag- 
gression would  beget  retaliation,  until  open 
war,  and  that  a  war  of  extermination,  were 
established.  From  the  still  remaining  supe- 
riority of  the  white  race,  it  is  probable  that 
they  would  be  the  victors,  and  if  they  did 
not  exterminate,  they  must  again  reduce  the 
others  to  slavery — Avhen  they  could  be  no 
longer  tit  to  be  either  slaves  or  freemen.  It 
is  not  only  in  self-defen^^e,  in  tlefense  of  our 
country  and  of  all  that  is  dear  to  us,  but  in 
defense  of  the  slaves  themselves,  that  we  re- 
fuse to  eniancij)ate  them. 

If  we  suppose  them  to  have  political  privi- 
leges, and  to  be  admitted  to  the  elective  fran- 
chise, still  worse  results  may  be  expected.  It 
is  hardly  necessary  to  add  any  thing  to  what 
has  been  said  by  Mr.  Paulding  on  this  sub- 
ject, who  has  treated  it  fully.     It  is  already 


known,  that  if  .there  be  a  class  unfavorably 
distinguished  by  any  peculiarity  from  the  rest 
of  society,  this  distinction  forms  a  tie  which 
binds  them  to  act  in  concert,  and  they  exer- 
cise more  than  their  due  share  of  political 
power  and  influence ;  and  still  more  as  they 
are  of  inferior  character  and  looser  moral  prin- 
ciple. Such  a  class  form  the  very  material 
for  demagogues  to  work  with.  Other  parties 
court  them  and  concede  to  them.  So  it  would 
be  with  the  free  blacks  in  the  case  supposed. 
They  would  be  used  by  unpiincipled  politi- 
cians, of  irregular  ambition,  for  the  advance- 
ment of  their  schemes,  until  they  should  give 
them  political  power  and  importance  beyond 
even  their  own  intentions.  They  would  be 
courted  by  excited  parties  in  their  contests 
with  each  other.  At  some  time,  they  may 
perhaps  attain  political  ascendency,  and  this 
is  more  probable,  as  we  may  suppose  that 
there  will  have  been  a  great  emigration 
of  whites  from  the  country.  Imagine  the 
government  of  such  legislators.  Imagine 
then  the  sort  of  laws  that  will  be  passed,  to 
confound  the  invidious  distinction  which  has 
so  long  been  assumed  over  them,  and  if  pos- 
sible to  obliterate  the  very  memory  of  it. 
These  will  be  resisted.  The  blacks  will  be 
tempted  to  avenge  themselves  by  oppression 
and  proscription  of  the  white  race,  for  their 
long  superiority.  Thus  matters  will  go  on, 
until  universal  anarchy,  or  kakistocracy,  the 
government  of  the  worst,  is  fully  established. 
I  am  persuaded  that  if  the  spirit  of  evil 
should  devise  or  send  abroad  upon  the  earth 
all  possible  misery,  discord,  horror  and  atro- 
city, he  could  contrive  no  scheme  so  effectual 
as  the  emancipation  of  negro  slaves  within 
our  country. 

The  most  feasible  scheme  of  emancipation, 
and  that  which  I  verily  believe  would  involve 
the  least  danger  and  sacrifice,  would  be  that 
the  entire  white  population  should  emigrate, 
and  abandon  the  country  to  their  slaves. 
Here  would  be  triumph  to  philanthropy.  This 
wide  and  fertile  region  would  be  again  re- 
stored to  ancient  barbarism — to  the  worst  of 
barbarsim — barbarism  corrupted  and  de- 
praved by  intercourse  with  civilization.  And 
this  is  the  consummation  to  be  wished,  upon 
a  speculation  that,  in  some  distant  future  age, 
they  may  become  so  enlightened  and  im- 
proved as  to  be  capable  of  sustaining  a  posi- 
tion among  the  civili/.ed  races  of  the  earth. 
But  I  believe  moralists  allow  men  to  defend 
their  homes  and  their  country,  even  at  the 
expense  of  the  lives  and  liberties  of  others. 

Will  any  philanihropist  say  that  the  evils, 
of  which  1  have  spoken,  would  be  brought 
about  only  by  the  obduracy,  prejudices  and 
overweening  self-estimation  of  the  whites  in 
refusing  to  blend  the  races  by  niarriaj^e,  and 
so  create  a  homogeneous  population  1  But 
what  if  it  be  not  prejudice,  but  truth  and 
nature,  and  right  reason,  and  just  moral  feel- 


NEGRO    SLAVERT MEMOIR    ON. 


237 


iog  I  As  I  have  before  s.iid,  throughout  the  I 
■whole  of  nature,  like  attracts  like,  ami  thati 
which  ia  unlike  repels.  What  is  it  that  makes  I 
so  unspeakably  loathsome  crimes  not  to  be  | 
named,  and  hardly  alluded  to  ?  Even  among  | 
the  nations  of  Europe,  so  nearly  homogeneous,  | 
there  are  some  peculiarities  of  form  ami  fea- 
ture, mind  and  character,  which  may  be  gen- 
erally distinguished  by  those  accustomed  to 
observe  them.  Though  the  exceptions  are 
numerous,  I  will  venture  to  say  that  not  in 
one  instance  in  a  hundred  is  the  man  of  sound 
and  unsophisticated  tastes  and  propensities  so 
likely  to  be  attracted  by  the  female  of  a  for- 
eign stock  as  by  one  of  his  own,  who  is  more 
nearly  conformed  to  himself.  Shakspeare 
spoke  the  language  of  nature,  when  he  made 
the  senate  and  people  of  Venice  attribute  to 
the  effect  of  witchcraft  Desdemona's  passion 
for  Othello — though,  as  Coleridge  has  said,  we 
are  to  conceive  of  him  not  as  a  negro,  but  as 
a  high-bred  Moorish  chief. 

If  the  negro  race,  as  I  have  contended,  be 
inferior  to  om-  own  in  mind  and  character, 
marked  by  inferiority  of  form  and  features, 
then  ours  would  suffer  deterioration  from  such 
intermixture.  What  would  be  thought  of  the 
moral  conduct  of  the  parent  who  should  vol- 
untarily transmit  disease  or  fatuity  or  deform- 
ity to  his  offspring  ?  If  man  be  the  most  perfect 
work  of  the  Creator,  and  the  civilized  European 
man  the  most  perfect  variety  of  the  human 
race,  is  he  not  criminal  who  would  desecrate 
and  deface  God's  fairest  work ;  estranging  it 
further  from  the  image  of  himself,  and  con- 
forming it  more  nearly  to  that  of  the  brute  ? 
I  have  heard  it  said,  as  if  it  afforded  an  argu- 
ment, that  the  African  is  as  well  satisfied  of 
the  superiority  of  his  own  complexion,  form 
and  features,  as  we  can  be  of  ours.  If  this 
were  true,  as  it  is  not,  would  any  one  be  so 
recreant  to  his  own  civilization,  as  to  say  that 
bis  opinion  ought  to  weigh  against  ours;  that 
there  is  no  universal  standard  of  truth  and 
grace  and  beauty ;  that  the  Hottentot  Venus 
may  perchance  possess  as  gi'eat  perfection  of 
form  as  the  Mediceau  ?  It  is  true,  the  licen- 
tious passions  of  men  overcome  the  natural 
repugnance,  and  find  transient  gratification  in 
intercourse  with  females  of  the  other  race. 
But  this  is  a  very  different  thing  from  making 
her  the  associate  of  life,  the  companion  of  the 
bosom  and  the  hearth.  Him  who  would 
contemplate  such  an  alliance  for  himself,  or 
regard  it  with  patience  when  proposed  for  a 
son,  or  daughter,  or  sister,  we  should  esteem 
a  degraded  wretch;  with  justice,  certainly,  if 
he  were  found  among  ourselves ;  and  the  es- 
timate would  not  be  very  different  if  he  were 
found  in  Europe.  It  is  not  only  in  defense  of 
ourselves,  of  our  country,  and  of  our  own  gen- 
eration, that  we  refuse  to  emancipate  our 
slaves,  but  to  defend  our  posterity  and  race 
from  degeneracy  and  degradation. 
Are  we  not  justified  then  in  regarding  as 


criminals,  the  fanatical  agitators  wliose  efforts 
are  intended  to  bring  about  the  evils  I  have 
described  ?  It  is  sometimes  8:iid  that  their 
zeal  is  generous  and  disinterested,  and  that 
their  motives  may  be  praised,  thouf^h  their 
conduct  be  condemned.  But  I  have  little 
faith  in  the  good  motives  of  those  who  pursue 
bad  ends.  It  is  not  for  us  to  scrutinize  the 
hearts  of  men,  and  we  can  only  judge  of  them 
by  the  tendency  of  their  actions.  There  is 
much  truth  in  what  was  said  by  Coleridge : 
"  I  have  never  known  a  trader  in  philanthro- 
py who  was  not  wrong  in  heart  somehow 
or  other.  Individuals  so  distingtr^hed  are 
usually  unhappy  in  their  family  relations — 
men  not  benevolent  or  beneficent  to  individ- 
uals, bnt  almost  hostile  to  them,  yet  lavishing 
money  and  time  on  the  race— the  abstract 
notion."  The  prurient  love  of  notoriety  actu- 
ates some.  Tliere  is  much  luxury  in  senti- 
ment, especially  if  it  can  be  indulged  at  the 
expense  of  others;  and  if  there  be  added 
some  share  of  envy  or  malignity,  the  tempta- 
tion to  indulgence  is  almost  irresistible.  But 
certainly  they  may  be  justly  regarded  as 
criminal,  who  obstinately  shut  their  eyes  and 
close  their  ears  to  all  instruction  with  respect 
to  the  true  nature  of  their  actions. 

It  must  be  manifest  to  every  man  of  sane 
mind  that  it  is  impossible  for  them  to  achieve 
ultiruate  success  ;  even  if  every  individual  in 
our  country,  out  of  the  limits  of  slaveholding 
states,  were  united  in  their  purposes.  They 
cannot  have  even  the  miserable  triumph  of 
St.  Domingo,  of  advancing  through  scenes  of 
atrocity,  blood  and  massacre  to  the  restoration 
of  barbarism.  They  may  agitate  and  per- 
plex the  world  for  a  time.  They  may  excite 
to  desperate  attempts  and  particular  acts  of 
cruelty  and  horror,  but  these  will  always  be 
suppressed  or  avenged  at  the  expense  of  the 
objects  of  their  truculent  philanthropy.  But 
short  of  this,  they  can  hardly  be  aware  of  the 
extent  of  the  mischief  they  perpetrate.  As  I 
have  said,  their  opinions,  by  means  to  us  in- 
scrutable, do  very  generally  reach  our  slave 
population.  What  human  being,  if  unfavora- 
bly distinguished  by  outward  circumstances, 
is  not  ready  to  believe  when  he  is  told  that 
he  is  the  victim  of  injustice  ?  Is  it  not  cruelty 
to  make  men  restless  and  dissatisfied  in  their 
condition,  when  no  effort  of  theirs  can  alter 
it  i  The  greatest  injury  is  done  to  their  char- 
acters, as  well  as  to  their  happiness.  Even 
if  no  such  feelings  or  designs  should  be  enter- 
tained or  conceived  by  the  slave,  they  will  be 
attributed  to  him  by  the  master,  and  all  bis 
conduct  scanned  with  a  severe  and  jealous 
scrutiny.  Thus  distrust  and  aversion  are  es- 
tablished, where,  but  for  mischievous  inter- 
ference, there  would  be  confidence  and  good- 
will, and  a  sterner  control  is  exercised  over 
I  the  slave  who  thus  becomes  the  victim  of  his 
cruel  advocates. 
I     An  effect  is  sometimes  produced  on  the 


238 


KEORO   SLAVERY   AT   THE    SOUTH. 


mind  of  slaveholdors,  by  the  publications  of 
the  self-styled  philanthropists,  and  tlicir  judg- 
ments 6tii!fiii'ieil  and  consciences  alainied. 
It  is  natural  ihat  the  oppressed  shoiikl  hate 
the  oppressor.  It  is  still  more  niitural  that 
the  ojipressor  should  hate  his  victim.  Con- 
vince tiie  master  that  he  is  doing  injustice 
to  his  slave,  and  he  at  once  begins  to  re- 
gard him  with  distrust  and  malignity.  It 
is  a  part  of  the  constitution  of  the  human 
mind,  that  when  circumstances  of  necessity  or 
temptation  induce  men  to  continue  in  the 
practice  of  whtU  they  believe  to  be  wrong, 
they  become  desperate  and  reckless  of  the 
degree  ot  wrong.  I  have  formerly  heard  of  a 
master  who  accounted  for  his  practising  much 
severity  upon  his  slaves,  and  exacting  from 
them  an  unusual  degree  of  labor,  by  saying 
that  the  tiling  (slavery)  was  altogether  wrong, 
and  therefore  it  was  well  to  make  the  great- 
est possible  advantage  out  of  it.  This  agita- 
tion occasions  some  slaveholders  to  hang 
more  loosely  on  their  country.  Regarding 
the  institution  as  of  questionable  character, 
condemned  by  the  general  opinion  of  the 
world,  and  one  which  must  shortly  come  to 
an  end,  they  hold  themselves  in  readiness  to 
make' their  escape  "from  the  evil  which  they 
anticipate.  Some  sell  their  slaves  to  new 
.^  .masters,  (always  a  misfotune  to  the  slave,)  and 
remove  themselves  to  other  societies,  of  man- 
i  ners  and  habits  uncongenial  to  their  own. 
And  though  we  may  suppose  that  it  is  only 
the  weak  and  the  timid  who  are  liable  to  be 
thus  affected,  still  it  is  no  less  an  injury  and 
public  misfortune.  Society  is  kept  in  an  un- 
quiet and  restless  state,  and  every  sort  of  im- 
provement is  retarded. 

Some  projectors  suggest  the  education  of 
slaves,  wiih  a  view  to  prepare  them  for  free- 
dom, as  if  there  were  any  method  of  a  man's 
being  educated  to  freedom  but  by  himself 
The  truth  is,  however,  that  supposing  that 
they  are  shortly  to  be  emancipated,  and  that 
they  have  the  capacities  of  any  other  race, 
they  are  undergoing  the  very  best  education 
which  it  is  possii)le  to  give.  They  are  in  the 
course  of  being  taught  habits  of  regular  and 
patient  industry,  and  this  is  the  first  lesson 
■wliich  is  required.  I  suppose  that  their  most 
zealous  advocates  would  not  desire  that  tliey 
should  be  |)laced  in  the  liigh  jilaces  of  society 
imme<iia):ely  upon  their  emancipation,  but 
that  they  should  begin  their  course?  of  free- 
dom as  laborers,  and  raise  themselves  after- 
wards as  their  capacities  and  characters  might 
enable  them.  But  how  little  would  what  are 
commonly  called  the  rudiments  of  education 
add  to  their  qualifications  as  laborers  !  But 
for  the  anitaiion  wiiich  exists,  however,  their 
education  wfiuld  be  carried  further  than  tliis. 
There  is  a  ctjust.ant  tendency  in  our  society  t<> 
extend  the  sphere  of  their  employments,  and 
consi  quently  to  give  them  tlie  infommtion 
wliich  is  necessary  to  the  discharge  of  those 


employments.  And  this  for  the  most  obvious 
reason,  it  promotes  the  master's  intire^t.  How 
mucli  Would  it  add  to  tlie  value  of  a  slave, 
that  he  should  be  ca[)able  of  being  employed 
a*  a  clerk,  or  be  able  to  make  calculations  as  a 
mechanic?  In  consequence,  however,  of  the 
fanatical  spirit  which  has  been  excited,  it  has 
been  thought  necessary  to  repress  this  ten- 
dency by  legislation,  and  to  prevent  their  ac- 
quiring the  knowledge  of  which  they  might 
make  a  dangennis  use.  If  this  spirit  were 
put  down,  and  we  restored  to  the  conscious- 
ness of  security,  this  would  be  no  longer  ne- 
cessary, and  the  process  of  which  I  have 
.epoken  would  be  accelerated.  "Whenever  in- 
dications of  superior  capacity  appeared  in  a 
slave,  it  would  be  cultivated ;  gradual  im- 
provement would  take  place,  until  they  might 
be  engaged  in  as  various  employments  as 
they  were  among  tlie  ancient? — perhaps  even 
liberal  ones.  Tlius,  if  in  the  adorable  pro- 
vidence of  God,  at  a  time  and  in  a  manner 
which  we  can  neither  foresee  nor  conjecture, 
they  are  to  be  rendered  capable  of  freedom 
and  to  enjoy  it,  tliey  would  be  prepared  for 
it  in  the  best  and  most  effectual,  because  in 
the  most  natural  and  gradual  manner.  But 
fanaticism  hurries  to  its  effect  at  once.  I 
have  heard  it  said,  God  does  good,  but  it  is 
by  imperceptible  degrees ;  the  devil  is  per- 
mitted to  do  evil,  and  he  does  it  in  a  hurry. 
The  beneficent  processes  of  nature  are  not 
apparent  to  the  senses.  You  cannot  see  the 
plant  grow,  or  the  flower  expand.  The  vol- 
cano, the  earthquake,  and  the  hurricane,  do 
their  work  of  desolation  in  a  moment.  Such 
would  be  the  desolation,  if  the  schemes  of 
fanatics  were  permitted  to  have  effect.  They 
do  all  that  in  them  lies  to  thwart  the  lienefi- 
cent  purposes  of  Providence.  The  wiiole  ten- 
dency of  tiieir  efforts  is  to  aggravate  present 
suffering,  and  to  cut  off  the  chance  of  future 
improvement,  and  in  all  their  bearings  and 
results  have  produced,  and  are  likely  to  pro- 
duce, nothing  but  "  pure,  unmixedj  dephle- 
mated,  defecated  evil." 

NEGRO  SLAVERY  AT  TIIE  SOUTH.— 
Lettkus  of  Govkrnor  Hammond  to  Tiiom.\s 
Claukson. — Intkoduction  ;  the  Slave  Trade. 
AND  FuTir.E  Attempt.s  to  Aiiousn  it  ;  Pre- 
scKii'TivE  Kicut;  Slavery  in  the  Arstract  ; 
IN  its  Moral  and  Rkligioits  AsrEcr;  in  its 

I'OLlTICAL  InfLUKNCES,  AS  AKFKCTINC!  PuBLIC 
OuDUR,  AND    TIIE    SaFF.TY  AND    PoWER  OK   THE 

State. — Sir:  I  received,  a  short  time  ago,  a 
letter  from  tlie  Rev.  Willoughby  M.  Dickin- 
son, dated  at  your  residence,  "  Playford  Hall, 
near  Ipswich,  '26tii  November,  1844,"  in  which 
was  inclosed  a  copy  of  your  circular  letter, 
addressed  to  professing  Christians  in  our 
northern  states,  having  no  concern  with  .slavery, 
and  to  otliers  there.  I  presume  that  Mr. 
Dickinson's  letter  was  written  with  your  know- 
ledge, and  the  document  inclosed  with  your 


NBORO  SLAVERr  AT  THK  SOUTH. 


230 


consent  and  approbation.   I  therefore  feel  that ' 
there  is  no  inipropiitt}  in  my  addressing  my  j 
reply  directly  to  yonreelf,  especially  as  there 
is  nothing  in  Mr.  Dickinson's  communication 
requirittg  serious  notice.      Having  abundant  | 
leisure,  it  will  be  a  recreation  to  (lovotc  a  por- 
tion of  it  to  an  exaininatiwn  and  free  discussion 
of  the  question  of  slavery  as  it  exists  in  our 
soutliern  states  ;  and  since  you  have  thrown 
down  the  gauntlet  to  me,  I  do  not  hesitate  to 
take  it  up. 

Familiar  as  you  have  been  with  the  discus- 
sions of  this  sutiject  in  all  its  aspects,  and  un- 
der all  tlie  excitements  it  has  occasioned  for 
sixty  years  past,  I  may  not  be  able  to  present 
much  that  will  be  new  to  you.  Nor  ought  I 
to  indulge  the  hope  of  materially  affecting 
the  opinions  you  have  so  long  cherished,  and 
so  zealously  promulgated.  Still,  time  and 
experience  have  developed  facts,  constantly 
furnisliing  fresh  tests  to  opinions  formed  sixty 
years  since,  and  continually  placing  this  great 
question  in  points  of  view  which  could  scarcely 
occur  to  the  most  consummate  intellect  even  a 
quarter  of  a  century  ago  ;  and  which  may  not 
have  occurred  yet  to  those  whose  previous 
convictions,  prejudices,  and  habits  of  thought 
have  thoroughly  and  permanently  biased 
them  to  one  fixed  way  of  looking  at  the  mat- 
ter ;  while  there  are  peculiarities  in  the  opera- 
tion of  every  social  system,  and  special  local 
as  well  as  moral  causes  materially  aflfecting  it, 
which  no  one,  placed  at  the  distance  you  are 
from  us,  can  fully  comprehend  or  properly 
appreciate.  Besides,  it  may  be,  possibly,  a 
novelty  to  yon  to  encounter  one  who  con- 
scientiously believes  the  domestic  slavery  of 
these  states  to  be  not  only  an  inexorable  ne- 
cessity for  the  present,  but  a  moral  and  hu- 
mane institution,  productive  of  the  greatest 
political  and  social  advantages,  and  who  is 
disposed,  as  I  am,  to  defend  it  on  these  grounds. 

I  do  not  propose,  however,  to  defend  the 
African  slave  trade.  That  is  no  longer  a  ques 
tion.  Doubtless  great  evils  arise  from  it  as  it 
has  been,  and  is  not\'  conducted;  unnecessary 
wars  and  cruel  kidnapping  in  Africa ;  the  most 
shocking  barbarities  in  the  Middle  Passage; 
and  perhaps  a  less  humane  system  of  slavery 
in  countries  continually  supplied  with  fresh 
laborers  at  a  cheap  rate.  Tlie  evih  of  it,  how- 
ever, it  may  be  fairly  presumed,  are  greatly 
exaggerated.  And  if  I  might  judge  of  the 
truth  of  transactions  stated  as  occurring  in  this 
trade,  by  that  of  those  reported  as  transpiring 
among  us,  I  should  not  hesitate  to  say,  that  a 
large  proportion  of  the  stories  in  circulation  are 
unfounded,  and  most  of  the  remainder  highly 
colored. 

On  the  passage  of  the  act  of  Parliament  pro- 
hibiting this  trade  to  British  subjects,  rests 
what  you  esteem  the  glory  of  your  life.  It 
required  twenty  years  of  arduous  agitation, 
and  the  intervening  extraordinary  political 
events,  to  convince  your  countrymen,  and 


among  the  rest  your  pious  king,  of  the  expe- 
diency of  the  measure  ;  and  it  is  but  just  to  say, 
tliat  no  one  ini'.ividual  rendered  more  e.ssential 
service  to  the  cause  than  you  did.  In  reflect- 
ing on  the  subject,  you  cannot  but  often  ask 
yourself,  What  after  all  has  been  accomplished; 
how  ninth  human  suffering  has  been  averted; 
liow  many  human  beings  have  been  rescued 
from  transatlantic  slavery  ?  And  on  the  an- 
swers you  Cijn  give  these  questions  must,  in  a 
great  measure,  I  presume,  depend  the  happi- 
ness of  your  life.  In  framing  them,  how  fre- 
quently must  you  be  reminded  of  the  remark 
of  Mr.  Grosvenor,  in  one  of  tlie  early  debates 
upon  the  subject,  which  I  believe  you  have 
yourself  recorded,  "  that  he  had  twenty  objec- 
tions to  the  abolition  of  the  slave  trade :  the 
(irst  was,  that  it  was  impossible— {\w  rest  he 
need  not  give."  Can  you  say  to  yourself  or  to 
the  world,  that  this  first  objection  of  Mr. 
Grosvenor  has  been  yet  confutetl  ?  It  was 
estimated  at  the  commencejnent  of  your  agita- 
tion in  1787,  that  forty-five  thousand  Africans 
were  annually  transported  to  America  and 
the  West  Indies.  And  the  mortality  of  the 
Middle  Passage,  computed  by  some  at  five,  is 
now  admitted  not  to  have  exceeded  nine  per 
cent.  Notwithstanding  your  act  of  parliament, 
the  previous  abolition  by  the  United  States, 
and  that  all  the  powers  in  the  world  have  sub- 
sequently prohibited  this  trade  (some  of  the 
greatest  of  them  declaring  it  piracy,  and  cov- 
ering the  African  seas  with  armed  vessels  to 
prevent  it) — Sir  Thomas  Powell  Buxton,  a 
coadjutor  of  yours,  declared,  in  1S40,  that  the 
number  of  Africans  now  annually  sold  into 
slavery  beyond  the  sea  amounts,  at  the  very 
least,  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  souls ; 
while  the  mortality  of  the  Middle  Passage  has 
increased,  in  consequence  of  the  measures 
taken  to  suppress  the  trade,  to  twenty-five  or 
thirty  per  cent.  And  of  the  one  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  slaves  who  have  been  captured 
and  liberated  by  British  men-of-war  since  the 
passage  of  your  act,  Judge  Jay,  an  American 
abolitionist,  asserts  that  one  hundred  thousand, 
or  two  thirds,  liave  perished  between  their 
capture  and  liberation.  Does  it  not  really  seem 
that  Mr.  Grosvenor  was  a  prophet  ?  That 
though  nearly  all  the  "impossibilities"  of 
1787  have  vanished,  and  become  as  familiar 
facls^  as  our  household  customs,  under  the 
magic  influence  of  steam,  cotton,  and  universal 
peace,  yet  this  wonderful  prophecy  still  stands, 
defying  time  and  the  energy  and  genius  of 
mankind  ?  Thousands  of  valuable  "lives  and 
fifty  millions  of  pounds  sterling  have  been 
thrown  away  by  your  government  in  fruitless 
attempts  to  overturn  it  I  hope  you  have  not 
lived  too  long  for  your  own  happiness,  though 
you  have  been  thus  spared  to  see  that,  in  spite 
of  all  your  toils  and  those  of  your  fellow  la- 
borers, and  the  accomplishment  of  all  that 
human  agency  could  do,  the  African  slave- 
trade  has  increased  threefold  under  your  own 


240 


KEGRO    SLAVERY   AT   THE    SOUTH. 


eyes — more  rapiilly,  perhaps,  than  any  other  | 
ancient  branch  of  commerce;  and  that  your 
eiSForts  to  suppress  it  have  effected  nothing 
more  tluui  a  (hreefold  increase  of  its  horrors. 
There  is  a  God  who  rules  this  world — all- 
powerful — far-seeing.  He  does  not  j^rmit  his 
creatures  to  foil  his  designs.  1 1  is  He  who,  for 
his  all-wise,  though  to  us  often  inscrutably  pur- 
poses, tlirows  "impossibilities"  in  the  way  of 
our  fondest  hopes  and  most  strenuous  exertions. 
Can  you  doubt  this  ? 

Experience  having  settled  the  point,  that 
this  trade  cannot  be  abolished  by  the  ime  of 
force,  and  that  blockading  squadrons  only  serve 
to  make  it  more  profitable  and  more  cruel,  I 
am  surprised  that  the  attempt  is  persisted  in, 
unless  it  serves  as  a  cloak  to  other  purposes. 
It  would  be  far  better  than  it  now  is,  for  the 
African,  if  the  trade  was  free  from  all  restric- 
tions, and  left  to  the  mitigation  and  decay  which 
time  and  competition  would  surely  bring  about. 
If  kidnapping,  both  secretly  and  by  war  made 
for  thn  puri^osp,  could  be  by  any  means  pre- 
vented in  Africa,  the  next  greatest  blessing 
you  could  bestow  upon  that  country  would  be 
to  transport  its  actual  slaves  in  comfortable 
vessels  across  the  Atlantic.  Though  they 
might  be  perpetual  bondsmen,  still  they  would 
emerge  from  darkness  into  light — from  bar- 
barism to  civilization — from  idolatry  to  Chris- 
tianity— in  short,  from  death  to  life. 

But  let  us  leave  the  African  slave-trade, 
which  has  so  signally  defeated  the  philan- 
thropij  of  the  world,  and  turn  to  American 
slavery,  to  which  you  have  now  directed  our 
attention,  and  against  which  a  crusade  l)as 
been  preached  as  enthusiastic  and  ferocious  as 
that  of  Peter  the  Hermit — Llestined,I  believe, 
to  be  about  as  successful.  And  here,  let  me 
say,  there  is  a  vast  difference  between  the  two, 
though  you  may  not  acknowledge  it.  The 
■wisdom  of  ages  has  concurred  in  the  justice 
and  expediency  of  establishing  rights  by  pre- 
scriptive use,  however  tortuous  in  their  origin 
they  may  have  been.  You  would  deem  a  man 
insane,  whose  keen  sense  of  equity  would  lead 
him  to  denounce  your  right  to  tlie  lands  you 
hold,  and  which,  perhaps,  you  inherited  from 
a  long  line  of  ancestry,  because  your  title  was 
derived  from  a  Saxon  or  Norman  conqueror, 
and  your  lands  wore  originally  wrested  by  vio- 
lence from  the  vantjuished  Britons.  And  so 
would  the  New-England  abolitionist  regard 
any  one  who  would  insist  that  he  should  re 
store  his  farm  to  the  descendants  of  the 
Blaughtered  red  men,  to  whom  God  had  as 
clearly  given  it  as  he  gave  life  and  free- 
dom to  the  kidnapped  African.  That  time 
does  not  consecrate  wrong  is  a  fallacy  which 
all  history  exposes,  and  which  the  best  and 
wisest  nii'M  of  all  ages  and  professions  of  reli- 
gious faith  have  practically  denied.  Tiic 
means,  therefore,  whatever  they  may  have 
been,  by  which  the  African  race  now  iu  this 


country  have  been  reduced  to  slavery,  cannot 
affect  us,  since  they  are  our  property,  as  your 
land  is  yours,  by  iuheritance,  or  purchase  and 
prescriptive  right  You  will  say  that  man 
cannot  hold  property  in  ma7i.  The  answer  is, 
that  he  can  and  actnally  does  hold  property  in 
his  fellow  all  the  world  over,  in  a  variety  of 
forms,  anil  has  always  done  so.  I  will  show 
presently  his  authority  for  doing  it. 

If  you  were  to  a.sk  me  whether  I  am  an  ad- 
vocate of  slavery  in  the  abstract,  I  should  prob- 
ably answer  that  I  am  not,  according  to  my 
understanding  of  the  question.  I  do  not  like 
to  deal  in  abstractions.  It  seldom  leads  to  any 
useful  ends.  There  are  few  universal  truths. 
I  ilo  not  now  remember  any  single  moral  truth 
universally  acknowledged.  We  have  no  assur- 
ance that  itisgiven  to  our  finite  understanding 
to  comprehend  abstract  moral  truth.  Apart 
fi'om  the  revelation  and  the  inspired  writings, 
what  ideas  should  we  have  even  of  (iod,  sal- 
vation, and  immortality  i  Let  the  heathen 
answer.  Justice  itself  is  impalpable  as  an  ab- 
straction, and  abstract  liberty  the  merest  phan- 
tasy that  ever  amused  the  imagination.  This 
world  was  made  for  man,  and  man  for  the 
world  as  it  is.  Ourselves,  our  relations  with 
one  another,  and  with  all  matter,  are  real,  not 
ideal.  I  might  say  that  I  am  no  more  in  fa- 
vor of  slavery  in  the  abstract,  than  I  am  of 
poverty,  disease,  deformity,  idiocy,  or  any 
other  inequality  iu  the  condition  of  the  human 
family,  that  I  love  perfection,  and  I  think  I 
should  enjoy  a  millennium  such  as  God  has  pro- 
mised. But  what  would  it  amount  to?  A  pledge 
that  I  would  join  you  to  set  about  eradicating 
those  apparently  inevitable  evils  of  our  nature, 
in  equalizing  the  condition  of  all  mankind,  con- 
sinnmating  the  perfection  of  our  race,  and  in- 
troducing the  millennium  ?  By  no  means.  To 
effect  these  things  belongs  exclusively  to  a 
higher  power.  And  it  would  be  well  for  us 
to  leave  the  Almighty  to  perfect  his  own  works 
and  fulfil  his  own  covenants.  Especially,  as 
tlie  history  of  the  past  shows  how  entirely  fu- 
tile all  human  efforts  have  proved,  when  made 
for  the  purpose  of  aiding  him  iu  carrying  out 
even  his  revealed  designs,  and  how  invariably 
he  has  accomplished  them  by  unconscious  in- 
struments, and  in  the  face  of  human  expecta- 
tion. Nay,  more,  tliat  every  attempt  which 
has  been  made  by  fallible  man  to  extort  from 
the  world  obedience  to  his  "  abstract "  notions 
of  right  and  wrong,  has  been  invariably  at- 
tended with  calamities,  dire  and  extended, just 
in  proportion  to  the  breadth  and  vigor  of  the 
movement.  On  slavery  iti  the  abstract,  then, 
it  would  not  be  amiss  to  have  as  little  as  pos- 
sible to  say.  Let  us  contemplate  it  as  it  is ;  and 
thus  contemplating  it,  the  first  question  we 
have  to  ask  ourselves  is,  whether  it  is  contrary 
to  the  will  of  (Jod,  as  revealed  to  us  in  his 
Holy  Scriptures  — the  only  certain  means  given 
U8  to  ascertain  his  wUl.     If  it  is,  then  slavery 


NEGRO    SLAVEUY    AT    THE    SOUTH. 


241 


is  a  sin;  and  T  admit  at  once,  that  every  man 
is  bound  to  set  his  face  against  ir,  and  to  eman- 
cipate his  shivi'S  should  lie  hold  any. 

Let  U-!  open  these  Holy  Scriptures.     In  the 
twentii'th  cliaptcrof  Exodus, .'^evi-nteenth  Vfr., 
I  find  tiie  lolldwing  wortN:  '"Thou  shall  not 
covet  thy  iKitjhbor's  house,  thou  slialt  not  covet 
thy  neii^hbnr's  wile,  nor  his  man  servant,  nor 
his  maid-servant,  nor  his  ox,  nor  his  ass,  nor 
anytliinij  that  is  thy  neighbors;"  which  is  thf 
tenth  of  those  commandments  that  declare  the 
essential  principles  of  the  great  moral  law  de- 
livered to  Moses  by  God  himself.       iSow,  dis- 
canliug  all  technical  and  verbal  quibljiing  as 
wholly  unworthy  to  be  used  in  interpreting  the 
Word  of  God,  what  is  the  plain  meaning,  un- 
doubted intent,  and  true  spirit  of  this  com- 
mandment?     Does  it  not  emphatically  and 
explicitly  forbid  you  to  disturb  your  neighbor 
in  the  enjoyment  of  his  property;  and  more 
especially  of  that  which  is  here  specifically 
mentioned  as  being  lawfully  and  by  this  com- 
mandment sacredly  made  his  ?     Prominent  in 
the  catalogue  stands  "his  man-servant  and  his 
maid-servant,"  who  are  thus  distinctly  eow.se 
crated  as /lis  property,  and  guaranteed  to  him 
for  his  exclusive  benefit  in  the  most  solemn 
manner.     You  attempt  to  avert  the  otherwise 
irresistible  conclusion,  that  slavery  was  thus 
ordained  by  God,  by  declaring  that  the  word 
"  slave  "  is  not  used  here,  and  is  not  to  be  found 
in  the  Bible,     And  I  have  seen  manj'  learned 
dissertations  on  this  point  from  abolition  pens. 
It  is  well  known  that  both  the  Hebrew  and 
Greek  words  translated  "  servant"  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, mean  also  and  most  usually   "slave." 
The  use  of  the  one  word  instead  of  the  other 
was  a  mere  matter  of  taste  with  the  transla- 
tors of  the  Bible,  as  it  has  been  with  all  the 
commentators  and  religious  writers,  the  latter 
of  whom  have,  I  believe,  for  the  most  part, 
adopted  the  term  "slave,"  or  used  both  terms 
indiscriminately.     If,  then,  these  Hebrew  and 
Greek  words  include  the  idea  of  both  systems 
of  servitude,  the  conditional  and  unconditional, 
they  should,  as  the  major  includes  the  minor 
proposition,  be   always   trau.slated   "slaves," 
unless  the  sense  of  the  whole  text  forbids  it. 
The  real  question,  then,  is,  what  idea  is  in- 
tended to  be  conveyed  by  the  words  used  in 
the  commandment  quoted  ?     And  it  is  clear 
to  my  mind,  that  as  no  limitation  is  .affixed  to 
'„hem,  and  the  express  intention  was  to  secure 
to  mankind  the  peaceful  enjoyment  of  every 
species  of  pro])erty,  that  the  terms  "  men-ser- 
vants and  maid-servants"  include  all  classes  of 
servants,  and  establish  a  lawful,  exclusive  and 
indefeasible  interest  equally  in  the  "  Hebrew 
brother  who  shall  go  out  in  the  seventh  year," 
and  "yearly  hired  servant,"  and  "  those  pur- 
chased from  the  heathen  round  a'^out,"  who 
were  to  be  "'bondmen  for  ever,"  as  (he  prop- 
ert;i  of  their  fellow-man. 

You  camiot  deny  that  there  were  among 
the  Hebrews  "  bondmen  for  ever."     You  can- 
VOL.  II. 


not  deny  that  God  especially  authorized  his 
chosen  peo[)le  to  purchase  "  bondmen  for  ever" 
fi'om  the  heathen,  as  recorded  in  the  twenty- 
fifth  chuftttr  of  Leviticus,  and  tiiat  they  are 
there  designated  by  the  very  Hebrew  word 
u-ed  in  the  tenth  commandment.  Nor  can 
you  deny  that  a"BaNnMA.v  for  evku"  is  a 
"slave":  yet  you  endeavor  to  hang  an  argu- 
ment of  immortal  consequence  upon  the 
wretched  subterfuge,  that  the  precise  word 
"slave"  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  translation 
of  the  Bible.  As  if  the  translators  were  ca- 
nonical expounders  of  the  Holy  Scri|jturc3, 
and  their  luo'ds.,  not  God's  rncaiiiny,  must  be 
regarded  as  his  revelation. 

It  is  in  vain  to  look  to  Christ  or  any  of  his 
apostles,  to  justify  such  blaspiiemous  per- 
versions of  the  Word  of  God.  Although 
slavery  in  its  most  revolting  form  was  every 
where  vi^ible  around  them,  no  visionary  no- 
tions of  piety  or  philanthropy  ever  tempted 
them  to  g  linsay  the  Law,  even  to  mitigate 
the  cruel  severity  of  the  existing  system.  On 
the  contrary,  regarding  slavery  as  an  estab- 
lished, as  well  as  inevitable  condition  of  hu- 
man society,  they  never  hinted  at  such  a  thing 
as  its  termination  on  earth,  any  more  than 
that  "the  poor  may  cease  out  of  the  land," 
which  God  affirms  to  Moses  shall  never  be ; 
and  they  exhort "  all  servants  under  the  yoke" 
to  "  count  their  masters  as  worthy  of  all  ho- 
nor ;"  "  to  obey  them  in  all  things  according 
to  the  flesh;  not  with  eye-service  as  men- 
pleasers,  but  in  singleness  of  heart,  fearing 
God ;  not  only  the  good  and  gentle,  but  also 
the  froward;  for  what  glory  is  it,  if,  when  ye 
are  buffeted  for  your  faults,  ye  shall  take  it 
patiently  ?  but  if,  when  ye  do  well  and  suffer 
for  it,  ye  take  it  patiently,  this  is  acceptable 
to  God."  St.  Paul  actually  apprehemled  a 
runaway  slave  and  sent  him  to  his  master! 
Instead  of  deriving  from  the  Gospel  any  sanc- 
tion for  the  work  you  have  undertaken,  it 
would  be  difficult  to  imagine  sentiments  and 
conduct  more  strikingly  in  contrast,  than  those 
of  the  Apostles  and  Abolitionists. 

It  is  impossible,  therefore,  to  suppose  that 
slavery  is  contrary  to  the  will  of  God.  It  is 
equally  absurd  to  say  that  American  slavery 
tlitfers  in  form  or  principle  from  that  of  the 
chosen  people.  We  accept  (he  Bible  (cmis  as 
(he  definition  of  our  slavery,  and  its  pm-epts 
as  the  guide  of  our  conduct.  We  desire  no- 
thing more.  Even  the  right  to  "  buffet," 
which  is  esteemed  so  shocking,  finds  its  ex- 
press license  in  the  Gospel.  1  Peter  ii.  20. 
Nay,  what  is  more,  God  directs  the  Hebrews 
to  "  bore  holes  in  the  ears  of  their  brothers" 
to  mark  them,  when  under  certain  circum- 
stances they  become  perpetual  slaves.  Exo- 
dus XX  i.  G. 

I  think,  then,  I  may  safely  conclude,  and  I 
firmly  believe,  that  American  slavery  is  n  it 
only  not  a  sin,  but  especially  commanded  by 
*God  through  Moses,  and  approved  by 
16 


242 


NEGRO  SLAVERY  AT  THE  SOUTH. 


Christ  tbrough  liis  Apostles.  And  here  I 
mitrht  close  its  ilofense ;  for  what  Goil  ordains, 
and  Clirist  sauctities,  sliould  surely  command 
the  respect  and  toleration  of  man.  But  I 
fear  tlu-re  has  j;ro\vn  up,  in  our  time,  a  tran- 
scemlcnlal  religion,  which  is  tiirort'ing  even 
ti'anscendcntal  philosophy  into  the  shade— a 
relit(i"u  too  pure  and  elevated  for  the  Bible, 
■which  seeks  to  erect  among  men  a  higher 
atandiird  of  morals  than  the  Almighty  has  re- 
vealed or  our  Saviour  preached;  and  which  is 
prob  il>ly  destinetl  to  do  more  to  impede  tlie 
extension  of  God's  kingdom  on  earth  than  all 
the  iiitidels  who  have  ever  lived.  Error  is 
error.  It  is  as  dangerous  to  deviate  to  the 
right  hand  as  to  the  left.  And  when  men, 
professing  to  be  holy  men,  and  who  are  by 
numbers  .so  regarded,  declare  those  things  to 
be  sinful  which  our  Creator  has  expiessly 
authorized  and  instituted,  they  do  more  to 
destroy  his  authority  among  mankind  than 
the  mo-t  wicked  can  effect  by  proclaiming 
that  to  be  innocent  which  he  has  forbidden. 
To  this  self-rigiiteous  and  self-exalted  class 
belong  all  the  abolitionists  whose  writings  I 
have  read.  With  them,  it  is  no  end  of  the 
argument  to  prove  your  propositions  by  the 
texts  of  the  Bible,  interpreted  according  to  its 
plain  and  palpable  meaning,  and  as  under- 
stooti  by  all  muukiiid  for  three  thousand  years 
before  their  time.  They  are  more  iagenious 
at  construing  and  interpolating  to  accommo- 
date it  to  their  new-fangled  and  ethereal  code 
of  morals,  than  ever  were  Voltaire  or  Hume 
in  picking  it  to  pieces  to  fr<e  the  world  from 
■what  they  considered  a  delusion.  When  the 
abolitionists  proclaim  "man-stealing"  to  be  a 
sin,  and  sliow  me  that  it  is  so  written  down  by 
God,  I  ailmit  tliem  to  be  right,  and  shudder 
at  the  idea  of  such  a  crime.  But  when  I 
show  them  tliat  to  hold  "  bondmen  for  ever" 
is  onlained  by  God,  thc}i  deny  the  Bible,  and 
set  up  in  its  place  a  law  of  their  own  making. 
I  must  tlien  cease  to  reason  with  them  on  tliis 
brand)  of  the  question.  Our  religion  differs 
as  widely  as  our  manners.  The  great  Judge, 
in  our  day  of  fiual  account,  must  decide  be- 
tween us. 

Turning  from  our  considerations  of  slave- 
holding  in  its  relations  to  man  as  an  account- 
able being,  let  us  examine  it  in  its  influence 
on  iiis  political  and  social  state.  Though, 
being  foreigners  to  us,  you  are  in  no  wise  en- 
titled to  interfere  with  the  civil  institutions  of 
this  country,  it  has  become  (piite  connnou  for 
your  countrymen  to  decry  slavery  as  an  enor- 
mous political  evil  to  us,  and  even  to  declare 
that  our  northern  states  ought  to  withdraw 
from  the  confederacy  rather  than  continue  or 
be  coot  iminatctd  by  it.  Tiie  Anierican  aboli- 
tioni.-<ts  a[)|)ear  to  concur  fully  in  these  senti- 
ment'', and  a  portion  at  least  of  tjiem  are  in- 
cessantly threatening  to  dissolve  the  Union. 
Nor  .'^liould  I  be  at  all  surprised  if  they  suc- 
ceed.     It   would    nut    be   difficult,   in    mv 


opinion,  to  conjecture  which  region,  the  north 
or  south,  would  suffer  most  by  sucli  an  event. 
For  one,  I  sliould  not  object,  by  any  means,  to 
cast  my  lot  m  a  confederacy  of  states,  whose 
citizens  might  all  be  slaveholders. 

I  endorse,  without  reserve,  the  nmch-abused 
sentiment  of  Ctovernor  McDuffie,  that  "  sla- 
very is  the  corner-stone  of  our  republican 
edifice";  while  I  repudiate  as  ridiculously  ab- 
surd, that  much  lauded  but  no  wdiere  accre- 
dited dogma  of  Mr.  Jeffer.^on,  "  that  all  men 
are  born  ecjual."  No  s<^>ciety  has  ever  yet 
existed,  and  I  have  already  incidentally  quo- 
ted the  higliest  authority  to  show  that  none 
ever  will  exist,  without  a  natural  variety  of 
classes.  The  most  marked  of  these  must,  in 
a  country  like  ours,  be  the  rich  and  poor,  the 
educated  and  the  ignorant.  It  will  scarcely 
be  disputed  that  the  very  poor  have  less  lei- 
sure to  prepare  themselves  for  a  proper  dis- 
charge of  pul)lic  duties  than  the  rich  ;  and 
that  the  ignorant  are  wholly  unfit  for  them  at 
all.  In  all  countries  save  ours,  these  two 
!  classes,  or  the  poor  rather,  who  are  presumed 
I  to  be  necessarily  ignorant,  are  by  law  ex- 
'  pressly  excluded  from  all  participation  in  the 
management  of  public  affairs.  In  a  ri'publi- 
'  can  government  this  cannot  be  done.  Uni- 
versal suffrage,  though  not  essential  in  theory, 
seems  to  be  in  fact  a  necessary  appendage  to 
a  republican  .system.  Where  universal  suf- 
fmge  obtains,  it  is  obvious  that  the  govern- 
ment is  in  the  hands  of  a  numerical  majority  ; 
and  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  say,  that  in  every 
part  of  tlie  world  more  than  half  the  people 
are  ignorant  and  poor.  Though  no  one  can 
look  upon  poverty  as  a  crime,  and  w^e  do  not 
gencfrally  here  regard  it  as  an  objection  to  a 
man  in  his  individual  capacity ;  stdl,  it  must 
be  admitted  that  it  is  a  wn-etched  and  insecure 
government  which  is  administered  by  its 
most  ignorant  citizens,  and  those  who  have 
the  least  at  stake  under  it.  Though  intelli- 
gence and  ■wealth  have  great  influence  here 
as  every  where,  in  keeping  in  cluck  reckless 
ajid  unenlightened  numbers,  yet  it  is  evident 
to  close  observers,  if  not  to  all,  that  these  are 
rapiilly  usurping  all  power  in  the  nou  slave- 
holding  states,  and  threaten  a  fearful  crisis  in 
republican  institutions  there  at  no  remote  pe- 
riod. In  the  slavc'holding  states,  however, 
nearly  one  half  of  the  whole  pojjulation,  and 
tliuse  the  poorest  and  the  most  igni«rant,  have 
no  political  influence  wliatever,  hicause  they 
are  slaves.  Of  the  other  half  a  large  jiropor- 
tion  are  both  educated  and  indepeniient  in 
their  circumstances,  while  those  who  unfortu- 
nately are  not  so,  being  still  elevated  far  above 
the  mass,  are  higher  toned  and  more  deeply 
inter(!sted  in  preserving  a  stable  and  well  or- 
dered govermnent,  than  the  same  class  in  any 
other  country.  Hence,  slavery  is  truly  the 
"  corner-stone"  and  foundation  of  every  ■well- 
designed  and  durable  "  republican  edifice." 
With  us,  every  citizen  is  concerned  in  the 


NEGRO  SLATERT  AT  THE  SOUTH. 


24$ 


Tnamfenancc  of  order,  and  in  promoting  hon- 1 
«8tv  and  industry  anion;^  th  ise  of  tlio  lowest  ! 
<;laas  wlio  are  our  slaves ;  and  our  habitual  j 
vigilance  renders  standing  armies,  whether  of  I 
soldiers  or  jiolicenten,  entirely  unnecessarj-. 
Small  guards  in  our  cities,  and  occasional  pa- 
trols iti  the  country,  insure  us  a  repose  and 
security  known  no  where  else.  You  cannot  | 
be  ignorant  that,  excepting  the  United  States, 
there  is  no  country  in  the  world  whose  exist- 
ing government  would  not  be  overturned  in  a 
month  but  for  its  standing  armies,  maintained 
at  an  enormous  and  destructive  cost  to  those 
\fhom  they  are  destined  to  overawe,  so  ram- 
pant and  combative  is  the  spirit  of  discontent 
wherever  notninal  free  labor  prevails,  with  its 
ostensible  privileges,  and  its  dismal  servitude. 
Nor  will  It  be  long  before  the  "  Free  States" 
of  this  Union  will  be  compelled  to  introduce 
the  same  expensive  machinery,  to  preserve 
order  among  their  "  free  and  equal"  citizens. 
Already  has  Philadelphia  organized  a  perma- 
nent battalion  for  this  purpose ;  New-York, 
Boston,  and  Cincinnati  will  soon  follow  her 
•example ;  and  then  the  smaller  towns  and 
densely  populated  counties.  The  interven- 
tion of  their  militia  to  repress  violations  of 
the  peace  is  becoming  a  daily  affair.  A 
strong  government,  after  some  of  the  old 
fashions,  though  probably  with  a  new  name, 
•sustained  by  the  force  of  armed  mercenaries, ' 
is  the  ultiriiate  destiny  of  the  non-slavehold- 
ing  section  of  this  confederacy,  and  one  which 
may  not  be  very  distant. 

It  is  a  great  mistake  to  suppose,  as  is  gene- 
rally done  abroad,  that,  in  case  of  war,  slaveiy 
would  be  a  source  of  weakness.  It  did  not 
weaken  Rome,  nor  Athens,  nor  Sparta,  though 
their  slaves  were  comparatively  far  more  nu- 
merous than  ours,  of  the  same  color,  for  the 
most  part,  with  themselves,  and  large  num- 
bers of  them  familiar  with  the  use  of  arms. 
1  have  no  apprehension  that  our  slaves  would 
seize  such  an  opportunity  to  revolt.  The  pre- 
sent generation  of  them,  born  among  us, 
would  never  think  of  cucb  a  thing  at  any  time, 
•nnless  instigated  to  it  by  others.  Agamst 
such  instigations  we  are  always  on  our  guard. 
in  time  of  war  we  should  be  more  watchful 
and  better  prepared  to  put  down  insurrections 
than  at  any  other  periods.  Should  any  for- 
•eign  nation  be  so  lost  to  every  sentiment  of 
civilized  humanity  as  to  attempt  to  erect 
among  us  the  standard  of  revolt,  or  to  invade 
us  with  black  troops  for  the  base  and  barba- 
rous purpose  of  stirring  up  servile  war,  their 
efforts  would  be  signally  rebuked.  Our 
slaves  could  not  be  easily  seduced,  nor  would 
any  thing  delight  them  more  than  to  assist  in 
stripping  Cuffee  of  his  regimentals  to  put  him 
in  the  cotton-field,  which  would  be  the  fate  of 
most  black  invaders,  without  any  prolix  form 
of  "  apprenticeship."  If,  as  I  am  satisfied 
would  be  the  case,  our  slaves  remained 
peacefully  on  our  plantations,  and  cultivated 


them  in  time  of  war,  under  the  superinten- 
dence of  a  limited  number  of  our  citizens,  it  is 
obvious  that  we  could  put  forth  more  strength 
in  such  an  emergency,  at  less  sacrifice,  than 
anjr  other  people  of  the  same  numbers.  And 
thus  we  should  in  every  point  of  view,  "  out 
of  this  nettle  danger,  pluck  the  flower  safety." 
How  far  slavery  may  be  an  advantage  or 
disadvantage  to  those  not  owning  slaves,  yet 
united  with  us  in  political  association,  is  a 
question  for  their  sole  consideration.  It  is 
true  that  our  representation  in  Congress  is  in- 
creased by  it.  But  so  are  our  taxes;  and  the 
nonslavcholding  states,  being  the  majority, 
divide  among  themselves  far  the  greater  por- 
tion of  the  amount  levied  by  the  federal 
government.  And  I  doubt  not  that  when  it 
comes  to  a  close  calculation,  they  will  not  be 
slow  in  finding  out  that  the  balance  of  profit 
arising  from  the  connection  is  vastly  in  their 
favor. 

Slvvert  and  its  Social  Effects;  Duel- 
ling ;  Mobs  ;  REPCniATioN ;  Licentiousness  ; 
Comparative  Expense  of  Free  and  Slave 
Labor;  Treatment  of  Slaves;  Instruction; 
Punishments  (Continued.) — In  a  social  point 
of  view  the  abolitionists  pronounce  slavery  to 
be  a  monstrous  evil.  If  it  was  so,  it  would  be 
our  own  peculiar  concern,  and  superfluous  be- 
nevolence in  them  to  lament  over  it  Seeing 
their  bitter  hostility,  they  might  leave  us  to 
cope  with  our  own  calamities.  But  they  make 
war  upon  us  out  of  excess  of  charity,  and  at- 
tempt to  purify  by  covering  us  with  calumny. 
You  have  read,  and  assisted  to  circulate,  a 
great  deal  about  affrays,  duels,  and  murders 
occurring  here,  and  all  attributed  to  the  ter- 
rible demoralization  of  slavery.  Not  a  single 
event  of  this soit  takes  place  among  us,  but  it 
is  caught  up  by  the  abolitionists,  and  paraded 
over  the  world  with  endless  comments,  van 
ations,  and  exaggerations.  You  should  not 
take  what  reaches  you  as  a  mere  sample,  and 
infer  that  there  is  a  vast  deal  more  you  never 
hear.  You  hear  all,  and  more  than  all,  the  truth. 

It  is  true  that  the  point  of  honor  is  recog- 
nized throughout  the  slave  region,  and  that 
disputes  of  certain  classes  are  frequently  re- 
ferred for  adjustment  to  the  "  trial  by  com- 
bat.'' It  would  not  be  appropriate  for  me  to 
enter,  in  this  letter,  into  a  defense  of  the  prac- 
tice of  duelling,  nor  to  maintain  at  length  that 
it  does  not  tarnish  the  character  of  a  peojile  to 
acknowledge  a  standard  of  honor.  Whatever 
evils  may  arise  from  it,  however,  they  cannot 
be  attributed  to  slavery — since  the  same  cus- 
tom prevails  both  in  France  and  England. 
Few  of  your  prime-ministers,  of  the  last  half 
century  even,  have  escaped  the  contagion,  I 
believe.  The  affrays  of  which  so  much  is 
said,  and  in  which  rifles,  bowie-knives,  and 
pistols  are  so  prominent,  occur  mostly  in  the 
frontier  states  of  the  southwest.  They  are 
naturally  incidental  to  the  condition  of  society 


244 


KEGRO    SLAVERY    AT   THE    SOUTH. 


as  it  exists  in  raany  sections  of  these  recently  j  charged  to  slavery  -wliich  are  shotvn  to  ofcnr 
settli'd  countries,  and  will  as  naturally  cease  to  equal  extent  wliere  it  does  not  exi-^t,  surely 
in  due  time.  Adventurers  frum  the  older  slavery  must  be  acquitted  of  the  accusation, 
states  and  from  Europe,  as  desperate  in  cha-  It  is  roundly  asserted  that  we  are  not  bo 
racter  as  they  are  in  fortune,  conijrejjate  in  I  well  educated  nor  so  roligious  as  elsewht-re.  I 
these  wild  regions,  jostling?  one  aiiollu-r,  and  will  not  go  into  tedious  statistical  statt-inents 
often  forcin"  the  peaceable  ai)d  honest  into  on  these  siiKjt-cts.  Nor  have  I,  to  tell  the 
rencontres  in  self-defense.  Slavery  has  nothing  !  truth,  much  confidence  in  tlie  details  of  what 
to  do  witli  these  things.  Stability  and  peace  j  are  commonly  set  forth  as  statistics.  As  to 
are  the  first  desires  of  every  slaveholder,  and   education,    you   will    probably   admit    that 


the  true  tendency  of  the  .system.  It  could 
not  possibly  exist  amid  the  eternal  anarchy 
and  civil  broils  of  the  ancient  Spanish  domiu 
ions  in  America.  Antl  for  this  very  reason, 
domestic  slavery  has  ceased  there.  So  far 
from  encouraging  strife,  such  scenes  of  riot 
and  bloodshed  as   have,  within  the  last  few 


slaveholders  should  have  nmre  lei.-ure  for 
mental  culture  than  most  people.  And  I  be- 
lieve it  is  cliarged  against  them  that  they  are 
peculiarly  fond  of  power  and  ambitious  of 
honors.  If  this  be  so,  as  all  the  piiw<  r  and 
honors  of  this  country  are  won  mainly  by 
intellectual  superiority,  it  might  be  fairly  pre- 


years,  disgraced  om-  northern  cities,  and  as  you  !  sumed  that  slaveholders  woidd  not  be  neglect- 
have  lately  witnessed  in  Birmingham  and  ,  ful  of  education.  In  proof  of  the  accuracy  of 
Bristol  and  Wales,  not  only  never  have  occur- 1  this  presumption  I  point  you  to  the  facts,  tliat 
red,  but  I  will  venture  to  say,  never  will  occur  our  Presidential  chair  has  been  occupied  for 
in  our  slaveholding  states.  The  only  thing  ;  forty-four  out  of  the  fifty-six  years  by  slave- 
that  can  create  a  mob  (as  you  might  call  it)  |  holders;  that  another  has  been  recently  elect- 
here,  is  the  appearance  of  an  abolitionist  wliom  ed  to  fill  it  for  ftmr  years  more,  over  an  oppo- 
the  people  assemble  to  chastise.     And  this  is   neut  who  was  a  slaveliolder  also;  and  that  in 


no  more  of  a  mob  than  a  rally  of  shepherds 
to  chase  a  wolf  out  of  their  pastures  would 
be  one. 

But  we  are  swindlers  and  repudiatorsl 
Pennsylvania  is  not  a  slave  State.  A  majority 
of  the  states  which  have  failed  to  meet  their 
obligations  punctually  are  non-slaveholding ; 
and  two  thirds  of  the  debt  said  to  be  repudi- 
ated is  owed  by  these  states.  Many  of  the 
states  of  this  Union  are  heavily  encumbered 
with  debt — none  so  hopelessly  as  England. 
Pennsylvania  owes  $22  for  each  inhabitant — 
England  $222,  counting  her  paupers  in.  Nor 
has  there  been  any  repudiation,  definite  and 
final,  of  a  lawful  debt,  that  I  am  aware  of. 
A  few  states  have  failed  to  pay  some  instal- 
ments of  interest.     The  extraordinary  finan- 


the  federal  offices  and  both  Houses  of  Con- 
gress, considerably  more  than  a  due  propor- 
tion of  those  acknowledged  to  stand  in  the 
first  rank  are  from  the  south.  In  this  arena 
the  intellects  of  the  free  and  slave  states 
meet  iu  full  and  fair  competition.  Nature 
must  have  been  unusually  bountiful  to  us,  or  we 
have  been,  at  least,  reasonably  assiduous  in- 
the  cultivation  of  such  gifts  as  she  has  bestow- 
ed— uidess,  indeed,  you  refer  our  superiority 
to  moral  qualities,  which  I  am  sure  you  will 
not.  More  wealthy  we  are  not,  nor  would 
mere  wealth  avail  in  such  rivalry. 

Tiie  piety  of  the  south  is  unobtrusive.  We 
think  it  pnves  but  little,  though  it  is  a  confi- 
dent thing  for  a  man  to  claim  that  he  stands 
higher  in  the  estimation  of  his  Creator,  and  is 


cial  diflScullies  Avhich  occurred  a  few  years  :igo  ,  less  a  sinner,  than  his  neighljor.     If  vocifera- 


account  for  it.  Time  will  set  all  things  right 
again.  Every  dollar  of  both  principal  and 
interest  owed  by  any  state,  north  or  south, 
■will  be  ultimately  paid,  unless  the  abolition  of 
slavery  overwhelvisMS  all  in  onecommoii,  ruin. 
But  have  no  other  nations  failed  to  pay  ?  When 
were  the  French  assignats  redeemed  ?  How 
much  interest  did  your  National  Bank  pay.on 
its  immense  circulation  from  1797  to  1821, 
during  which  period  that  circulation  was  in- 
convertible, and  for  the  time  repndin/cij ?  How 
much  of  your  national  debt  has  been  incurred 
for  money  borrowed  to  meet  the  interest  upon 
it,  thus  avoiding  delinquency  m  detail,  by  in- 
suring inevitable  bankruptcy  and  repudiation 
in  the  end  ?     And  what  sort  of  operation  was 


tion  is  to  carry  the  question  of  religion,  the 
north  and  jnobably  the  Scotch  have  it.  Our 
sects  are  few,  harmonious,  pretty  nnich  united 
among  themselves,  and  pursue  their  avoca- 
tions iu  humble  peace.  In  fact,  our  professors 
of  religion  seem  to  think — whether  correctly 
or  not — that  it  is  their  duty  to  do  "good  in 
secret,"  and  to  carry  their  holy  comforts  to  the 
heart  of  each  individual,  without  reference  to 
class  or  color,  for  his  spi'cial  enjoyment,  and 
not  with  a  view  to  exhibit  their  zeal  before 
the  world.  So  far  as  numbers  are  concerned, 
I  believe  our  clergymen,  when  called  on  to 
make  a  showing,  have  never  had  occasion  to 
blush,  if  comparisons  were  drawn  between 
the  free  and  slave  states.     And  although  our 


that  by  which  your  present  ministry  recently  |  j>rosses  do  not  teem  with  controversial  pamph- 
expunged  a  handsome  amount  of  that  tk-bt  liy  lets,  nor  our  pul|)its  shake  with  excommuni- 
substituting,  through  a  process  just  not  com  I  eating  thunders,  the  daily  walk  of  our  religious 
pulsory,  one  species  of  security  for  another  ?  1  communicants  furni-hes  a|)parently  as  little 
I  am  well  aware  that  the  faults  of  others  do  ,  food  for  gossip  as  is  to  lie  found  in  most  other 
not  excuse   our  own,  but  wht'n  failings   arc  !  regions.     It  may  be  regarded  as  a  mark  of 


>fEGRO    SLAVEKY    AT    THE    SOUTH. 


24^ 


■OUT  ■want  of  excitability — though  that  is  a 
quality  accrc'iHtwi  to  us  in  an  eminent  degree 
—  that  few  of  the  remarkable  religious  isms 
of[the  present  day  have  taken  root  among  us. 
We  have  been  so  irreverent  as  to  la^igh  at 
Mormonism  and  Millerisni,  which  have  created 
such  commotions  further  north ;  and  modern 
prophets  have  no  honor  in  our  country. 
Siiakers,  Rappists,  Dunkers,  Socialists,  Fou- 
rierists,  and  the  like,  keep  themselves  afar 
off.  Even  Puseyism  has  not  yet  moved  us. 
Ton  may  attribute  this  to  onr  dt)mestic  slavery 
if  you  choose.  I  believe  you  would  do  so 
justly.  There  is  no  material  here  for  such 
characters  to  operate  upon. 

But  your  grand  charge  is,  that  licentious- 
ness, in  intercourse  between  the  sexes,  is  a 
prominent  trait  of  our  social  system,  and  that 
it  necessarily  arises  from  slavery.  This  is  a 
favorite  theme  with  the  abolitionists,  male  and 
female.  Folios  have  bceu  written  on  it.  It 
is  a  common  observation,  that  there  is  no 
subject  on  which  ladies  of  eminent  virtue  so 
much  dehght  to  dwell,  and  on  which,  in 
especial,  learned  old  maids  like  Mi-^s  Mar- 
tineau  linger  with  such  insatiable  relish. 
They  expose  it  in  the  slave  states  with  the 
most  minute  observance  and  endless  iteration. 
Miss  Martineau,  with  peculiar  gusto,  relates  a 
series  of  scandalous  stoiies, which  would  have 
made  Boccacci<i  jealous  of  her  pen,  but  which 
are  so  ridiculously  false  as  to  leave  no  doubt 
that  some  wicked  wag,  knowing  she  would 
write  a  book,  has  furnished  her  materials 
— a  game  too  often  played  on  tourists  in  this 
country.  The  constant  recurrence  of  the  fe- 
male abolitionists  to  this  topic,  and  their  bit 
"terness  in  regard  to  it,  cannot  fail  to  suggest 
to  even  the  most  charitable  mind,  that 

"  Sueh  rage  without  betrays  the  fires  within." 

Nor  are  their  immaculate  coadjutors  of  the 
other  sex,  though  perhaps  less  specific  in  their 
charges,  less  violent  in  their  denunciations. 
But  recently,  in  your  island,  a  clergyman  ha.«, 
at  a  pulilic  meeting,  stigmatized  the  whole 
elavelioJditig  rt-giun  as  a  "  brothel."  Do  these 
people  thus  cast  stones,  being  "  without siu"? 
Or  do  they  only 

'•  Compound  for  sins  they  are  inclined  to. 
By  (iaraning  those  tbeyhave  no  mtnd  to  V* 

Alas  that  David  and  Solomon  should  be  al- 
lowed to  repose  in  peace ;  tha*  Leo  should  be 
almost  canonized,  and  Luther  more  than 
sainted  ;  that,  in  our  day,  courtesans  should 
be  formally  licensed  in  Paris,  and  tenements 
in  London  rented  for  years  to  women  of  the 
town,  for  the  benefit  of  the  eluireh,  with  the 
knowledge  of  the  bishop ;  and  the  poor 
elave  states  of  America  alone  pounced  upon, 
and  offered  up  as  a  holocaust  on  the  Altar 
of  Immaeulateness,  to  atone  for  the  abuse 
.of  natural  instinct  by  all  mankind ;  and  if 


not  actually  consumed,  at  least  exposed, 
anathematized  and  held  up  to  scorn,  by 
those  who 

"  write 
Or  with  a  rival's  or  an  eunuch's  spite.'' 

But  I  do  not  intend  to  admit  that  this 
charge  is  just  or  true.  Without  meaning  to 
l^rofess  uncommon  modesty,  I  will  eay  that 
I  wish  the  topic  could  be  avoided.  1  am  of 
opinion,  and  I  doubt  not  every  right-minded 
man  will  concui-,  that  the  public  exposure 
and  discussion  of  this  vice,  even  to  rebuke, 
invariably  does  more  harm  than  good  ;  and 
that  if  it  cannot  be  checked  by  instilling 
pure  and  virtuous  sentiments,  it  is  far  worse 
than  useless  to  attempt  to  do  it  by  exhibit- 
ing its  deformities.  I  may  not,  however, 
pass  it  over  ;  nor  ought  I  to  feel  any  delicacy 
in  examining  a  question  to  which  the  slave- 
holder is  invited  and  challenged  by  clergy- 
men and  virgins.  So  far  from  allowing, 
then,  that  licentiousness  pervades  this  re- 
gion, I  broadly  assert,  and  I  refer  to  the 
records  of  our  courts,  to  the  public  press, 
and  to  the  knowledge  of  all  who  have  ever 
lived  here,  that,  among  our  white  popula- 
tion, there  are  fewer  ca^^es  of  divorce,  sepa- 
ration, erim.  con.,  seduction,  rape,  and  bas- 
tardy, than  among  any  other  five  millions 
of  people  on  the  civilized  earth.  And  this 
fact,  I  believe,  will  be  conceded  by  the  abo- 
litionists of  this  country  themselves.  I  am 
almost  willing  to  refer  it  to  them,  and  sub- 
mit to  their  decision  on  it.  I  would  not 
hesitate  to  do  so,  if  I  thought  them  capable 
of  an  impartial  judgment  on  any  matter 
where  slavery  is  in  question.  But  it  is  said 
that  the  licentiousness  consists  in  the  con- 
stant intercourse  between  white  males  and 
colored  females.  One  of  your  heavy  charges 
against  us  has  been  that  we  regard  and  treat 
these  people  as  brutes;  you  now  charge  us 
with  habitually  taking  them  to  our  bosoms. 
I  will  not  comment  on  the  inconsistency  of 
these  fiecusations.  I  will  not  deny  that 
some  intercourse  of  the  sort  doe^take  place. 
Its  character  and  extent,  however,  are 
grossly  and  atrociously  exaggerated.  No 
authority,  divine  or  human,  lias  yet  been 
found  sutlicient  to  arrest  all  such  irregulari- 
ties among  men.  But  it  is  a  known  fact, 
that  they  are  perpetrated  here,  for  the  most 
part,  in  the  cities.  A^ery  few  mulattoes  are 
reared  on  our  plantations.  In  the  cities,  a 
large  proportion  of  the  inhabitants  do  not 
own  slaves.  A  still  larger  proportion  are 
natives  of  the  north  or  foreigners.  They 
.should  share,  and  justly  too,  an  equal  ])art, 
in  this  sin,  with  the  slaveholders.  Facts 
cannot  be  ascertained,  or,  I  doubt  not,  it 
would  appear  that  they  are  the  chief  offend- 
ers. If  the  truth  be  otherwise,  then  persons 
from  abroad  have  stronger  prejudices  against 
the  African  race  than  we  have.     Be  this  as 


246 


TTEGKO    SLATEKr   AT    THE    SOt'TH. 


it  raay,  it  is  well  known  that  this  intercourse 
is  regarded,  in  our  society,  as  highly  disre- 
putable. If  carried  on  habitually,  it  seri- 
ously afTccts  a  man's  standing,  so  far  as  it  is 
known  ;  and  he  who  takes  a  colored  mistress 
— with  rare  and  extraordinary  exceptions — 
loses  caste  at  once.  You  will  say  that  one 
exception  should  damn  our  whole  country. 
How  much  less  criminal  is  it  to  take  a  white 
mistress?  In  your  eyes  it  should  be  at  least 
an  etjual  offense.  Yet  look  around  you  at 
home,  from  the  cottage  to  the  throne,  and 
count  how  many  mistresses  are  kept,  in 
unblushing  notoriety,  without  any  loss  of 
caste.  Such  cases  are  nearly  unknown  here, 
and  down  even  to  the  lowest  walks  of  life, 
it  is  almost  invariably  fatal  to  a  man's  posi- 
tion and  prospects,  to  keep  a  mistress  openly, 
whether  white  or  black.  What  Miss  Marti- 
neau  relates  of  a  young  man's  purchasing  a 
colored  concubine  from  a  lady,  and  avowing 
his  designs,  is  too  absurd  even  for  contra- 
diction. Ko  person  would  dare  to  allude  to 
such  a  subject,  in  such  a  manner,  to  any 
decent  female  in  this  country.  If  he  did, 
he  would  be  lynched — doubtless  wath  your 
approbation. 

After  all,  however,  the  number  of  the 
mixed  breed,  in  proportion  to  that  of  the 
black,  is  infinitely  small,  and,  out  of  the 
towns,  next  to  nothing.  And  when  it  is 
considered  that  the  African  race  has  been 
among  us  for  two  luindied  years,  and  that 
those  of  the  mixed  breed  continually  inter- 
marry, often  rearing  large  families,  it  is  a 
decided  proof  of  our  continence,  that  so  few  , 
comparatively  are  to  be  found.  Our  mis- 
fortunes are  twofold.  From  the  prolific  pro- 
pagation of  these  mongrels  among  them- ' 
selves,  we  are  liable  to  be  charged  by  tourists  i 
with  delinquencies  where  none  have  been 
Conniiitted,  while,  where  one  has  been,  it 
cannot  be  concealed.  Color  marks  indelibly 
the  offense,  and  reveals  it  to  every  eye. 
Conceive  that,  even  in  your  virtuous  and 
polished  country,  if  every  bastard  through 
all  tlie  circles  of  your  social  system 
was  thus  branded  by  nature  and  known 
to  all,  what  shocking  developments  might 
there  not  be!  How  little  indignation 
might  your  saints  have  to  spare  for  the 
licentiousness  of  the  slave  region.  But  I 
have  done  with  this  disgusting  topic.  And 
I  think  I  may  justly  conclude,  after  all  the 
scandalous  eiiai'ges  whicii  tea-table  gossip 
and  long-gowned  hypocrisy  have  brought 
against  tlie  slavciiolders,  tliat  a  peojde  whose 
men  are  proverbially  brave,  intellectual  and 
hospitable,  and  whose  women  are  unaffect- 
edly chaste,  devoted  to  domestie  life,  and 
happy  in  it,  can  neither  be  degraded  nor 
demoralized,  whatever  their  institutions 
may  be.  My  decided  opinion  is,  (hat  our 
system  of  slavery  contributes  largely  to  the  | 


development  and  cidture  of  these  high  and 
noble  qualities. 

In  an  economical  point  of  view — which  I 
will  not  omit — slavery  presents  some  diffi- 
culties. As  a  general  rule,  I  agree  that  it 
must  be  admitted,  that  free  labor  is  cheaper 
than  slave  labor.  It  is  a  fallacy  to  sujjpose 
that  ours  is  unpaid  labur.  The  slave  him- 
self must  be  j)aid  for,  and  thus  his  labor  is 
all  purchased  at  once,  and  for  no  trifling 
sum.  His  price  was,  in  the  first  place,  paid 
mostly  to  your  countrymen,  and  assisted  in 
building  I  p  some  of  those  colossal  English 
fortunes,  since  illustrated  by  patents  of  no- 
bility and  splendid  piles  of  architecture, 
stained  and  cemented,  if  you  like  the  ex- 
pression, with  the  blood  of  kidnapped  inno- 
cents ;  but  loaded  with  no  heavier  curses 
than  abolition,  and  its  begotten  fanaticisms, 
have  brought  upon  your  land — some  of  them 
fulfilled,  some  yet  to  be.  But  besides  the 
first  cost  of  the  slave,  he  must  be  fed  and 
clothed  —  well  fed  and  well  clothed,  if 
not  for  humanity's  sake,  that  he  may  do 
good  work,  retain  health  and  life,  and  rear 
a  family  to  supply  his  jdace.  "When  old  or 
sick  he  is  a  clear  expense,  and  so  is  the  help- 
less portion  of  his  family.  IS'o  poor-law 
provides  for  him  when  unable  to  work,  or 
brings  up  his  children  for  our  service  when 
we  need  them.  These  are  all  heavy  charges 
on  slave  labor.  Hence,  in  all  countries 
where  the  denseuess  of  the  population  has 
reduced  it  to  a  matter  of  perfect  certainty 
that  labor  can  be  obtained  whenever  wanted, 
and  the  laborer  be  forced,  by  sheer  neces- 
sity, to  hire  for  the  smallest  pittance  that 
will  keep  soul  and  body  together,  and  rags 
upon  his  back,  while  in  actual  employment 
--dej>endent,  at  all  other  times,  on  alms  or 
|ioor-rates — in  all  such  countries  it  is  found 
cheaj)er  to  pay  this  pittance  than  to  clothe, 
feed,  nurse,  support  through  childhood  and 
pension  in  old  age,  a  race  of  slaves.  Indeed, 
the  advantage  is  so  great  as  speedily  to  com- 
pensate for  tile  loss  of  the  value  of  the  slave. 
And  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying,  that  if  I 
could  cultivate  my  lauds  on  these  terms,  I 
would, without  a  word,  resign  my  slaves,  pro- 
vided they  could  be  jiroperly  disposed  of.  But 
the  question  is,  whether  free  or  slave  labor  is 
cheapest  to  us  in  this  country,  at  this  time, 
situated  as  we  are.  And  it  is  decided  at 
once  by  the  fact,  that  we  cannot  avail  our- 
selves of  any  other  than  slave  labor.  We 
neither  have,  nor  can  we  jn'ocure,  other  labor 
to  any  extent,  or  on  anything  like  the  terms 
mentioned.  We  must,  theiefore,  content 
ourselves  with  our  dear  labor,  under  the 
consoling  reflection,  that  what  is  lost  to  us 
is  gained  to  humanity  ;  and  that,  inasmuch 
as  our  slave  costs  us  more  than  your  freeman 
costs  you,  by  so  much  is  he  better  oft'.  You 
will  promptly  eay,  cLuancipate  your  slaves^ 


KEGllO    SLAVERV    AT   THE    SOUTH. 


247 


and  then  you  will  have  free  labor  on  suit- 
able terms.  That  niiijlit  be,  if  there  were 
five  huiiilrod  wliere  there  is  now  one,  and 
the  continent,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Paci- 
fic, wa^  as  densely  populated  as  your  island. 
But  until  that  comes  to  pass,  no  labor  can 
be  procured  ia  America  ou  the  terms  you 
have  it. 

While  I  thus  freely  admit  that,  to  the  in- 
dividual proprietor,  slave  labor  is  dearer 
than  free,  I  do  not  mean  to  admit  it  as 
equally  clear,  that  it  is  dearer  to  the  com- 
munity and  to  the  state.  Though  it  is  certain 
that  the  slave  is  a  far  greater  consumer  than 
your  laborer,  the  year  round,  yet  your  pau- 
per system  is  costly  and  wasteful.  Supported 
by  your  community  at  large,  it  is  not  ad- 
ministered by  your  hired  agents  with  that 
interested  care  and  economy — not  to  speak 
of  humanity — which  mark  the  management 
of  ours,  by  each  projjrietor  of  his  own  non- 
efifectives;  and  is  both  more  expensive  to 
those  who  pay,  and  less  beneficial  to  those 
who  i'eceive  its  bounties.  Besides  this, 
slavery  is  rapidly  filling  up  our  country  with 
a  hard 3"  and  healthy  race,  peculiarly  adapt- 
ed to  our  climate  and  productions,  and  con- 
ferring signal  political  and  social  avantages 
on  us  as  a  people,  to  which  1  have  already 
referred. 

I  have  yet  to  reply  to  the  main  ground 
on  which  you  and  your  coadjutors  rely  for 
the  overthrow  of  our  system  of  slavery. 
Failing  in  all  your  attempts  to  prove  that 
it  is  sinful  in  its  nature,  inuuoral  in  its 
eff^ects,  a  political  evil,  and  profitless  to  those 
who  maintain  it,  you  appeal  to  the  sympa- 
thies of  mankind,  and  attempt  to  arouse  the 
world  against  us,  by  the  most  shocking 
charges  of  tyranny  and  cruelty.  You  begin 
by  a  vehement  denunciation  of  "  the  irre- 
sponsible power  of  one  man  over  his  fellow- 
men  "  The  question  of  the  rebf)onsibility  of 
power  is  a  vast  one.  It  is  the  great  political 
question  of  modern  times.  Whole  nations 
divide  off  u])on  it,  and  establish  dift'ei-ent 
fundamental  systems  of  government.  That 
"  responsibility"  which,  to  one  set  of  mil- 
lions, seems  am])ly  sufficient  to  check  the 
government,  to  the  support  of  which  they 
devote  their  lives  and  fortunes,  ajipears  to 
another  set  of  millions  a  mere  mockei-y  of 
restraint.  And  accordingly  as  the  opinions 
of  these  millions  differ,  they  honor  each 
other  with  the  epithets  of  "serfs"  or  "  anar- 
chists." It  is  ridiculous  to  introduce  such 
an  idea  a*  this  into  the  discussion  of  a  mere 
domestic  institution.  But  since  you  have  in- 
troduced it,  I  deny  that  the  power  of  the 
slaveholder  in  America  is  "irresponsible." 
He  is  responsible  to  God.  He  is  responsible 
to  a  world — a  responsibility  which  aboli- 
tionists do  not  intend  to  allow  him  to  evade, 
and  in  acknowledgment  of  wliiidi  I  write 
you  this  letter.     He  is  responsible  to  the 


community  in  which  he  lives,  and  to  the 
laws  under  which  he  enjoys  his  civil  lights. 
These  laws  do  not  j)ermit  him  to  kill,  to 
maim,  or  punish  beyond  certain  limits,  or  to 
overtask,  or  to  refuse  to  feed  and  clothe,  his 
slave.  In  short,  they  forbid  him  to  be  tyran- 
nical or  cruel.  If  any  of  these  lawsha^grown 
obsolete,  it  is  because  they  are  so  seldom  vio- 
lated that  they  are  forgotten.  You  have 
disinterred  one  of  them  from  a  compilalion 
by  some  Judge  Stroud  of  I'hiladel])liia,  to 
stigiuatize  its  inadequate  penalties  for  kill- 
ing, maiming,  &c.  Yoiu"  object  ajipears  to 
be — you  can  have  no  other — to  produce  the 
impression  that  it  must  be  often  violated  on 
account  of  its  insufficiency.  You  say  as 
much,  and  that  it  marks  our  estimate  of  the 
slave.  You  foi'get  to  state  that  this  law  was 
enacted  by  Englhhmeii,  and  only  indicates 
their  opinion  of  the  re})aration  due  for  their 
offenses.  Ours  is  proved  by  the  fact,  though 
perhaps  unknown  to  Judge  Stroud  or  your- 
self, that  we  have  essentially  altered  this 
law ;  and  the  murder  of  a  slave  has  for 
many  years  been  punishable  with  death  in 
this  state.  And  so  it  is,  I  believe,  in  most 
or  all  the  slave  states.  You  seem  well 
aware,  however,  that  laws  have  been  re- 
cently passed  in  all  these  states  making  it 
penal  to  teach  slaves  to  read.  Do  you  know 
what  occasioned  their  passage,  and  renders 
their  stringent  enforcement  necessary  ?  I 
can  tell  you.  It  was  the  abolition  agitation. 
If  the  slave  is  not  allowed  to  read  his  Bible, 
the  sin  rests  upon  the  abolitionists;  for  they 
stand  prepared  to  furnish  him  with  a  key  to 
it,  which  would  make  it,  not  a  book  of  hope 
and  love  and  peace,  but  of  desjiair,  hatied, 
and  blood  ;  which  would  convert  the  reader, 
not  into  a  Christian,  but  a  demon.  To  pre- 
serve him  from  such  a  horrid  destiny,  it  is  a 
sacred  duty  which  we  owe  to  our  slaves, 
not  less  than  to  oxu'selves,  to  interpose  the 
most  decisive  means.  If  the  Catholics  deem 
it  wrong  to  trust  the  Bible  to  the  hands  of 
ignorance,  shall  we  be  excommunicated  be- 
cause we  will  not  give  it,  and  with  it  the 
corrupt  and  fatal  commentaries  of  the  abo- 
litionists, to  our  slaves?  Allow  our  slaves 
to  read  your  pamj)hlets,  stimulating  them  to 
cut  our  throats!  Can  you  believe  us  to  be 
such  unspeakable  fools? 

I  do  not  know  that  I  can  subscribe  in  full 
to  the  sentiment  so  often  quoted  by  the  abo- 
litionists, and  by  Mr.  Dickinson  in  his  letter 
to  me:  "Hoino  sHni,Iiwiia)ii  nil  ante  alieintm 
pnlo"  as  translated  and  practically  illustrated 
by  them.  Such  a  doctrine  would  give  wide 
authority  to  every  one  for  the  most  danger- 
ous intermeddling  with  the  affairs  of  others. 
It  will  do  in  |)oetry — perliaps  in  some  sorts 
of  philosophy — but  the  attempt  to  make  it  a 
I  household  maxim,  and  introduce  it  into  the 
daily  walks  of  life,  has  caused  many  an 
I  "homo"  a  broken  crown,  and  probably  will 


248 


NEGRO    SLAVERY    AT   THE    SOUTH. 


continue  to  do  it.     Still,  though  a  slaveholder,  j 
I  freely  :ickii<)\vle(]y:e    my   obligatinus  as    a' 
man  ;  ;inil  tliat  I  am  Ijoiind  to  treat  luiinaiiely 
the  fclluw-creatures  whom  God  lia^*  intrusted  j 
to  my  charge.      I   feel   therefore   somewhat 
sensitive  under  the  accusation  of  cruelty,  and  ' 
dispose!!  to  defend  myself  and  fellow  slave- ! 
holders  against  it.     It  is  certainly  the  interest  j 
of  all,  and  I  am  convinced  that  it  is  also  the 
desire  of  every  one  of  us,  to  treat  our  slaves  j 
■with  proper  kindness.     It  is  necessary  to  our 
deriving  the  greatest  amount  of  profit  from  , 
them.     Of  this  we  are  all  satisfied.    And  you  j 
snatch  from  us  the  only  consolation  we  Ame- 
ricans could  derive  from  the  opprolirious  im- 
putation of  being  wholly  devoted  to  making 
money,   which  your  disititerested    and   gold 
despising  countrymen  delight  to  cast  upon  u<,  i 
when  you  nevertlieless  declare   that  we  are 
ready  to  sacrifice  it  for  the  pleasure  of  being  ' 
inhuman.    You  remember  tiiat  Mr.  Pitt  could 
never  get  over  the  idea  that  self-interest  would  I 
insure  kind  treatment  to  slaves,  until  you  tokl  I 
him  your  woful    stories   of   the  Middle   Pas- 
sage.    Mr.  Pitt  was  right  in  the  first  instance,) 
and  erred  under  your  tuition,  in  not   perceiv- 
ing tlie  difference  between  a  tempcjrary  and  a 
permanent  ownership  of  them.     Slaveholders 
are  no  more  perfect  than  other  men.     They 
Lave  passions.     Some  of  them,  as  you  ma) 
suppose,  do  not  at  all  times  restrain  them. 
Neither   do    husbands,    pnrents   and    friends. 
And  in   each  of    these    relations   as    serious 
sufferings    as    frequently    arise    fiom    uncon- 
trolled  passmiLsas  ever  <lo  in  that  uf  master 
and  slave,  and  with  as  little  chance  of  indem- 
nity.    Yet  you  would  not  on  that  account 
break  them  up.     I  have  no  hesitation  in  say 
ing  that  our  slavehoklers  are  as  kind  masters 
as  men  usually  are  kind  husbands,  parents 
and   friends — as  a  general    rule,  kinder.      A 
bad   master — he  who  overworks   his    slaves, 
provides  ill  for  them,  or  treats  them  with  un- 
due severity — loses  the  esteem  and  respect  of 
his  fellow-citizens  to  as  great  an  extent  as  he 
would  for  the  violation  of  any  of  his  social 
and  most  of  his  moral  obligations.     What  the 
most  perfect  jilan  of  management  would  be  is 
a  problem   hard   to  solve.      P'rom  the  com- 
mencement of  slavery   in    this  country,   this 
subject  has  occupied  the  minds  of  all  slave- 
holders, as  much  as  the  improvement  of  the 
general  condition  of  maid<ind  has  those  of  the 
most  anient  pliilanthropists;  and  the  greatest 
progressive   amelioration  of   the   system  has 
been    effected.      You   yourself  acknowledge 
that  in  the  early  ])ai't  of  yourcarci.'i-  you  were 
exceedingly  anxious  for  the  immrdiali:  aboli- 
tion of  the  slave  trade,  lest  those  engaged  in 
it  should  so  mitigate  its  evils  a.^  to  destroy  the 
force  of  your  arguments  and  facts.     The  im- 
provement  you    then    drradfd  has   gone    on 
steadily  liere,  and  would  doubtless  have  taken 
place  in  the  sLive  trade  but  for  the  measures 
adopted  to  suppress  it. 


Of  late  years  we  have  been  not  only  an- 
noyed, but  greatly  embarrassed  in  this  matter 
by  the  ab'ilitionists.  We  have  been  ciMupel- 
led  to  curtail  sonie  privileges;  we  have  been 
debarred  from  granting  new  ones.  In  the 
face  of  di-jcussions  which  aim  at  loosening  all 
ties  between  master  an  I  slave,  we  have  in 
some  measure  to  abandon  our  efforts  to  at- 
tach them  to  us,  and  control  them  through 
their  affections  and  pride.  We  have  to  rely 
more  and  more  on  the  fwwer  of  fear.  We 
must  in  all  our  intercourse  with  them  assert 
and  maintain  strict  mastery,  and  impress  it 
on  them  that  they  are  slaves.  This  is  painfol 
to  us,  and  certainly  no  present  advanliige  to 
tliem.  But  it  is  the  direct  consequence  of  the 
abolition  agitation.  We  are  determined  to 
continue  masters,  and  lo  do  so  we  have  to 
draw  the  rein  tighter  and  tighter  day  liy  day 
to  be  assured  that  we  hold  them  in  comjilete 
check.  How  far  this  process  will  go  on,  de- 
pends wholU-  and  solely  on  the  abolitionists. 
VVhen  tliey  desist  we  can  relax.  We  may 
iKjt  before.  I  do  not  mean  by  all  this  fo  say 
that  we  are  in  a  state  of  actual  alarm  and 
fear  of  our  slaves  ;  but  under  existing  circum- 
stances we  should  be  ineffably  stupiii  not  to 
increase  our  vigilance  and  strengthen  our 
hands.  You  see  some  of  the  fruits  of  your 
labors.  I  speak  freely  and  candidly — not  as 
a  Colonist  Avho,  though  a  slaveholder,  has  a 
master;  but  as  a  free  white  man  holding, 
under  God,  and  resolved  to  hold,  my  fate  in 
my  own  hands;  but  I  assure  you  that  my 
sentiments  and  feelings  and  determinations 
are  those  of  every  slaveholder  in  this  country. 

The  research  anil  ingenuity  of  tiieab  'lition- 
ists,  aided  by  the  invention  of  runaway  slaves 
— in  Vhich  faculty,  so  far  as  im|)rovising 
falsehood  goes,  the  African  race  is  without  a 
rival — have  succeeiied  in  shocking  tiu;  world 
with  a  small  number  of  pretended  instances 
of  our  barbarity.  The  only  wond<"r  is  that, 
consiiiering  the  extent  of  our  country,  the 
variety  of  our  papulation,  its  fluctuating  char- 
acter, and  the  publicity  of  all  our  transactions, 
the  immber  of  cases  collected  is  so  small.  It 
sy)eaks  well  for  us.  Yet  of  these  many  are 
false,  all  highly  colored,  some  occurring  half  a 
century,  most  of  them  many  years  ago;  and 
no  doubt  a  liwiic  proportion  of  them  perpe- 
trated by  foreigners.  With  a  few  rare  ex- 
ceptions, the  emigrant  Scotch  and  Hngli-h  are 
the  wor>t  masters  among  us,  and  i»ex'  loihem 
our  northern  fellow  citizens.  Slaveholders 
born  and  bred  here  are  always  more  humane 
to  slaves,  and  those  who  have  grown  up  to  a 
large  inheritance  of  them,  the  most  so  of  any, 
showing  clearly  that  the  I'fiect  of  the  system 
is  to  foster  kindly  feelings.  I  do  not  mean 
so  much  to  impute  inlunnanity  to  foreigners, 
as  to  show  that  they  come  here  with  false 
notions  of  the  treatment  usual  and  necessary 
for  slaves,  and  that  newly  acquired  power 
here,  as  every  where  else,  is  apt  to  be  abused. 


NEGRO  SLAVERY  AT  THE  SOUTH. 


249 


T  cannot  enter  into  a  detailed  examination  of 
the  casi-s  stated  by  tlic  aboiitioiiifts.  It  would 
be  disgusliii;^  and  of  little  avail.  I  know 
notliiiij^  of  theiii.  I  liave  seen  nothing  like 
them,  though  boru  and  bred  here,  and  have 
rarely  heard  of  any  thing  at  all  to  be  com- 
pari'd  with  them,  rerniit  me  to  say  that  I 
think  most  of  yo7ir  facts  must  have  been 
drawn  from  the  West  Indies,  where  undoubt- 
edly slaves  were  treattd  much  more  harshly 
than  with  us.  This  was  owing  to  a  variety 
of  causes,  which  might,  if  neoessary,  be  stated. 
One  was,  that  they  had  at  first  to  deal  more 
extensively  with  barbarians  fre.sh  from  the 
wilds  of  Africa;  another,  and  a  leading  one, 
the  absenteeism  of  proprietors.  Agents  are 
always  more  unfeeling  than  owners,  whether 
placed  over  West  Itnlian  or  American  slaves, 
or  Irisli  tenantry.  We  feel  this  evil  greatly 
even  here.  You  describe  the  use  of  thumb- 
screwH  as  one  mode  of  punishment  among  us. 
I  doubt  if  a  thumb-screw  can  be  found  in 
Ameiica.  I  never  saw  or  heard  of  one  in 
this  country.  Stocks  are  rarely  used  by  pri- 
vate individuals,  and  confir.ement  still  more 
seldom,  though  both  are  common  punishments 
for  whites,  all  the  world  over.  I  think  they 
should  he  more  frequently  resorted  to  with 
slaves,  as  substitutes  for  flogging,  which  I  con- 
sider the  most  injurious  and  least  efHcacious 
mode  of  punishing  them  for  serious  offenses. 
It  is  not  degrading,  and  unless  excessive,  oc- 
casions little  pain.  You  may  be  a  little  as- 
tonished, after  all  the  flourishes  that  have 
been  made  about  "cart  whips,"  etc  ,  when  I 
say  flogging  is  not  the  most  degrading  pun- 
ishment in  the  world.  It  may  be  so  to  a 
white  man  in  most  countries,  but  how  is  it  to 
the  white  boy?  That  necessary  coadjutor  of 
the  schoolmaster,  the  "  birch,"  is  never  thought 
to  have  rendered  infamous  the  unfortunate 
victim  of  pedagogue  ire;  nor  did  Solomon  in 
his  wisdom  dream  that  he  was  counselling 
parents  to  debase  their  otl'spring,  when  he  ex- 
liorted  them  not  to  spoil  the  child  by  sparing 
the  rod.  Pardon  me  for  recurring  to  the  now 
exploded  ethics  of  the  Bible.  Custom,  which, 
you  will  perliaps  agree,  makes  most  things  m 
this  w<irld  good  or  evil,  has  removed  all  in- 
fcimy  from  tiie  punishment  of  the  lash  to  the 
slave.  Your  blood  boils  at  the  recital  of 
stripes  inflicted  on  a  man ;  and  you  think  you 
should  be  frenzied  to  see  your  own  child  flog 
ged.  You  see  how  completely  this  is  ideal, 
arising  from  the  fa.shions  of  society.  You 
doubtless  submitted  to  the  rod  yourself,  in 
other  years,  when  the  smart  was  perhaps  as 
severe  as  it  would  be  now ;  and  you  have 
never  been  guilty  of  the  folly  of  revenging 
yourself  on  the  preceptor  who,  in  the  {)leni- 
tude  of  his  "  irresponsible  power,"  thought 
proper  to  chastise  your  son.  So  it  is  with  the 
negro  and  the  negro  father. 

As  to  chains  and  irons,  they  are  rarely  used  ; 
never,  I  believe,  except  in  cases  of  running 


away.  You  will  admit,  that  if  we  pretend 
to  own  slaves,  they  must  not  be  permitted  to 
abscond  whenever  they  see  fit;  and  that  if 
nothing  else  will  prevent  it,  these  means 
must  be  resorted  to.  See  the  inhumanity 
necessarily  arising  from  slavery,  you  will  ex- 
claim. Are  such  restraints  imposed  on  no 
other  class  of  peofde  giving  no  more  offense? 
Look  to  your  army  and  navy.  If  your  sea- 
men, impi'cssed  from  their  peaceful  occupa- 
tions, and  your  soldiers,  recruited  at  the  gin 
shops — both  of  them  as  much  kiiinapped  as 
the  most  unsuspecting  victim  of  the  slave 
trade,  and  doomed  to  a  far  more  wretched 
fate — if  these  men  manifest  a  propensity  to 
desert,  the  heaviest  manacles  are  the  mildest 
punishment :  it  is  most  commonly  death  after 
summary  tiial.  But  armies  and  navies,  you 
say,  are  indispensable,  and  must  be  kept  up 
at  every  sacrifice.  I  answer  that  they  are 
no  more  indispensable  than  slavery  is  to  us — 
and  to  yoii, ;  for  you  have  enough  of  it  in 
your  country,  though  the  form  and  name  dif- 
fer from  ours. 

Depend  upon  it  that  many  things,  and  in 
regard  to  our  slaves,  most  things,  which  ap- 
pear revolting  at  a  distance,  and  to  slight  re- 
flection, would,  on  a  nearer  view  and  impar- 
tial comparison  with  the  customs  and  con- 
duct of  the  rest  of  mankind,  strike  you  in  a 
very  different  light.  Remember  that  on  our 
estates  we  dispense  with  the  whole  machinery 
of  public  police  and  public  courts  of  justice. 
Thus  we  try,  decide  and  execute  the  sentences 
in  thousands  of  cases,  which  in  other  countries 
would  go  into  the  courts.  Hence  most  of  the 
acts  of  our  alleged  cruelty  which  have  any 
foundation  in  truth.  Whether  our  patriarchal 
mode  of  administering  justice  is  less  humane 
than  the  assizes,  can  only  be  determined  by 
careful  inquiry  and  comjjarison.  But  this  is 
never  done  by  the  abolitionists.  All  our  pun- 
ishments are  the  outrages  of  ''  irresponsible 
power."  If  a  man  steals  a  pig  in  England, 
he  is  transported — torn  from  wife,  children, 
parents,  and  sent  to  the  antipodes,  infamous, 
and  an  outcast  for  ever,  though  probably  he 
took  from  the  superabundance  of  liis  neighbor 
to  save  the  lives  of  his  famishing  little  ones. 
If  one  of  our  well-fed  negroes,  merely  for  the 
sake  of  fresh  meat,  steals  a  pig,  he  gets  per- 
haps forty  stripes.  If  one  of  your  cottagers 
breaks  into  another's  house,  he  is  hung  for 
burglary.  If  a  slave  does  the  same  here,  a 
few  lashes,  or  it  may  be  a  few  hours  in  the 
stocks,  settles  the  matter.  Are  our  courts  or 
yours  the  most  humane  ?  If  slavery  were  not 
in  question,  you  would  doubtless  say  ours  is 
mistaken  lenity.  Perhaps  it  often  is;  and 
slaves  too  lightly  dealt  with  sometimes  grow 
daring.  Occasionally,  though  rarely,  and  al- 
most always  in  consequence  of  exc(!ssive  in- 
dulgence, an  individual  rebels.  This  is  the 
highest  crime  he  can  commit.  It  is  treason. 
It  strikes  at  the  root  of  our  ■whole  system. 


NEGRO    SLAVERY    AT   THE    SOUTH. 


His  life  13  justly  forfeited,  though  it  is  never  [ 
intentioimlly  taken,  unless  after  trial  in  our  I 
public  Ciiuits.  SiniiL-tinies,  however,  in  cap-  j 
turiug,  or  in  .-^clf  tiefense,  he  is  unfortunately  , 
killed.  A  legal  investigation  always  follows. 
But  terminate  as  it  may,  the  abolitionists 
raise  a  hue  and  cry,  and  another  "  shocking 
case"  is  held  up  to  the  indignation  of  the 
■world  by  tender-hearted  male  and  femah? 
philanLhropi-ts,  who  would  have  thought  all 
right  had  the  master's  throat  been  cut,  and 
would  have  triumphed  in  it. 

I  cannot  go  into  a  detailed  comparison  be- 
tween the  penalties  inflicted  on  a  slave  in  our 
patriarchal  courts  and  those  of  the  courts  of 
sessions  to  which  freemen  are  sentenced  in  all 
civilized  countries;  but  I  know  well  that  if 
there  is  any  fault  in  our  criminal  code,  it  is 
that  of  excessive  mildness. 

Physical  and  Moral  Coxdition  of  South- 
ern Slaves  compared  with  English  Laisor- 
Eus ;  Schemes  of  Abolition  ;  Moral  Suasion, 
Force;  Competition  of  Free  Labor ;  West 
India  Emancipation.  (Continued  ) — I'erhaps 
a  few  general  facts  will  best  illustrate  the  treat- 
ment this  race  receives  at  our  hands.     It  is  I 
acknowledged  that   it  increases   at  least  as  j 
rapidly  as  the  white.     I  believe  it  is  an  es- ^ 
tablished  principle  that  population  thrives  in 
proportion  to  its  comforts.     But  when  it  is 
considered  that  these  people  are  not  recruited 
by  emigration  from  abroad  as  the  whites  are, 
and  that  they  are  usually  settled  on  our  ricli- 
est  and  least  liealthy  lands,  the  fact  of  their 
equal  comparative  increase  antl  greater  lon- 
gevity outweighs  a  thousand  abolition  false- 
hoods, in  favor  of  the  leniency  and  providence 
of  our  management  of  them.     It  is  also  ad- 
mitted  that  there   are   incomparably  fewer  j 
cases  of  insanity  and  suicide  among  them  than 
among  the  whites.     The  fact  is,  that  among 
the  slaves  of  the  African  race,  these  things 
are'  almost  wholly  unknown.     However  fre- 
quent euici(]e  may  have  been  among  those 
brought  from  Africa,  I  can  say  that,  in  my 
time,  I  cannot  remember  to  have  known  or 
beard  of  a  single  instance  of  deliberate  self- ; 
destruction,  and  but  of  one  of  suicide  at  all. 
As  tt)   insanity,  I  have  seen  but  one  perma- 1 
nent  case  of  it,  and  that  twenty  years  ago.  It  j 
cannot  be  doubted  that  among  three  millions  I 
of  people  there  must    be  some   insane  and  | 
some  suicides;  but  I  will  venture  to  say, that 
more  cases  of  both   occur   annually  among  j 
every  hundred  thousand  of  the  population  of  j 
Great  Britain  than  among  all  our  t-Iaves.  Can 
it  be   possible,  then,  that  they  e.\ist  in  that  I 
state  of  abject  misery,  goadetl  by  constant  in- 
juries, outraged  in  their  affections,  and  worn 
down  with  hardships,  which  the  abolitionists 
depict,  ainJ  so  many  ignorant  and  thoughtless  j 
persons  religiously  believe  ? 

With  regard  to  the  separation  of  husbands 
aad  wives,  j)areuts  and  children,  uoihiug  can ', 


be  more  untrue  than  the  inferences  dra^m 
from  what  is  so  constantly  harped  on  by  abo- 
litionists. Some  j)aint'iil  instances  ])eriiap8 
may  occur.  Very  few  that  can  be  prevented. 
It  is,  and  it  always  hiis  been,  an  object  of 
prime  consideration  with  our  slaveholders  to 
keep  families  together.  Negroes  are  them- 
selves both  perverse  and  comparatively  indif- 
ferent alxiut  this  matter.  It  is  a  singular 
trait,  that  tliey  almost  invariably  prefer  form- 
ing connections  with  slaves  belonging  toother 
masters,  and  at  some  distance.  It  is,  there- 
fore, impossible  to  prevent  separations  some- 
times, by  the  removal  of  one  owner,  his  death 
or  failure,  and  dispersion  of  his  pri)perty.  In 
all  such  cases,  however,  every  reasonable  ef- 
fort is  made  to  keep  the  parties  ti'gether,  if 
they  desire  it.  And  the  negroes  forming 
these  connections,  knowing  the  cliancf  of  their 
premature  dissolution,  rarely  complain  more 
than  we  all  do  of  the  inevitable  strokes  of 
fate.  Sometimes  it  happens  that  a  negro 
prefers  to  give  up  his  family,  rather  than 
separate  from  his  master.  1  liave  known 
such  instances.  As  to  wilfully  selling  off  a 
husband,  or  wife,  or  child,  I  believe  it  is  rare- 
ly, very  rarely  done,  except  when  some  of- 
fense has  been  conmiitted  demanding  "trans- 
portation." At  sales  of  estates,  and  even  at 
sheriff's  sales,  they  are  always,  if  possible, 
sold  in  families.  On  the  whole,  notwithstand- 
ing the  migratory  character  of  our  popula- 
tion, I  believe  there  are  more  families  among 
our  slaves  who  have  lived  and  died  together 
without  losing  a  single  member  from  their 
circle,  except  by  the  ])rocess  of  nature,  and  in 
the  enjoyment  of  constant,  unintei  rupted  com- 
munion, than  have  flourished  in  the  same 
space  of  time  and  among  the  same  number  of 
civilized  people  in  modern  times.  And,  to 
sum  up  all,  if  pleasure  is  correctly  to  be  de- 
fined to  be  the  absence  of  pain,  (which,  so  far 
as  the  great  body  of  mankind  is  concerned,  is 
undoubtedly  its  true  definition,)  1  beheve  our 
slaves  are  the  happiest  three  millions  of  hu- 
man beings  on  whom  the  sun  shines.  Into 
their  Eden  is  coming  Satan  in  the  guise  of  an 
abolitionist. 

As  regards  Iheir  religious  condition,  it  is 
well  known  that  a  majority  of  the  communi- 
cants of  the  Methodist  and  Bapti^t  churches 
of  the  south  are  colored.  Almost  ever\  where 
they  have  precisely  the  same  opportunities 
of  attending  worship  that  tiie  whiles  have, 
and  besides,  special  occasions  for  themselves 
exclusively,  which  they  prefer.  In  many 
places  not  so  accessible  to  clergymen  in  ordi- 
nary, mis.-ioriarios  are  seit  and  mainly  sup- 
])orted  by  their  masters,  for  the  ])arlicular 
benefit  of  the  slaves.  There  are  none,  I  ima- 
gine, who  may  not,  if  tiiey  like,  hear  the  Gos- 
pel preached  at  least  once  a  month,  most  of 
them  twice  a  month,  and  very  many  every 
week.  In  our  thinly  settled  country  the 
wliites  fare  no  better.     But,  in  addition  to 


NEGRO    SLAVERY    AT    THE   SOUTH. 


251 


this,  on  plantations  of  any  size,  the  slaves  who 
have  joined  the  church  are  formed  into  a 
class,  at  the  head  of  wliich  is  placed  one'  of 
their  number,  acting  as  deacon  or  leader,  who 
is  also  sometimes  a  licensed  preacher.  This 
class  assembles  for  religious  exercises  week- 
ly, semi-weekly,  or  oftener,  if  the  members 
choose.  In  some  parts,  also,  Sunday-schools 
for  blacks  are  establ  shed,  and  Bible  classes 
are  orally  instructed  by  discreet  and  pious 
persons.  Now  where  will  you  find  a  laboring 
population  possessed  of  greater  religious  ad- 
vantages than  these  ?  Not  in  London,  I  am 
sure,  where  it  is  known  that  your  churches, 
chapels,  and  religious  meetinghouses  of  all 
sorts,  cannot  contain  one  half  of  the  inhabit- 
ants. 

I  have  admitted,  without  hesitation,  what 
it  would  be  untrue  and  profitless  to  deny,  that 
slaveholders  are  responsible  to  the  world  for 
the  humane  treatment  of  the  fellow-beings 
whom  God  has  placed  in  their  hands.  I  think 
it  would  be  only  fair  for  you  to  admit  what 
is  equally  undeniable,  that  every  man  in  inde- 
pendent circumstances,  all  the  world  over, 
and  every  government,  is,  to  the  same  extent, 
responsible  to  the  whole  human  family  for  the 
condition  of  the  poor  and  laboring  classes  in 
their  own  country  and  around  them,  wherever 
they  may  be  placed,  to  whom  God  has  denied 
the  advantages  he  has  given  themselves.  If 
so,  it  would  naturally  seem  the  duty  of  true 
humanity  and  rational  philanthropy  to  devote 
their  time  and  labor,  their  thoughts,  writings 
and  charity,  first,  to  the  objects  placed,  as  it 
were,  under  their  own  immediate  charge. 
And  it  must  be  regarded  as  a  dear  evasion 
and  sinful  neglect  of  this  cardinal  duty,  to 
pass  from  those  whose  destitute  situation  they 
can  plainly  see,  minutely  examine,  ami  effi- 
ciently relieve,  to  inquire  after  the  condition 
of  others  in  no  way  intrusted  to  their  care,  to 
exaggerate  evils  of  which  they  cannot  be  cog- 
nizant, to  expend  all  their  sympathies  and 
exhaust  all  tlieir  energies  on  these  remote  ob- 
jects of  their  unnatural,  not  to  say  dangerous 
benevolence;  and,  finally,  to  calumniate,  de- 
nounce, and  endeavor  to  excite  the  indignation 
of  the  World  against  their  uuoflending  fellow- 
creatures  for  not  hastening,  under  their  dicta- 
tion, to  redress  wrongs  wliich  are  stoutly  antl 
truthfully  denied,  while  they  themselves  go 
but  little  further  in  alleviating  those  chargea 
ble  on  them  than  openly  and  unblushingly  to 
ackncjwledge  them.  Tliere  may  be,  indeed, 
a  sort  of  merit  in  doing  so  much  as  to  make 
such  an  acknowledgment,  but  it  must  be  very 
modest  if  it  expects  appreciation. 

Now  I  affirm  that,  in  Great  Britain,  the 
poor  ami  laboring  classes  of  your  own  race 
and  color,  not  only  your  fellow-beings,  but 
your  fe  low-ciiizcHs,  are  more  miserable  and  , 
degraded,  morally  and  physically,  than  our 
slaves;  to  be  elevated  to  the  actual  condition 
of  whom,  would  be  to  these,  your  felloio-citi-  | 


Zens,  a  naost  glorious  act  of  cmanripalion. 
And  I  also  affirm,  that  the  poor  and  laboring 
classes  of  our  old(.  r  free  states  would  not  be  in 
a  much  more  enviable  condition  but  for  our 
slavery.  One  of  their  own  senators  has  de- 
clared in  the  United  States  Senate,  "  that  the 
repeal  of  the  tariff  would  reduce  New-Eng- 
land to  a  howling  wilderness."  And  the  Ame- 
rican tariff  is  neither  mf>re  nor  less  than  a 
system  by  which  the  slave  states  are  plun- 
dered for  the  benefit  of  those  states  which  do 
not  tolerate  slavery. 

To  prove  what  I  say  of  Great  Britain  to  be 
true,  I  make  the  following  extracts  from  the 
reports  of  commissioners  appointed  by  Parlia- 
ment, and  published  by  order  of  the  llouse  of 
Commons.  I  can  make  but  few,  and  short 
ones.  But  similar  quotations  might  be  made  to 
any  extent,  and  I  defy  you  to  deny  that  these 
specimens  exhibit  the  real  condition  of  your 
operatives  in  every  branch  of  your  industiy. 
There  is,  of  course,  a  variety  in  their  sufferings. 
But  the  same  incredible  amount  of  toil,  fright- 
ful destitution,  and  utter  want  of  morals,  char- 
acterize the  lot  of  every  class  of  them. 

CoLLiEiiiES. — "  I  wish  to  call  the  attention 
of  the  Board  to  ))its  about  Brami)ton.  The 
seams  are  so  thin,  that  several  of  them  have 
only  two  feet  headway  to  all  the  working. 
They  are  worked  altogether  by  boys  from 
eight  to  twelve  years  of  age,  on  all  fours,  with 
a  dog  belt  and  chain.  The  passages  being 
neither  ironed  nor  wooded,  and  often  an  inch 
or  two  thick  with  mud.  In  Mr.  Barnes's  pit, 
these  poor  boys  have  to  drag  the  barrows  with 
one  hundred  weight  of  coal  or  slack,  sixty 
times  a  day,  sixty  yards,  and  the  empty  bar- 
rows back,  without  once  straightening  their 
backs,  unless  they  choose  to  stand  under  the 
shaft,  and  run  the  risk  of  having  their  heads 
broken  by  a  falling  coaL" — Report  on  Mines, 
1842,/).  71. 

"  In  Shropshire  the  seams  are  no  more  than 
eighteen  or  twenty  inches." — Ibid.  p.  (57.  ''At 
the  Booth  pit,"  says  Mr.  Scriven,  "  I  walked, 
rode,  and  crept,  eighteen  hundred  yards  to  one 
of  the  nearest  faces." — Ibid.  "'  Chokedamp,' 
'firedamp,' 'wildfire,'  sulphur,'  and  '  water,'  at 
all  times  menace  instant  death  to  the  laborers 
in  these  mines."  '■'  Robert  North,  aged  sixteen: 
Went  into  the  pit  at  seven  years  of  age,  to 
fill  up  skips.  1  drew  about  twelve  months. 
When  I  drew  by  the  girdle  and  chain,  iny  skin 
was  broken,  and  the  blood  ran  down.  I  durst 
not  say  any  thing.  If  we  said  any  thing,  the 
butty,  and  the  reeve,  who  works  under  him, 
would  take  a  stick  and  beat  us." — Ibid.  "  The 
usual  punishment  for  theft,  is  to  place  the  cul- 
prit's head  between  the  legs  of  one  of  the  big- 
gest boys,  and  each  boy  in  the  pit  (.sometimes 
thei'O  are  twenty)  inflicts  twelve  lashes  on  the 
back  and  rump  with  a  cat." — Ibid.  "  Instances 
occur  in  which  chddren  are  taken  into  these 
mines  to  work  as  early  as  four  years  of  age, 
sometimes  at  five,  not  unfrequeutly  at  six  or 


252 


NEGRO    SLA^^iRT    AT   THE    SOUTH. 


seven  ;  while  from  eight  to  nine  is  the  ordinary  ] 
ag«  iit  wJiich  these  etnpioynipnts  commence."  ] 
— Ibid  "The  was^e^  paid  at  these  mines  is  i 
from  *2  50  to  §7.50  p<'r  monih,  for  laborers, 
according  to  age  ami  al)ility ;  and  out  of  this ' 
they  must  support  tiiemst- Ives.  They  work  ] 
twelve  horns  a  day." — Ibid.  \ 

I.v  CALICO  Printing. — "  It  is  by  no  means 
uncommon,  in  all  the  distiiets,  for  children 
five  or  six  years  old  to  be  kept  at  work  four- 
teen to  sixteen  hours  consecutively." — AV- 
port  on  Children,  184'2,  p.  59.  j 

I  cjuld  furnish  extracts  similar  to  these 
in  regard  to  every  branch  of  your  manufac- 1 
tures,  buti  will  not  multiply  them.     Every-' 
body  knows  that  your  ojieratives  habitual- 1 
ly  lat)or  fi-om  twelve  to  sixteen  hours,  men, 
women  and  children,  and  the  men  occasion- 
ally twenty  hours  per  day.     In  lace  making,  i 
saj's  the  last  quoted  report,  children   some-' 
times  commence  work  at  two  years  of  age.    j 

Dkstitution. — It  is  stated  by  your  com- : 
missioiiers,  that  forty  thousand  persons  in  1 
Liverpool,  and  fifteen  thousand  in  Manches- 
ter, live  in  cellars  ;  while  twenty-two  thou- 
sand in  England  pass  the  night  in  barns, 
tents,  or  the  open  air.  "There  have  been 
found  sucli  occurrences  as  seven,  eight  and 
ten  persons  in  one  cottage,  I  cannot  say  for 
one  day,  but  for  whole  days,  without  a  mor- 
sel of  food.  They  have  remained  on  their 
beds  of  straw  for  two  successive  days,  under 
the  imiu-ession  that  in  a  recumbent  posture 
the  pangs  of  hunger  were  less  felt." — Lord 
Broiu/finm's  Speech,  11  th  Jnlji,  1842.  A  vol- 
ume of  frightful  scenes  might  be  quoted  to 
corroborate  the  inferences  to  be  necessarily 
drawn  from  the  facts  here  stated.  I  will 
not  add  more,  but  pass  ou  to  the  important 
inquiiy  as  to 

Morals  and  Education. — "  Elizabeth  Bar- 
rett, aged  fourteen:  I  always  work  without 
stockings,  shoes  or  trowsers.  I  wear  noth- 
ing l)ut  a  shift.  I  have  to  go  up  to  the 
headings  with  the  men.  They  are  all  tiaked 
there.  I  am  got  used  to  that." — Report  on 
Mines.  "  As  to  illicit  sexual  intercourse,  it 
eeems  to  prevail  universally,  and  from  an 
early  period  of  life."  "The  evidence  might 
have  been  doubled,  which  attests  the  eai-ly 
CommiMioement  of  sexual  and  promiscuous 
intercourse  among  boys  and  girls."  "A 
lower  condition  of  morals,  in  the  fullest 
sense  of  the  term,  could  not,  I  think,  be 
found.  I  do  not  mean  by  this,  that  there 
.are  many  more  prominent  vices  among 
them,  but  that  moral  feelings  and  sentiments 
do  not  exist.  The;/ have  ito  moral n."  "Their 
apiiearance,  manners  and  moral  natures,  (so 
far  as  the  word  moral  can  be  applied  to 
them.)  are  in  accordance  with  their  half- 
civilized  condition.'' — Report  on  Cliildren. 
"  ilore  than  half  a  dozen  instances  occurred 
in  Manchester,  where  a  man,  his  wife,  and 
his  wife's  growu-up  sister,  habitually  occu- 


pied the  same  bed." — Report  on  Sanitary 
Condition.  Robert  Cruchilow,  aged  sixteen: 
"1  don't  know  any  thing  of  Moses — never 
heard  of  France.  I  don't  know  what  Amer- 
ica is.  Never  heard  of  Scotland  or  Ireland. 
Can't  tell  how  many  weeks  there  are  in  a 
year.  There  are  twelve  pence  in  a  shilling, 
and  twenty  shillings  in  a  pound.  There  are 
eight  pints  in  a  gallon  of  ale." — Report  on 
Mines.  Ann  Egglti,  aged  eighteen  :  "I  walk 
about  and  get  fresh  air  on  Sundays.  I 
never  go  to  church  or  chapel.  I  never 
heard  of  Christ  at  all." — Ibid.  Others  : 
"  The  Lord  sent  Adam  and  Eve  on  earth  to 
save  sinners."  "I  don't  know  who  made 
the  Avorld — I  never  heard  about  God."  "  I 
don't  know  Jesus  Christ — I  never  saw  him — 
but  I  have  seen  Foster  who  prays  about 
him."  Employer:  "You  have  expressed 
surprise  at  Thomas  Mitchel's  not  hearing  of 
God.  I  judge  there  are  few  colliers  here- 
about that  have." — Ibid. 

I  will  quote  no  more.  It  is  shocking  be- 
yond endurance  to  turn  over  your  records, 
in  which  the  condition  of  j-our  laboring 
classes  is  but  too  faithfully  depicted.  Could 
our  slaves  but  see  it,  they  would  join  us  in 
lynching  abolitionists,  which,  by  the  by, 
they  would  not  now  be  loth  to  do.  We 
never  thwik  of  imposing  on  them  such  labor, 
either  in  amount  or  kind.  We  never  put 
them  to  any  u-ork  under  ten,  more  generally 
at  twelve  years  of  age,  and  then  the  very 
lightest.  Destitution  is  absolutely  unknown 
— never  did  a  slave  starve  in  America; 
while,  in  moral  sentiments  and  feelings,  in 
religious  information,  and  even  in  general 
intelligence,  they  are  infinitely  the  sujteriors 
'  of  your  operatives.  When  you  look  around 
you,  how  dare  you  talk  to  us,  before  the 
world,  of  slaveiT  ?  For  the  condition  of 
your  wretched  laborers,  you,  and  every 
I  Briton  who  is  not  one  of  them,  are  respon- 
;  sible  before  God  and  man.  If  you  are  real- 
ly htmiane,  philanthropic  and  charitable, 
here  are  objects  for  you.  Relieve  them. 
Emancipate  them.  Raise  them  from  the 
condition  of  brutes  to  the  level  of  human 
beings — of  American  slaves,  at  least.  Do 
not,  for  an  instant,  suppose  that  the  nnmcoi 
being  freemen  is  the  slightest  comfort  to 
them,  situated  as  they  are,  or  that  the  boin- 
bastic  boast  that  "  whoever  touches  British 
I  soil  stands  redeemed,  regenerated  and  dis- 
I  enthralled,"  can  meet  with  any  thing  but  the 
'  ridicule  and  contempt  of  mankind,  while 
'  that  soil  swarms,  both  on  and  under  its  sur- 
face, with  the  most  abject  and  degraded 
wretches  that  ever  bowed  beneath  the  op- 
pressor's yoke. 

j  1  have  said  that  slavery  is  an  established 
'  and  inevitable  condition  to  liuman  society. 
I  do  not  speak  of  the  name,  but  Xhe  fact. 
The  Marquis  of  Normaiiby  has  lately  de- 
i  clared  youi-  operatives  to  be  "in  effect  slaves'* 


NEGRO    SLAVERY    AT    THE    SOUTH. 


253 


Cat!  it  be  denied  ?  Probably  ;  for  such  phi- 
lantliroiiists  as  your  abolitionists  care 
nothing  for  facts.  They  deal  in  terms  and 
fictions.  It  is  the  viord  "  slavery  "  which 
shocks  their  tender  sensibilities;  and  their 
imaginations  associate  it  with  "hydras  and 
chinierus  dire."  The  thing  itself,  in  its  most 
hideous  reality,  pusses  daily  under  their 
view  uidieeded;  a  familiar  face,  touching  no 
chord  of  shame,  sympathy  or  indignation. 
Yet,  so  brutalizing  is  your  iron  bondage, 
that  the  Eiiglisli  operative  is  a  by-word 
through  the  world.  When  favoring  fortune 
enables  him  to  escape  his  prison-house,  both 
in  Europe  and  America  he  is  shunned.  With 
all  the  skill  which  fourteen  hours  of  daily 
b\bor  from  the  tenderest  age  has  ground  inlo 
him,  his  discontent,  which  habit  has  made 
second  nature,  and  his  depraved  pro- 
pensities, running  riot  when  freed  from  his 
wonted  fetters,  prevent  his  employment 
whenever  it  is  not  a  matter  of  necessity.  If 
we  derived  no  other  benefit  from  African 
slavery  in  the  southern  states,  than  that  it 
deterred  your  freedmen  from  coming  hither, 
I  should  regard  it  as  an  inestimable  bless- 
ing. 

And  how  unaccountable  is  that  philan- 
thropy, which  closes  its  eyes  upon  such  a 
state  of  things  as  you  have  at  home,  and 
turns  its  blurred  vision  to  our  affairs  beyond 
the  Atlantic,  meddling  with  matters  which 
no  way  concern  them — presiding,  as  you 
have  lately  done,  at  meetings  to  denounce 
the  "  iniquity  of  our  laws,"  and  "  the  atro- 
city of  our  practices,"  and  to  sympathize 
with  infamous  wretches  imprisoned  here 
for  violating  decrees  promulgated  both  by 
God  and  man.  Is  this  doing  the  work  of 
"your  Father  which  is  in  heaven,"  or  is  it 
seeking  only  "  that  you  may  have  glory  of 
man  ?'  Do  you  remember  the  denunciation 
of  our  Saviour  :  "  Wo  unto  you.  Scribes  and 
Pharisees  ;  hypocrites  I  for  ye  make  clean 
the  outside  of  the  cup  and  platter,  but  with- 
in they  are  full  of  extortion  and  excess." 

But  after  all,  supposing  that  every  thing 
you  sa}'  of  slavery  be  true,  and  its  abolition 
a  matter  of  the  last  necessity,  how  do  you 
expect  to  effect  emancipation,  and  what  do 
you  calculate  will  be  the  result  of  its  accom- 
plishment? As  to  the  means  to  be  used, 
the  abolitionists,  I  believe,  affect  to  differ — 
a  largo  proportion  of  them  pretending  that 
their  sole  purpose  is  to  a))ply  "  moral  sua- 
sion "  to  the  slaveholders  themselves.  As  a 
matter  of  curiosity,  I  should  like  to  know 
what  their  idea  of  this  "moral  suasion"  is. 
Their  discourses  (yours  is  no  exceiition)  are 
all  tirades — the  exordium,  argument  and 
peroration,  turning  on  the  ejjithets,  "  ty- 
rants,' "  thieves,"  "  murderers,"  addressed  to 
VLB.  They  revile  ua  as  "  atrocious  monsters," 
"  violators  of  the  laws  of  nature,  God  and 
man ;"  our   homes  the  abode  of  every  in- 


iquity, our  land  a  "brothel."  We  retort 
that  they  are  "  incendiaries"  and  "assassins." 
Deligiitful  argument!  sweet,  potent  "moral 
sua^sion  I '  What  slave  has  it  freed — what 
proselyte  can  it  ever  make?  But,  if  your 
course  was  wholly  different — if  you  distilled 
nectar  from  your  lips,  and  discouised  sweet- 
est music,  could  you  reasonably  indulge  the 
hope  of  accomplishing  your  object  by  such 
means?  Ka}',  supposing  that  we  were  all 
convinced,  and  thought  of  slavery  jirecisely 
as  you  do,  at  what  era  of  "  moral  suasion" 
do  you  imagine  you  could  prevail  on  us  to 
give  up  a  thousand  millions  of  dollars  in  the 
value  of  our  slaves,  and  a  thousand  millions 
of  dollars  more  in  the  depreciation  of  our 
lands,  in  consequence  of  the  want  of  labor- 
ers to  cultivate  them?  Consider:  were 
ever  any  people,  civilized  or  savage,  per- 
suaded by  any  argument,  human  or  divine,  to 
surrender,  voluntarily,  two  thousand  mil- 
lions of  dollars  (  Would  you  think  of  ask- 
ing five  millions  of  Englishmen  to  contri- 
bute, either  at  once  or  gradually,  four  hun- 
dred and  fifty  millions  of  pounds  sterling  to 
the  cause  of  philanthropy,  even  if  the  pur- 
pose to  be  accomplished  were  not  a  doubt- 
ful goodness?  If  you  are  prepared  to  un- 
dertake such  a  scheme,  try  it  at  home.  Col- 
lect your  fund — purchase  our  slaves,  and  do 
with  them  as  you  like.  Be  all  the  glory 
yours,  fairly  and  honestly  won.  But  you 
see  the  absurdity  of  such  an  idea.  Away, 
then,  with  your  pretended  "  moral  suasion." 
You  know  it  is  mere  nonsense.  The  abo- 
litionists have  no  faith  in  it  themselves. 
Those  who  expect  to  accomplish  any  thing, 
count  on  means  altogether  different.  They 
aim,  first,  to  alarm  us;  that  failing,  to  com- 
pel us  by  force  to  emancipate  our  slaves,  at 
our  own  risk  and  cost.  To  these  purposes 
they  obviously  direct  all  their  energies. 
Our  northern  liberty  men  have  endeavored 
to  disseminate  their  destructive  doctrines 
among  our  slaves,  and  excite  them  to  insur- 
rection. But  we  have  put  an  end  to  that, 
and  stricken  terror  into  them.  They  dare 
not  show  their  faces  here.  Then  they  de- 
clared they  woidd  dissolve  the  Union.  Let 
them  do  it.  The  Xorth  would  repent  it  far 
more  than  the  South.  We  are  not  alarmed 
at  the  idea.  We  are  well  content  to  give 
up  the  Union  sooner  than  sacrifice  two 
thousand  millions  of  dollars,  and  with  them 
all  the  rights  we  prize.  You  may  take  it 
for  granted,  that  it  is  impossible  to  persuade 
or  alarm  us  into  emancipation,  or  to  making 
the  first  step  toward  it.  jN'othlng,  then,  is 
left  to  try,  but  sheer  force.  If  the  abolition- 
ists are  prepared  to  expend  their  own  treas- 
ure and  shed  their  own  blood  as  freely  as 
they  ask  us  to  do  oui's,  let  them  come.  We 
do  not  court  the  conflict;  but  we  will  not, 
and  we  cannot  shrink  f;om  it.  If  they  are 
not  ready  to  go  so  far ;  if,  as  I  expect,  their 


254 


XEGRO  SLAVERY  AT  THE  SOUTH. 


philanthroiiy  recoils  from  it ;  if  they  are 
looiviiig  only  for  cheap  glory,  let  them  turn 
their  UiDUirhts  elsewhere,  and  leave  us  in 
peace.  Be  the  siu,  the  dangers  and  evils  of 
slavery  all  our  own.  We  compel,  we  ask, 
none  to  share  them  with  ns. 

I  am  well  aware  tJiat  a  notable  scheme 
has  been  set  on  foot  to  achieve  abolition,  by 
making  what  is  by  courtesy  called  "  free  " 
labor  so  much  cheaper  than  slave  l.ibor,  as 
to  force  the  abandonment  of  the  latter. 
Though  we  are  beginning  to  manufacture 
with  slaves,  I  do  not  think  you  will  attempt  to 
piuch  your  operatives  closer  in  (ireat  Brit- 
ain. You  cannot  curtail  the  rags  with  which 
they  vaiidy  attempt  to  cover  their  naked- 
ness, nor  reduce  the  porridge  which  barely, 
and  not  always,  kee))s  those  who  have  em- 
ployment from  perisiiing  of  famine.  When 
you  can  do  this,  we  will  consider  whet  he  !• 
our  slaves  may  not  dispense  with  a  ])ound 
or  two  of  bacon  per  week,  or  a  few  garments 
annually.  Your  aim,  however,  is  to  cheap- 
en labor  in  the  tropics.  The  idea  of  doing 
this  \iy  e.vporting  your  "  bold  j'comanry"  is, 
I  presume,  given  up.  Cromwell  tried  it 
■when  he  sold  the  captured  followers  of 
Charles  into  West  Indian  slavery,  where 
they  speedily  found  graves.  Nor  have  your 
recent  e.x'periments  on  British  and  even 
Dutch  constitutions  succeeded  better.  Have 
you  stdl  faith  in  carrying  thither  your 
Coolies  from  Ilindoostan  ?  Doubtless,  that , 
once  wild  robber  race,  whose  highest  eulo- 
gium  was,  that  they  did  not  murder  merelj' 
for  the  love  of  blood,  have  been  tamed 
down,  and  are,  perhaps,  "  keen  for  immigra- 
tion ;"  for  since  j'our  civilization  has  reached 
it,  plunder  has  grown  scarce  in  Guzerat. 
But  what  is  the  result  of  the  experiment 
thus  far?  Have  the  Coolies,  ceasing  to 
handle  arins,  learned  to  handle  sjiades,  and 
proved  hardy  and  jirotitable  laborers?  (.)n 
the  contrary,  broken  in  spirit,  and  stricken 
with  disease  at  home,  the  wretched  victims 
whom  you  have  hitherto  kidnapped  for  a 
bounty,  confined  in  dej)ots,  ]>ut  under 
hatches  and  carried  across  the  ocean,  forced 
into  "voluntary  immigration,"  have  done 
little  but  lie  down  and  die  on  the /;.s«<(/(>  soil 
of  freedom.  At  the  end  of  five  years  two 
thirds,  in  eome  colonies  a  larger  proportion, 
are  no  more!  Humane  and  pious  eontri 
vance  I  To  alleviate  the  fancied  sufferings 
of  the  accursed  posterity  of  Ham,  you  sacri- 
fice, by  a  cruel  death,  two  thirds  of  the 
children  of  the  blessed  Slu-m,  and  demand 
the  applause  of  Christians,  the  blessing  of 
Heaven!  If  this  "experiment"  is  to  go  on, 
in  God's  name  try  your  hand  upon  the 
Thugs.  That  other  species  of  "  immigra- 
tion" to  which  you  are  resorting,  I  will  con- 
sider presently. 

But  what  do  you  calculate  will  be  the  re- 
sult of  emancipation,  by  whatever   means 


[  accomplished  ?  You  will  probably  point 
me,  by  way  of  answer,  to  the  West  Indies— 
;  doubtless  to  Antigua,  the  great  boast  of 
abolition.  Ailmitiing  that  it  has  succeeded 
j  there — which  I  will  do  for  the  sake  of  the 
I  argiiment — do  you  know  the  reason  of  itf 
The  true  and  only  causes  of  whatever  suc- 
I  cess  has  attended  it  in  Antigua  are,  that  the 
jiopulation  was  before  crowded,  atid  all,  or 
nearly  all,  the  arable  land  in  cultivation. 
^  The  emanei|)ated  negroes  could  not,  many 
1  of  them,  get  away  if  they  desired  ;  and  knew 
not  where  to  go,  in  case  they  did.  They 
had  practical!}-  no  alternative  but  to  remain 
on  the  spot;  and  remaining,  they  must  work 
on  the  terms  of  the  jiroprietors,  or  perish— 
the  strong  arm  of  tiie  mother  country  for- 
bidding all  hoj>e  of  seizing  the  land  tor  them- 
selves. The  proprietors,  well  knowing  that 
they  cotdd  thus  connnand  labor  for  the 
merest  necessities  of  life,  which  was  much 
cheaper  than  maintaining  the  non-effective 
as  well  as  effective  slaves  in  a  style  which 
decency  and  interest,  if  not  humatiity,  re- 
quired, willingh^  aeceiited  half  their  value, 
and  at  once  realized  far  more  than  the  in- 
terest on  the  other  half  in  the  diminution  of 
their  expenses,  aud'the  reduced  comforts  of 
ihe  freemen.  One  of  your  most  illustrious 
judges,  who  was  also  a  profound  ainl  philo- 
sophical historian,  has  said  "that  villeinage 
was  not  abolished,  but  went  into  decay  in 
I'2ngla!id."  This  was  the  process.  This  has 
been  the  process  wherever  (the  name  of) 
villeinage  or  slavery  has  been  successfully 
abandoned.  Slavery  in  fact  "  went  into  de- 
cay" in  Antigua.  I  have  admitted  that 
under  similar  circumstances  it  might  profit- 
ably cease  here — that  is,  profitably  to  the 
individual  proprietors.  Give  me  half  the 
value  of  my  slaves,  and  compel  them  to  re- 
main and  labor  on  my  jdantation  at  ten  to 
eleven  cents  a  day,  as  the}'  do  in  Antigua, 
sup]iorting  themselves  and  families,  and  you 
sliall  have  them  to-morrow,  and  if  you  like 
dub  them  "  free."  Not  to  stickle,  1  would 
surrender  them  without  price.  No — I  re- 
call my  words:  my  humanity  revolts  at  the 
idea.  1  am  attached  to  my  slaves,  and 
would  not  have  art  or  part  in  reducing  them 
to  such  a  condition.  1  deny,  however,  that 
Antigua,  as  a  community,  is  or  ever  will  be 
as  prosperous,  under  present  circumstances, 
as  she  was  before  abolition,  though  fully 
i-ipe  for  it.  The  fact  is  well  known.  The 
reason  is  that  the  African,  if  not  a  distinct, 
is  an  inferior  race,  and  never  will  effect,  as 
it  never  has  efleftcd,  as  much  in  any  other 
ct)ndition  as  in  that  of  slavery. 

I  know  of  no  slaveholder  who  has  visited 
the  West  Indies  since  slavery  was  abolished, 
and  publi.-^hed  his  views  of  it.  All  our  facts 
and  opinions  come  through  the  friends  of 
the  experiment,  or  at  least  those  not  op- 
posed to  it.     Taking   these,  even  without 


NEGRO  SLAVERY  AT  THE  SOUTH. 


255 


allownnco,  lo  be  true  as  stated,  I  do  not  see 
■where  the  abolitionists  find  causes  for  exul- 
tation. Tlie  tables  of  exports,  which  are  the 
best  evidi'iiccs  of  the  condition  of  a  peo- 
ple, exhiliit  a  woful  fallinti;  off — excused,  it 
IS  true,  by  un|)i'ccedented  droughts  and  hur- 
ricanes, lo  which  their  free  labor  seems  un- 
accountably more  subject  than  slave  labor 
used  to  be.  I  will  not  go  into  detail.  It  is 
well  known  that  a  large  proportion  of  Brit- 
ish legislation  and  exj)enditure.  and  that 
proportion  still  constantly  increasing,  is 
most  anxiously  devoted  to  repairing  the 
monstrous  error  of  emancipation.  You  are 
actually  galvanizing  your  expiring  colonies. 
The  truth,  deduced  from  all  the  facts,  was 
thus  pithily  stated  by  the  London  (Quarterly 
Review,  as  long  ago  as  1840:  "None  of 
the  benefits  anticipated  by  mistaken  good 
intentions  have  been  realized,  while  every 
evil  wishc'l  for  by  knaves,  and  foreseen  by 
the  wi?e,  has  been  painfully  veritied.  The 
wild  rashness  of  fanaticism  has  made  the 
emancipation  of  the  slaves  equivalent  to  the 
loss  of  one  half  of  the  West  Indies,  and  yet 
put  back  the  chance  of  negro  civilization." — 
(Art.  Ld.  Dudley's  Letters.)  Such  are  the 
real  fruits  of  your  uever-to-be-too-mnch 
glorified  abolition,  and  the  valuable  dividend 
of  your  twenty  millions  of  pounds  sterling 
invested  therein. 

If  any  further  proof  was  wanted  of  the  ut- 
ter and  well-known,  thoiigh  not  yet  openly 
avowed,  failure  of  West  India  emancipa- 
tion, it  would  be  furnished  by  the  startling 
fact,  that  THE  African  slave  trade  has  been 

ACTUALLY  REVIVED  UNDER  THE  AUSPICES  AND 
PROTECTION      OF     THE      BrITISII      GOVERNMENT. 

Under  the  auspicious  guise  of  "  immigration" 
they  are  replenishing  those  islands  with 
slaves  from  the  coast  of  Africa.  Your  colony 
of  Sierra  Leone,  founded  on  that  coast  to 
prevent  the  slave-trade,  and  peo|)led,  by 
the  by,  in  the  first  instance,  by  negroes 
stolen  from  the  States  during  the  Revolu- 
tionary war,  is  the  depot  where  captives 
taken  from  slavers  by  your  armed  vessels 
are  transported.  I  might  say  ivturned, 
since  noai-iy  half  the  Africans  carried  across 
the  Atlantic  are  understood  to  be  eml)arked 
in  this  vicinity.  The  wretched  survivors, 
who  are  there  set  at  liberty,  are  immediate- 
ly seduced  to  "immigrate"  to  the  West 
Indies.  Tiie  business  is  systemalically  car- 
ried on  by  black  "delegates,"  sent  expressly 
from  the  West  Indies,  where,  on  arrival, 
the  "  immigrants  "  are  sold  into  slaveri/  for 
twenty-one  years,  under  comlitions  ridicu- 
lously trivial  and  wickedly  void,  since  few 
or  none  will  ever  be  able  to  derive  any  ad- 
vantage from  them.  The  whole  prime  of 
life  thus  passed  in  bondage,it  is  contemplat- 
ed, and  doubtless  it  will  be  carried  into 
effect,  to  turn  them  out  in  their  old  age  to 
shift  for  themselves,  and  to   supply  their 


places  with  fresh  and  vigorous  "immi- 
grants." Was  ever  a  system  of  slavery  so 
bai-barous  devised  before  ?  Can  you  think 
of  comparing  it  with  ours  ?  Even  your  own 
religious  missionaries  at  Sierra  Leone  de- 
nounce it  "as  worse  than  the  slave  state  in 
Africa."  And  your  black  delegates,  fearful 
of  the  iiifluenee  of  these  missionaries,  as  well 
as  on  account  of  the  inadequate  su]>ply  of 
captives,  are  now  preparing  to  procure  the 
able-bodied  and  comparatively  industrious 
Kroomen  of  the  interior,  l)y  purchasing  from 
their  head  men  the  privilege  of  inveigling 
them  to  the  West  India  market!  So  ends 
the  magnificent  farce — perhajis  1  .should  say 
tragedy — of  West  India  abolition !  1  will 
not  harrow  your  feelings  by  asking  you  to 
review  the  labors  of  your  life,  and  tell  me 
what  you  and  your  brother  enthusiasts  have 
accomplished  for  "injured  Africa,"  but  while 
agreeing  with  Lord  Stowell,  that  "villeinage 
decayed,"  and  admitting  that  slavery  might 
do  so  also,  I  think  I  am  fully  justified  by 
past  and  passing  events  in  saying,  as  Mr. 
Grosvenor  said  of  the  slave-trade,  that  its 
abolition  is  "impossible." 

You  are  greatly  mistaken,  however,  if 
you  think  that  the  consequences  of  emanci- 
pation here  would  be  similar  and  no  more 
injurious  than  those  which  follf>wed  from  it 
ill  your  little  sea-girt  West  ludia  islands, 
where  nearly  all  were  blacks.  The  system 
of  slavery  is  not  in  "  decay "  with  us.  It 
flourishes  in  full  and  growing  vigor.  Our 
country  is  boundless  in  extent.  Dotted  here 
and  there  with  villages  and  fields,  it  is  for 
the  most  part  covered  with  immense  forests 
and  swamps  of  almost  unknown  size.  In 
such  a  country,  with  a  people  so  restless  as 
ours,  communicating  of  course  soiue  of  that 
spirit  to  tlieir  domestics,  can  you  conceive 
that  any  thing  short  of  the  j)ower  of  the 
master  over  the  slave  could  confine  the  Afri- 
can race,  notoriously  idle  and  improvident, 
to  labor  on  our  plantations  ?  Break  this 
bond  but  for  a  day,  and  these  plantations 
will  Ije  solitudes.  The  negro  loves  change, 
novelty  and  sensual  excitements  of  all  kinds, 
tvhe^i  awake.  "  Reason  and  order,"  of  which 
Mr.  Wilberforce  said  "liberty  was  the 
child,"  do  not  characterize  him.  Released 
from  his  present  obligations,  his  first  impulse 
would  be  to  go  somewhere.  And  here  no 
natura'  boundaries  would  restrain  him.  At 
first  they  would  all  seek  the  towns,  and 
rapidly  accumulate  in  squalid  groiqis  upon 
tlieir  outskirts.  Driven  thence  by  the 
"armed  police  "  which  would  immediately 
spring  into  existence,  they  would  scatter  in 
all  directions.  Some  bodies  of  them  might 
wander  toward  the  "free"  states,  or  to  the 
western  wilderness,  marking  their  tracks 
by  their  depredations  and  their  corpses. 
Many  would  roam  wild  in  our  "  big  woods." 
Many  more  would  seek  the  recesses  of  our 


56 


NEGRO    SLAVERY    AT    THE    SOUTH. 


swamps  for  secure  covert.  Few,  very  few, 
of  tliein  coiilil  be  prcviiiled  on  to  do  a  stroke 
of  work,  none  to  labor  coiitinuously,  while 
a  ln-ad  of  cattle,  sheej)  or  swine  could  be 
found  in  our  ranges,  or  an  ear  of  corn  nod- 
ded in  our  abandoned  fields.  Tiiese  e.xhau.sl- 
ed,  oui-  folds  and  poultry  yards,  barns  and 
store  liouses,  would  become  their  prey. 
Finally,  our  scattered  dwellings  would  be 
plundered,  perhaps  fired,  and  the  inmates 
murdered,  flow  long  do  you  sup|)ose  that 
we  could  bear  these  things?  Ilow  long 
would  it  be  before  we  should  sleep  witii 
rifles  at  our  bedsides,  and  never  move  with- 
out one  in  our  hands?  This  work  once  be- 
gun let  the  story  of  our  British  ancestors 
and  the  aborigines  of  this  country  tell  the 
sequel.  Far  more  rapid,  however,  would  be 
the  catastrophe.  "  Kre  nuiny  moons  went 
by,"  the  African  race  would  be  exterminated, 
or  reduced  again  to  slavery,  their  ranks  re- 
cruited, after  your  example,  by  fresh  "  immi- 
grants "  from  their  fatherland. 

Is  timely  preparation  and  gradual  eman- 
cipation suggested  to  avert  these  horrible 
consequences?  I  thought  your  experience 
in  the  West  Indies  had  at  least  done  so  much 
as  to  explode  that  idea. .  If  it  failed  there, 
much  more  would  it  fail  here,  where  the 
two  races,  approximating  to  equality  in 
numbers,  are  daily  and  houily  iu  the  closest 
contact.  Give  room  but  for  a  single  spark 
of  real  jealousy  to  be  kindled  between  them, 
and  the  explosion  would  be  instantaneous 
and  universal.  It  is  the  most  fatal  of  all 
fallacies  to  suppose  that  these  two  races 
can  exist  together,  after  any  length  of  time 
or  any  process  of  preparation,  on  terms  at 
all  ajiproaching  to  equality.  Of  this,  both  of 
them  are  finally  and  fixedly  convinced.  They 
differ  essentially  in  all  the  leading  traits 
which  characterize  the  varieties  of  the 
human  species,  and  color  draws  an  indelible 
and  insvqiernble  line  of  sejiaration  between 
them.  Evci'v  scheme  founded  upon  the  idea 
that  they  can  remain  together  on  the  same 
soil,  beyond  the  briefest  prriod,  in  any 
other  relation  than  precisely  that  which 
now  subsists  between  them,  is  not  only  pre- 
posterous, but  fraught  with  deepest  dan- 
ger. If  there  was  no  alternative  but  to  try 
the  "experiment"  here,  reason  and  human- 
ity diolale  that  the  sufferings  of  "gradual- 
ism "  should  be  saved,  and  the  catastrophe 
of  "  imnie<liate  abolition"  enacted  as  rapidly 
as  possible.  Are  you  imjjatieut  for  the  per 
formance  to  commence?  Do  you  long  to 
gloat  over  the  scenes  I  liave  suggested,  but 
could  not  hold  the  pen  to  portray  ?  In  your 
long  life  many  such  have  i)assed  under  your 
review.  You  know  that  tliey  are  not  "  /»*- 
possible!''  Can  they  be  to  your  taste?  Do 
you  believe  that  in  laboring  to  bring  them 
about,  the  abolitionists  ai-e  doing  the  will  of 
God?     iS'o!     God  is  not  there.     It  is  the 


work  of  Satan.  Tlie  arch-fiend,  under  spe- 
cious guises,  has  found  his  way  into  their 
souls,  and  with  false  appeals  to  philan- 
ihrojjy,  and  foul  insinuations  to  ambition, 
in>ligates  them  to  mish  headlong  to  tlie  ac- 
compli.-hnienl  of  his  diabolical  designs. 

We  live  in  a  wonderful  age.  The  events 
of  the  last  thiee  (juarters  of  a  century  ap- 
[lear  to  have  revolutionized  the  human 
mind.  Eiilei'prise  f.nd  ambition  are  only 
limited  in  their  purposes  by  the  horizon  of 
the  imagination.  It  is  the  transcendental 
er.a.  In  philosophy,  religion,  government, 
science,  ai-ts,  commerce,  nothing  that  has 
been  is  to  be  allowed  to  be.  Conservatism 
in  any  form  is  scoffed  at.  The  slightest  taint 
of  it  is  fatal.  Where  will  all  this  end  ?  If 
you  can  tolerate  one  ancient  maxim,  let  it 
be  that  the  best  criterion  of  the  future 
is  the  past.  That,  if  anj'  thing,  will  give 
a  clue.  And  looking  back  only  through 
your  time,  what  was  the  earliest  feat  of  this 
same  transcendentalism  ?  The  rays  of  the 
new  moral  Drummoud  Light  were  first  con- 
centrated to  a  focus  at  Paris,  to  illuminate  the 
universe.  In  a  twinkling  it  consumed  the 
political,  religious,  and  social  systems  of 
France.  It  could  not  be  extinguished  there 
until  literally  drowned  in  blood.  And  then 
from  its  ashes  rose  that  supernatural  man, 
who  for  twenty  years  kept  affrighted  Europe 
in  convulsions.  Since  that  time  its  scattered 
beams,  refracted  by  broader  surfaces,  have 
nevertheless  continued  to  scathe  wherever 
they  have  fallen.  "What  political  structure, 
what  religious  creed,  but  has  felt  the  galvanic 
shock,  and  even  now  trembles  to  its  f<tunda- 
tions?  Maukind,  still  horror-stricken  by  the 
catastrophe  of  France,  have  shrunk  fiom  rash 
experiments  upon  social  systems.  But  they 
have  been  practising  in  the  East,  around  the 
Mediterranean,  and  through  the  West  India 
islands.  And  growing  confident,  a  portion  of 
them  seem  desperately  bent  on  kindling  the 
all-devouring  flame  iu  the  bosom  of  inir  land 
Let  it  once  again  blaze  up  to  heaven,  and  an- 
other cycle  of  blood  and  tlevastation  will  dawn 
upon  the  world.  For  our  own  sake,  and  for 
the  sake  of  those  infatuated  men  who  are 
madly  driving  on  the  conflagration,  lor  the 
sake  of  human  nature,  we  are  called  on  to 
strain  every  nerve  to  arrest  it.  And  be  assured 
our  efforts  Avill  be  bounded  only  with  our 
being.  Nor  do  I  doubt  that  five  millions  of 
people,  brave,  intelligent,  united,  and  prepared 
to  hazard  every  thing,  will,  in  such  a  cause, 
with  the  blessing  of  God,  sustain  themselves. 
At  all  events,  come  what  may,  it  is  ours  to 
meet  it 

We  are  well  aware  of  the  light  estimation 
in  which  the  abolitionists,  and  those  who  ai'e 
taught  by  them,  ]irofess  to  hold  us.  "We  have 
seen  the  attenq)t  of  ji  portion  of  the  Free 
Church  of  Scotland  to  reject  our  alms,  on  the 
gri)uud  that  we   arc   "  slave   drfvers,"   after 


NEGRO  SLAVERY  AT  THE  SOUTH. 


257 


sending  missionaries  to  solicit  them.  And  we 
have  seen  Mr.  O'Connell,  the  "  irresponsible 
master"  of  millions  of  raggetl  scrf^,  from 
whom,  poverty-stricken  as  they  are,  lie  con- 
trives to  wring  a  splenihd  privy  purse,  throw 
back  witii  contumely  the  "  tribute  "  of  his  own 
countryn:ien  from  this  land  of  "  miscreants." 
These  people  may  exhaust  tlieir  slang  and 
make  blackguards  of  themselves,  b\it  they 
cannot  defile  us.  And  as  for  the  suggestion 
to  exclude  slaveholders  from  your  London 
clubs,  we  scout  it.  Many  of  us,  indeed,  do  go 
to  London,  and  we  have  seen  j-our  breed  of 
gawky  Lords,  both  there  and  hero,  but  it  never 
entered  into  our  conceptions  to  look  on  them 
as  better  than  ourselves.  Nor  can  we  be  an- 
noyed by  the  ritliculous  airs  of  such  upstarts 
as  your  O'Connells,  Ritchies,  Macaulays,  and 
the  like.  The  American  slaveholders,  collec- 
tively or  individually,  ask  no  favor  of  any  man 
or  race  who  tread  the  earth.  In  none  of  the 
attributes  of  men,  mental  or  physical,  do  they 
acknowledge  or  fear  superiority  elsewhere 
They  stand  in  the  broadest  light  of  the  know- 
ledge, civilization  and  improvement  of  the 
age,  as  much  favored  of  Heaven  as  any  of  the 
sons  of  Adam.  Exacting  nothing  undue,  they 
yield  nothing  but  justice  and  courtesy,  even  to 
royal  blood.  They  caimot  be  flattered, 
duped,  nor  bullied  out  of  their  rights  or  their 
propriety.  They  smile  with  contempt  at 
scurrility  and  vaporing  beyond  the  seas,  and 
they  turn  their  backs  upon  it  where  it  is 
"irresponsible;"  but  insolence  that  ventures  to 
look  them  in  the  face,  will  never  fail  to  be 
chastised. 

I  think  I  may  trust  you  will  not  regard  this 
letter  as  intrusive.  I  should  never  have  en- 
tertained an  idea  of  writing  it,  had  you  not 
opened  the  correspondence.  If  you  think 
any  thing  in  it  harsh,  review  your  own — which 
I  regret  that  I  lost  soon  after  it  was  received — 
and  you  will  probably  find  that  you  have 
taken  your  revenge  beforehand.  If  you  have 
not,  transfer  an  equitable  share  of  what  you 
deem  severe  to  the  account  of  the  abolition- 
ists at  large.  They  have  accumulated  against 
the  slaveliolders  a  balance  of  invective,  which, 
with  all  our  efforts,  we  shall  not  be  able  to 
liquidate  much  short  of  the  era  in  which  your 
national  debt  Avill  bo  paid.  At  all  events,  I 
have  no  desire  to  offend  you  personally,  and, 
■with  the  best  wishes  for  your  continued  health, 
I  have  the  honor  to  be, 

The  Argument  fiiom  Religion  ;  Progress 
OF  Fanaticism  ;  Determination  ok  the  iSottii, 
<frc.  (Concluded.) — In  my  letter  to  you  of 
the  28th  January — whichi  trust  you  have  re- 
ceived ore  this — I  mentioned  that  I  had  lost 
your  circular  letter  soon  after  it  had  come  to 
han^.  It  was,  I  am  glad  to  say,  only  mislaid, 
and  has  within  a  few  days  been  recovered. 
A  second  jierusal  of  it  induces  me  to  resume 
my  pen.  Unwilling  to  trust  my  recollections 
VOL.  11. 


from  a  single  reading,  I  did  not  in  my  last 
communication  attenq>t  to  follow  the  course 
of  your  argument,  and  meet  directly  the 
jioints  made  and  the  terms  used.  I  thought 
it  better  to  take  a  general  view  of  the  sub- 
ject, which  couhl  not  fail  to  trav<'rse  your 
most  material  charges.  I  am  well  aware, 
however,  that,  for  fear  of  being  tedious,  I 
omitted  many  interesting  topics  altogether, 
and  abstained  from  a  complete  discussion 
of  some  of  tho.se  introduced.  I  do  not  pro- 
pose now  to  exhauat  the  subject,  which  it 
would  recjniri'  volumes  to  do;  but  without 
waiting  to  learn — wliieli  I  may  never  do — 
your  o])inioii  of  what  1  have  already  said, 
1  sit  down  to  supfjly  some  of  the  deficiencies 
of  my  letter  of  January,  and,  with  your  cir- 
cular before  me,  to  reply  to  such  parts  of  it 
as  have  not  been  fully  answered. 

It  is,  I  perceive,  addressed  among  others 
to  "such  as  have  never  visited  the  south- 
ern states"  of  this  confederacy,  and  professes 
to  enlighten  their  ignorance  of  the  actual 
"  condition  of  the  poor  slave  in  their  own 
country."  I  cannot  help  thinking  you  would 
have  displayed  prudence  in  confining  the 
circulation  of  your  letter  altogether  to  such 
persons.  You  might  then  have  indulged 
with  impunity  in  giving,  as  j-ou  have  done, 
a  picture  of  slavery  drawn  from  your  own 
excited  imagination,  or  from  those  impure 
fountains,  the  Martineaus,  Marryatts,  Trol- 
lopes  and  Dickenses,  who  have  profited  by 
catering,  at  our  expense,  to  the  jealous  sensi- 
bilities and  debauched  tastes  of  your  country- 
men. Admitting  that  you  are  familiar  with 
the  history  of  slavery  and  the  past  discus- 
sions of  it,  as  I  did,  I  now  think  rather 
broadly,  in  ray  former  letter,  what  can  you 
know  of  the  true  condition  of  the  "  poor 
slave  "  here  ?  I  am  not  aware  that  you  have 
ever  visited  this  country,  or  even  the  West 
Indies.  Can  you  suppose  that  because  you 
have  devoted  your  life  to  the  investigation 
of  the  subject — commencing  it  under  the  in- 
fluence of  an  enthusiasm  so  melancholy  at 
first  and  so  volcanic  afterward  as  to  be  noth- 
ing short  of  hallucination ;  pursuing  it  as 
men  of  one  idea  do  every  thing,  with  the 
single  purpose  of  establishing  your  own 
view  of  it;  gathering  your  information  from 
discharged  seamen,  disappointed  speculators, 
factious  politicians,  visionary  reformers  and 
scurrilous  tourists ;  opening  your  ears  to 
every  species  of  complaint,  exaggeration 
and  falsehood  that  interested  ingenuityeould 
invent,  and  never  for  a  moment  questioning 
the  truth  of  any  thing  that  could  make  for 
your  cause — can  you  suppose  that  all  this 
has  qualified  you,  living  the  while  in  Eng- 
land, to  form  or  npjiroximate  toward  the 
formation  of  a  correct  opinion  of  the  con- 
dition of  slaves  among  us  ?  I  know  the 
power  of  self-delusion.  I  have  not  the  least 
1  doubt  that  you  think  yourself  the  very  best 

17 


258 


KEGRO  SLA\-ERy  AT  THE  SOUTH. 


informed  rann  alive  on  this  subject,  and 
that  many  think  so  likewise.  So  far  as 
facts  go,  even  after  deducting  from  your  list 
a  great  deal  that  is  not  fact,  I  will  not  deny 
that  probably  your  collection  is  the  most 
extensive  in  existence.  But  as  to  the  trutli 
in  rciinrd  to  slavery,  there  is  not  an  adult 
in  this  region  but  knows  more  of  it  than 
you  do.  Truth  and/at'<  are,  you  are  aware, 
by  no  means  synonymous  terms.  Ninety- 
nine  facts  may  constitute  a  falsehood :  the 
hundredth,  added -or  alone,  gives  the  truth. 
With  all  your  knowledge  of  facts,  1  under- 
take to  say  that  you  are  entirely  and  grossly 
ignorant  of  the  real  condition  of  our  slaves. 
And  from  all  that  I  can  see,  you  are  equally 
ignorant  of  the  essential  principles  of  human 
association  revealed  in  history,  both  sacred 
and  profane,  on  which  slavery  rests,  and 
which  will  perpetuate  it  for  ever  in  some 
form  or  other.  However  you  may  declaim 
against  it ;  however  powerfully  you  may 
array  atrocious  incidents  ;  whatever  appeals 
you  may  make  to  the  heated  imaginations 
and  tender  sensibilities  of  mankind — believe 
me,  your  total  blindness  to  the  ivhole  truth, 
which  alone  constitutes  the  truth,  incapa- 
citates you  from  ever  making  an  impression 
on  the  sober  reason  and  sound  common  sense 
of  the  world.  You  may  seduce  thousands 
— you  can  convince  no  one.  "Whenever 
and  wherever  you  or  the  advocates  of  your 
cause  can  arouse  the  passions  of  the  weak- 
minded  and  the  ignorant,  and,  bringing  to 
bear  with  them  tlie  interests  of  the  vicious 
and  unprincipled,  overwhelm  common  sense 
and  reason — as  God  sometimes  permits  to 
be  done — you  may  triumph.  Such  a  tri- 
umph we  have  witnessed  in  Great  Britain. 
But  I  trust  it  is  far  distant  here :  nor  can  it 
from  its  nature  be  extensive  or  enduring,  j 
Other  classes  of  reformers,  animated  by  the 
same  spirit  as  the  abolitionists,  attack  the 
institution  of  marriage,  and  even  the  estab- 
lished relations  of  parent  and  child.  And 
they  collect  instances  of  barbarous  crueltv 
and  shocking  degradation  which  rival,  if 
they  do  not  throw  into  the  shade,  your 
slavery  statistics.  But  the  rights  of  mar- 
riage and  parental  authority  rest  upon 
truths  as  obvious  as  they  are  unchangeable 
— coming  home  to  every  human  being,  self- 
impressed  for  ever  on  the  individual  mind, 
and  cannot  be  shaken  until  the  whole  man 
is  corrupted,  nor  subverted  until  civili/ed 
society  becomes  a  putrid  mass.  Domestic 
slavery  is  not  so  universally  understood, 
nor  can  it  make  such  a  direct  appeal  to  indi- 
viduals or  society  beyond  its  pale.  Here, 
prejudice  and  passion  have  room  to  sport  at 
the  expense  of  others.  They  may  be  excited 
and  urged  to  dangerous  action,  remote  from 
the  victims  they  mark  out.  They  may,  as 
they  have  done,  effect  great  mischief,  but 
they  cannot  be  made  to  maintain,  in  the  long 


run,  dominion  over  reason  and  common 
sense,  nor  ultimately  put  down  what  God 
has  ordained. 

Yon  deny,  however,  that  slavery  is  sanc- 
tioned by  God,  and  your  chief  argument  is, 
that  when  lie  gave  to  Adam  dominion  over 
the  fruits  of  the  earth  and  the  animal  crea- 
tion, he  stopped  there.  "  lie  never  gave  him 
any  further  right  over  his  fellow-men." 
You  restrict  the  descendants  of  Adam  to  a 
very  short  list  of  rights  and  powers,  duties 
and  responsibilities,  if  you  limit  them  solely 
to  those  conferred  and  enjoined  in  tlie  first 
chapter  of  Genesis.  It  is  very  obvious  that 
in  this  narrative  of  the  creation,  Moses  did 
not  have  it  in  view  to  record  any  part  of 
the  Law  intended  for  the  government  of 
man  in  his  social  or  political  state.  Evo 
was  not  yet  created;  the  expulsion  had  not' 
yet  taken  place  ;  Cain  was  unborn  ;  and  no 
allusion  whatever  is  made  to  the  manifold 
decrees  of  God  to  which  these  events  gave 
rise.  The  only  serious  answer  this  argu- 
ment deserves  is  to  say,  what  is  so  mani- 
festly true,  that  God's  not  expressly  giving 
to  Adam  "  any  right  over  his  fellow-men  " 
by  no  means  excluded  him  from  conferring 
that  right  on  liis  descendants  ;  wicli  he  in 
fact  did.  "We  know  that  Abraham,  the 
chosen  one  of  God,  exercised  it  and  held 
property  in  his  fellow-man,  even  anterior 
to  the  period  when  property  in  land  was 
acknowledged.  We  might  infer  that  God 
had  authorized  it.  But  we  are  not  reduced 
to  inference  or  conjecture.  At  the  hazard 
of  fatiguing  you  by  repetition,  I  will  again 
refer  you  to  the  ordinances  of  the  Scriptures. 
Innumerable  instances  might  be  quoted 
where  God  has  given  and  commanded  men 
to  assume  dominion  over  their  fellow-men ; 
but  one  will  suffice.  In  the  twenty-fifth 
chapter  of  Leviticus  you  will  find  Domestic 
Slaverji — precisely  such  as  is  maintained  at 
this  dcnj  in  these  states — ordained  and  estab- 
lished hj  God,  in  language  jrhich  I  defij  i/ou  to 
pervert  so  as  to  leave  a  doubt  on  any  honest 
mind  that  this  institution  was  founded  by 
him  and  decreed  to  be  perpetual.  I  quote 
the  words : 

Leviticus  xxv.  44-46  :  "  Both  thy  bond- 
men and  thy  bond-maids  which  thou  shalt 
have,  shall  be  of  the  heathen  (Africans) 
that  are  round  about  you:  of  them  ye  shall 
buy  bondmen  and  bondmaids. 

"Moreover,  of  the  children  of  the  stran- 
gers that  do  sojourn  among  you,  of  them 
shall  3'e  buy,  and  of  their  faynilies  that  arc 
loith  you  which  they  begat  i7i  your  landy  (de- 
scendants of  Africans  ?)  and  they  shall  be 
your  possession. 

'^  And  ye  shall  take  them  as  an  inheritance 
for  your  children  after  you,  to  inherit  them 
for  a  possession.  They  shall  be  your  bond- 
men FOU  KVEll." 

What  human  legislature   could   make  a 


^•EGRO    SLAVERY   AT   THE   SOUTH. 


^S9 


decree  more  full  and  explicit  than  this  ? 
What  court  of  law  or  chancery  could  defeat 
a  title  to  a  slave  coached  in  terms  so  clear 
and  complete  as  these  ?  And  this  is  the 
Law  of  God,  whom  yon  pretend  to  worship, 
while  you  denounce  and  traduce  us  for  re- 
specting it. 

It  seems  scarcely  credible,  but  the  fact  is 
so,  that  you  deny  this  law  so  plainly  writ- 
ten, and  in  the  face  of  it  have  the  hardi- 
hood to  declare  that,  "  though  slavery  is  not 
specifically,  yet  it  is  virtuallt/  forbidde7i  in 
the  Scri])tures,  because  all  the  crimes  which 
necessarily  arise  out  of  slaverj*,  and  which 
can  arise  from  no  other  source,  are  repro- 
bated there  and  threatened  with  divine  ven- 
geance." Such  an  unworthy  subterfuge  is 
scarcely  entitled  to  consideration.  But  its 
gross  absurdity  may  be  exposed  in  few 
words.  I  do  not  know  what  crimes  you 
particularly  allude  to  as  arising  from 
slavery.  But  you  will,  perhaps,  admit — 
not  because  they  are  denounced  in  the  deca- 
logue, which  the  abolitionists  respect  only 
60  far  as  they  choose,  but  because  it  is  the 
immediate  interest  of  most  men  to  admit 
— that  disobedience  to  parents,  adultery, 
and  stealing,  are  crimes.  Yet  these  crimes 
"  necessarily  arise  from "  the  relations  of 
parent  and  child,  marriage,  and  the  posses- 
sion of  private  property ;  at  least  they  "  can 
arise  from  no  other  sources.  "  Then,  ac- 
cording to  your  argument,  it  is  "  virtually 
forbidden  "  to  marry,  to  beget  children,  and 
to  hold  private  property  1  Nay,  it  is  for- 
bidden to  live,  since  murder  can  only  be 
perpetrated  on  living  subjects.  You  add 
that "  in  the  same  way  the  gladiatorial  shows 
of  old,  and  other  barbarous  customs,  were 
not  specifically  forbidden  in  the  New  Tes- 
timent,  and  yet  Christianity  was  the  sole 
means  of  their  suppression."  This  is  very 
true.  But  these  shows  and  barbarous 
customs,  thus  suppressed,  were  not  author- 
ized by  God.  They  were  not  ordained  and 
commanded  by  God  for  the  benefit  of  his 
chosen  people  and  mankind,  as  the  purchase 
and  holding  of  bondmen  and  bondmaids 
were.  Had  they  been,  they  would  never 
have  been  "  suppressed  by  Christianity," 
any  more  than  slavery  can  be  by  your  party. 
Although  Christ  came  "  not  to  destroy  but 
fulfil  the  Law,"  he  nevertheless  did  form- 
ally abrogate  some  of  the  ordinances  pro- 
mulgated by  Moses,  and  all  such  as  were  at 
war  with  his  mission  of  "  peace  and  good- 
will on  earth."  He  "specifically"  annuls, 
for  instance,  one  "barbarous  custom,"  sanc- 
tioned by  those  ordinances,  where  he  says^: 
"  Ye  have  heard  that  it  hath  been  said,  an 
eye  for  an  eye  and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth ;  but 
I  say  unto  you  that  ye  resist  not  evil,  but 
whosoever  shall  smite  thee  on  the  right 
cheek,  turn  to  him  the  other  also."  Now, 
in  the  time  of  Christ,  it  waa  usual  for  mas- 


ters to  put  their  slaves  to  death  on  the 
slightest  provocation.  They  even  killed  and 
cut  them  up  to  feed  their  fishes,  lie  was 
undoubtedly  aware  of  these  things,  as  well 
as  of  the  law  and  commandment  I  have  quo- 
ted, lie  could'only  have  been  restrained  from 
denouncing  them  as  he  did  the  "  lex  talionis," 
because  he  knew  that  in  despite  of  these 
barbarities  the  institution  of  slavery  was  at 
the  bottom  a  sound  and  wholesome  as  well 
as  lawful  one.  Certain  it  is,  that  in  his  wis- 
dom and  purity  he  did  not  see  proper  to 
interfere  with  it  In  your  wisdom,  however, 
you  make  the  sacrilegious  attempt  to  over- 
throw it. 

You  quote  the  denunciation  of  Tyre  and 
Sidon,  and  say  that  "the  chief  reason  given 
by  the  prophet  Joel  for  their  destruction 
was,  that  they  were  notorious  beyond  all 
others  for  carrying  on  the  slave  trade."  I 
am  afraid  you  think  we  have  no  Bibles  in 
the  slave  states,  or  that  we  are  unable  to 
read  them.  I  cannot  otherwise  account  for 
yoiu'  making  this  reference,  unless,  indeed, 
your  own  reading  is  confined  to  an  expur- 
gated edition,  prepared  for  the  use  of  abo- 
litionists, in  which  every  thing  relating  to 
slavery  that  militates  against  their  view  of 
it  is  left  out.  The  prophet  Joel  denounces 
the  Tyrians  and  Sidonians  because  "The 
children  also  of  Judah  and  the  children  of 
Jerusalem  have  ye  sold  unto  the  Grecians." 
And  what  is  the  Divine  vengeance  for  this 
"  notorious  slave-trading  V  Hear  it :  "And 
I  will  sell  your  sons  and  daughters  into  the 
hands  of  the  children  of  Judah,  and  they 
shall  sell  them  to  the  Sabeans,  to  a  people 
far  off:  for  the  Lord  hath  spoken  it."  Do 
you  call  this  a  condemnation  of  slave- 
trading?  The  prophet  makes  God  him- 
self a  participator  in  the  crime,  if  that  be 
one.  "  The  Lord  hath  spoken  it,"  he  says, 
that  the  Tyrians  and  Sidonians  shall  be 
sold  into  slavery  to  strangers.  Their  real 
offense  was  in  enslaving  the  chosen  people ; 
and  their  sentence  was  a  repetition  of  the 
old  command,  to  make  slaves  of  the  "  hea- 
then round  about." 

I  have  dwelt  upon  your  scriptural  argu- 
ment because  you  profess  to  believe  the 
Bible  ;  because  a  large  porportion  of  the 
abolitionists  profess  to  do  the  same,  and  to 
act  under  its  sanction  ;  because  your  circu- 
lar is  addressed  in  part  to  "  professing 
Christians ;"  and  because  it  is  from  that 
class,  mainly,  that  you  expect  to  seduce 
converts  to  your  anti-Christian,  I  may  say, 
infidel  doctrines.  It  would  be  wholly  un- 
necessary to  answer  you  to  any  one  who 
reads  the  Scriptures  for  himself,  and  con- 
strues them  according  to  any  other  formula 
than  that  which  the  abolitionists  are  wicked- 
ly endeavoring  to  impose  upon  the  world. 
The  scriptural  sanction  of  slavery  is,  in  fact, 
80  palpable  and  eo  strong,  that  both  wings  of 


260 


KEGRO  SLAVEnv  AT  THE  SOrXH. 


your  party  are  beginninj^  to  acknowledge  it  i 
The  more  seiuible  and  moderate  admit,  as 
the  organ  of  the  Free  Churcli  of  Scotland,  the 
North  British  llcview,  has  lately  done,  that 
they  "  arc  precluded  by  the  statements  and 
conduct  of  the  apostles  from  regarding  mere 
slavehohiing  as  cssentialli/  sinful ;"  while  the 
desperate  and  reckless,  who  arc  bent  on  keep- 
ing up  the  agitation  at  every  hazard,  declare, 
as  has  been  done  in  the  Anti-Slavery  Record, 
"  If  our  incjuiry  turns  out  in  favor  of  slavery, 
rr  IS  THE  Bible  that  jrusT  fall,  and  not  the 

EIGHTS    OF    HUMAN    NATURE."      YoU    Cannot,   I 

am  satisfied,  much  longer  maintain  before  the 
world  the  Cinistian  platform,  from  which  to 
wage  war  upon  our  institutions.  Driven  from 
it,  you  must  abandon  the  contest;  or  repudi- 
ating Revelation,  rush  into  the  horrors  of 

NATURAL  RELIGION. 

You  next  complain,  that  our  slaves  are 
kept  in  bondage  by  the  "  law  of  force."  In 
what  country  or  condition  of  mankind  do  you 
see  human  affairs  regulated  merely  by  the 
law  of  love  ?  Unless  I  am  greatly  mistaken, 
you  will,  if  you  look  over  the  world,  find 
nearly  all  certain  and  permanent  rights,  civil, 
social,  and,  I  may  even  add,  religious,  resting 
on,  and  ultimately  secured  by,  the  "  law  of 
force."  The  power  of  majorities — of  aristo- 
cracies— of  kings — nay,  of  priests,  for  the  most 
part,  and  of  property,  resolves  itself,  at  last, 
into  '•  force,"  and  could  not  otherwise  be  long 
maintained.  Thus,  in  every  turn  of  your  ar- 
gument against  our  system  of  slavery,  you 
advance,  whether  conscious  of  it  or  not,  radi- 
cal and  revolutionary  doctrines  calculated  to 
change  the  whole  face  of  the  world,  to  over- 
throw all  government,  disorganize  society,  and 
reduce  man  to  a  state  of  nature — red  with 
blood,  and  shrouded  once  more  in  barbaric 
ignorance.  But  you  greatly  err,  if  you  sup- 
pose, because  we  rely  on  force,  in  the  last 
resort,  to  maintain  our  supremacy  over  our 
slaves, that  ours  is  astern  and  unfeeling  dom- 
ination at  all  to  be  compared  in  hard-hearted 
severity  to  that  exercised,  not  over  the  mere 
laborer  only,  but  by  the  higher  over  each 
lower  order,  wherever  the  British  sway  is 
acknowledged.  You  siiy,  that  if  those  you 
address  were  "to  spend  one  day  in  the  south, 
they  would  return  home  with  impressions 
against  slavery  never  to  be  erased."  But  the 
fact  is  universally  the  reverse.  I  have  known 
numerous  instances,  and  I  never  knew  of  a 
singh;  one,  where  there  was  no  other  cause  of 
offense  and  no  object  to  promote  by  falsehood, 
that  individuals  from  the  non-slavehokling 
states  did  not,  after  residing  among  us  long 
enough  to  understand  the  subject,  "  return 
home"  to  defend  our  slavery.  It  is  matter  of 
regret  that  you  have  never  tried  tiie  experi- 
ment yourself.  I  do  not  doubt  that  you  would 
have  been  converted,  for  I  give  you  credit  for 
an  honest  though  perverted  mind.  You  would 
have  seen  how  weak  and  futile  is  all  abstract 


reasoning  about  this  matter,  and  that,  as  a 
building  may  not  be  less  elegant  in  its  pro- 
portions, or  tasteful  in  its  ornaments  or  vir- 
tuous in  its  uses,  for  being  based  upon  granite, 
so  a  system  of  human  government,  though 
founded  on  force,  may  develop  and  cultivate 
the  tenderest  and  purest  sentiments  of  the 
human  heart.  And  our  patriarchal  scheme 
of  domestic  servitude  is  indeed  well  calculated 
to  awaken  the  higher  and  finer  feelings  of 
our  nature.  It  is  not  wanting  in  its  enthu- 
siasm and  its  poetry.  Tlie  relations  of  the 
most  beloved  and  honored  chief,  and  the  most 
faithful  and  admiring  subjects,  which,  from 
the  time  of  Homer,  have  been  the  theme  of 
song,  are  frigid  and  unfelt  compared  with 
those  existing  between  the  master  and  his 
slaves — who  served  his  father,  and  rockeil  his 
cradle,  or  have  been  born  to  his  liousehold, 
and  look  forward  to  serve  his  children ;  who 
have  been  through  life  the  props  of  his 
fortune  and  the  objects  of  his  care  ;  who  have 
partaken  of  his  griefs,  and  looked  to  him  for 
comfort  in  their  own  ;  whose  sickness  he  has 
so  frequently  watched  over  and  relieved  ■; 
whose  holiilays  he  has  so  often  made  joyous 
by  his  bounties  and  his  presence ;  for  whose 
welfare  when  absent  his  anxious  solicitude 
never  ceases,  and  whose  hearty  aud  afTection- 
ate  greetings  never  fail  to  welcome  him  home. 
In  this  cold,  calculating,  ambitious  world  of 
ours,  there  are  few  ties  more  heartfelt,  or  of 
more  benignant  influence,  than  those  Avhich 
mutually  bind  the  master  and  the  slave,  un- 
der our  ancient  system,  handed  down  from 
the  Father  of  Israel.  The  unholy  purpose  of 
the  abolitionists  is  to  destroy  by  defiling  it; 
to  infuse  into  it  the  gall  and  bitterness  wiiicb 
rankle  in  their  own  envenomed  bosoms ;  to 
poison  the  minds  of  the  master  and  the  ser- 
vant, turn  love  to  hatred,  array  "force" 
against  force,  and  hurl  all, 

"  With  hideous  ruin  and  rombuslion,  down 
To  hotloinless  perdition."' 

You  think  it  a  great  "  crime"  that  we  do  not 
pay  our  slaves  "  wages,"  and  on  this  account 
pronounce  us  "  rcjbbers."'  In  my  foririer  let- 
tor  I  showed  that  the  labor  of  our  slaves  was 
\  not  without  great  cost  to  us,  and  that,  in  fact, 
they  tliemselves  receive  more  in  return  for  it 
than  your  hirelings  do  for  theirs.  For  what 
purpose  do  men  labor,  but  to  suppint  them- 
selves and  their  families  in  what  comfort  they 
arc  able  ?  The  efforts  of  mere  jiliysical  labor 
seldom  suffice  to  provide  more  than  a  liveli- 
hood. Ami  it  is  a  well-known  and  shocking 
fact,  that  while  few  operatives  in  (rreat  Brit- 
ain succeed  in  securing  a  comfortuble  living, 
the  greater  part  tlrag  out  a  miserable  exist- 
ence, aud  sink  at  last  under  absolute  want. 
Of  what  avail  is  it  that  you  go  through  the 
form  of  paying  them  a  pittance  of  what  you 
call  "  wages,"  wluii  you  do  not,  in  return  for 
their  services,  allow  them  what  alone  they 


NEGRO    SLAVERY   AT   THE    SOUTII. 


261 


ask,  and  hfive  a  just  right  to  demaiul— enough 
to  feed,  clothe,  and  lotlge  them,  in  health  and 
sickness,  with  reasonable  comfort  ?  Though 
we  do  not  give  "  wages"  in  moneif,  we  do  this 
for  ortr  s/ai'rx,  and  they  are,  therefore,  bettor 
rewarded  than  i/oiir.'!.  It  is  the  prevailing  vice 
and  error  of  the  age.  and  one  from  which  the 
abolitionists,  with  all  their  saintly  pretensions, 
are  far  from  being  free,  to  bring  every  thing  to 
the  standard  of  money.  They  make  gold  and 
silver  the  great  test  of  happiness.  The  Anier- 
erican  slave  must  be  wretched  indeed,  because 
he  is  not  compensated  for  his  services  ?«  cash. 
It  is  altogether  praiseworthy  to  pay  the  la- 
borer a  shilling  a  day  and  let  him  starve  on 
it.  To  suppl}'  all  his  wants  abundantly,  and 
at  all  times,  yet  withhold  from  him  nionei/,  is 
among  "  the  most  reprobated  crimes."  The 
fact  cannot  be  denied,  that  the  mere  laborer 
is  now,  and  always  has  been,  everywhere  that 
barbarism  ha=i  ceased,  enslaved.  Among  the 
innovations  of  modern  times,  following  "  the 
decay  of  villeinage,"  has  been  the  creation  of 
a  new  system  of  slavery.  The  piimitive  and 
patriarchal,  which  may  also  be  called  the  sa- 
cred and  natural  system,  in  whicli  the  laborer 
is  under  the  personal  control  of  a  fellow-being, 
endowed  with  the  sentiments  and  sympathies 
of  humanity,  exists  among  us.  It  has  been 
almost  everywhere  else  superseded  by  the 
modern  artificial  movei/-power  systan,  in  which 
man,  his  thews  and  sinews,  his  hopes  and 
affections,  his  very  being,  are  all  subjected  to 
the  dominion  of  Capital — a  monster  without 
a  heart— ^cold,  stern,  arithmetical — sticking  to 
the  bond — taking  ever  "  the  pound  of  fli'sh" — 
working  up  human  life  with  engines,  and  retail- 
ing it  out  by  weight  and  measure.  His  name 
of  old  was  "  Mammon,  the  least  erected  spirit 
that  fell  from  heaven."  And  it  is  to  extend 
his  empire,  that  you  and  your  deluded  coad- 
jutors dedicate  your  lives.  You  are  stirring 
up  mankind  to  overthrow  our  heaven-ordained 
system  of  servitude,  surrounded  by  innumer 
able  checks,  designed  and  planted  deep  in  the 
hmnan  heart  bj'Ood  and  nature,  to  substitute 
the  absolute  rale  of  this  "spirit  reprobate," 
whose  proper  place  was  hell. 

You  charge  us  with  looking  on  our  slaves 
"as  chattels  or  brutes,"  and  enter  into  a 
somewhat  elaborate  argument  to  prove  that 
they  have  "  human  forms,"  "  talk,"  and  even 
"  think."  Now  the  fiict  is,  that  however  you 
raay  indulge  in  this  strain  for  effect,  it  is  the 
abolitionists,  and  not  the  slaveholders,  who, 
practically,  and  in  the  most  important  poitit 
of  view,  regard  our  slaves  as  "  chattels  or 
brutes."  In  your  calculations  of  the  conse- 
quences of  emancipation,  you  pass  over  entire- 
ly those  which  must  prove  most  serious,  and 
which  arise  from  the  fact  of  their  being  per- 
SJDiis.  You  appear  to  think  that  wo  might 
abstain  from  the  use  of  them  as  readily  as  if 
they  were  machines  to  be  laid  aside,  or  cattle 
.that  might  be  turned  out  to  find  pasturage  for 


themselves.  I  have,  heretofore,  glanced  at 
.'ome  of  the  results  that  would  follow  from 
breaking  the  bonds  of  so  many  human  beings 
now  peacefully  and  happily  linked  into  our 
social  system.  Tlu^  tragic  horrors,  the  decay 
and  ruin  that  would  for  years,  perhaps  for 
ages,  brood  over  our  land,  if  it  could  be  ac- 
complished, I  will  not  attempt  to  portray. 
But  do  you  fancy  the  blight  would,  in  such  an 
event,  come  to  us  alone  ?  The  diminution  of 
the  sugar  crop  of  the  West  Indies  affected 
Great  Britain  onh',  and  there,  chiefly  the 
poor.  It  was  a  matter  of  no  moment  to  capi- 
tal, that  labor  should  have  one  comfort  less. 
Yet  it  has  forced  a  reduction  of  the  British 
duty  on  sugar.  Who  can  estimate  the  conse- 
quences that  must  follow  the  annihilation  of 
the  cotton  crop  of  the  slaveholding  states  ? 
I  do  not  undervalue  the  importance  of  other 
articles  of  commerce,  but  no  calamity  could 
befall  the  world,  at  all  comparable  to  the 
sudden  loss  of  two  millions  of  bales  of  cotton 
annually.  From  the  deserts  of  Africa  to  the 
Siberian  wilds — from  Greenland  to  the  Chi- 
nese wall — there  is  not  a  spot  of  eai'th  but 
would  feel  the  sensation.  The  factories  of 
Europe  would  fall  with  a  concussion  tliat 
would  shake  down  castles,  palaces,  and  even 
thrones  ;  while  the  "  purse-proud,  elbowing 
insolence"  of  our  northern  monopolists  would 
disappear  forever  under  the  smooth  speech  of  ■ 
the  pedlar,  scouring  our  frontiers  for  a  live- 
lihood, or  the  bluff  vulgarity  of  the  South  Sea 
whaler,  following  the  harpoon  amid  storms 
and  shoals.  Doubtless,  the  abolitionists  think 
we  could  grow  cotton  without  slaves,  or  that, 
at  worst,  the  reduction  of  the  crop  would  be 
moderate  and  temporary.  Such  gross  delu- 
sions show  how  profoundly  ignorant  they  are 
of  our  condition  here. 

You  declare  that  "the  character  of  the 
people  of  the  south  has  long  been  that  of 
hardened  injidcls,  who  fear  not  God  and  have 
no  regard  for  religion."  I  will  not  repeat 
what  I  said  in  my  former  letter  on  this  point, 
I  only  notice  it  to  ask  you  how  you  could 
possibly  reconcile  it  to  your  profession  of  a 
Christian  spirit,  to  make  such  a  malicious 
charge — to  defile  your  soul  with  such  a  cal- 
umny against  an  unoffending  people  ? 

"  You  are  old  ; 
Nature,  in  you,  stands  on  (ho  very  verge 
Of  her  conlin(\    You  should  be  ruled  and  led 
By  some  ditsf  rcUou." 

May  God  forgive  yoiL 

Akin  to  this,  is  the  wanton  and  furions  as- 
sault made  on  vis  by  Mr.  Macaulay,  in  his  late 
!  speech  on  the  sugar  duties  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  which  has  just  reached  me.  His  de- 
nunciations are  wholly  without  measure,  and, 
among  other  things,  he  asserts  that  "  Slavery 
in  the  United  States  wears  its  worst  form ; 
that,  boasting  of  our  civilization  and  freedom, 
and  frequenting  Christian  churches,  we  breed 


262 


NEGRO   SLAVERY   AT   THE   SOUTH. 


up  slaves — nay,  beget  children  for  slaves,  and 
sell  them  at  so  much  a  head."  Mr.  Macaulay 
is  a  reviewer,  and  lie  knows  that  lie  is  "  no- 
thinij  if  not  critical."  The  practice  of  his 
trade  ha.^  given  liini  the  command  of  all  the 
slashing  and  vituperative  phra?es  of  our  lan- 
guage, and  the  turn  of  his  mind  leads  him  to 
the  habitual  use  of  them.  He  is  an  author, 
and  as  no  copyright  law  secures  for  him 
from  this  country  a  consideration  for  his  writ- 
ings, he  is  not  only  independent  of  us,  but 
naturally  hates  every  thing  American.  He  is 
the  representative  of  Edinburgh :  it  is  his  cue 
to  decry  our  slavery,  and,  in  doing  so,  he  may 
safely  indulge  the  malignity  of  his  temper, 
his  indignation  against  us,  and  his  capacity  for 
railing.  He  has  suffered  once,  for  being  in 
advance  of  his  time  in  favor  of  abolition,  and 
be  does  not  intend  that  it  shall  be  forgotten, 
or  his  claim  passed  over  to  any  crumb  which 
may  now  be  thrown  to  the  vociferators  in  the 
cause.  If  he  does  not  know  that  the  state- 
ments he  has  made  respecting  the  slaveholders 
of  this  country  are  vile  and  atrocious  false- 
hoods, it  is  because  he  does  not  think  it  worth 
his  while  to  be  sure  he  speaks  the  truth,  so 
that  he  speaks  to  his  owu  purpose. 

"  Hie  uiger  est,  huuc  tu  Romano  cavoto." 

Such  exhibitions  as  he  has  made  may  draw 
the  applause  of  a  British  House  of  Commons, 
but,  among  the  sound  and  high  minded  think- 
ers of  the  world,  they  can  only  excite  contempt 
and  disgust. 

But  you  are  not  content  with  depriving  us 
of  all  religious  feelings.  You  assert  that  our 
slavery  has  also  "demoralized  the  northern 
states,"  and  charge  upon  it,  not  only  every 
common  violation  of  good  order  there,  but  tlie 
"  Mormon  murders,"  the  "  Pliiladelphia  riots," 
and  all  "  the  exterminating  wars  against  the 
Indians."  I  wonder  that  you  did  not  increase 
the  list  by  adding  that  it  had  caused  the  re- 
cent inundation  of  the  Mississippi,  and  the 
hurricane  in  the  West  Indies — pcrhai>s  the 
insurrection  of  Rebecca,  and  the  war  in  Sciude. 
Tou  refer  to  the  law  prohilnting  the  trans- 
mission'of  abolition  publications  through  the 
mail  as  a  proof  of  general  corruption.  You 
could  not  do  so,  however,  witliout  noticing  the 
late  detected  espionage  over  tlie  British  post- 
ofRce  by  a  Minister  of  State.  It  is  true,  as 
you  say,  it  "  occasioned  a  general  outburst  of 
national  feeling,"  from  the  opjwsitiou ;  and  a 
"parliamentary  inquiry  was  instituted,"  that 
is,  moved,  but  treated  quite  cavalierly.  At 
all  events,  though  the  fact  was  admilted.  Sir 
Janxes  Graham  yet  retains  the  Home  De- 
partment. For  one,  I  cannot  undertake  to 
condemn  him.  Such  things  are  not  against 
I  the  laws  and  usages  of  your  country.  I  do 
not  know  fully  wliat  reasons  of  state  may 
have  influenced  him  and  justified  his  conduct. 
But  I  do  know  that  there  is  a  vast  difference 
in  point  of  "  national  morality,"  between  the 


discretionary  power,  residing  in  your  govern- 
ment, to  open  any  letter  in  the  public  post- 
oflSce,  and  a  well-defined  and  limited  law  to 
prevent  the  circulation  of  certain  specified 
incendiary  writings  by  means  of  the  United 
States  mail. 

Having  now  referred  to  every  thing  like 
argument  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  that  is 
worthy  of  notice,  in  your  letter,  peiTnit  me  to 
remark  on  its  tone  and  style,  and  very  extra- 
ordinary bearing  upon  other  institutions  of 
this  country.  Y'ou  commence,  by  addressing 
certain  classes  of  our  people  as  belonging  to 
"  a  nation  whose  character  is  7iow  so  low  in 
the  estimation  of  the  civilized  world" — and, 
throughout,  you  maintain  this  tone.  Did  the 
Americans  who  were  "  under  your  roof  last 
summer,"  inform  you  that  such  language 
would  be  gratifying  to  their  fellow-citizens 
"  having  no  practical  concern  with  slavehold- 
ing"  ?  Or  do  the  infamous  libels  on  America 
which  you  read  in  our  abolition  papers,  in- 
duce you  to  believe  that  all  that  class  of  peo 
pie  are,  like  the  abolitionists  themselves, 
totally  destitute  of  patriotism  or  pride  of 
country?  Let  me  tell  you  that  you  are 
grossly  deceived.  And,  although  your  stock- 
brokers and  other  speculators,  who  have  been 
bitten  in  American  ventures,  may  have  raised 
a  stunning  "  cry"  against  us  in  England,  there 
is  a  vast  body  of  people  here,  besides  slave- 
holders, who  justly 

"  Deem  their  own  land  of  every  land  the  pride, 
Beloved  by  Heaven  o'er  all  the  world  beside  ;'* 

and  who  know  that,  at  this  moment,  we  rank 
among  the  first  powers  of  the  world — a  posi  - 
tion  which  we  not  only  claim,  but  are  always 
ready  and  able  to  maintain. 

Tlie  style  you  assume  in  addressing  your 
northern  friends  is  in  perfect  keeping  with 
your  apparent  estimation  of  them.  Though 
I  should  be  tlielast,perhap,  to  criticise  mere 
style,  I  could  net  but  be  struck  with  the  ex- 
tremely simple  manner  of  your  letter.  You 
seem  to  have  thouglit  you  were  writing  a 
tract  for  benighted  heathen,  and  telling  won- 
ders never  before  suggested  to  their  imagina- 
tion, and  so  far  above  their  untutored  com- 
prehension, as  to  require  to  be  related  in  the 
primitive  language  of  "  the  child's  own  book." 
This  is  suHicienlly  amusing;  and  would  be 
more  so  but  for  the  coarse  and  bitter  epithets 
you  continually  apply  to  the  poor  slaveholders 
— epithets  wiiicii  apjx^ar  to  be  stereotyped  for 
the  use  of  abolitionists,  and  which  form  a  large 
and  material  jiart  of  all  their  arguments. 

But  perhaps  the  niost  extraordinary  part  of 
your  letter  is  your  bold  denunciation  of  "  the 
shameful  compromises"  of  our  constitution,  and 
your  earnest  recommendation  to  those  you 
address  to  overtlirow  or  revolutionize  it.  In 
so  many  words  you  say  to  them,  "  Yoitmust 
cither  separate  yourselves  from  all  political 
connection  with  the  south,  and  make  your  own 


NEGRO    SLAVERY    AT   THE    SOUTH. 


263* 


laws  ;  or,  if  you  do  not  choose  such  a  separa 
tion,  you  must  break  up  the  political  ascend- 
e  cxf  which  the  southern  have  hail  for  so  lour/ 
a  time  over  the  northern  states."  The  itahcs 
in  this,  as  in  all  olber  quotations,  are  your 
own.  It  is  WL'U  for  tiiose  who  circulate  your 
letter  here,  tliat  Uie  constitution  you  denounce 
requires  an  overt  act  to  constitute  treason.  It 
may  be  tolerated  for  an  American  by  birth  to 
use,  on  liis  own  soil,  the  freedom  of  speaking 
and  writing  which  is  guaranteed  to  him,  and 
abuse  our  constitution,  our  Union,  and  our 
people.  But  that  a  foreigner  should  use  such 
seditious  language,  in  a  circular  letter  aildress- 
ed  to  a  portion  of  the  American  people,  is  a 
presumption  well  calculated  to  excite  the  in- 
dignation of  all.  The  party  known  iu  this 
country  as  the  abolition  party  has  long  since 
avowed  the  sentiments  you  express,  and 
adopted  the  policy  you  enjoin.  At  the  recent 
presidential  election  they  gave  over  sixty-two 
thousand  votes  for  their  own  candidate,  and 
held  the  balance  of  power  in  two  of  the  lar- 
gest states — wanting  but  little  of  doing  it  in 
several  others.  In  the  last  four  years  their 
vote  has  quadrupled.  Should  the  infatuation 
continue  and  tlinir  vote  increase  in  the  same 
ratio  in  the  next  four  years,  it  will  be  as  large 
as  the  vote  of  the  actual  slaveholders  of  the 
Union.  Such  a  prospect  is  doubtless  extremely 
gratifying  to  you.  It  gives  hope  of  a  contest 
on  such  terms  as  may  insure  the  downfell  of 
slavery  or  our  constitution.  The  south  vene- 
rates the  constitution,  and  is  prepared  to  stand 
by  it  for  ever,  such  as  it  came  from  the  hands 
of  our  fathers ;  to  risk  everything  to  defend 
and  maintain  it  in  its  integrity.  But  the 
south  is  under  no  such  delusion  as  to  believe 
that  it  derives  any  peculiar  protection  from 
the  Union.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  well  known 
we  incur  peculiar  danger,  and  that  we  bear 
far  more  than  our  proportion  of  the  burdens. 
The  apprehension  is  also  f:\st  fading  away 
that  any  of  the  dreadful  consequences  com- 
monly predicted  will  necessarily  result  from  a 
separation  of  the  .states.  And  come  what  mag, 
we  are  firmly  resolved  that  our  system   of 

DOMESTIC    SLAVERY     SHALL     STAND.       The    fate 

of  the  Union  then — but,  thank  God,  not  of  re- 
publican government — rests  mainly  in  the 
hands  of  the  people  to  whom  your  letter  is 
addressed  —  the  "  professing  Christians  of 
the  northern  states  having  no  concern  with 
slaveholding,"  and  whom  with  incendiary  zeal 
you  are  endeavoring  to  stir  up  to  strife — with- 
out which  fanaticism  can  neither  live,  move, 
nor  have  any  being. 

We  have  often  been  taunted  for  our  sensi- 
tiveness in  regard  to  the  diseussion  of  slavery. 
Do  not  suppose  it  is  because  we  have  any 
doubts  of  our  rights,  or  scruples  about  as.9ert- 
ing  them.  There  was  a  time  when  such 
doubts  and  scruples  were  entertiiined.  Our 
ancestors  opposed  the  introduction  of  slaves 
into  this  country,  and  a  feeling  adverse  to  it 


was  handed  down  from  them.  The  enthusi- 
astic love  of  liberty  fostered  by  our  revolution 
strengthened  this  feeling.  And  before  the 
commencement  of  the  abolition  agitation  here, 
it  was  the  common  sentiment  that  it  was 
desirable  to  get  rid  of  slavery.  Many  thought 
it  our  duty  to  do  so.  When  that  agitation 
arose  we  were  driven  to  a  close  examination 
of  the  subject  in  all  its  bearings,  and  the  result 
has  been  universal  conviction  that  in  holding 
slaves  we  violate  no  law  of  God — inflict  no 
injustice  on  any  of  his  creatures — while  the 
terrible  consequences  of  emancipation  to  all 
parties  and  the  world  at  large,  clearly  revealed 
to  us,  make  us  shudder  at  the  bare  thought  of 
it.  The  slaveholders  are  therefore  indebted 
to  the  abolitionists  for  perfect  ease  of  con- 
science, and  the  satisfaction  of  a  settled  and 
unanimous  deterniiiiation  in  reference  to  this 
matter.  And  could  their  agitation  cease  now, 
I  believe,  after  all,  the  good  would  preponder- 
ate over  the  evil  of  it  in  this  country.  On  the 
contrary,  however,  it  is  uri,'ed  on  with  frantic 
violence,  and  the  abolitionists,  reasoning  in  the 
abstract,  as  if  it  were  a  mere  moral  or  meta- 
physical speculation,  or  a  minor  question  in 
politics,  profess  to  be  surprised  at  our  exas- 
peration. In  their  ignorance  and  recklessness 
they  seem  to  be  unable  to  comprehend  our 
feelings  or  position.  The  subversion  of  our 
rights,  the  destiuction  of  our  property,  the 
disturbance  of  our  peace,  and  the  peace  of 
the  world,  are  matters  which  do  not  appear  to 
arrest  their  consideration.  When  revolution- 
ary France  proclaimed  "  Hatred  to  Kings  and 
unity  to  the  Republic,"  and  inscribed  on  her 
banners,  "  France  risen  against  tyrants,"  she 
professed  to  be  worshipping  "  abstract  rights." 
And  if  there  can  be  such  things,  perhaps  she 
was.  Yet  all  Europe  rose  to  put  her  sublime 
theories  down.  Tiiey  declared  her  an  enemy 
to  the  common  peace ;  that  her  doctrines  alone 
violated  the  "  law  of  neighborhood,"  and,  as 
Mr.  Burke  said,  justly  entitled  them  to  anti- 
cipate the  "  daminnn  nondum  factum"  of  the 
civil  law.  Danton,  Barrere,  and  the  rest, 
were  apparently  astonished  that  umbrage 
.should  be  taken.  The  parallel  between  them 
and  the  abolitionists  holds  good  in  all  respects. 
The  rise  and  progress  of  this  fanaticism  is 
one  of  the  phenomena  of  the  age  in  which  we 
live.  I  do  not  intend  to  repeat  what  I  have 
already  said,  or  to  trace  its  career  more  mi- 
nutely at  present.  But  the  legislation  of 
Great  Britain  will  make  it  historical  and 
doubtless  you  must  feel  some  curiosity  to 
know  how  it  will  figure  on  the  page  of  the 
annalist.  I  think  I  can  tell  you.  Though  I 
have  accorded,  and  do  accord,  to  j-ou  and  your 
party  great  influence  in  bringing  about  the 
parliamentary  action  of  your  country,  you 
must  not  expect  to  go  down  to  posteiity  as 
the  only  cause  of  it.  Though  you  trace  the 
progenitors  of  abtJition  from  loltj  through  a 
long  stream,  with  divers  branches,  down  to 


264 


>'EGRO    SLAVERY    AT   THE    SOUTH. 


the  period  of  its  triumph  in  your  country,  it 
has  not  escaped  contemporaries,  and  will  not 
escape  posterity,  tliat  Enu;lund,  without  much 
effort,  sustained  the  storm  of  its  scoffs  and 
threats  until  the  moment  arrived  when  she 
thought  her  colonies  fully  supplied  with  Afri 
cans ;  and  declared  against  the  slave-trade 
only  when  she  deemed  it  unnecessary  to  her, 
and  when  her  colonies,  full  of  slaves,  would 
have  great  advantages  over  others  not  so 
well  provided.  Nor  did  she  agree  to  West 
India  emancipation  until,  discovering  the  error 
of  her  previous  calculation,  it  became  an  ob- 
ject to  have  slaves  free  throughout  the  western 
world,  and  on  the  ruins  of  the  sugar  and  cotton 
growers  of  America  and  the  Islands,  to  build 
up  her  great  slave  empire  in  the  East ;  while 
her  indefatigable  exertions,  still  contiuueJ,  to 
engi'aft  the  right  of  search  upon  the  law  of  na- 
tions, on  the  plea  of  putting  an  end  to  the 
forever  increasmg  slave-trade,  are  well  under- 
stood to  have  chiefly  in  view  the  complete 
estal)lishment  of  her  supremacy  at  sea.  On 
these  points  let  me  recommend  you  to  consult 
a  very  able  Essay  en  the  Slave-trade  and 
Right  of  Search  by  M.  Jollivet,  recently  pub- 
lished ;  and  as  you  say,  since  writing  your 
circular  letter,  that  you  "  burn  to  try  your 
hand  on  anotlier  little  essay  if  a  subject  could 
be  found,"  I  propose  to  you  to  '"try"  to  an- 
swer this  question,  put  by  M.  Jollivet  to  Eng 
land:  ''  Pourquoi  sa  phil  aidliropic  iia  pas 
dau/ne,  jusgu'd  present,  doubler  le  cap  de  Bon- 
ne-Esperance  !''  Nor  must  you  fl  itter  your- 
self tliat  your  party  will  deiive  historic  dig- 
nity from  the  names  of  the  illustrious  British 
statesmen  who  have  acted  with  it.  Their 
country's  ends  were  theirs.  They  have  stoop 
ed  to  use  you,  as  the  most  illustrious  men 
will  sometimes  use  the  vilest  instruments,  to 
accomplish  their  own  purposes.  A  few 
philanthropic  common-places  and  rhetorical 
flourishes,  "  in  the  abstract,"  have  secin-ed 
them  your  "  sweet  voices"  and  your  influence 
over  the  tribe  of  mawkish  sentimentalists. 
Wilberforcc  may  have  been  yours,  but  what 
W!ia  he  be.sides  but  a  wealthy  county  mem- 
ber ?  You  must  therefore  expect  to  stand  on 
your  own  merits  alone  before  posterity,  or 
rather  that  portion  of  it  that  may  be  curious 
to  trace  the  history  of  the  delusions  which 
from  time  to  time  pass  over  the  surface  of 
human  affairs,  and  who  may  tmuble  them 
selves  to  look  throiiLcli  the  ramifications  of 
transcendentalism  in  this  era  of  extravagances. 
And  liow  do  you  expect  to  appear  in  tlieir 
eyes?  As  Christians,  piously  endeavoring  to 
enforce  the  will  of  (iod  and  carry  out  tiie 
principles  of  Christianity  1  Certainly  not ; 
since  you  deny  or  pervert  the  Scriptures  in 
the  doctrines  you  advance,  and  in  your  con- 
duct furnish  a  glaring  contrast  to  tiie  examjiles 
of  Christ  and  the  apostles.  As  phihintlncj- 
pists  devoting  yourselves  to  the  cause  of  hu- 
mauity,  relieving   the  needy,  comforting  the 


afflicted,  creating  peace  and  gladness  and 
plenty  round  about  you  ?  Certainly  not ; 
since  you  turn  from  the  needy,  the  afflicted ; 
from  strife,  sorrow,  and  starvation  which  sur- 
round you ;  close  your  eyes  and  hands  upon 
them  ;  shut  out  from  your  thoughts  and  feel- 
ings the  human  misery  which  is  real  tangible, 
and  within  your  reach,  to  indulge  your  morbid 
imagination  in  conjuring  up  woes  and  wants 
among  a  strange  people  in  distant  lands,  and 
offering  them  succor  in  the  shape  of  costless 
denunciations  of  their  best  friends,  or  by  scat- 
tering among  them  "  fire-brands,  arrows,  and 
death."  Such  folly  and  madness — such  wild 
mockery  and  base  imposture-^can  never  win 
for  you,  in  the  sober  judgm.cnt  of  future  times, 
the  name  of  philanthropists.  Will  you  even 
be  regarded  as  worthy  citizens?  Scarcely, 
when  tiie  purposes  you  liave  in  view  can  only 
be  achieved  by  revolutionizing  governments 
and  overturning  social  systems,  and  when  you 
do  not  hesitate  zealously  aud  earnestly  to  re- 
c^immend  such  measures.  Be  ajvsured,  then, 
that  posterity  will  not  regard  the  abolitionists 
as  Christians,  philanthropists,  or  virtuous  citi- 
zens. It  will,  1  have  no  doubt,  look  upon  the 
mass  of  the  party  as  silly  enthusiasts,  led 
away  by  designing  characters,  as  is  the  case 
with  all  parties  that  break  from  the  great, 
acknowledged  ties  which  bind  civilized  man 
in  fellowship.  The  leaders  themselves  will 
be  regarded  as  mere  ambitions  men;  not  tak- 
ing rank  with  those  whose  ambition  is  "  eagle- 
winged  and  sky-aspiring,"  but  belonging  to 
that  mean  and  selflsh  class  who  are  instigated 
by  "rival-hating  envy,"  and  whose  base 
tiiirst  is  for  notoriclfi ;  who  cloak  their  de- 
signs under  vile  aud  impious  hyjiocrisies,  and, 
unable  to  shine  in  higher  spheres,  devote 
themselves  to  fiuiaticism  as  a  trade.  And  it 
will  be  perceived  that,  even  in  that,  they 
shunned  the  highest  walk.  Religious  fanati- 
cism was  as  old  establi.shed  vocation,  in  which 
something  brilliant  was  required  to  attract 
attention.  They  could  not  be  George  Foxes, 
nor  Joanna  Southcotes,  uor  even  Joe  Smiths. 
But  the  dullest  pretender  could  discourse  a 
jumble  of  pious  bigotry,  natural  rights,  and 
drivelling  philanthropy  ;  aud,  addressing 
himself  to  aged  folly  and  youthful  vanity,  to 
ancient  women,  to  ill-gotten  wealth,  to  the 
reckless  of  all  classes  who  love  excitement 
and  change,  otfer  all  the  cheajiest  and  the 
safest  glory  in  the  market.  Hence,  their 
numbers;  and, from  number  and  clamor, what 
impression  they  have  made  on  tlie  world. 

Such  I  am  persuaded  is  the  light  in  which 
the  aiiolitionisis  will  be  viewed  by  the  pos- 
terity their  history  may  reach.  Unless,  indeed 
— wliich  God  forbid — circumstances  should  so 
favor  as  to  enable  them  to  jiroduce  a  convul- 
sion which  may  elevate  them  higher  on  the 
'•  bad  eminence"  where  they  have  placed 
themselves. 


NEGRO    SLAVERY MR,    CALIIOUN'S    LETTER. 


265 


NEGRO  SLAVERY.  —  Mr.  Calhouk's  '  that  the  policy  on  the  part  of  those  powers 
Letter  to  Ma.  Kixu.  British  Movemk.nts  whicli  would  acquiesce  in  a  measure  so 
IN  Texas;  Heu  Emancii'atidx  Schemes  and  ^  stronj^ly  desired  by  both  the  United  States 
THEIR  Failure;  Her  Policy  i.n  regard  to  and  Texas,  for  their  mutual  welfiire  and 
Slavery.  i  safety,  as  the  annexation  of  the  latter  to  the 

!  former,  would  be  far  more  promotive  of  these 


Department  of  State,      ) 
Waxlihir/t07i,  Aicffttst  12,  1844.  ) 

Sir: — I  have  laid  your  dispatch,  No.  1,  be- 
fore the  President,  who  instructs  me  to  make 
known  to  you  tliat  he  has  read  it  with  plea- 
sure, especially  the  portion  which  relates  to 


fjreat  objects  than  that  which  would  attempt 
to  resist  it. 

It  is  impossible  to  cast  a  look  at  the  map 
of  the  United  States  and  Texas,  and  to  note 
the  Ion?,  artificial,  and  inconvenient  line 
which  divides  them,  and  then  to  take  into 


your  cordial  reception  by  the  king,  and  his  as-  consideration  the  extraordinary  increase  of 
suranceof  friendly  feelings  toward  the  United  ,  population  and  growth  of  the  former,  and  the 
States.  The  President,  in  particular,  highly  !  source  from  which  the  latter  must  derive  its 
appreciates  the  declaration  of  the  king,  that,  injiabitants,  institutions  and  laws,  without 
in  no  event,  would  any  steps  be  taken  by  his  :  coming  to  the  conclusion  that  it  is  their  des- 
government  in  the  slightest  degree  hostile,  or  i  tiny  to  be  united,  and,  of  course,  that  annex- 
which  would  give  to  the  United  States  just  ation  is  merely  a  question  of  time  and  mode. 
cause  of  complaint     It  was  the  more  grati-  j  Thus  regarded,  the   question  to  be  decided 


fying  from  the  fact,  that  our  previous  inform- 
ation was  calculated  to  make  thAmpression 
that  the  government  of  France  was  prepared 


would  seem  to  be,  whether  it  would  not  be 
better  to  permit  it  to  be  done  now,  with  the 
mutual  consent  of  both  parties,  and  the  ac- 


to  unite  with  Great  Britain  in  a  joint  protest .  quiescence  of  these  powers,  than  to  attempt 
against  the  annexation  of  Texas,  and  a  joint  j  to  resist  and  defeat  it.     If  the  former  course 


effort  to  induce  her  government  to  withdraw 
her  proposition  to  annex,  on  condition  that 
Mexico  should  bo  made  to  acknowledge  her 
independence.     He   is  happy  to  infer  from 


be  adopted,  the  certain  fruits  would  be  the 
preservation  of  peace,  great  extension  of  com- 
merce by  the  rapid  settlement  and  improve- 
ment of  Texas,  and  increased  security,  espe- 


your  dispatch,  that  the  information,  as  far  as  '  cially  to  Mexico.     The  last,  in  reference  to 
it   relates   to  France,  is,  in   all   probability,  I  Mexico,  may  be  doubted ;  but  I  hold  it  not 


without  foundation.  You  tiid  not  go  further 
than  you  ought  in  assuring  the  king  that  the 
object  of  annexation  would  be  pursued  with 


less  clear  than  the  other  two. 

It  would  be  a  great  mistake  to  suppose 
that  this  government  has  any  hostile  feelings 


unabated  vigor,  and  in  giving  your  opinion  ,  towards  Mexico,  or  any  disposition  to  aggran 


that  a  decided  majority  of  the  American  peo- 
ple were  in  its  favor,  and  that  it  would  cer- 
tiiinly  be  annexed  at  no  distant  day.  I  feel 
confident  that  your  anticipation  will  be  fully 
realized  at  no  distant  period.  Every  day 
will  tend  to  weaken  that  combination  of  po- 
litical causes  which  led  to  the  opposition  of 
the  measure,  and  to  strengthen  the  conviction 
that  it  was  not  only  expedient,  but  just  and 
necessary. 

You  were  right  in  making  the  distinction 
between  the  interests  of  France  and  England, 
in  reference  to  Texas — or  rather,  I  would 
say,  the  apparent  interests  of  the  two  coun- 
tries. France  cannot  possibly  have  any  other 
than  commercial  interest  in  desiring  to  see 
her   presei-ve    her    separate    independence ; 


dize   itself  at  her  expense.     The  fact  is  the 
very  reverse. 

It  wishes  her  well,  and  desires  to  see  her 
settled  down  in  peace  and  security;  and  is 
prepared,  in  the  event  of  the  annexation  of 
Texas,  if  not  forced  into  conflict  with  her,  to 
propose  to  settle  with  her  the  question  of 
boundary,  and  all  others  growing  out  of  the 
annexation,  on  the  most  liberal  terms.  Na- 
ture herself  has  clearly  marked  the  boundary 
between  her  and  Texas  by  natural  limits  too 
stroug  to  be  mistaken.  There  are  few  coun- 
tries whose  limits  are  so  distinctly  marked ; 
and  it  would  be  our  desire,  if  Texas  should  be 
united  to  us,  to  see  them  firmly  established, 
as  the  most  certain  means  of  establishing  per- 
manent peace  between  the  two  countries,  and 


while  it  is  certain  that  England  looks  beyond  j  strengthening  and  cementing  their  friendship, 
to  political  interests,  to  which  she  apparently  Such  would  be  the  certain  consequence  of  per- 
attaches  much  importance.  But,  in  our  mitting  the  annexation  to  take  place  now, 
opinion,  the  interest  of  both  against  the  mea-  with  the  acquiescence  of  Mexico;  but  very 
sure  is  more  apparent  than  real ;  and  that  different  would  be  the  case  if  it  should  be 
neither  France,   England,  nor   even   Mexico  ;  attempted  to  resist  and  defeat  it,  whether  the 


herself,  has  any  in  opposition  to  it,  when  the 
subject  is  fairly  viewed  and  considered  in  its 
whole  extent  and  in  all  its  bearings.  Thus 
viewed  and  considered,  and  assuming  that 
peace,  the  extension  of  commerce,  and  secu- 
rity, are  objects  of  primary  policy  witli  them, 
it  may,  as  it  seems  to  me,  be  readily  shown 


attempt  should  be  successful  for  the  present 
or  not.  Any  attempt  of  the  kind  would,  not 
improbably,  lead  to  a  conflict  between  us  and 
Mexico,  and  involve  consequences,  in  reference 
to  her  and  the  general  peace,  long  to  be  de- 
plored on  all  sides,  and  difiicult  to  be  repaired. 
But  skould  that  not  be  the  case,  and  the  in- 


266 


NEGRO    SLA\-ERV MR.    CALHOUn's    LETTER. 


terference  of  another  power  defeat  the  annex- 
ation for  the  present,  without  the  interruption 
of  peace,  it  would  but  postpone  the  conflict, 
and  render  it  more  fierce  and  bloody  whenever 
it  might  occur.  Its  defeat  would  be  attributed 
to  enmity  and  ambition  on  the  part  of  tliat 
power  by  whose  interference  it  was  occasioned, 
and  excite  deep  jealousy  and  resentment  on 
the  part  of  our  people,  who  would  be  ready 
to  seize  the  first  favorable  opportunity  to 
effect  by  force,  wliat  was  prevented  from 
being  done  peaceably  by  mutual  consent.  It 
is  not  diflicult  to  see  how  greatly  such  a  con- 
flict, come  when  it  might,  would  endanger  the 
general  peace,  and  how  much  Mexico  might 
be  the  loser  by  it. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  condition  of  Texas 
would  be  rendered  uncertain,  her  settlement 
and  prosperity  in  consequence  retarded,  and 
her  commerce  crijjpled,  while  tlie  general 
peace  would  be  rendered  much  more  inse- 
cure. It  could  not  but  greatly  affect  us.  If 
the  annexation  of  Texas  should  bo  permitted 
to  take  place  peaceably  now,  (as  it  would, 
without  the  interference  of  other  powers,)  the 
energies  of  om-  people  would,  for  a  long  time 
to  come,  be  directed  to  the  peaceable  pursuits 
of  redeeming,  and  bringing  within  the  pale  of 
cultivation,  improvements  and  civilization, 
that  large  portion  of  the  continent  lying  be- 
tween Mexico  on  one  side,  and  the  British 
possessions  on  the  other,  which  is  now,  with 
little  exception,  a  wilderness  with  a  sparse 
population,  consisting,  for  the  most  part,  of 
wandering  Indian  tribes. 

It  is  our  destiny  to  occupy  that  vast  region  ; 
to  intersect  it  with  roads  and  canals ;  to  fill  it 
with  cities,  towns,  villages  and  farms ;  to  ex- 
tend over  it  our  religion,  customs,  constitution 
and  laws;  and  to  present  it  as  a  peaceful  and 
splendid  addition  to  the  domains  of  commerce 
and  civilization.  It  is  our  jiolicy  to  increase, 
by  growing  and  spreading  out  into  unoccu- 
pied regions,  assimilating  all  we  incorporate: 
in  a  word,  to  increase  by  accretion,  and  not, 
through  conquest,  by  the  addition  of  masses 
held  together  by  the  cohesion  of  force.  No 
system  can  be  more  unsuited  to  the  latter 
process,  or  better  adapted  to  the  former,  than 
our  admirable  federal  system.  If  it  should 
not  be  resisted  in  its  course,  it  will  probably 
fulfil  its  destiny  without  disturbing  our 
neighbors,  or  putting  in  jeopardy  the  general 
peace  ;  but  if  it  be  opposed  by  foreign  inter- 
ference, a  new  direction  would  be  given  to 
our  energy,  much  less  favorable  to  harmony 
with  our  neighbors,  and  to  the  general  peace 
of  the  world. 

The  change  would  be  undesirable  to  us, 
and  much  less  in  accordance  with  what  I 
have  assumed  to  be  primary  objects  of  j)i)licy 
on  the  part  of  France,  England,  and  Mexico. 

But,  to  descend  to  particulars:  it  is  certain 
that  while  England,  like  France,  desires  the 
independence  of  Texas,  with  the  view  to  com- 


mercial connections ;  it  is  not  less  so,  that  one 
of  the  leading  motives  of  England  for  desiring 
it  is  the  hope  that,  through  her  diplomacy 
and  influence,  lU'gro  slavery  may  be  abolished 
there,  and  ultimately,  by  consequence,  in  the 
United  States,  and  throughout  the  whole  of 
this  continent.  J'hat  its  ultimate  abolition 
throughout  the  entire  continent  is  an  object 
ai"dently  desired  by  her,  we  have  decisive 
proof  in  the  declaration  of  the  Earl  of  Aber- 
deen, delivered  to  this  department,  and  of 
which  you  will  find  a  copy  among  the  docu- 
ments transmitted  to  Congress  with  the  Texan 
treaty.  That  she  desires  its  abolition  in  Texas, 
and  has  used  her  influence  and  diplomacy  to 
effect  it  there,  tlie  same  document,  with  the 
correspondence  of  this  department  with  Mr. 
Pakenham,  also  to  be  found  among  the  docu- 
ments, furnishes  proof  not  less  conclusive. 
That  one  of  the  objects  of  abolishing  it  there 
is  to  facili^te  its  abolition  in  the  Uuiied 
States,  anclTliroughout  the  continent,  is  mani- 
fest from  the  declaration  of  the  abolition 
party  and  societies,  both  in  this  country  and  in 
England.  In  fact,  there  is  good  reason  to 
believe  that  the  scheme  of  abolishing  it  in 
Texas,  with  the  view  to  its  aboUtion  in  the 
United  States  and  over  the  continent,  origin- 
ated with  the  prominent  members  of  the 
party  in  the  United  States;  and  was  first 
broached  by  them  in  the  (so  called)  World's 
Convention,  held  in  London  in  the  year  1S40, 
and  through  its  agency  brought  to  the  notice 
of  the  British  government. 

Now,  I  hold,  not  only  that  France  can  have 
no  interest  in  the  consummation  of  this  grand 
scheme,  which  England  ho[)es  to  accomplish 
through  Texas,  if  she  can  defeat  the  annex- 
ation ;  but  that  her  interest,  and  those  of  all 
the  continental  powers  of  Europe,  are  directly 
and  deeply  opposed  to  it. 

It  is  too  late  in  the  day  to  contend  that 
humanity  or  pliilanthro[)y  is  the  great  object 
of  the  policy  of  England  in  attempting  to 
abolish  African  slavery  on  this  continent.  I 
do  not  question  but  humanity  m.ay  have  been  . 
one  of  her  leading  motives  for  the  abolition  of  \ 
the  African  slave  trade,  and  that  it  may  have 
had  a  considerable  influence  in  abolishing 
slavery  in  her  West  India  possessions — aided, 
indeed,  by  the  fallacious  calculation  that  the 
labor  of  the  negroes  would  be  at  least  as  pro- 
fitable, if  not  more  so,  in  consequence  of  the 
measure.  She  acted  on  the  principle  that 
tropical  products  can  be  produced  cluaper  by 
free  African  labor  and  East  India  labor,  than 
by  slave  labor.  She  knew  full  well  the  value 
of  such  products  to  her  commerce,  navigation, 
navy,  manufactures,  revenue  ami  power.  She 
was  not  ignorant  that  the  support  and  the 
maintenance  of  her  political  preponderance 
depended  on  her  tropical  possessions,  and  had 
no  intention  of  dimiuishiug  their  productive- 
ness, nor  any  anticipation  that  such  would  be 
the  effect  when  the  scheme  of  abolishing 


KECtRO    slavery MR.    CALHOUN  S   LETTER. 


26T 


slavery  in  her  colonial  possessions  was 
adopted.  On  the  contrary,  she  calculated  to 
combine  philanthropy  with  profit  and  power, 
as  is  not  uinisual  with  fanaticism.  Experi- 
ence has  convinced  iier  of  tlie  fallacy  of  her 
calculations.  She  has  failed  in  all  her  objects. 
Tlie  labor  of  her  negroes  lias  proved  far  less 
productive,  without  affording  the  consolation 
of  having  improved  their  condition. 

Tlie  experiment  has  turned  out  to  be  a 
costly  one.  She  expended  nearly  one  hun- 
dred millions  of  dollars  in  indemnifying  the 
owners  of  the  emancipated  slaves.  It  is  esti- 
mated that  the  increased  price  paid  since,  by 
the  people  of  Great  Britain,  for  sugar  and 
other  tropical  productions,  in  consequence  of 
the  measure,  is  equal  to  half  that  sum ;  and 
that  twice  that  amount  has  been  expended  in 
the  suppression  of  the  slave  trade;  making, 
together,  two  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of 
dollars  as  the  cost  of  the  experiment.  Instead 
of  realizing  her  hope,  the  result  has  been  a 
Bad  disappointment.  Her  tropical  products 
have  fallen  off  to  a  vast  amount.  Instead  of 
supplying  her  own  wants  and  those  of  nearly 
all  Europe  with  them,  as  formerly,  she  has 
now,  in  some  of  the  most  important  articles, 
scarcely  enough  to  supply  her  owii.  What 
is  worse,  her  own  colonies  are  actually  con- 
suming sugar  produced  by  slave  labor, 
brought  direct  to  England,  or  refined  in  bond, 
and  exported  and  sold  in  her  colonies  as  cheap 
or  cheaper  than  they  can  be  produced  there ; 
while  the  slave  trade,  instead  of  diminishing, 
has  been  in  fiict  carried  on  to  a  greater  extent 
than  ever.  So  disastrous  has  been  the  result, 
that  lier  fixed  capital  vested  in  tropical  pos- 
sessions, estimated  at  the  value  of  nearly  five 
hundred  millions  of  dollars,  is  said  to  stand  on 
the  brink  of  ruin. 

But  this  is  not  the  worst.  While  this  costly 
Bcheme  has  had  such  ruinous  effects  on  the 
tropical  productions  of  Great  Britain,  it  has 
given  a  powerful  stimulus,  followed  by  a  cor- 
responding increase  of  products,  to  those 
countries  which  have  had  the  good  sense  to 
shun  her  example.  There  has  been  vested,  it 
is  estimated  by  them,  in  the  production  of 
tropical  products,  since  1808,  infixed  capital, 
nearly  .$4,000,000,000,  wholly  dependent  on 
slave  labor.  In  the  same  period,  the  valne 
of  their  products  has  been  estimated  to  have 
risen  from  about  $72,000,000  annually,  to 
nearly  .$220,000,000 ;  while  the  whole  of  the 
fixed  capital  of  Great  Britain,  vested  in  culti- 
vating tropical  products,  both  in  the  East  and 
West  Indies,  is  estimated  at  only  about 
§830,000,000,  and  the  value  of  the  products 
annually  at  about  §50,000,000.  To  present 
a  still  more  striking  view  of  three  articles  of 
tropical  products,  (sugar,  coffee,  and  cotton,) 
the  British  possessions,  including  the  West 
and  East  Indies,  and  Mauritius,  produced,  in 
1812,  of  sugar,  only  8,993,'771  pounds  ;  while 
Cuba,    Brazil,  and    the    United  States,  ex- 


cluding other  countries  having  tropical  pos- 
sessions, produced  0,600,000  pounds;  of  coffee, 
the  British  possessions  produced  only  27,393,- 
003,  while  Cuba  and  Brazil  produced  201,- 
590,125  pounds;  and  of  cotton,  the  Briti.sh 
possessions, including  shipments  to  China,  only 
137,443,446  pounds,  while  the  United  States 
alone  produced  790,479,275  pounds. 

The  above  facts  and  estimates  have  all 
been  drawn  from  a  British  periodical  of  high 
standing  and  authority,*  and  are  beheved  to 
be  entitled  to  credit. 

This  vast  increase  of  the  capital  and  pro- 
duction on  the  part  of  those-  nations  who  have 
continued  their  former  policy  toward  the 
negro  race,  compared  with  that  of  Great 
Britain,  indicates  a  corresponding  relative  in- 
crease of  the  means  of  commerce,  navigation, 
manufactures,  wealth  and  power.  It  is  no 
longer  a  question  of  doubt,  that  the  great 
source  of  the  wealth,  prosperity,  and  power 
bf  the  more  civilized  nations  of  the  temperate 
zone,  (especially  Europe,  where  the  arts  have 
made  the  greatest  advance,)  depends,  in  a 
great  degree,  on  the  exchange  of  their  pro- 
ducts with  those  of  the  tropical  regions.  So 
gi'eat  has  been  the  advance  made  in  the  arts, 
both  chemical  and  mechanical,  within  the  few 
last  generations,  that  all  the  old  civilized 
nations  can,  with  but  a  email  part  of  then* 
labor  and  capital,  supply  their  respective 
wants;  which  tends  to  limit  within  narrow 
bounds  the  amount  of  the  commerce  between 
them,  and  forces  them  all  to  seek  for  markets 
in  the  tropical  regions,  and  the  more  newly 
settled  portions  of  the  globe.  Those  who  can- 
best  succeed  in  commanding  those  markets, 
have  the  best  prospect  of  outstripping  the 
others  in  the  career  of  commerce,  navigation, 
manufactures,  wealth  and  power. 

This  is  seen  and  felt  by  British  statesmen, 
and  has  opened  their  eyes  to  the  errors  which 
they  have  committed.  The  question  now 
with  them  is,  how  shall  it  be  counteracted  ? 
What  has  been  done  cannot  be  undone.  The 
question  is,  by  what  means  can  Great  Britain 
regain  and  keep  a  superiority  in  tropical  cul- 
tivation, commerce  and  influence  ?  Or,  shall 
that  be  abandoned,  and  other  nations  be  suf- 
fered to  acquire  the  supremacy,  even  to  the 
extent  of  supplying  British  markets,  to  the 
destruction  of  the  capital  already  vested  in 
their  production?  These  are  the  questions 
which  now  profoundly  occupy  the  attention 
of  her  statesmen,  and  have  the  greatest  in- 
fluence over  her  councils. 

In  order  to  regain  her  superiority,  she  not 
only  seeks  to  revive  and  increase  her  own 
capacity  to  produce  tropical  productions,  but 
to  diminish  and  destroy  tlie  capacity  of  those 
who  have  so  far  outstripped  her  in  conse- 
quence of  her  error.  In  pursuit  of  the  former, 
she  has  cast  her  eyes  to  her  East  India  pos- 


Blackwood's  Magazine,  for  June,  1844. 


268 


XEGRO    SLAVERY MR.    CALIIOUx's    LETTER. 


sessions — to  central  and  eastern  Africa — with 
the  view  of  establishing  colonies  there,  and 
even  to  restore,  substantially,  the  slave  trade 
inself,  under  the  specious  name  of  transport- 
ing free  laborers  from  Africa  to  her  West 
India  possessions,  in  order,  if  possible,  to  com- 
pete successfully  with  those  who  have  refused 
to  follow  her  suicidal  poHcy.  But  these  all 
aflford  but  uncertain  and  distant  hopes  of  re- 
covering her  lost  superiority.  Her  main  re- 
liance is  on  the  other  alternative — to  cripple 
or  destroy  the  productions  of  her  successlul 
rivals.  There  is  but  one  waj"^  by  wliich  it  can 
be  done,  and  tliat  is  by  abolishing  African 
slavery  throughout  this  continent;  and  that 
she  openly  avows  to  be  the  constant  object  of 
her  policy  and  exertions.  It  matters  not 
how,  or  from  what  motive,  it  may  be  done : 
whether  it  may  be  by  diplomacy,  influence  or 
force ;  by  secret  or  open  means  ;  and  whether 
the  motive  be  humane  or  selfish,  without  re- 
gard to  manner,  means  or  motive.  The  thing 
itself,  sliould  it  be  accomplished,  would  put 
down  all  rivalry  and  give  her  the  undisputed 
supremacy  in  supplying  her  own  wants  and 
tliose  of  the  rest  of  the  world ;  and  thereby 
more  than  fully  retrieve  what  .she  has  lost  by 
her  errors.  It  would  give  her  the  monopoly 
of  tropical  productions,  which  I  shall  next 
proceed  to  show. 

What  would  be  the  consequence  if  this  ob- 
ject of  her  unceasing  solicitude  and  exertions 
should  be  effected  by  the  abolition  of  negro 
slavery  throughout  this  continent,  some  idea 
'  may  be  fuvined  from  the  immense  diminution 
of  productions,  as  has  been  shown, 'which  has 
followed  abolition  in  her  West  India  posses- 
sions. But,  as  great  as  that  has  been,  it  is 
nothing  compared  to  what  would  be  the  ef- 
fect if  she  should  succeed  in  abolishing  slave- 
ry in  the  United  States,  Cuba,  Brazil,  and 
throughout  this  continent.  The  experiment 
in  her  own  colonies  was  made  under  the  most 
favorable  circumstances.  It  was  brought 
about  gradually  and  peaceably,  by  the  steady 
and  firm  operation  of  the  parent  country, 
armed  witli  complete  power  to  prevent  or 
crush  at  once  all  insurrectionary  movements 
on  the  part  of  the  negroes,  and  able  and  dis- 
posed to  maintain  to  the  full  the  political  and 
social  ascendency  of  the  former  masters  over 
their  former  slaves.  It  is  not  at  all  wonder- 
ful that  the  change  of  the  relations  of  master 
and  slave  took  place,  under  such  circum- 
stances, without  violence  and  bloodshed,  and 
that  order  and  peace  should  have  been  since 
preserveil.  Very  different  would  be  the  re- 
sult of  abolition,  should  it  be  effectinl  l)y  her 
influence  and  exertions  in  the  possessions  of 
other  countries  on  this  continent,  and  espe- 
cially in  the  United  States,  Cuba,  and  Brazil, 
the  great  cultivators  of  the  principal  tropical 
products  of  America.  To  form  a  correct  con- 
ception of  what  would  be  the  result  witli 
them,  we  must  look  not  to  Jamaica,  but  to  St. 


Domingo,  for  example.  The  change  would  be 
followed  by  unforgiving  hate  between  the 
two  races,  and  end  in  a  bloody  and  deadly 
struggle  between  them  for  the  superiority. 
One  or  the  other  would  have  to  be  subju- 
gated, extirpated,  or  expelled;  and  desolation 
would  overspread  their  territories,  as  in  St. 
Domingo,  from  Avhich  it  would  take  centuries 
to  recover.  The  end  would  be,  that  the  su- 
periority in  cultivating  the  great  tropical  sta- 
ples would  be  transferred  from  them  to  the 
British  tropical  possessions. 

They  are  of  vast  extent,  and  those  beyond 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  possessed  of  an  un- 
limited amount  of  labor,  standing  ready,  by 
the  aid  of  British  capital,  to  supply  the  deficit 
which  would  be  occasioned  by  destroying  the 
tropical  productions  of  the  United  States, 
Cuba,  Brazil,  and  other  countries  cultivated 
by  slave  labor  on  this  continent,  so  soon  as 
the  increased  price,  in  conseqtience,  would 
yield  a  profit.  It  is  the  successful  com- 
petition of  that  labor  which  keeps  the  prices 
of  the  great  tropical  staples  so  low  as  to  pre- 
vent their  cultivation  with  profit  in  the  pos- 
sessions of  Great  Britain,  by  what  she  is 
pleased  to  call  free  labor.  If  she  can  destroy 
its  competition,  she  would  have  a  monopoly 
in  those  productions.  She  has  all  the  means 
of  furnishing  an  unlimited  supply — vast  and 
fertile  possessions  in  both  Indies,  boundless 
command  of  capital  and  labor,  and  ample 
power  to  suppress  disturbances,  and  preserve 
order  throughout  her  wide  domains. 

It  is  unquestionable  that  she  regards  the 
abolition  of  slavery  in  Texas  as  a  most  im- 
portant step  toward  this  great  object  of  poli- 
cy, so  much  the  aim  of  her  solicitude  and  ex- 
ertions ;  and  the  defeat  of  the  annexation  of 
Texas  to  our  Union  as  indispensable  to  the 
abolition  of  slavery  there.  She  is  too  saga- 
cious not  to  see  what  a  fatal  blow  it  would 
give  to  slavery  in  the  United  States,  and  how 
Certainly  its  abolition  with  us  would  abolish 
it  over  the  whole  continent,  and  thereby  give 
her  a  monopoly  in  the  proiluctions  of  the 
great  tropical  staples,  and  the  command  of 
the  commerce,  navigation,  and  manufactures 
of  the  world,  with  an  establi.shed  naval  ascen- 
dency and  political  preponderance.  To  this 
continent  the  blow  would  be  calamitous  be- 
yond description.  It  would  destroy,  in  a 
great  measure,  the  cultivation  and  production 
of  the  great  tropical  staples,  amounting  annu- 
ally in  value  to  nearly  ?3()0,(ioO,o6o — the 
fund  which  stimulates  and  upholds  almost 
every  other  branch  of  its  industry,  commerce, 
navigation,  anil  manufactures.  The  whole,  by 
their  joint  influence,  are  rapidly  spreading 
population,  wealtii,  improvement  and  civili- 
zation over  the  whole  continent,  and  vivifying 
by  their  overflow  the  industry  of  Europe, 
thereby  increasing  its  population,  wealth,  and 
advancement  in  the  arts,  in  power,  and  in 
civilization. 


KEGROES SLAVE  LAWS  OF  THE  SOUTH. 


209 


Such  must  be  the  result,  should  Great  Bri- 
tain succeed  in  accoiuplishiiif;  the  constant 
object  of  lier  desire  and  exertions,  tlie  aboli- 
tion of  negro  slavery  over  this  continent ;  and 
toward  the  effecting  of  which,  sl)e  regards  the 
defeat  of  the  annexation  of  Texas  to  our 
Union  so  important.  Can  it  be  possible  that 
governments  so  enlightened  and  sagacious  as 
those  of  France  ani.1  the  other  great  conti- 
nental powers,  can  be  so  blinded  by  the  plea 
of  philanthropy  as  not  to  see  what  must  in- 
evitably follow,  be  her  motive  what  it  may, 
should  she  succeed  in  her  object?  It  is  little 
short  of  mock<4"y  to  talk  of  philanthropy,  with 
the  examples  before  us  of  the  effects  of  abol- 
ishing negro  shivery  in  her  own  colonies,  in 
St.  Domingo,  and  the  northern  states  of  our 
Union,  where  statistical  facts  not  to  be  shaken 
prove  that  the  freed  negro,  after  the  experi- 
ence of  sixty  years,  is  in  a  far  worse  condition 
than  in  the  other  states,  where  he  has  been 
left  in  his  former  condition.  Now  the  effect 
of  what  is  called  abolition,  where  the  number 
is  few,  is  not  to  raise  the  inferior  race  to  the 
condition  of  freemen,  but  to  deprive  the  negro 
of  the  guardijin  care  of  his  owner,  subject  to 
all  the  depression  and  oppression  belougiug 
to  his  loferior  condition.  But,  on  the  other 
hand,  where  the  number  is  great,  and  bears  a 
large  proportion  to  the  whole  population,  it 
would  be  still  worse.  It  would  be  to  substi- 
tute for  the  existing  relatiou  a  deadly  strife 
between  the  two  races,  to  end  in  the  subjec- 
tion, expulsion  or  extirpation  of  one  or  the 
other;  and  such  would  be  the  case  over  the 
greater  part  of  this  continent  where  negro 
slavery  exists.  It  would  not  end  there,  but 
would  in  all  probability  extend,  by  its  exam- 
ple, the  war  of  races  all  over  South  America, 
including  Mexico,  and  extending  to  the  Indian 
as  well  as  to  the  African  race,  and  make  the 
whole  one  scene  of  blood  and  devastation. 

Dismi.ssing,  then,  the  stale  and  unfounded 
plea  of  philanthropy,  can  it  be  that  France 
and  the  other  great  continental  powers — see- 
ing what  must  be  the  result  of  the  policy 
for  the  accomplishment  of  which  Engl.and  is 
constantly  exerting  herself,  and  that  the  de- 
feat of  the  annexation  of  Texas  is  so  impor- 
tant toward  its  consummation — are  prepared 
to  back  or  countenance  her  in  her  efforts  to 
effect  eithfer  ?  What  possible  motives  can 
they  have  to  favor  her  cherished  policy  ?  Is 
it  not  better  for  them  that  they  should  be 
supplied  with  tropical  products  in  exchange 
for  their  labor,  from  the  United  States,  Brazil, 
Cuba,  and  this  continent  generally,  than  to 
be  dependent  on  one  great  monopolizing  pow- 
er for  tlieir  supplies  ?  Is  it  not  better  they 
should  receive  them  at  the  low  prices  whicli 
competiti'in,  cheaper  means  of  production, 
and  nearness  of  market,  would  furnish  them 
by  the  former,  than  to  give  the  h.igh  prices 
which  monopoly,  dear  labor,  and  great  dis- 
tance from  market  would  impose  ?     Is  it  not 


better  that  their  labor  should  be  exchanged 
with  a  new  continent,  rapidly  increasing  in 
pojnihition  and  the  capacity  of  consuming,  and 
which  would  furnish  in  the  course  of  a  few 
generations  a  market  nearer  to  them,  and  of 
almost  unlimited  extent,  than  with  one  whose 
population  has  long  since  reached  its  growth? 

The  above  contains  those  enlarged  views  of 
policy  which,  it  seems  to  me,  an  enlightened 
European  statesman  ought  to  take,  in  making 
up  his  opinion  on  the  subject  of  the  annexa- 
tion of  Texas,  and  the  grounds,  as  it  may  be 
inferred,  on  which  England  vainly  opposes 
it.  They  certainly  involve  considerations  of 
the  deepest  importance,  and  demanding  the 
greatest  attentioa  Viewed  in  connection 
with  them,  the  question  of  annexation  be- 
comes one  of  the  first  magnitude,  not  only  to 
Texas  and  the  United  States,  but  to  this  con- 
tinent and  Europe.  They  are  presented  that 
you  may  use  them  on  all  .suitable  occasions 
where  you  think  they  may  be  with  effect ;  in 
your  correspondence,  where  it  can  be  done 
with  propriety  or  otherwise.  The  President 
relies  with  confidence  on  your  sagacity,  pru- 
dence and  zeal.  Your  mission  is  one  of  the 
first  magnitude  at  all  times,  but  especially 
now;  and  he  feels  assured  nothing  will  be 
left  undone  on  your  part  to  do  justice  to  the 
country  and  the  government  in  reference  to 
this  great  measure. 

I  have  said  nothing  as  to  your  right  of 
treating  with  Texas  without  consulting  Mexico. 
You  so  fully  understand  the  grounds  on  which 
we  rest  our  right,  and  are  so  familiar  with  all 
the  facts  necessary  to  maintain  them,  that  it 
was  not  thought  necessary  to  add  any  thing 
in  reference  to  it. 

NEGROES. — Slave  L-vws  of  the  South. 
— This  essay,  the  production  of  the  Hon. 
J.  B.  O'Neall  of  South  Carolina,  though  based 
upon  the  slave  sytem  of  that  state,  gives  a 
fair  idea  of  the  system  throughout  the  entire 
south.  Most  of  the  ameliorations  which  are 
proposed  would  have  been  carried  out  long 
ago  but  for  the  officious  and  crazy  influence 
of  the  abolitionists  of  the  north.  Many  "f  the 
states  have  acted  upon  them ;  all  will  if  let 
alone.  There  are  "beams"  enough  in  the 
world  to  remove  before  this  "  mote." — (Ed.) 

Tlie  Status  of  the  Negro,  his  Rights  and 
Disabilit ics. — The  gct,of  1T40,  sec,  l^jjeclflre^ 
all  negroes  and  Indians  (free  Indians  in  amity 
with  this  government,  negroes,  mulattoes,  and 
mestizoes,  who  now  are  free,  excepted)  to  be 
slaves :  the  oft'spring  to  follow  the  condition 
of  the  mother :  and  that  such  slaves  are  chat- 
tels personal. 

Under  this  provision  it  has  been  uniformly 
held,  that  color  is  prima  facie  evidence  that 
the  party  bearing  the  color  of  a  negro,  nuilatto 
or  mestizo,  is  a  slave;  but  the  same  prima 
facie  result  does  not  follow  from  the  Indian 
color. 


270 


NEGROES SLAVE    LAWS    OF    THE    SOUTH. 


Indians,  and  descendants  of  Indians,  are 
regarded  as  free  Indians  in  amity  with  this 
government,  until  the  contrary  be  shown.  In 
the  s-econd  proviso  of  sec.  1,  of  the  act  of 
1740,  it  is  declared,  that  "  every  negro,  In- 
dian, mulatto  and  mestizo,  is  a  slave,  unless 
the  contrary  can  be  made  to  appear;"  yet, 
in  the  same  it  is  immediately  thereafter  pro- 
vided— "  the  Indians  in  amity  with  this  gov- 
ernment excepted,  in  which  case  the  burden 
of  proof  shall  lie  on  the  defendant,"  that  is, 
on  the  person  claiming  the  Indian  plaintiff  to 
be  a  slave.  This  latter  clause  of  the  proviso 
is  now  regarded  as  furnishing  the  rule.  The 
race  of  slave  Indians,  or  of  Indians  not  in  am- 
ity to  this  government,  (the  state,)  is  extinct, 
and  hence  the  previous  part  of  the  proviso 
has  no  application. 

The  term  negro  is  confined  to  slave  Afri- 
cans (the  ancient  Berbers)  and  their  descend- 
ants. It  does  not  embrace  the  free  inhabit- 
ants of  Africa,  such  as  the  Egyptians,  Moors, 
or  the  negro  Asiatics,  such  as  the  Lascars. 

Mulatto  is  the  issue  of  the  white  and  the 
negro. 

When  the  mulatto  ceases,  and  a  party  bear- 
ing some  slight  taint  of  (he  African  blood 
ranks  as  white,  is  a  question  for  the  solution 
of  a  jury. 

Whenever  the  African  taint  is  so  far  re- 
moved, that  upnu  inspection,  a  party  may  be 
fairly  pronounced  to  be  white,  and  such  has 
been  his  or  her  previous  reception  into  soci- 
ety, and  enjoyment  of  the  privileges  usually 
enjoyed  by  white  people,  the  jury  may  rate 
and  regard  the  party  as  white. 

^o  specitic  rule,  as  to  the  quantity  of  negro 
blood  which  will  compel  a  jury  to  find  one  to 
be  a  mulatto,  has  ever  been  adopted.  ]5e- 
tween  one  quarter  and  one  eighth  seems  fairly 
to  be  debatable  ground.  When  the  blood  is 
reduced  to,  or  below  one  eighth,  the  jury 
ought  always  to  find  the  party  wldte.  AVhen 
the  blood  is  one  quarter  or  more  African,  the 
jury  must  find  the  party  a  mulatto. 

The  question  of  color,  and  of  course  of 
caste,  arises  in  various  ways;  and  may,  in 
some  cases,  be  decided  without  the  interven- 
tion of  a  jury.  As  when  a  party  is  convicted 
and  brought  up  for  sentence,  or  a  witness  on 
the  stand  objected  to  as  a  free  negro,  mulatto, 
or  mestizo,  in  these  cases,  if  the  color  be  so 
obvious  that  there  can  be  no  mistake  about  it, 
the  judge  may  refuse  to  sentetice,  or  may  ex- 
clude the  witness;  still,  if  the  party,  against 
whose  color  the  decision  may  be  maile,  should 
claim  to  have  the  question  tried  by  a  jury,  it 
must,  I  apprehend,  be  so  tried. 

There  are  three  classes  of  cases,  in  which 
the  question  of  color,  and  of  course,  of  caste, 
most  commonly  occurs.  Ist.  Prohibition  against 
inferior  courts,  or  the  tax  collector.  !2d.  Ob- 
jections to  witnesses  offered  to  testify  in  the 
superior  courts.      ;)d.  Actions  of  slander  for 


words  charging  the  plaintiff  with  being  a  mu 
latto. 

In  the  first  class,  free  negroes,  mulattoes, 
and  mestizoes,  are  liable  to  be  tried  for  all 
offenses,  by  a  magistrate  and  five  freeholders, 
(e.xcept  in  Charleston,  where  two  magistrate  8 
must  sit,)  and  of  course,  any  person  claiming 
to  be  white,  (over  whom,  if  that  be  true,  they 
have  no  jurisdiction,)  charged  before  them 
criminally,  may  object  to  their  jurisdiction, 
and  if  they  persist  in  trying  him  or  her,  may 
apply  for,  and  on  making  good  the  allesjatioD, 
is  entitled  to  have  the  writ  of  prohibition. 
It  seems  if  the  party  submit  to  have  the 
question  of  jurisdiction  tried  by  the  inferior 
court,  he  will  be  concluded. 

The  writ  of  prohihition  is  generally  grant- 
ed, nisi,  on  a  suggestion  sworn  to  by  the  re- 
lator, by  any  judge  at  chambers,  on  notice 
being  given  to  the  court  claiming  jurisdiction; 
but  if  the  fict  be  uncontroverted,  or  so  plain 
as  not  to  admit  of  doubt,  that  the  relator  is 
white,  the  judge  may  at  once  gi"ant  an  abso- 
lute prohibition.  Generally,  however,  an  is- 
sue is  ordered  to  be  made  up  on  granting  the 
prohibition,  nisi,  in  which  the  relator  is  plain- 
tiff, and  on  the  jury  finding  the  relator  to  be 
a  free  white  person,  the  prohibition  is  made 
absolute. 

In  this  class,  too,  the  tax  collectors  frequent- 
ly issue  tax  executions  for  capitation  taxes, 
against  persons  whom  they  suppose  to  be 
free  negroes,  mulattoes,  or  mestizoes,  ("  free 
persons  of  color,"  as  they  are  sometimes  loose- 
ly called.)  If  the  person  or  persons  against 
whom  they  be  issued  be  not  liable  to  the 
tax,  they  may,  on  a  suggestion,  move  for, 
and  have  the  writ  of  prohibition. 

In  such  cases,  where,  from  tlie  affidavits  ac- 
ctmipanying  the  suggestion,  it  appears  that 
the  relator  or  relators  has  or  have  been  re- 
ceived in  society  as  white,  and  has  or  have 
enjoyed  the  privileges  of  a  white  person,  or 
of  white  people,  I  have  uniformly  made  the 
order  for  prohibition  to  become  absolute,  if 
tlie  tax  collector  did  not  within  a  given  time 
file  his  suggestions  contesting  the  status  of 
the  relator  or  relators.  This  course  has  been 
adopted,  because  the  tax  collector  has  no  juris- 
diction over  the  person  of  the  relator,  and  has 
no  judicial  authority  whatever  to  decide  the 
question  of  caste.  His  execution  is -predicated 
of  an  assumed  fact.  He  is,  therefore,  bound 
to  make  that  good,  before  he  can  collect  the 
tax.  This  course  has  been  found  extremely 
convenient,  as  it  has  cut  off  an  immense 
amount  of  litigation.  For,  generally,  the  tax 
collectors  exercise  a  sountl  and  honest  discre- 
tion, in  pursuing  only  those  cases  where  there 
seems  to  be  no  room  to  doubt  the  degraded 
caste  of  the  relator  or  relators. 

Where,  however,  there  is  to  be  a  question 
as  to  the  color  of  the  rtdator  or  relators,  the 
court  may,  in  its  discretion,  cast  the  burden 


NEGROES SLAVE    LAWS    OF    THE    SOUTH. 


271 


of  proof  on  the  tax  collector,  or  the  relator. 
Generally,  I  think,  it  should  be  cast  on  the 
tax  collector,  as  his  execution  is  the  first  alle- 
gation of  the  color  of  the  relator.  As  the 
issue  iiiaj'  result,  the  writ  of  prohibition  is 
made  absolute  or  dissolved. 

lu  all  the  cases  of  the  first  class,  the  de- 
cision is  conclusive ;  in  all  subsequent  cases, 
civil  or  criminal.  For  the  prohibition  is  in 
the  nature  of  a  criminal  proceeding,  operating 
in  rem,  and  binds  not  only  the  parties,  but 
also  all  the  people  of  the  commonwealth.  So 
it  seems,  that  any  decision  made  in  favor  of 
the  caste  of  the  relator,  as  white,  may  be 
given  in  evidence  in  his  favor. 

In  the  second  class,  the  objection  to  the 
competency  of  the  witness  makes  the  issue 
collateral,  and  it  is  tried  instanter,  without 
any  formal  issue  being  made  up,  and  the 
finding  is  upon  the  record  on  trial.  The  ver- 
dict, in  such  a  case,  concludes  nothing  beyond 
the  question  of  competency  in  that  case.  It, 
however,  might  be  given  in  evidence  for  or 
against  the  witness,  not  as  conclusive,  but  as 
a  circumstance  having  weight  in  settling  the 
question  of  status,  in  all  other  cases. 

In  the  third  class,  where  jurisdiction  is 
pleaded  and  found,  it  would  seem  to  forever 
conclude  the  plaintiff  from  re-agitating  the 
question.  But,  where  the  defense  is  as  usual, 
that  the  defendant  had  good  reason  to  sus- 
pect and  believe  that  the  plaintiff  was,  as  he 
alleged,  a  mulatlo,  in  such  case,  a  finding  of 
nominal  damages  sustains  the  defense,  yet  it 
concludes  not  the  plaintiff  from  afterward 
averring  and  proving  that  he  was  white. 

Free  Indians  and  their  descendants,  unmix- 
ed by  African  blood,  are  entitled  to  all  the 
privileges  of  white  men,  except  that  of  suf- 
frage and  office.  The  former,  and  of  conse- 
quence the  latter,  has  been  denied  to  a  pure 
Indian,  living  among  the  whites.  The  fore- 
going principle,  resulting  ii-om  the  case  cited 
in  the  margin,  is,  I  am  persuaded,  wrong.  The 
term  white,  ("  free  white  man,")  used  in  our 
constitution,  is  comparative  merely:  it  was 
intended  to  be  used  in  opposition  to  the  colors 
resulting  from  the  slave  blood.  The  case 
should  be  reviewed,  and  I  trust  the  decision 
will  be  reversed  ;  for  the  case  in  which  it  was 
made  will  always  condeinu  it.  The  relator, 
the  Rev.  John  Mush,  was  an  Indian,  of  the 
Pawmuuki  tribe  of  Indians,  in  Virginia;  he 
was  a  soldier  of  the  revolution;  he  had  as 
such  taken  the  oath  of  allegiance.  He  was 
sent  out  as  a  missionary  to  the  Catawbas.  He, 
however,  did  not  reside  among  them ;  he  lived 
among  the  white  inhabitants  of  York  Dis- 
trict, where  he  had  resided  for  many  years. 
He  was  a  man  of  unexceptionable  character. 
Yet,  strange  to  say,  he  was  held  not  to  be  en- 
titled to  vote.  If  that  decision  be  right,  how 
long  is  the  objection  to  prevail?  When  is 
the  descendant  of  an  Indian  to  be  regarded 
as  white  i    Is  it,  that  he  is  not  to  be  so  re- 


garded, until  a  jury  shall  find  him  to  be 
white,  on  account  of  the  great  preponderance 
of  the  white  blood  ?  But  the  Indian  blood, 
like  that  of  the  white,  is  the  blood  of  free- 
dom; there  is  nothing  degrading  in  it;  and 
hence,  therefore,  the  Indian  and  his  descend- 
ants may  well  claim  to  be  white  within  the 
legal  meaning  of  our  constitution. 

A  mestizo  is  the  issue  of  a  negi'o  and  an 
Indian,  and  is  subject  to  all  the  disabilities  of 
a  free  negro  and  mulatto. 

The  burden  of  proof  of  freedom  rests  upon 
the  negro,  mulatto,  or  mestizo,  claiming  to  be 
free. 

Under  the  act  of  1740,  Isfc  sec,  1st  pro- 
viso, and  the  act  of  1799,  it  is  provided,  if 
any  negro,  mulatto  or  mestizo  shall  claim  his 
or  her  freedom,  he  may,  on  application  to  the 
clerk  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  of  the 
District,  have  a  guardian  appointed,  who  ia.-*** 
authorized  to  bring  an  action  of  trespass,  in 
the  nature  of  ravishment  of  ward,  against  any 
person  claiming  property  in  the  said  negro.  ^^- 
mulatto  or  mestizo,  or  having  possession  of 
the  same  ;  in  which  action  the  general  issue 
may  be  pleaded,  and  the  special  circumstan- 
ces given  in  evidence ;  and  upon  a  general  or 
special  verdict  found,  judgment  shall  be  given 
according  to  the  very  right  of  the  case,  without 
any  regard  to  defects  in  the  proceeding,  in  form 
or  subtance.  In  such  case,  if  the  verdict  be 
that  the  ward  of  the  plaintiff  is  free,  a  special 
entry  shall  be  made  declaring  him  to  be  free ; 
and  the  jury  is  authorized  to  assesy  damages 
which  the  plaintiff's  ward  may  have  sustain- 
ed, and  the  court  is  directed  to  give  judgment, 
and  award  execution  for  the  damages  and 
cost;  but  if  judgment  is  given  for  the  defend- 
ant, then  the  court  is  authorized  to  inflict 
corporal  punishment  on  the  ward  of  the  plain- 
tiff, not  extending  tp  life  or  limb.  Under  the 
second  section  of  the  act  of  1740,  it  is  pro- 
vided, that  the  defendant  in  such  action  shall 
enter  into  a  recognizance  with  one  or  more 
sufficient  sureties  to  the  plaintiff,  in  such 
sum  as  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  may  di- 
rect, conditioned  to  produce  the  ward  of  the 
plaintiff',  at  all  times  when  required  by  the 
court,  and  that  while  the  action  or  suit  is 
pending,  he  shaU  not  be  eloigned,  abused  or 
misused. 

Under  the  Ist  proviso,  the  action  of  *tres- 
pass  in  the  nature  of  ravishment  of  ward,  ia 
an  action  sounding  altogether  in  damages. 
The  finding  for  the  plaintiff  is  altogether  of 
damages,  which  may  be  made  up  of  the  value 
of  the  seivices  of  the  plaintiff's  ward,  and 
recompense  for  any  abuse  or  injury  which  he 
may  sustain.  For  such  damages  and  the 
costs,  the  judgment  is  entered  up,  and  execu- 
tion issues. 

Under  the  act,  the  court  is  authorized,  on 
such  finding  for  the  plaintiff,  to  make  a  special 
entry,  that  the  ward  of  the  plaintiff"  is  free. 
This  entiy  ought  to  recite  the  action,  the 


272 


NEGROES SLAVE    LAWS    OF    THE    SOUTH. 


finding  of  the  jury,  and  tlien  should  follow  the 
order  of  the  court,  that  the  plaintiff's  ward  is 
free,  and  that  he  be  discharged  from  the 
service  of  the  defendant.  This  chould  be 
spread  on  the  minutes  of  the  court.  This  en- 
try is,  it  eecms,  evidence  of  the  freedom  of  tlie 
plaintiff's  ward  in  all  other  cases,  and  against 
all  other  persons.  It  is  onlj^  conclusive,  how- 
ever, against  the  defendant ;  against  all  otlier 
persons,  it  is  prfw/a /ffc/e  merely.  Under  the 
2d  section,  the  proceeding  is  by  petition,  set- 
ting out  the  action  brought  to  recover  tlie 
freedom  of  the  negro,  the  jjossession  by  the 
defendant,  with  a  prayer  that  tlie  defendant 
enter  into  the  recognizance  required  by  law. 
If  this  order  be  disobeyed,  the  defendant 
may  be  attached  for  a  contempt,  until  it  be 
obeyed;  or  it  may  be  in  analogy  to  the  de- 
cision under  the  Trover  Act,  that  the  sheriff 
might  arrest  the  defendant  under  the  order, 
and  keep  hira  in  custody  until  he  entered  into 
the  recognizance.  I  never  knew  the  order 
made  but  once,  and  that  was  in  the  case  of 
Sjjear  ind  Galbreath,  guardians  of  Charles, 
vs.  Rice. — Harp.  20.  In  that  case,  the  order 
was  complied  with  by  the  defendant  on  notice 
of  it. 

The  evidence  of  freedom  is  as  various  as 
the  cases. 

Proof  that  a  negro  has  been  suffered  to  live 
in  a  community  for  years  as  a  freeman,  is 
prima  facie  proof  of  freedom. 

If,  b(?S^-e  the  act  of  1820,  a  negro  was  at 
large,  wi^oiit  an  owner,  and  acting  as  a  free- 
man for  twtoty  years,  the  court  would  pre- 
sume omnia  eki^  rita  acta,  and  every  muni- 
ment necessary  lo  give  effect  to  freedom  to 
have  been  properl^J^xecuted. 

This  rule  applies \]so,  when  freedom  has 
been  begun  to  be  enjVed  before  tlie  act  of 
1820,  and- the  twenty  "jN^rs  are  completed 
after. 

Before  the  act  of  1800,  (hereafter  to  be 
adverted  to,)  any  thing  which  showed  tliat 
the  owner  had  deliberately  parted  with  his 
property,  and  dissolved  the  vinculum  servitii, 
wag^^iough  to  establish  freedom, 
"r^he  validity  of  freedom  depends  upon  the 
law  of  the  place  wliere  it  begins.  Hence, 
when  slaves  liave  been  manumitted  in  other 
statf^s,  and  are  found  in  thi-^  state,  their  free- 
dom fierc  will  depend  on  the  validity  of  the 
munuiiii-sioii  at  the  place  whence  they  came. 
By  the  7th,  8th  and  'Jth  sections  of  the  act 
of  1800,  it  was  ])rovided,  that  emancipation 
could  only  take  effect  by  deed  ;  that  the  own- 
er intending  to  emancipate  a  slave  should, 
with  the  slave,  appear  i)efore  a  justice  of  the 
quorum  and  five  freeholders  of  the  vicinage, 
and  upon  oath,  answer  all  such  questions  as 
they  might  ask  touching  the  character  and 
capability  of  the  slave  to  gain  a  livelihood  in 
an  lionest  way.  And  if,  upoti  such  examina- 
tion, it  ajipeared  to  them  the  slave  \vas  not  of 
bad  character,  and  was  capable  of  gaining  a 


livelihood  in  an  honest  way,  they  were  direct- 
ed to  endorse  a  certificate  upon  the  deed  to 
that  effect ;  and  upon  the  said  deed  and  cer- 
tificate being  recorded  in  the  clerk's  office, 
within  six  months  from  the  execution,  the 
emancipation  was  declared  to  be  legal  and 
valid,  otherwise,  that  it  was  void.  The  per- 
son emancipating  was  directed  by  the  8tb 
section,  to  deliver  to  the  slave  a  copy  of  the 
deed  of  emancipation,  attested  by  the  clerk, 
within  ten  days  after  such  deed  shall  have 
been  executed. 

The  pc-rson  emancipating,  neglecting  or  re- 
fusing to  deliver  such  copy,  was,  by  the  9th 
section,  declared  to  be  liable  to  a  fine  of  ^50, 
with  costs,  to  be  recovered  by  any  one  who 
shall  sue  for  the  same. 

It  was  also  provided  by  the  9tli  section, 
that  a  slave  emancipated  contrary  to  this  act, 
may  be  seized,  and  made  property  by  any 
one. 

It  was  held,  for  a  long  time,  that  when  a 
will  directed  slaves  to  be  free,  or  to  be  set 
free,  that  they  were  liable  to  seizure,  as  ille- 
gally emancipated.  But  the  cases  of  Lenoir 
vs.  Sylvester,  and  Young  vs.  the  same,  put 
that  matter  right.  In  them,  it  was  held  that 
a  bequest  of  freedom  was  not  void  under  the 
act  of  1800;  that  it  could  have  no  effect  until 
the  executor  assented ;  that  when  he  did  as- 
sent, it  was  his  duty  to  so  assent  as  to  give 
legal  effect  to  the  bequest.  As  legal  owner, 
lie  could  execute  the  deed,  appear  before  the 
magistrate  and  freeholders,  answer  the  ques- 
tions, and  do  every  act  required  by  the  law, 
and  thus  make  the  emancipation  legal. 

A  shVe  illegally  emancipated  was  free,  as 
against  rWe  rights  of  the  owner,  under  the 
act  of  ISOfV  he  could  only  restore  himself  to 
his  rights  h\  capture.  The  act  of  1820  de- 
clares that  U()\lave  shall  be  emancipated  but 
by  act  of  the  r^islature.  Still  it  has  been 
hekl,  in  Linaiii  ^\  Johnson,  and  many  subse- 
quent cases,  that  V  a  slave  be  in  any  other 
way  emancipated,  he  may,  under  the  provi- 
sion of  the  act  of  18^)0,  be  seized  as  dere- 
lict. 

The  delivcn'  of  the  deed  of  emancipation 
to  the  clerk  t(V)e  recorded,  is  all  the  delivery 
necessary  to  giV  it  legal  effect ;  and  the  de- 
livery to  the  clerk  is  equivalent  to  recording. 
Th(^  act  of  183ft,  declaring  that  no  slave 
should  hereafter  bX  emancipated  but  by  act 
of  the  legislature,  inVoduced  a  new,  and,  as  I 
think,  an  unfortunate^  provision  in  our  law. 
All  laws  unnecessarily  restraining  the  rights 
of  owners  are  unwise.  \So  far  as  may  be  ne- 
cessary to  preserve  the  peace  and  good  order 
of  the  community,  they  iX;iy  be  properly  re- 
strained. The  act  of  18(i(Wasof  that  kind. 
The  act  of  1820,  instead  of  regulating,  cut  off 
the  power  of  emancipation.  \.Like  all  c)f  its 
class,  it  has  done  liarni  iustean  of  good.  It 
has  caused  evasions  without  number.  These 
have  been  successful  by  vesting  the  ownership 


.^0 


NEGROES — SLAVE    LAWS    OF   THE    SOUTH. 


273 


in  persons  legally  cap.iblc  of  lioldiiig  it,  and 
thus  sub'^tantially  conferring  freedoni  when  it 
was  legally  denied. 

So,  too,  bequests  or  gifts  for  the  use  of  such 
slaves  were  supported  under  the  rule,  tliat 
whatever  is  given  to  the  slave  belongs  to  the 
master. 

Since  the  act  of  1820,  if  a  negro  be  at  large, 
and  enjoy  freedom  for  twenty  years,  he  or 
she  is  still  a  slave  ;  as  an  act  of  emancipation 
passed  by  the  legislature  will  not  be  pre- 
fiumed. 

The  act  of  1820  was  plainly  intended  to 
restrain  emancipation  within  the  state;  it  was 
therefore  lield  by  the  Court  of  Appeals,  that 
where  a  testator  directed  slaves  to  be  sent 
out  of  the  state  and  there  set  free,  such  be- 
quest was  good. 

In  ISll,  the  legislature,  by  a  sweeping  act, 
declared,  1st,  That  any  bequest,  deed  of 
trust,  or  conveyance,  intended  to  take  effect 
after  the  death  of  the  owner,  whereby  the  re- 
moval of  any  slave  or  slaves  without  the 
state  is  secured  or  intended,  with  a  view  to 
the  emancipation  of  such  slave  or  slaves,  shall 
be  void,  and  the  slave  or  slaves'  assets  in  the 
hands  of  any  executor  or  administrator.  2d, 
That  any  gift  of  any  slave  or  slaves,  by  deed, 
or  otherwise,  accompanied  by  a  trust,  secret 
or  implied,  tliat  the  donee  shall  remove  such 
slaves  from  the  state  to  be  emancipated,  shall 
be  void,  and  du-ected  the  donee  to  deliver  up 
the  slave  or  slaves,  or  account  to  the  distri- 
butees, or  next  of  kin,  for  their  value.  3d, 
That  any  bequest,  gift,  or  conveyance  of  any 
slave  or  slaves,  with  a  trust  or  confidence, 
either  secret  or  expressed,  that  such  slave  or 
slaves  shall  be  held  in  nominal  servitude  only, 
shall  be  void,  and  the  donee  is  directed  to 
deliver  the  slave  or  slaves,  or  to  account  for 
their  value  to  the  distributees,  or  next  of  kin. 
4th,  That  every  devise  or  bequest  to  a  slave 
or  slaves,  or  to  any  person  upon  a  trust  or 
confidence,  secret  or  expressed,  for  the  benefit 
of  any  slave  or  slaves,  shall  be  void. 

This  act,  reversing  the  whole  body  of  the 
law,  which  had  been  settled  by  various  deci- 
sions from  1S30,  can  have  no  effect  on  any 
deed,  will,  gift,  or  conveyance,  made  prior  to 
its  passage,  I7th  December,  1841. 

This  act.  it  has  been  always  said,  was  pass- 
ed to  control  a  rich  gentleman  in  the  tisposi- 
tion  of  his  estate.  Like  every  thing  of  the 
kind,  he  defeated  it,  and  the  expectations  of 
bis  next  of  kin,  by  devising  his  estate  to  one 
of  his  kindred,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  the 
rest. 

My  experience  as  a  man,  and  a  judge,  leads 
me  to  condemn  the  acts  of  182u  and  1841. 
They  ought  to  be  repealed,  and  the  act  of; 
1800  restored.  The  state  has  nothing  to  fear 
from  emaHcipation,  regulated  as  that  law  di- 
rects it  to  be.  Many  a  ma^^ter  knows  that  he 
hfis  a  slave  or  slaves,  for  whom  he  feels  it  to ' 
be  his  duty  to  provide.  As  the  law  now  | 
VOL.  II. 


stands,  that  cannot  be  done.  In  a  slave  coun- 
try the  good  should  be  especially  rewarded. 
Who  are  to  judge  of  this  but  the  master  ? 
'  Give  him  the  power  of  emancipation,  under 
'  well  regulated  guards,  and  he  can  dispense 
the  only  reward  which  either  he  or  his  slave 
1  appreciates.  In  the  present  state  of  the  world, 
'  it  is  especially  our  duty,  and  tliat  of  slave 
owners,  to  be  just  and  merciful,  and  in  all 
things  to  be  excepdone  majori.  With  well 
regulated  and  mercifully  applied  slave  laws, 
we  have  nothing  to  fear  for  negro  slavery. 
Fanatics  of  our  own  or  foreign  countries  will 
be  in  the  condition  of  the  viper  biting  the  file. 
They,  not  we,  will  be  the  sufferers.  Let  me, 
however,  assure  my  countrymen,  and  fellow 
slaveholders,  that  unjust  laws,  or  unmerciful 
management  of  .slaves,  fall  upon  us  and  our 
institutions  with  more  withering  effect  than 
any  thing  else.  I  would  see  South  Carolina 
the  kind  mother  and  mistress  of  all  her  peo- 
ple, free  and  slave.  To  all,  extending  justice 
and  mercy.  As  against  our  enemies,  I  would 
say  to  her.  Be  just  and  fear  not.  Her  sons 
fiiltered  not  on  a  foreign  shore ;  at  home,  they 
will  die  in  the  last  trench,  rather  than  her 
rights  should  be  invaded  or  despoiled. 

Free  negroes,  mulattoes  and  mestizoes,  are 
entitled  to  all  the  rights  of  property,  and  pro- 
tection in  their  persons  and  property,  by  ac- 
tion or  indictment,  which  the  white  inhabit- 
ants of  the  state  are  entitled  to. 

Free  negroes  are  sui  generis.  The  act  of 
1822,  section  8,  requires  every  male  free 
negro,  above  the  age  of  fifteen,  to  have  a 
guardian,who  must  be  a  respectable  freeholder 
of  the  district,  (who  may  be  appointed  by  the 
clerk.)  Notwithstanding  this  provision,  the 
free  negro  is  still,  as  I  have. said,  sui  juris,  when 
of  and  above  the  age  of  twenty-one.  The 
guardian  is  a  mere  protector  of  the  negro,  and 
a  guarantor  of  his  good  conduct  to  the  public. 
They  may  contr.ict  and  be  contracted  with. 
Their  marriages  with  one  another,  and  even 
with  white  people,  are  legal.  They  may  pur- 
chase, hold,  and  transmit  by  descent,  real 
estate.  They  can  mortgage,  aliene,  or  devise 
the  same.  They  may  sue  and  be  sued,  with- 
out noticing  their  respective  guardians. 

Tliey  are  entitled  to  protect  their  persons 
by  action,  indictment,  and  the  writ  of  habeas 
corpus,  (except  that  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  is 
denied  to  those  who  enter  the  state  contraiy 
to  the  act  of  1835.)  They  cannot  repel  force 
by  force — that  is,  they  cannot  strike  a  white 
man  who  may  strike  any  of  them. 

It  has,  however,  been  held,  in  a  case  de- 
cided in  the  Court  of  Appeals,  and  not  re- 
ported, that  insolence  on  the  part  of  a  free 
negro  would  not  excuse  an  assault  and  bat- 
tery. From  that  decision  I  dissented,  holding, 
as  in  the  State  vs.  Harden,  2d  Speers,  (note,) 
155,  "  That  words  of  impertinence  or  insolence 
addressed  by  a  free  negro  to  a  white  man, 
would  justify  au  assault  and  battery."  "  As 
18 


274 


NEaROES — SLAVE   LAWS    OF   THE    SOUTH. 


(.., 


a  general  rule,  I  should  say,  that  whatever,  in 
the  opinion  of  the  juiy,  ■K'ould  induce  them,  as 
reasonable  men,  to  strike  a  free  negro,  should 
m  all  cases  be  regarded  as  a  legal  justification 
in  an  in  fictment." 

In  addition  to  the  common  law  remedies, 
by  action  of  assault  and  battery  and  false  im- 
prisonment, and  indictments  for  the  same,  the 
act  of  '37  furnishes  another  guarautee  for  the 
protection  of  free  negroes,  mulattoes,  or  mes- 
tizoes, by  declaring  any  one  convicted  of  their 
forcible  abduction,  or  assisting  therein,  to  be 
liable  to  a  fine  not  less  than  |l,000,  and  im- 
prisonment not  less  than  twelve  months. 

Free  negroes,  mulattoes,  and  mestizoes  can- 
not be  witnesses  or  jurors  in  the  superior 
courts.  They  can  be  jurors  no  where.  They 
cannot  even  be  witnesses  in  inferior  courts, 
with  the  single  exception  of  a  magistrate's  and 
freeholder's  court,  trying  slaves  or  free  negroes, 
mulattoes  or  mestizoes,  for  criminal  offenses, 
and  then  without  oath.  This  was,  however, 
not  always  the  case,  to  the  entire  extent  which 
I  have  stated.  It  was  at  one  time  held,  that 
any  person  of  color,  if  the  issue  of  a  free  white 
woman,  is  entitled  to  give  evidence,  and  ought 
to  be  admitted  as  a  witness  in  our  courts.  This 
was  predicated  of  a  clear  mistake  of  the  civil 
law  maxim  o(  partus  seqidtur  ventrem,  and  of 
the  provision  in  tlie  first  section  of  the  act  of 
1140,  that  the  offspring  sliould  follow  thecon- 
dition  of  the  mother,  wliich  only  mean  that 
slavery  or  freedom  should  be  the  condition  of 
the  offspring ;  but  where  the  words  mulatto 
or  mestizo  are  ever  used  as  designating  a  class, 
they  are  to  be  interpreted  by  their  common 
acceptation. 

It  is  singular  that  the  loth  and  14th  sections 
of  the  act  of  174Cr,  directing  who  may  be  wit- 
nesses against  slaves,  free  negroes,  itc,  .should 
have  been  confined  to  free  Indians  and  slaves, 
who  are  to  be  examined  without  oath.  From 
which  it  would  seem  that  free  negroes,  mulat- 
toes, Ac,  might  be  examined  in  such  cases,  as 
at  common  law,  upon  oath.  But  the  practice 
under  the  act  has  been  uniform,  as  I  have  be- 
fore stated  it.  I  think  it  a  very  unwise  pro- 
vision and  course  of  practice,  to  examine  any 
witnesses,  in  any  court  or  case,  without  the 
sanction  of  an  oath.  Negroes  (slaves  or  free) 
will  feel  the  sanction  of  an  oath  with  as  much 
force  as  any  of  the  ignorant  classes  of  white 
people  in  a  Christian  country.  They  ought, 
too,  to  be  made  to  know,  if  they  testify  falsely, 
they  are  to  be  punished  for  it  by  human  laws. 
The  course  pursued  on  the  trial  of  negroes  in 
the  abduction  and  obtaining  testimony,  leads 
to  none  of  the  certainties  of  truth.  Falsehood 
is  often  the  result,  and  innocence  is  thus  often 
sacrificed  on  the  shrine  of  prejudice. 

Free  negroes,  mulattoes,  and  mestizoes  may 
make  all  necessary  aflidavits  on  collateral 
matters,  in  cases  in  the  superior  courts,  in 
which  they  may  be  parties,  as  on  motions  of 
postponement,  &.C.    So,  too,  they  may  in  such 


court  take  the  oaths  under  the  insolvent 
debtor's  or  prison  bounds'  act,  and  under  the 
acts  of  Congress  to  obtain  a  pension. 

Free  negroes,  mulattoes,  and  mestizoes  (ex- 
cept such  as  are  proved,  to  the  satisfaction  of 
the  tax  collector,  to  be  incapable  of  making  a 
livelihood,)  are  liable  to  a  capitation  tax, 
(fixed  by  each  tax  act ;)  they  may  make  a  re- 
turn per.-onally,  or  any  member  of  the  family 
may  make  a  return  for  the  rest  ;  or  if  one  be 
sick,  he  or  she  may  make  such  return  by 
agent.  They  are  liable  to  be  double  taxed  for 
not  making  a  return  of  themselves. 

This  tax  seems  to  have  originated  in  1805. 
The  act  of  1833  directs  the  issuing  of  executions 
against  free  negroes,  mulattoes,  and  mestizoes, 
who  may  fail  to  pay  the  tax,  and  that,  under 
them,  they  may  be  sold  for  a  term  not  exceed- 
ing one  year;  provided,  however,  that  they 
shall  in  no  instance  be  sold  for  a  longer  term 
than  may  be  necessary  to  pay  the  taxes  due  ; 
but  they  cannot  be  sold  under  the  double  tax 
executions  to  be  issued  against  them  for  not 
making  returns  of  themselves.  Such  execu- 
tions go  against  property  merely.  The  consti- 
tutionality of  the  provision  for  the  sale  of  free 
negroes  in  payment  of  their  taxes  is  exceed- 
ingly questionable. 

The  term  "free  person  of  color"  used  in 
many  of  our  acts,  since  1 840,  has  given  rise  to 
many  imperfect  and  improper  notions.  Its 
meaning  is  confined  by  the  act  of  1740,  and 
all  proper  constructions  of  our  code  noir,  to  7te- 
groes,  mulattoes,  and  mestizoes.  In  common 
parlance  it  has  a  much  wider  signification; 
hence  the  danger  of  its  itse;  for  all  who  have 
to  execute  the  acts  of  the  Legislature  are  not 
learned  lamjers  or  judges.  The  Legislature 
ought  to  use  the  words  of  the  cat  of  1740,  "  free 
negroes,  mulattoes,  and  mestizoes,"  and  then 
every  one  would  have  a  certain  guide  to  under- 
stand the  words  used. 

The  act  of  1835  declares  it  to  be  unlawful 
for  any  free  negro,  or  person  of  color,  to  mi- 
grate into  this  state,  or  to  be  brought  or  intro- 
duced within  its  limits,  by  land  or  water. 

Any  free  negro  or  person  of  color,  not  being 
a  seaman  on  board  any  vessel  arriving  in  this 
state,  violating  this  law,  shall,  and  may  be 
seized  by  any  white  person,  or  by  the  sheriff 
or  constable  of  the  district,  and  carried  before 
any  magistrate  of  the  district,  city,  or  parish, 
who  is  authorized  to  bail  or  commit  the  said 
free  negro,  and  to  summon  three  freeholders, 
and  form  a  court  for  the  trial  and  examina- 
tion of  the  said  free  negro,  or  person  of  color, 
within  six  days  after  his  arrest,  and,  on  con- 
viction, order  him  to  leave  the  state ;  and  at 
the  time  of  conviction,  to  commit  him  to  jail 
until  he  can  leave  the  state,  or  to  release  him, 
on  bail,  not  longer  than  fifteen  days.  And  if, 
after  being  bailed  and  ordered  to  leave  the 
state,  the  free  negro,  or  person  of  color,  shall 
not  leave  within  fifteen  days,  or  having  left 
shall  return,  shall  be  arrested,  and  on  con- 


NEGROES — SLAVE    LAWS    OF   THE    SOUTU. 


2*76 


Tictloo,  before  a  court  of  one  magistrate 
and  three  freeholders,  he  shall  be  liable  to 
such  corporal  punishment  as  the  court  shall 
order  ;  if,  after  such  punishment,  the  offender 
shall  still  remain  in  the  state  "  longer  than  the 
time  allowed,"  (which  is,  I  suppose,  the  time 
previouslj'  fixed,  fifteen  days,)  or  shall  return, 
upon  proof  and  conviction,  before  a  court  of 
one  magistrate  and  three  freeholders,  the  free 
negro,  or  person  of  color,  may  be  sold,  and  the 
proceeds  appropriated,  one  half  to  the  use  of 
the  state,  and  the  other  half  to  the  use  of  the 
informer. 

If  the  free  negro,  or  person  of  color,  come 
into  this  state,  on  board  any  vessel,  as  a  cook, 
steward,  mariner,  or  in  any  other  employment, 
the  sheriff  of  the  district  is  to  apprehend  and 
confine  in  jail  such  free  negro,  or  person  of 
color,  until  tlie  vessel  be  hauled  off  from  the 
"wharf,  and  ready  for  sea.  The  act  provides, 
that  on  the  apprehension  of  any  free  negro, 
or  person  of  color,  on  board  any  vessel,  the 
sheriff  shall  cause  the  captain  to  enter  into  a 
recognizance,  with  good  and  sufficient  security, 
in  the  sum  of  f  1,000  for  each  free  negro,  or 
person  of  color,  who  may  be  on  board  his  said 
vessel,  that  he  will  comply  with  the  requisi- 
tions of  this  act,  which  are,  that  he  will,  when 
ready  for  sea,  carry  away  the  said  free  negro, 
or  person  of  color,  and  pay  the  costs  of  his  de- 
tention ;  but  if  the  captain  be  unable,  or  refuse 
so  to  do,  he  is  to  be  required,  by  the  sheriff,  to 
haul  his  vessel  in  the  stream  one  hundred  yards 
distance  from  the  shore,  and  there  remain  un- 
til ready  for  sea.  If  this  be  not  complied  with 
in  twenty-four  hours,  the  captain  is  liable  to  be 
indicted,  and,  on  conviction,  is  to  be  fined  not 
exceeding  $1,000,  and  imprisoned  not  exceed- 
ing six  months. 

Whenever  any  free  negro,  or  person  of  color, 
shall  be  apprehended  aud  committed  for  com- 
ing into  this  state  by  sea,  it  is  the  duty  of  the 
sheriff  to  call  upon  some  magistrate,  to  warn 
the  offender  never  again  to  enter  the  state, 
and,  at  the  time  of  giving  such  -warning,  the 
magistrate  is  to  enter  the  name  of  such  free 
negro,  or  person  of  color,  in  a  book,  to  be  kept 
by  the  sheriff,  with  a  description  of  his  person 
and  occuj)ation,  which  book  is  evidence  of  the 
warning,  and  is  to  be  deposited  in  the  clerk's 
office,  as  a  public  record.  If  the  offender  shall 
not  depart  the  state,  in  case  the  captain  shall 
refuse  or  neglect  to  carry  him  or  her  away,  or, 
having  departed,  shall  ever  again  enter  into 
the  state,  lie  or  she  is  liable  to  be  dealt  with, 
and  incur  tlie  forfeiture  described  in  the  first 
section. 

If  anj^  free  negro,  or  person  of  color,  before 
the  passage  of  the  act  of  1835,  or  since,  has 
left,  or  shall  leave  the  state,  they  are  for  ever 
prohibited  from  returning,  under  the  penalty 
of  the  first  section. 

Tiie  eighth  section  of  the  act  excepts  from 
its  operation  free  negroes  and  persons  of  color 
coming  into  the  state  from  ehipwreclc,  but  de- 


clares them  liable  to  arrest  and  imprisonment, 
as  provided  in  the  second  section,  and  to  incur 
all  its  penalties,  if,  within  thirty  days,  they 
shall  not  leave  the  state. 

The  ninth  section  excepts  free  negroes  and 
persons  of  color,  who  shall  arrive  as  cooks, 
stewards,  or  mariners,  or  in  any  other  employ- 
ment, in  any  vessel  of  the  United  States,  or 
on  board  any  national  vessel  of  the  navies  of 
any  of  the  European  or  other  powers  in  amity 
with  the  United  States,  imless  they  shall  be 
found  on  shore,  after  being  warned  by  the 
sheriff  to  keep  on  board  their  vessels.  The 
act  does  not  extend  to  free  American  Indians, 
free  Moors,  or  Lascars,  or  other  colored  subjects 
beyond  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  who  may  ar- 
rive in  any  merchant  vessel. 

Free  negroes  and  free  persons  of  color 
(meaning,  of  course,  mulattoes  and  mestizoes) 
arc  prohibited  (unless  they  have  a  ticket  from 
their  guardian)  from  carrying  any  fire-arms  or 
other  military  or  dangerous  weapons,  under 
pain  of  forfeiture,  and  being  whipped,  at  the 
discretion  of  a  magistrate  and  three  freeholders. 
They  cannot  be  employed  as  pioneers,  though 
they  may  be  subjected  to  military  fatigue 
duty. 

The  first,  second,  third,  and  fifth  sections  of 
the  act  of  1836,  are,  to  my  mind,  of  so  ques- 
tionable policy,  that  I  should  be  disposed  to 
repeal  them.  They  carry  with  them  so  many 
elements  of  discord  with  our  sister  states  and 
foreign  nations  that,  unless  they  were  of  para- 
mount necessity,  which  I  have  never  believed, 
we  should  at  once  strike  them  out.  I  am 
afraid,  too,  there  are  many  grave  constitutional 
objections  to  them,  in  whole  or  in  part. 

In  a  previous  part  of  this  digest,  I  have  had 
occasion,  incidentally,  to  state  the  meaning  of 
the  civil  law  maxim,  ^'partus  scquitur  ven- 
trem"  and  of  the  j^rovision  of  the  1st  section 
of  the  act  of  1740,  "  the  offspring  to  follow  the 
condition  of  the  mother."  Both  mean  that  the 
offspring  of  a  slave  mother  must  also  be  a 
slave. 

The  maxim,  as  well  as  the  provision  of  the 
act,  has  a  further  meaning  in  relation  to  prop- 
erty. It  determines  to  whom  the  issue  be- 
longs. The  owner  of  the  mother  has  the  same 
right  in  her  issue,  born  while  she  belongs  to 
him,  which  he  has  in  her.  If,  for  example, 
the  person  in  possession  is  tenant  for  life,  then 
such  an  one  takes  an  estate  for  life  in  the  issue. 
If  there  be  a  vested  estate,  in  remainder,  or 
one  which  takes  effect  on  [the  termination  of 
the  life  estate,  the  remainder  man  is  .entitled 
to  the  issue,  on  the  falling  in  of  the  life  estate, 
as  he  is  entitled  to  the  mother.  If  there  be 
no  estate  carved  out  beyond  the  life  estate, 
then  as  the  mother  reveits  so  also  does  the 
issue. 

The  estate  of  a  tenant  for  life  in  slaves  en- 
gaged in  making  a  crop,  if  he  die  after  the 
first  of  March,  is  continued,  by  the  act  of  '89, 
until  the  crop  be  finished,  or  until  the  laat 


276 


NEGROES — SLAVE   LAWS    OF  THE   SOtTTH. 


day  of  December,  in  the  year  in  -which  the 
tenant  dies. 

The  i.*sue  of  a  white  woman  and  a  negro 
is  a  mulatto,  within  the  meaning  of  that  terra, 
and  is  subjected  to  all  the  disabilities  of  the 
degraded  caste  into  which  his  color  thrusts 
him.  Tiie  rule  "partus  sequitur  ventreyn" 
makes  him  a  free  man.  The  result  of  min- 
gling the  white  and  negro  blood  is  to  make 
him  a  mulatto,  and  that  carries  with  it  the  dis- 
qualifications heretofore  pointed  out. 

The  1st  section  of  the  act  of  1740  declares 
slaves  to  be  chattels  personal. 

Tlie  first  consequence  legally  resulting  from 
this  provision  would  have  been,  without  any 
act  of  the  Legislature,  that  the  stealing  of  a 
slave  should  be  a  larceny  (grand  or  petit)  at 
common  law. 

But  in  1754  an  act  was  passed,  which,  by 
its  1st  section,  made  it  a  felony,  without  the 
benefit  of  clergy,  to  inveigle,  steal,  and  carry 
away,  or  to  hire,  aid  or  counsel  any  person  or 
persons  to  inveigle,  steal,  or  carry  away,  any 
slave  or  slaves,  or  to  aid  any  slave  in  running 
away,  or  departing  from  his  master's  or  em- 
ployer's service. 

This  law,  beginning  in  our  colonial  times, 
and  made  for  us  by  our  rulers,  given  to  us  by 
Great  Britain,  has  remained  ever  since  un- 
changed, and  has  been  sternly  enforced  as  a 
most  valuable  safeguard  to  property.  Yet 
public  opinion  was  gradually  inclining  to  the 
belief  that  its  provisions  were  too  sanguinary, 
and  that  they  might  be  sa/e/y  mitigated,  when 
the  torrt'nts  of  abuse  poured  upon  the  state 
and  the  judge  presiding  on  the  trial  from 
abroad,  and  the  free  states  of  the  Union,  on 
account  of  the  conviction  of  a  worthless  man, 
John  L.  Brown,  for  aiding  a  slave  to  run  away 
and  depart  from  her  master's  service,  stopped 
the  whole  movement  of  mere)/.  It  is  now, 
however,  due  to  ourselves  that  this  matter 
should  be  taken  up,  the  law  changed,  and  a 
punishment  less  than  death  be  assigned  for  the 
offense. 

Slaves  are,  in  our  law,  treated  as  other 
personal  chattels,  so  far  as  relates  to  questions 
of  property  or  liability  to  the  payment  of 
debts,  except  that  by  the  county  court  act 
(which  in  this  respect  is  perhaps  still  of  force) 
slaves  are  exempted  from  levy  when  other 
property  be  shown ;  and  also  by  the  act  of 
'87,  for  recovering  fines  and  forfeited  recog- 
nizances, the  sheriff  is  directed  to  sell,  under 
the  executions  to  be  issued,  every  other  part 
of  the  personal  estate  before  he  shall  sell  any 
negro  or  negroes. 

In  consequence  of  this  slight  character  which 
they  boar  in  legal  estimation,  as  compared 
with  real  estate,  (which  has  itself,  in  our  state, 
become  of  too  easy  disposition,)  slaves  are 
subjected  to  continual  change :  they  are  sold 
and  given  by  their  masters  without  writing; 
they  are  sold  by  administrators  and  execu- 
tors, and  by  the  sheriff,  (and  may  even  be  sold. 


by  constables.)  These  public  sales  by  adnafn- 
istrators,  executors,  or  the  sheriff,  may  be  for 
payment  of  debts  or  partition — they  (slaves) 
are  often  sold  under  the  order  of  the  Ordinaiy, 
without  any  inquiry,  whether  it  be  necessary 
for  payments  of  debts  or  division.  This  con- 
tinual change  of  the  relation  of  master  and 
slave,  with  the  consequent  rending  of  family 
ties  among  them,  has  induced  me  to  think, 
that  if  by  law  they  were  annexed  to  the  free- 
holds of  their  owners,  and  when  sold  for  par- 
tition among  distributees,  tenants  in  common, 
joint  tenants  and  coparceners,  they  should  be 
sold  with  the  freehold,  and  not  otherwise,  it 
might  be  a  wise  and  wholesome  change  of 
the  law.  Some  provision,  too,  might  be  made, 
which  would  prevent,  in  a  great  degree,  sales 
for  debts.  A  debtor's  lands  and  slaves,  in- 
stead of  being  sold,  might  be  sequestered  until, 
like  vimim  vadimn,  they  would  pay  all  his 
debts  in  execution  by  the  annual  profits.  If 
this  should  be  impossible,  on  account  of  the 
amount  of  the  indebtedness,  then  either  court, 
law  or  equity,  might  be  empowered  to  order 
the  sale  of  the  plantation  and  slaves  together 
or  separately — the  slaves  to  be  sold  in  fam- 
ihes. 

Although  slaves,  by  the  act  of  1740,  are  de- 
clared to  be  chattels  personal,  yet  they  are 
also  in  our  law  considered  as  persons  with 
many  rights  and  liabilities,  civil  and  crim- 
inal. 

The  right  of  protection  which  would  belong 
to  a  slave,  as  a  human  being,  is,  by  the  law 
of  slavery,  transferred  to  the  master. 

A  master  may  protect  the  person  of  his 
slave  from  injury,  by  repelling  force  with  force, 
or  by  action,  and  in  some  cases  by  indict- 
ment. 

Any  injury  done  to  the  person  of  his  slave, 
he  may  redress  by  action  of  trespass  in  et 
armh,  without  laying  the  injury  done,  with  a 
per  quod  servitinm  amisit,  and  this  even 
though  he  may  have  hired  the  slave  to  an- 
other. 

By  the  act  of  1821  the  murder  of  a  slave  is 
declared  to  be  a  felony,  without  the  benefit 
of  clergy ;  and  by  the  same  act,  to  kill  any 
slave,  on  sudden  heat  and  passion,  subjects  the 
offender,  on  conviction,  to  a  fine  not  exceeding 
8.500,  and  imprisonment  not  exceeding  six 
months. 

To  constitute  the  murder  of  a  slave,  no 
other  ingredients  are  necessary  than  such  as 
enter  into  the  offense  of  murder  at  common 
law.  So  the  killing,  on  sudden  heat  and  pas- 
sion, is  the  same  as  manslaughter,  and  a  find- 
ing by  the  jury,  on  an  indietment  for  the  mur- 
der of  a  slave,  of  a  killing  en  sudden  heat  and 
passion,  is  good,  and  subjects  the  offender  to 
the  punishment  of  the  act ;  or,  on  an  indict- 
ment for  the  murder  of  a  slave,  if  the  verdict 
be  guilty  of  manslaughter,  it  is  good,  and  the 
offender  is  to  receive  judgment  under  the  act 

An  attempt  to  kill  and  murder  a  slave  by 


NEGROES — SLAVE    LAW'S    OF   THE    SOUTH. 


277 


sliooliug  at  him,  was  held  to  be  a  misde- 
meanor, <ind  indict;vblo  as  an  assault  with  an 
intent  to  kill  and  murder.  This  was  a  conse- 
quence of  making  it  murder  to  kill  a  slave. 

The  act  of  1841  makes  the  M>(/av)/^«/ whip- 
ping or  beating  of  any  slave,  without  sufficient 
provocation  by  word  or  act,  a  misdemeanor  ; 
and  subjects  tlie  offender,  on  conviction,  to  im- 
prisonment not  exceeding  six  months,  and 
a  fine  not  exceeding  §500. 

This  act  has  received  no  judicial  construc- 
tion by  our  Court  of  Appeals.  It  has  been 
several  times  presented  to  me  on  circuit,  and 
I  huvo  given  it  construction.  The  terms 
"shall  unlawfully  whip  or  beat  any  slave  not 
under  his  charge,"  "  without  reasonable  provo- 
cation," seem  to  me  convertible.  For,  if  the 
beating  be  excusable  from  reasonable  provo- 
cation, it  cannot  be  unlawful.  So  if  the  beat- 
ing be  cither  without  provocation,  or  is  so  enor- 
mous that  the  provocation  can  be  no  excuse, 
then  it  is  unlawful  What  is  sufficient  provo- 
cation, by  word  or  deed,  is  a  question  for  the 
jury.  The  question  is,  whether,  as  slave 
owners  and  reasonable  men,  if  they  had  been 
in  the  place  of  the  defendant,  they  would  have 
inflicted  the  whipping  or  beating  which  the 
defendant  did  ?  If  they  answer  this  question 
in  the  affirmative,  then  the  defendant  must 
be  acquitted — otherwise,  convicted. 

The  acts  of  1821  and  1841  are  eminently 
wise,  just  and  humane.  They  protect  slaves, 
who  dare  not  raise  their  own  hands  in  defense, 
against  brutal  violence.  They  teach  men, 
who  are  wholly  irresponsible  in  property,  to 
keep  their  hands  off  the  property  of  other  peo- 
ple. They  have  wiped  away  a  shameful  re- 
proach upon  us,  that  we  were  indifferent  to 
the  lives  or  persons  of  our  slaves.  They  have 
had,  too,  a  most  happy  effect  on  slaves  them 
selves.  Thej^  know  now  that  the  shield  of  the 
law  is  over  them ;  and,  thus  protected,  they 
yield  a  more  hearty  obedience  and  effective 
service  to  their  masters. 

By  the  last  clause  of  the  3*7 th  section  of  the 
act  of  1740,  it  is  provided,  if  any  person  shall 
wilfully  cut  out  the  tongue,  put  out  the  eye, 
castrate,  or  cruelly  scald,  burn,  or  deprive  any 
slave  of  any  limb  or  member,  or  shall  inflict 
any  other  cruel  punishment,  other  than  by  whip- 
ping, or  beating  with  a  horsewhip,  cowskin 
switch,  or  small  stick,  or  by  putting  irons  on 
or  confining  or  imprisoning  such  slave,  every 
such  person  shall,  for  every  such  offense,  for- 
feit the  sum  of  £100,  current  money,  equal  to 
$01  23-100.  This  provision,  it  has  been  held, 
extends  to  any  cruel  beating  of  a  slave. 

The  provision  is  humane,  but  the  punish- 
ment is  too  slight  for  such  scandalous  offenses. 
To  secure  convictions  uuder  this  part  of  the 
S^th  section,  and  also  where  slaves  were 
killed,  it  was  provided  in  the  3',Uh  section, 
that  if  a  sljive  suffered  in  life  or  limb,  or  was 
cruelly  beaten  or  abused,  where  no  white  per- 
fioa  waa  present,  or,  being  present,  shall  neg- 


lect or  refuse  to  give  evidence,  in  every  such 
case  the  owner,  or  person  having  the  care  and 
management  of  the  slave,  and  in  whose  pos- 
session of  power  the  slave  shall  be,  shall  be 
adjudged  guilty,  unless  he  can  make  the  con- 
trary a])pear  by  good  and  sufficient  evidence, 
or  shall,  hi/  his  own  oath,  clear  and  exculpate 
himself.  Tills  provision  has  been  considered 
as  applicable  to  trials  under  the  act  of  1821, 
and  the  prisoner  charged  with  the  munler  of 
a  slave  has  been  allowed  to  exculpate  him- 
self. 

Tiiis  is  the  greatest  temptation  ever  present- 
ed to  perjury,  and  the  Legislature  ought  to 
speedily  remove  it. 


Tlie  38th  section  of  the  act  of  1740  requires 
the  owners  of  slaves  to  provide  them  with 
sufficient  clothing,  covcri7ig  and  food,  and  if 
they  should  fail  to  do  so,  the  owners  respect- 
ively are  declared  to  be  liable  to  be  informed 
against  to  the  next  nearest  justice  of  the 
peace,  (magistrate  now,)  who  is  .authorized  tb 
hear  and  determine  the  complaint;  and  if 
found  to  be  true,  or,  in  the  absence  of  proof,  if 
the  owner  will  not  exculpate  himself  by  his 
own  oath,  the  magistrate  may  make  such 
order  as  wiU  give  relief,  aud  may  set  a  fine 
not  exceeding  £20,  current  money,  equal  to 
$13  6G100,  on  the  owner,  to  be  levied  by 
warrant  of  distress  and  sale  of  the  ofl'ender's 
goods. 

This  provision,  it  must  be  remarked,  (leav- 
ing out  the  exculpatory  part,)  is  a  very  wise 
and  humane  one,  except  that  thepenaltn  is  en- 
tirely too  slight.  I  regret  to  say,  that  there 
is,  in  sii/ch  a  state  as  ours,  great  occasion  for 
the  enforcement  of  such  a  law,  accoonpaniecl 
by  severe  penalties.  It  might  be  proper  that 
this  matter  should,  by  the  direction  of  an  act 
hereafter  to  be  passed,  be  given  in  charge  to 
the  grand  jury,  at  each  and  every  term,  and 
they  be  solemnly  enjoined  to  inquire  of  all 
violations  of  duty  on  the  part  of  masters, 
owners,  or  employers  of  slaves,  in  furnishing 
them  with  sufficient  clothing,  covering  and 
food ;  and  the  law  might  also  direct,  that 
every  one  by  them  reported  should  be  ordered 
iustantly  to  be  indicted.  „^ 

It  is  the  settled  law  of  this  state,  that  an 
owner  cannot  abandon  a  slave  needing  either 
medical  treatment,  care,  food,  or  raiment.  If 
he  does,  he  will  be  liable  to  any  one  who  may 
furnish  the  same.  In  Fairchild  vs.  Bell,  that 
good  man  and  great  judge.  Wilds,  whose  ear- 
ly death  South  Carolina  had  good  cause  to 
deplore,  said,  in  the  noble  language  of  a 
Christian  and  patriot,  "  The  law  would  infer 
a  contract  against  the  evidence  of  the  fact,  to 
compel  a  cruel  aud  capricious  individual  to 
discharge  that  duty,  which  he  ought  to  hav^ 
performed  voluntarily.  For,  as  the  master  is 
bound  by  the  most  solemn  obligation  to  pro- 
tect his  slave  from  suffering,  he  is  bound,  by 
the  same  obligation,  to  defray  tlie  expenses  or 
services  of  another  to  preserve  the  life  of  hia 


\ 


278 


NEGROES SLAVE  LAWS  OF  THE  SOUTH. 


*4lave  or  to  relieve  the  slave  from  pain  and 
I  danger.  The  slave  lives  for  his  master's  ser- 
Ivice.  His  time,  his  labor,  his  comforts,  arc  all 
at  his  master's  disposal.  The  duty  of  hu- 
mane treatment  and  of  medical  assistance 
(when  clearly  necessary)  ought  not  to  be  with- 
hold en." 

By  the  22d  section  of  the  act  of  1^40,  slaves 
are  protected  from  labor  on  the  Sabbath  day. 
The  violation  of  the  law  in  this  respect  sub 
jecta  the  offender  to  a  line  of  £5  current 
money,  equal  to  $;3  7-100,  for  every  slave  so 
worked. 

By  the  44th  section  of  the  same  act,  owners 

f&^  ulbd'-persoHe  having  the  care  and  manage- 

/  ment  of  slaves,  are  prohibited  from  working 

/     or  putting  the  said  slaves  to  work  for  more 

than  fifteen  hours,  from  the  25th  March   to 

25th  September,  and  fourteen  hours  from  25th 

September  to  25th  March,  under  a  penalty  of 

£20  current  money,  equal  to  §13  66-100,  for 

every  offense. 

The  time  limited  and  allowed  for  labor  in 
this  section  is  too  much.  Few  masters  now 
demand  more  than  twelve  hom's'  labor  from 
1st  March  to  1st  October,  and  ten  hours  from 
the  1st  October  to  1st  March.  This,  after 
allowing  suitable  intervals  for  eating  and  rest, 
is  about  as  much  as  humane,  prudent  masters 
will  demand. 

A  slave  may,  by  the  consent  of  his  master, 
acquire  and  hold  personal  property.  All,  thus 
acquired,  is  regarded  in  law  as  that  of  the 
master's. 

The  only  exception  is  under  the  34th  sec- 
tion of  the  act  of  1740,  which  makes  goods 
acquired  by  tr.'iffic  and  barter  for  the  particu- 1 
lar  and  peculiar  benefit  of  such  slave,  boats, ' 
canoes,  or  periaugers,  in  the  possession  of  a 
slave,  as  his  own,  and  for  his  own  use ;  hor- 
ses, mares,  neat  cattle,  sheep  or  goats,  kept, 
raised  or  bred,  for  the  use  of  any  slave,  liable 
to  be  seized  by  any  one,  and  forfeited  by  the 
judgment  of  any  justice  (magistrate)  before 
♦     whom  they  may  be  brought. 

Under  this  section  it  has  been  lately  held, 
that  no  one  can  enter  on  the  plantation  of  the 
master  to  make  such  seizure. 

A  seizure  can  therefore  only  be  made  when 
a  slave  is  found,  as  owner,  in  possession  of  the 
contraband  articles,  outside  of  his  master's 
plantation. 

This  qualification  may  render  the  law  harm- 
less ;  still,  it  ought  to  be  repealed.  The  rea- 
sons which  led  to  its  enactment  have  all 
passed  away.  It  is  only  resorted  to  now  to 
gratify  the  worst  passions  of  our  nature.  The 
right  of  the  master  to  provide  as  comfortably 
as  he  pleases  for  his  slave  could  not  be,  and 
ought  not  to  be  abridged  in  the  present  state 
of  public  opinion.  The  law  may  very  well 
compel  a  master  to  furnish  his  sla\e  with  pro- 
per, necessary,  wholesome  and  abundant  rai- 
ment and  food  ;  but  certainly  no  legislator 
now  would   venture  to    say   to    a    master, 


Tou  shall  not  allow  your  slave  to  have  a  ca- 
noe to  fish  with,  or  to  carry  vegetables  to 
market,  or  (hat  he  should  not  be  allowed  to 
have  a  horse  to  attend  to  his  duties  as  a  stock- 
minder  in  the  swamps,  savannas  and  pine  for- 
ests of  the  lower  part  ,of  the  state,  or  that  a 
family  of  slaves  should  not  have  a  cow  to  fm- 
nish  them  with  milk,  or  a  hog  to  make  for 
them  meat,  beyond  their  usual  allowance. 
All  these  are  matters  between  the  master  and 
the  slave,  in  which  neither  the  public,  nor  any 
prying,  meddling,  mischievous  neighbor,  has 
any  thing  to  do.  Experience  and  observation 
fully  satisfy  me  that  the  first  law  of  slavery 
is  that  of  kindness  from  the  master  to  the 
slave.  With  that  properly  mculcated,  enforced 
by  law  and  judiciously  applied,  slavery  be- 
comes a  family  relation,  next  in  its  attach- 
ments to  that  of  parent  and  child.  It  leads  to 
instances  of  devotion,  on  the  part  of  the 
slave,  which  would  do  honor  to  the  heroism  of 
Rome  herself.*  With  such  feelings  on  our 
plantations,  what  have  we  to  fear  from  fanati- 
cism ?  Our  slaves  would  be  om-  sentinels  to 
watch  over  us — our  defenders  to  protect  our 
firesides  from  those  prowling  harpies  who 
preaeh  freedom  and  steal  slaves  from  their! 
happy  homes. 

A  slave  cannot  contract  and  be  contracted 
with.  Tiiis  principle  was  broadly  laid  down, 
by  the  Constitutional  Court,  in  a  case  in  which 
a  note  was  given  by  the  defendant  to  the 
plaintiff's  slave,  by  name,  and  the  plaintiff 
brought  the  action  upon  it.  From  this  deci- 
sion Judge  Cheeves  dissented;  upon,  I  pre- 
sume, the  ground  that  the  master  had  the 
right  to  affirm  the  contract  and  make  it  his 
own,  and  consider  it  for  his  own  benefit.  In 
it,  I  think,  he  was  right,  on  the  principle  that 
the  acquisition  of  a  slave  is  his  master's,  and 
that  a  slave's  contract  is  like  an  infant's  with 
an  adult.  It  is  not  binding  on  the  slave,  but 
if  the  master  affirm  it,  the  defendant  cannot 
be  discharged. 

A  slave  cannot,  even  legally,  contract  mar- 
riage. The  marriage  of  such  an  one  is  mor- 
ally good,  but  in  point  of  law  the  union  of 
slave  and  slave,  or  slave  and  free  negro,  is 
concubinage  merely. 

The  consequence  is,  that  the  issue  of  a  mar- 
riage between  a  slave  and  a  free  negro  are 
illegitimate,  and  cannot  inherit  from  liither  or 
mother,  who  may  be  free. 

The  hardship  of  .nich  a  case,  where  the 
issue  of  free  negroes  married  to  one  another 


•  In  1812,  February,  rrofcssor  Charles  Dewar 
Simmons,  on  liis  return  to  Columbia  from  Charles- 
ton, found  the  Ilaugabook  swamp  entirely  over  the 
road.  In  attempting  to  itoss,  on  horseback,  he  was 
washed  oil'  the  rnud  and  s-eparated  from  his  horso. 
lie  first  .succeeded  in  reaching  a  tree,  then  con- 
structed a  raft  of  rails  ti'd  with  his  comfort.  Throe 
times  his  slave  Marcus  swam  to  his  rescue.  His 
master  told  him  he  could  not  help  him,  to  save  him- 
self; but  he  persisted  uutu  both  periahed  togttlkeri 


NEGROES — SLAVE    LAW'S    OF    THE    SOUTH. 


219 


can  inherit,  might  very  well  lead  to  a  judi- 
cious enactment  to  remedy  it. 

A  slave  cannot  testify,  except  as  against 
another  slave,  free  negro,  mulatto,  or  mestizo, 
and  that  without  oath. 

The  propiiety  of  this  is  noio  so  doubtful, 
that  I  think  the  legislature  would  do  well  to 
repeal  this  provision,  and  provide  that  slaves, 
in  all  cases  against  other  slaves,  free  negroes, 
mulattoes  and  mestizoes,  may  be  examined  on 
oath. 

By  the  act  of  1834,  slaves  are  prohibited  to 
be  taught  to  read  or  write,  under  a  penalty 
(if  a  white  person  may  offend)  not  exceeding 
$100  fine,  and  six  months'  imprisonment ;  if  a 
"free  person  of  color,"  not  exceeding  fifty 
lashes,  and  a  fine  of  §^50. 

Tliis  act  grew  out  of  a  feverish  state  of  ex- 
citement, produced  by  the  impudent  meddling 
of  persons  out  of  the  slave  states  with  their 
peculiar  institutions.  That  has,  however,  sub- 
sided, and  I  trust  we  are  now  prepared  to  act 
the  part  of  wise,  liumaue,  and  fearless  masters, 
and  that  this  law,  and  all  of  kindred  charac- 
ter, will  be  repealed.  When  we  reflect,  as 
Chrlstiaus,  how  can  we  justify  it,  that  a  slave 
is  not  to  be  permitted  to  read  the  Bible  ?  It  is 
in  vain  to  say  there  is  danger  in  it.  The  best 
slaves  in  the  state  are  those  who  can  and  do 
read  the  Scriptures.  Again,  who  is  it  that 
teach  your  slaves  to  read  ?  It  generally  is 
done  by  the  children  of  the  owners.  Who 
would  tolerate  an  indictment  against  his  son 
or  daughter  for  teaching  a  favorite  slave  to 
read  ?  Such  laws  look  to  me  as  rather  cow- 
ardly. It  seems  as  if  we  were  afraid  of  our 
slaves.  Such  a  feeling  is  unworthy  of  a  Ca- 
rolina master. 

The  2d  section  of  the  act  of  1834  proliibits 
the  employment  of  a  slave,  or  free  person  of 
color,  as  a  clerk  or  salesman,  under  a  penalty 
not  exceeding  8100  fine,  and  imprisonment 
not  exceeding  six  months. 

The  1st  section  of  the  act  of  1800  prohibits 
the  assemblies  of  slaves,  free  negroes,  mu- 
lattoes, or  mestizoes,  with  or  without  white 
persons,  in  a  confined  or  secret  jjlacc  of  meet- 
ing, or  with  gates  or  doors  of  such  place  of 
meeting  baired  or  bolted,  so  as  to  prevent  the 
free  ingress  and  egress  to  and  from  the  same; 
and  magistrates,  sheriffs,  militia  officers  and 
officers  of  the  patrol,  are  authorized  to  enter, 
and  if  necessary,  to  break  open  doors.,  gates 
or  windows,  (if  resisted,)  and  to  disperse  the 
slaves,  free  negroes,  mulattoes  or  mestizoes, 
found  there  assembled.  And  the  oflScers 
mentioned  in  the  act  are  authorized  to  call 
Buch  force  and  assistance  from  the  neiglibor- 
hood  as  they  may  de<;m  necessary ;  and  may, 
if  they  think  necessaiy,  impose  corporeal  pun- 
ishment on  such  slaft-es,  free  negroes,  mulat- 
toes or  mestizoes;  and,  if  within  Charleston, 
they  may  deliver  them  to  the  master  of  the 
workhouse,  who  is  required  to  receive  them, 
aud  inflict  any  such  punishment  as  any  two 


magistrates  of  the  city  may  award,  not  ex- 
ceeding twenty  lashes.  If  out  of  the  city, 
the  slaves,  free  negroes,  mulattoes  and  mesti- 
zoes, found  assembled  contrary  to  this  act,  may 
be  delivered  to  the  nearest  constable,  who  is 
to  convey  them  to  the  nearest  magistrate,  and 
to  inflict,  under  his  order,  punishment  not  ex- 
ceeding twenty  lashes. 

The  '2d  section  of  the  act  of  1 800,  which  pro- 
hibited meetings  for  the  religioas  or  mental 
instruction  of  slaves  or  free  negroes,  mulat- 
toes or  mestizoes,  before  the  rising  of  the  sun, 
or  after  the  going  down  of  the  same,  was  very 
properly  altered,  by  the  act  of  1803,  so  as  to 
prohibit  the  breaking  into  any  place  of  meet- 
ing, wherein  the  members  of  any  religious 
society  are  assembled,  before  nine  o'clock  at 
niglit,  provided  a  majority  are  white  people. 
After  nine  o'clock  at  night,  or  before,  if  the 
meeting  be  composed  of  a  majority  of  negroes, 
(altliough  white  persons  may  be  present,)  it 
may  be  dispersed  by  magistrates,  sheriffs,  mi- 
litia officers  and  officers  of  the  patrol,  and 
slaves,  free  negroes,  mulattoes  and  mestizoes 
may  be  punished,  not  exceeding  twenty 
lashes. 

In  the  case  of  Bell  ads.  Graham,  it  was 
held  that  these  acts  could  not  justify  a  patrol 
in  intruding  on  a  reh'gious  meeting,  i7i  the  day- 
time, in  an  open  meeting  house,  where  there 
were  some  white  people,  although  there  might 
be  a  majority  of  negioes. 

The  '2d  section  of  the  act  of  1800,  and  the 
amendatory  act  of  1803,  are  treated  now  as 
dead  letters.  Religious  meetings  of  negroes, 
with  only  one  or  more  white  persons,  are  pei'- 
raitted  by  night  as  well  as  by  day.  They 
ought  to  be  repealed.  They  operate  as  a  re- 
proach upon  us  in  the  mouths  of  our  enemies, 
in  that  we  do  not  afford  our  slaves  that  free 
worship  of  God  which  he  demands  for  all  his 
people.  They,  if  ever  resorted  to,  are  not  for 
doing  good,  but  to  gratifj'  hatred,  malice, 
cruelty  or  tyranny.  This  was  not  intended, 
and  ought  to  have  no  countenance  or  support 
in  our  statute. law. 

The  40th  section  of  the  act  of  1740  regu- 
lates the  apparel  of  slaves,  (except  liver%^  men 
or  boys,)  and  prohibits  them  from  wearing  any 
thing  finer,  other,  or  of  greater  value,  than 
negro  cloth,  duffils,  kersejs,  osnaburgs,  blue 
linen,  check  linen,  or  coarse  garlix,  or  calicoes, 
checked  cottons  or  Scotch  plaids  ;  and  declares 
all  garments  of  finer  and  other  kind  to  be 
liable  to  seizure  by  any  constable  as  forfeited. 

This  section  has  not,  within  my  knowledge, 
ever  been  enforced.  Indeed,  if  enforced  now, 
it  would  make  an  immense  booty  to  some 
hungry,  unprincipled  seeker  of  spoils.  It 
ought  to  be  repealed. 

The  42d  section  of  the  act  of  1*740  prohibits 
a  slave,  or  slaves,  from  renting  or  hiring  any 
house,  room,  store  or  plantation,  on  his  own  ac- 
count. Any  person  offending  against  this 
act,  by  renting  or  lining  to  a  slave,  or  slaves, 


280 


NEGROES — SLAVE    LA-^VS    OF    THE    SOUTH. 


is  liable  to  a  fine  of  £20  currency,  equal  to 
§13  66-100.  to  be  recovered  on  complaint 
made  to  any  magistrate,  as  is  directed  in  the 
act  for  the  trial  of  small  and  mean  causes. 

The  43d  section  of  the  act  of  1V40,  -which 
declares  it  to  be  unlawful  for  more  than  seven 
male  slaves  in  ct>mpauy,  Avithout  some  white 
person  accompanying  them,  to  travel  together 
any  of  the  public  roads,  and,  by  doing  so, 
makes  it  lawful  for  any  white  person  to  take 
them  up  and  punish  them  by  whipping,  not 
exceeding  twenty  stripes,  is,  I  am  afraid,  of 
force,  unless  it  be  considered  as  implicdl}-  re- 
pealed by  tlie  restriction  on  the  patrol,  to  whip 
slaves  found  out  of  their  owner's  plantation 
without  a  ticket  in  writing. 

The  occasion  for  such  a  law  ha.^  passed 
away.  Public  opinion  has  considered  it  un- 
necessaiy ;  and,  like  every  useless  severity, 
mercy  has  condemned  it.  It  would  be  well 
that  it  should  be  repealed. 

The  act  of  1 819, 5th  section,  repeals  the  2Sd 
section  of  the  act  of  1740.  The  law  now 
makes  it  unlawful  for  any  slave,  except  in  the 
company  and  presence  of  some  white  person, 
to  carry  or  make  use  of  any  fire-arms,  or 
other  offensive  weapon,  without  a  ticket  or 
license,  in  writing,  from  his  owner  or  overseer; 
or  unless  such  slave  be  employed  to  liunt  and 
kill  game,  mischievous  birds  or  beasts  of  prey, 
within  the  limits  of  his  master's  plantation, 
or  unless  such  slave  shall  be  a  watchman  in 
and  over  his  owner's  fields  and  plantation.  If 
this  law  be  violated,  any  white  person  finding 
a  slave  carrying  or  using  a  gun,  or  other  offen- 
sive weapon,  without  a  ticket  or  license,  in 
writing,  from  his  owner  or  overseer,  or  not 
used  to  hunt  game,  (fee,  within  the  pluntation, 
or  as  a  watchman  in  the  same,  may  seize  and 
appropriate  to  his  own  use  such  gun  or  offen- 
sive weapon.  But  to  make  the  forfeiture 
complete  and  legal,  the  party  making  the  sei- 
zure must,  within  forty-eight  hours  after  the 
seizure,  go  before  the  next  magistrate  and 
make  oath  of  the  manner  of  taking;  and  then, 
after  forty-eight  hours'  notice  to  the  owner  or 
overseer  having  charge  of  the  slave,  by  sum- 
mons to  show  cause  why  the  articles  should 
not  be  condemned,  (the  service  of  the  sum- 
mons being  proved  on  oath,)  the  magistrate 
may,  by  certificate,  under  his  hand  and  seal, 
(if  he  be  satisfied  that  the  arms  have  been 
seized  according  to  the  act  of  1819,)  declai-e 
the  same  to  be  forfeited. 

The  6th  section  of  the  act  of  1822  declares 
it  to  be  unlawful  to  hire  to  male  slaves  their 
own  time;  and  if  this  law  be  violated,  the 
slaves  are  declared  liable  to  seizure  .and  for- 
feiture, according  to  the  provisions  of  the  act 
in  the  case  of  slaves  coming  into  this  state. 

Whether  this  provision  relates  to  the  4tli 
section  of  the  act  of  1816,  7  stat.  453,  or  to 
the  5th  section  of  tlie  act  of  1803,  7  stat.  450, 
is  indeed  somewliat  uncertain.  The  act  of 
1816,  and  all  its  provisions,  were  repealed  by 


the  act  of  1818,  7  stat  458.  The  act  of  1803 
seems  to  be  unrepealed,  and  hence,  therefore, 
I  presume  the  proceeding  to  forfeit  must  be 
under  it.  By  it,  the  proceeding  is  to  be  in  the 
name  of  the  state,  in  the  nature  of  an  action  of 
detinue. 

Tlie  latter  part  of  the  36th  section  of  the 
act  of  1740  declares,  that  any  master  or  over- 
seer who  shall  permit  or  .suSer  his  or  their  ne- 
gro, or  other  slave  or  slaves,  at  any  time,  to 
beat  drums,  blow  horns,  or  use  any  other  loud 
instruments,  or  whosoever  shall  suffer  and 
countenance  any  public  meeting  or  feastings 
of  strange  negroes  or  slaves  on  their  planta- 
tion, shall  forfeit  .£10,  current  money,  equal  to 
•?6  88-100,  upon  conviction  or  proof,  provided 
information  or  suit  be  commenced  within  one 
month. 

This  provision  is  one  so  utterly  unnecessaiy, 
that  the  sooner  it  is  expunged  from  the  statute 
book  the  better.  Indeed,  it  is  not  only  im 
necessary,  but  it  is  one  under  which  most 
masters  will  be  liable,  whether  they  will  or 
not.  Who  can  keep  his  slaves  from  blowing 
horns  or  using  other  loud  instruments  ? 

Tlie  2d  section  of  the  act  of  1803  prohibits 
the  importation  of  any  negro,  mulatto,  mesti- 
zo, or  other  person  of  color,  bond  or  free,  from 
the  Bahama,  West  India  Islands,  or  South 
America,  and  also  from  other  parts,  of  all  of 
those  persons  who  have  been  resident  in  any 
of  the  French  West  India  Islands. 

The  3d  section  provides  that  no  male  slave 
above  the  age  of  fifteen  years  shall  be  brought 
into  this  state  from  any  of  our  sister  states, 
unless  the  person  importing  such  negro  shall 
produce  and  file  in  the  office  of  the  clerk  of 
the  district  where  the  per-son  so  importing 
may  reside,  a  certificate  under  the  hands  of 
two  magistrates,  and  the  seal  of  the  court  of 
the  district  where  the  slave  so  imported  resi- 
ded for  the  last  twelve  months  previous  to 
the  date  of  the  certificate,  that  he  is  of  good 
character,  and  has  not  been  concerned  in  any 
insurrection  or  rebellion. 

Under  the  5th  section,  if  slaves  be  brought 
into  this  state,  in  violation  of  the  provisions  of 
the  2d  and  3d  sections,  they  are  declared  to 
be  forfeited,  one  half  to  the  state,  the  other 
half  to  the  informer;  to  be  recovered  in  the 
name  of  the  state,  by  action  in  the  n.iture  of 
an  action  of  detinue,  in  which  it  is  not  neces- 
sary to  prove  that  the  defendant  wjis  in  pos- 
session at  the  commencement  of  the  suit,  and 
the  informer  is  a  competent  witness. 

The  3d  section  of  this  act  has  been  .so  often 
violated,  that  it  could  hardly  be  enforced  at 
present  without  great  injustice.  Still,  the 
provision  is  a  wise  one.  No  greater  curse  baa 
ever  been  inflicted  on  South  Carolina,  than 
the  pouring  upon  her  of  the  criminal  slaves  of 
our  sister  states.  It  might  be  well  for  the 
legislature,  in  revising  (which  I  hope  they 
will  speedily  do)  our  Code  ^^oir,  to  re-enact 
this  provision. 


NEGROES SLAVE  LAWS  OF  THE  SOUTH. 


281 


The  act  of  1835  makes  it  unlawful  to i  negro,  mulatto,  mestizo,  or  slave.  In  some 
bring  into  this  state  originally,  or  to  bring  |  instances  the  punishment  has  been  altered,  in 
back  into  this  state  after  beiiiu:  carried  out  of  others  new  offenses  have  been  created.   There 


it,  any  slave  from  any  jiort  or  place  in  the 
West  Indies,  or  Mexico,  or  any  part  of  South 
America,  or  from  Europe,  or  from  any  sister 
state,  situated  to  the  north  of  the  Potomac 
river  or  city  of  Washington,  under  the  pen- 
alty of  ■?  1,000  for  each  slave,  to  be  recovered 
in  an  action  of  debt,  and  forfeiture  of  the  slave. 

Tliis  provision  does  not  extend  to  runaway 
slaves. 

By  the  act  of  1847,  any  slave  carried  out 
of  this  state  in  the  capacity  of  steward,  cook, 
fireman,  engineer,  pilot,  or  mariner,  on  board 
any  steamer,  or  other  vessel  trading  with  any 
port  or  place  in  the  Island  of  Cuba,  may  be 
Drought  back  into  this  state,  if  he  may  not  in 


are  also  cases  in  which  the  slave  or  free 
negro,  mulatto,  or  mestizo,  from  his  status, 
would  be  guilty  of  a  higher  crime  than  a 
white  person  would  be  under  the  same  cir^, 
cumstances.  These  will  be  tried  to  be  fully 
noticed  in  this  digest.  Whenever  a  slave 
commits  a  crime  by  the  command  and  coer- 
cion of  the  master,  mistress,  owner,  employer, 
or  overseer,  it  is  regarded  as  the  crime  of  the 
master,  mistress,  owner,  employer,  or  over- 
seer ;  and  the  slave  is  not  criminally  answer- 
able. 

A  free  negro,  mulatto,  or  mestizo  cannot 
lawfully  strike  any  white  person,  even  if  he 
be  first  stricken,  and,  therefore,  if  he  commit 


his  absence  have  visited  some  other  port  or  j  homicide  of  a  white  person,  generally,  he 
place  in  the  West  Indies  other  th;m  the  Island  I  cannot  be  guilty  of  manslaughter ;  he  ia 
of  Cuba,  or  a  port  or  place  in  Europe,  Mexico,  I  either  guilty  of  murder,  or  altogether  excused^ 
South  America,  or  any  state  north  of  the  river  I  /  suppose  if  one  without  authority  to  govern 
Potomac  and  city  of  Washington.  I  or  control  a  free  negro,  mulatto,  or  mestizo, 

The  7th  section  of  the  act  of  1 835,  providing  were  in  the  act  of  endangering  life  or  limb  of 
for  the  condemnation  and  forfeiture  of  a  slave  the  free  negro,  mulatto,  or  mestizo,  and  he, 
by  a  court  of  a  magistrate  and  freeholders, !  to  defend  himself  and  save  life  or  limb,  were 
was  declared  by  the  whole  Court  of  Errors,  in   to  slay  his  assailant,  it  might  be  excusable.  A 


the  State  vs.  Simmons  et  al.,  to  be  uncon- 
stitutional. How  the  forfeiture  declared  in 
the  Gth  section  is  to  be  carried  out,  is  some- 
what doubtful.  I  suppose  it  might  be  a  part 
of  the  judgment  on  the  indictment  and  con- 
viction of  the  owner  for  bringing  back  a  slave, 
which  he  had  carried  to  the  prohibited  places. 
The  whole  provision  had  better  be  repealed. 
Slaves  visiting  free  states  find  nothing  to 
enamor  them  of  negro  freedom  there;  in 
general,  after  all  the  labors  of  love  of  our 
negi-o  loving  brethren  of  the  free  states,  they, 
in   general,  return  to   tlieir    southern  homes 


free  negro,  mulatto,  mestizo,  or  slave,  slaying 
one  of  the  same  status,  would  be  guilty  of 
nmrder,  manslaughter,  or  be  excused  se  defen- 
dondo,  as  in  the  case  of  white  people,  at  com- 
mon law. 

The  17  th  section  of  the  act  of  1740  declares 
a  slave  who  shall  be  guilty  of  homicide  of  any 
sort  upon  any  white  person,  except  it  be  bi/ 
misadventure,  or  in  defense  of  his  master,  or 
other  person  under  whose  care  and  govern- 
ment such  slave  shall  be,  shall,  upon  convic- 
tion, suffer  death. 

This  seems  to  conflict,  in  some  degree,  with 


better  slaves.      Forfeitures,  too,   may  occur  i  what  is  said,  3d  chap.,  1st  section.     Still,  I 


under  this  act,  which  none  of  us  would  bear. 
Every  servant,  (negro,  mulatto,  or  mestizo) 
"who  has  been  in  .Mexico  during  the  war,  and 
■who  has  returned,  is  liable  to  be  forfeited,  and 
his  master  to  pay  a  fine  of  §1,000.  Could  the 
law  be  enforced  in  such  a  case  ?  We  have 
nothing  to  fear,  if  the  whole  act  of  1835  be 
repealed.     It  ought  to  be,  for  no  law  should 


think  what  is  affirmed  there,  is  law.  A  homi- 
cide committed  by  the  command  and  coercion 
of  the  master  is  not  one  of  which  the  slave  is 
guilty,  but  the  master  alone  is  guilty  of  it. 

By  the  24th  section  of  the  act  of  1740  it  is 
provided,  if  a  slave  shall  grievously  wound, 
maim,  or  bruise  any  white  person,  unless  it  be 
by  the  command,  and  in  the  defense,  of  the 


stand  which  public  opinion,  in  many  cases, ;  person  or  property  of  the  owner,  or  other  per- 
would  not  suffer  to  be  enforced.  Indeed,  there  I  son  having  the  care  or  government  of  such 
are  few,  very  few  cases,  where  the  act  of !  slave,  such  slave,  on  conviction,  shall  suffer 
1835  could  meet  with  public  favor.     I  speak  I  death. 

unreservedly,  for  I  am  talking  to  friends,  1  The  18th  section  of  the  act  of  1751  (which, 
slaveholders — citizens  of  a  state  whom  I  love,  having  altered  the  act  of  1740,  is  by  the  act 
and  whom  I  would  have  to  be  "  without  fear  I  of  1783  continuing  the  act  of  1740,  continued, 


and  without  reproach." 

Crimes  of  Free  Negroes,  Mulattoes, 
Mestizoes,  axd  Slaves — Tueir  Punishment 
AND  Mode  ok  Trial,  including  the  Law  as 
to  Runaways  and  the  Patrol. — The  general 
rule  is,  that  whatever  would  be  a  crime  at 
common  law,  or  by  statute,  in  a  white  person, 
is  also  a  crime  of  the  same  degree  in  a  free 


instead  of  the  parts  altered)  gives  to  the 
courts  trying  any  negro  or  other  slave,  for  any 
offense  under  the  acts  of  1740,  or  1751,  where 
any  favorable  circumstances  appear,  the 
power  to  mitigate  the  punishment  by  law 
directed  to  be  inflicted. 

The  meaning  of  the  words  grievously 
wound,  maim,  or  bruise,  has  never  received 
any  precise  adjudication.     In  the  case  of  the 


282 


NEGROES — SLAVE  LAWS  OF  THE  SOUTH. 


State  vs.  Nicholas,  a  portion  of  the  court  iudi- 
cated  tlieir  opiuion  to  be,  that  to  grievously 
wound,  maim,  or  bruise,  meaut  such  an  injury 
as  might  endanger  life  or  limb.  This  is,  I 
think,  the  true  meaning.  The  subject,  before 
1848,  parsed  under  my  review,  in  the  unfor- 
tunate case,  in  Torlc,  which  led  to  the  passage 
of  the  act  of  1843.  In  that  case,  the  lady 
on  whose  body  the  outrage  was  attempted 
was  seriously  bruised,  yet  so  as  in  no  way  to 
endanger  life.  I  thought,  and  so  decided,  that 
the  slave  was  not  guilty  of  a  capital  felony. 

By  the  act  of  1843,  any  slave  or  free  per- 
son  of  color  (meaning  any  free  negro,  mulatto, 
or  mestizo)  who  shall  commit  an  assault  and 
battery  on  a  white  woman,  with  intent  to 
commit  a  rape,  shall,  on  conviction,  suffer 
death,  without  the  benefit  of  clergy. 

The  24th  section  of  the  act  of  1740  declares 
any  slave  who  shall  strike  any  person,  unless 
it  be  by  the  command  and  in  defense  of  the 
person  and  pi'operty  of  the  master,  or  other 
person  having  the  care  and  government  of 
such  slave,  for  the  first  and  second  offense, 
liable  to  such  punishment  as  the  court  may 
think  fit,  not  extending  to  life  or  hmb,  and,  for 
the  third  offense,  to  the  punishment  of  death. 
Under  the  4th  section,  and  this  of  the  3d 
chapter,  it  ought  to  be  remarked,  that  thai 
portion  of  the  24th  section  of  the  act  of  1740 
which  exempts  a  slave  from  punishment  for 
acting  in  obedience  to  his  master,  and  in  his 
defense,  requires  more  to  make  out  his  exemp- 
tion than  the  act  intended.  For  it  not  only 
requires  that  the  striking,  wounding,  maiming, 
and  bruising  should  be  under  the  command  of 
the  master,  but  also  in  defense  of  his  person 
or  property.  Either  the  command  of  the 
owner  or  otiicr  person  having  the  care  or  go- 
vernment of  the  slave,  the  defense  of  his 
person  or  property,  should  be  enough.  The 
law  ought  to  be  so  ameiuled.  Any  slave,  see- 
ing a  white  man  about  to  knock  his  master 
down,  or  in  the  act  of  stealing  his  property, 
ought  not  to  wait  for  a  command — his  blow 
in  defense,  under  such  circumstances,  is  good 
and  ought  to  be  lawful. 

The  16th  section  of  the  act  of  1740  pro- 
vides that  any  slave,  free  negro,  mulatto,  In- 
dian, or  mestizo,  who  shall  wilfully  and  tnali- 
ciously  burn  or  destroy  any  stuck  of  rice,  corn, 
or  other  grain,  of  the  produce,  growth,  or 
manufacture  of  this  state ;  or  shall  wilfully 
and  maliciously  set  fire  to,  burn,  or  destroy 
any  tar  kiln,  barrels  of  pitch,  tar,  turpentine, 
or  resin,  or  any  other  goods  or  commodities, 
the  growth,  produce,  or  manufacture  of  this 
state ;  or  shall  feloniously  steal,  take,  or  carry 
away  any  slave,  being  the  projjerty  of  an- 
other, with  intent  to  carry  such  slave  out  of  the 
state ;  or  shall  wilfully  and  maliciously 
poison,  or  administer  any  poison  to  any  per- 
son, freeman,  woman,  servant,  or  slave,  shall 
suffer  death.  Over  these  and  all  other  offenses, 
for  which,  under  the  act  of  1740,  death  may 


be  the  punishment,  the  court,  under  the  18th 
section  of  the  act  of  1751,  mentioned  in  the 
5th  section  of  the  3d  chapter  of  this  digest, 
have  the  power  of  mitigating  the  punishment. 
•The  term  Indian,  used  in  this  IGth  section  of 
tiie  act  of  1740,  means  either  a  freed  Indian, 
(one  who  was  once  a  slave,)  or  an  Indian  not 
in  amity  with  this  government.  (See  3d  sec- 
tion of  1st  chap.)  In  the  case  of  tlie  State  vs. 
White  and  Sadler,  it  was  held  that  the  act  of 
1754,  making  it  a  felony  without  clergy  to 
inveigle,  steal,  or  carry  away  any  slave,  ap- 
plied to  slaves  as  well  as  to  free  people,  and 
hence,  therefore,  that  it  repeals  that  provision 
of  the  act  of  174u  which  made  it  capital,  on 
the  part  of  a  slave,  "  to  steal,  take,  or  carry 
away  any  slave,  the  ])roperty  of  another,  ivlth 
intent  to  carry  such  slave  out  of  the  state.'"  I 
think  the  decision  is  very  questionable.  For 
in  1783  the  act  of  1740  was  continued  as  law, 
without  noticing  this  supposed  repeal  of  1754. 
If  the  act  of  1754,  in  this  respect,  and  not  the 
act  of  1740,  is  to  govern  slaves,  then  every 
slave  aiding  another  in  running  away  is  liable 
to  be  lianged.  This  certainly  is  rather  a  hai'd 
consequence. 

By  the  I7th section  of  the  act  of  1740,  and 
the  14th  section  of  the  act  of  1751,  amending 
the  same,  any  slave  who  shall  raise  t>r  attempt 
to  raise  an  insurrection,  or  shall  delude  and 
entice  any  slave  to  run  away  and  leave  this 
state,  and  shall  have  actually  prepared  pro- 
visions, arms,  ammunition,  horse  or  horses,  or 
any  boat,  canoe,  or  other  vessel,  whereb}'  the 
guilty  intention  is  manifested,  is  liable,  on 
conviction,  to  be  hanged,  unless  the  court,  from 
favorable  circumstances,  should  mitigate  the 
sentence,  or,  from  several  being  concerned, 
should  be  disposed  to  select  some,  on  whom 
they  would  inflict  other  corporal  puui.-hraent. 

A  slave  who  shall  harbor,  conceal,  or  enter- 
tain any  slave  that  shall  run  away,  or  shall  be 
charged  or  accused  with  any  criminal  matter, 
shall  suffer  such  corporal  punishment,  not  ex- 
tending to  life  or  limb,  as  the  court  may 
direct 

A  free  negro,  mulatto,  or  mestizo,  who,  in 
29th  section  of  tlie  act  of  1740,  was  liable  to 
a  penalty  for  harboring  a  slave,  is,  by  the  act 
of  1821,  (which  operates  as  an  implied  repeal,) 
if  he  or  she  harbor,  conceal,  or  entertain  any 
fugitive  or  runaway  slave,  liable  on  conviction 
to  such  corporal  punishment,  not  extending  to 
life  or  limb,  as  the  court  may  in  their  discre- 
tion tliink  fit. 

The  30Lh  section  of  the  act  of  1740  proliibits 
any  slave  residing  in  Charleston  from  buying, 
selUng,  dealing,  trafficking,  bartering,  exchang- 
ing, or  using  commerce,  for  any  goods,  wares, 
provisions,  grain,  victuals  of  any  sort  or  kind 
whatsoever,  (except  slaves  who,  with  a  ticket 
in  writing  from  tiieir  owner  or  employer,  may 
buy  or  sell  fruit,  fish,  and  garden  stuff,  or  may 
be  employed  as  porters,  carters,  or  fishermen, 
or  may  purchase  any  thing  for  the  use   of 


NEGROES SLAVE    LAWS    OF   THE    SOUTH. 


28a 


their  masters,  owners,  or  other  person  who 
may  have  the  care  and  governmout  of  such 
slaves,  in  open  market )  AH  goods,  wares,  pro- 
visions, grain,  victuals,  or  commodities,  in  which 
such  traffic  by  slaves  is  carried  cm,  are  liable 
to  be  seized  anrl  forfeited,  and  may  be  sued  for 
and  recovered  before  any  magistrate  of  Charles- 
ton, one  half  to  the  informer,  the  other  half  to 
the  poor  of  the  parish  of  St.  Philip's,  and  the 
magistrate  by  whom  the  forfeiture  is  adjudged, 
is  authorized  to  inflict  corporal  punishment  on 
the  slave  engaged  in  such  traffic,  not  exceed- 
ing twenty  stripes.  Tlie  31st  section  prohibits 
any  slave  belonging  to  Charleston  from  buy- 
ing any  thing  to  sell  again,  or  from  selling 
any  thing  on  then-  own  account  in  Charleston. 
All  goods,  wares,  and  merchandise,  purchased 
or  sold  in  contravention  of  this  section,  are 
liable  to  be  forfeited  by  the  judgment  of  any 
magistrate  of  Charleston,  one  half  to  the  use 
of  the  poor,  the  other  half  to  the  informer. 

If  any  slave  (without  the  command  of  his 
or  her  master,  mistress,  or  overseer,  evidenced 
by  a  ticket  in  writing)  shall  shoot  or  kill,  be- 
tween the  first  of  January  and  the  last  day 
of  July  in  each  year,  any  fawn  (deer)— or  any  j 
buck,  (deer,)  between  the  first  of  September  j 
and  last  day  of  October,  and  between  the  first  | 
day  of  March  and  last  day  of  April,  such  slave, 
upon  convictiou  before  a  magistrate,  by  the  I 
oath  of  a  sufficient  witness,  or  the  confession  of 
the  said  slave,  shall,  by  order  of  the  magistrate,  i 
receive  twenty  lashes  on  the  bare  back,  unlt'ss 
security  be  given  for  the  payment  within  one  { 
month   of    the  fiue   imposed  by  the  act   on 
white  or  free  persons,  £2  proclamation  money, 
equal  to  $0  44-100,  for  each  fawn  or  buck 
killed.     If  the  slave  shall  kill  a  doe,  between 
the  first  day  of  March  and  the  first  of  Sep- 
tember, without  the  consent  and  privity  of  the 
owner  or  overseer,  such  slave  is  liable,  on  con- 
viction  before  a   magistrate  and    four   fi-ee- 
bolders,  (sworn  according  to  the  4th  section,) 
to  receive  thirty  nine  lashes  on  the  bare  back. 

A  slave  detected  in  fire  hunting,  or  who 
shall  kill  in  the  night-time  any  deer,  horse,  or 
neat  cattle,  or  stock  of  any  kind,  not  the  pro- 1 
perty  of  his  master  or  owner,  without    the 
privity  or  consent  of  the  owuer  or  overseer  of  j 
the  said  slave,  such  slave,  on  conviction  before 
a  court  of  one  magistrate  and  four  freeholders,  '< 
sworn  to  the  best  of  their  judgment,  without  j 
partiaUty,  favor,  or  affection,  to  try  the  cause  j 
now  depending  between  the  state,  plaintiff, 
and  B.,  the  slave  of  C,  defendant,  and  a  true  | 
verdict  given,  according  to  evidence,  is  liable  ! 
to  receive  thirty-nine  lashes  on  the  bare  back.  \ 

Any  slave,  who,  not  in  the  presence  and  by  | 
the  direction  of  some  white  person,  shall  mark  i 
or  brand  any  horse,  mare,  gelding,  colt,  filly,  i 
ass,  mule,  bull,  cow,  steer,  ox,  calf,  .sheep,  goat, ! 
or  hog,  is  liable  to  be  whipped  not  exceeding  i 
fifty  lashes,  by  the  order  of  any  magistrate , 
before  whom  the  offense  shall  be  proved  by 
the  evidence  of  any  white  person  or  slave.       | 


The  act  of  1834  authorizes  the  court,  before 
which  a  slave  or  free  person  of  color  is  con- 
victed of  any  offense,  not  capital,  to  punish 
the  offender  by  imprisonment,  provided  this 
act  shall  not  abolish  the  punishments  which 
were  then  by  law  imposed.  Under  this  act, 
the  question  will  arise,  whether  the  punish- 
ment by  imprisonment  is  cumulative  ;  or 
whether,  when  resorted  to,  it  is  in  place  of  the 
other  punishment  to  which  the  offender  is 
liable.  I  incHne  to  the  opinion,  that  the 
punishment  is  not  cumulative,  but  may  be 
substituted  for  other  punishment,  at  the  dis- 
cretion of  the  court. 

A  slave  guilty  of  insolence  to  a  white  per- 
son, may  be  tried  by  a  court  of  a  magistrate 
and  freeholders,  and  punished  at  then-  discre- 
tion, not  extending  to  life  or  limb. 

"  No  free  per  son  of  color"  (meaning,  I  sup- 
pose, "  no  free  negro,  mulatto,  or  mestizo,")  or 
slave,  can  keep,  use,  or  employ  a  still  or  other 
vessel,  on  his  own  account,  for  the  distillation 
of  spirituous  liquors,  or  be  employed  or  con- 
cerned in  vending  spirituous  liquors  of  any 
kind  or  description,  and  on  conviction  there- 
of, is  regarded  as  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor 
and  is  to  be  punished  not  exceeding  fifty 
lashes  at  the  discretion  of  the  court;  and  the 
still  or  other  vessel  is  forfeited,  and  the  same  is 
to  be  sold  under  an  execution  to  be  issued  by 
the  magistrate  granting  the  warrant  to  appre- 
hend the  free  negro  or  slave,  and  the  proceeds 
of  the  sale  are  directed  to  be  paid  to  the 
commissioners  of  the  poor. 

A  slave  or  free  person  of  color  (meaning  as 
is  above  suggested)  who  shall  commit  a  tres- 
pass, which  would  subject  a  white  person  to  a 
civil  action,  and  for  which  no  other  penalty  is 
prescribed,  is  regarded  as  guilty  of  a  misde- 
meanor, and  is  to  be  punished  at  the  discretion 
of  the  court  trying  him,  not  extending  to  life 
or  limb.  A  question  will  arise,  under  this  act, 
whether  any  civil  remedy  by  way  of  trespass 
can  now  be  had  against  any  negro,  mulatto, 
or  mestizo,  for  a  trespass  by  him  or  her  com- 
mitted. 

A  free  negro,  mulatto,  mestizo,  or  slave, 
being  a  distiller,  vender  or  retailer  of  spirit- 
uous liquors,  who  shall  sell,  exchange,  give,  or 
otherwise  deliver  spirituous  liquors  to  a  slave, 
except  upon  the  written  and  express  order  of 
the  owner,  (jr  person  having  the  care  of  the 
slave,  shall,  upon  conviction,  (if  a  slave,)  be 
whipped  not  exceeding  fifty  lashes  ;  if  a  free 
negro,  mulatto,  or  mestizo,  bo  also  whipped, 
not  exceeding  fifty  lashes,  and  fined  not  ex- 
ceeding $50 ;  one  half  of  the  fine  to  the  in- 
former, the  other  half  to  the  state. 

A  slave,  or  free  person  of  color,  (meaning  as 
before  suggested,)  couvicted  of  a  capital  of- 
fense, is  to  be  punished  by  hanging;  if  con- 
victed of  an  offense  not  capital,  a  slave  is  to 
be  punished  by  whipping,  confinement  in  the 
stocks,  or  treadmill,  or,  as  is  prescribed  by  the 
act  of  '34,  (see  ante  Ist  sec.,)  imi>risoimieat 


284 


NEGROES — SLAVE  LAWS  OF  THE  yOUTH. 


may  be  resorted  to.  A  free  negro,  mulatto,  ] 
or  mestizo,  is  liable  to  the  same  punisliment,  i 
<yr  may  be  fined.  I 

In  all  parts  of  tlie  state,  (except  in  Charles- ! 
ton,)  slaves  or  free  persons  of  color  (meaning  \ 
as  suggested  ante  19th  sec.)  are  to  be  tried  ! 
for  all  offenses  by  a  magistrate,  and  five  free- ' 
holders ;  the  freeholders  are  to  be  obtained ' 
by  the  magistrate  who  issues  the  warrant, ! 
summoning  eight  neighboring  freeholder.*,  out  j 
of  whom  the  prisoner,  (if  he  be  a  free  negro, 
mulatto  or  mestizo,)  or  the  owner  or  overseer,  i 
(if  a  slave,)  may  select  five  to  sit  upon  the  | 
trial,  and  upon  good  cause  showu  against  any 
freeholder,  to  be  determined  by  the  magis- 
trate, another  shall  be  substituted  in  his  place. 
If  the  prisoner,  the  owner,  or  overseer,  should 
refuse  or  neglect  to  make  the  selection  of  the 
five  freeholders  to  sit,  the  magistrate  may 
himself  make  the  selection. 

In  Charleston,  (including  the  parishes  of  St. 
Philip's  and  St.  Michael's,)  slaves,  free  negroes, 
mulattoes  and  mestizoes,  are  liable  to  be  tried 
for  capital  offenses  by  two  judicial  magis- 
trates and  five  freeholders,  or  slavejiolders, 
who,  I  suppose,  ought  to  be  obtained  as  di- 
rected— ante  22d  section — and  in  such  cases 
there  must  be  a  concurrence  of  all  of  the  free- 
holders, and  one  of  the  magistrates ;  in  cases 
not  capital,  they  are  to  be  tried  by  two  judi- 
cial magistrates  and  three  freeholders  or 
slaveholders,  a  concurrence  of  a  majority  of 
the  jurors  and  the  presiding  magistrate  is 
enough  for  conviction  ;  if  the  jurors  be  unan- 
imous, then  in  that  case  the  concurrence  of 
the  magistrate  is  dispensed  with.  In  all 
cases,  the  ministerial  magistrate  issuing  the 
warrant  is  to  attend  the  court,  and  act  as 
prosecuting  officer. 

The  anomaly  is  presented  here  of  two  dif- 
ferent systems  of  jurisprudence  for  the  state 
and  Charleston.  Both  cannot  be  right ;  one 
should  give  way  to  the  other. 

The  jurors  when  organized  should  be  sworn 
by  the  magistrate,  to  well  and  truly  try  the 
case  now  pending  before  you,  and  adjudge 
the  same  according  to  evidence.  So  help  you 
God. 

A  slave,  free  negro,  mulatto  or  mestizo, 
charged  with  a  criminal  offense,  is  to  be  tried 
within  six  days,  if  it  be  practicable  to  give  at 
least  one  day's  notice  of  the  time  and  place 
of  trial  to  the  free  negro,  mulatto,  mestizo, 
the  owner,  overseer,  or  other  person  having 
the  care  and  government  of  the  slave — which 
notice  muat,  in  all  casen, be  fairly  given  before 
the  trial  can  proceed. 

On  the  trial  of  a  slave,  free  negro,  mulatto 
or  mestizo,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  magistrate  to 
state  in  writing,  plainly  and  distinctly,  the 
oflense  charged  against  the  prisoner,  and  for 
which  he  is  on  trial ;  to  this  charge  the  iiris- 
oner  ought  to  be  required  to  answer,  either 
by  himself,  or  through  his  guardian,  master, 
owner,  overficer,  or  other  person  having  the 


care  and  government  of  such  slave  on  trial, 
or  by  the  attorney  employed  to  defend  such 
prisoner.  In  every  such  trial,  the  prisoner 
is  entitled  to  the  benefit  of  the  services  of  an 
attorney  at  law,  to  defend  him.  The  magis- 
trate is  bound  to  keep  a  correct  statement  of 
the  testimony  given  against  and  for  the  pris- 
oner, and  to  annex  it  to  the  charge,  (the  accu- 
sation.) The  judgment  of  the  court  in  the 
country  districts  and  parishes  must  he  in 
writing,  and  signed  by  the  magistrate  and 
any  four  of  the  freeholders,  or  by  the  whole, 
if  they  agree.  In  Charleston,  it  must  be 
made  up  as  directed,  (ante  sec  23,)  anil  must 
be  signed  by  those  required  to  concur  in  it. 
It  is  in  all  parts  of  the  state  to  be  returned 
to  the  clerk's  office  of  each  judicial  district, 
and  be  there  filed. 

When  a  slave,  free  negro,  mtiljitto  or  mes- 
tizo, is  capitally  convicted,  an  application  may 
be  made  to  any  of  the  judges  of  the  courts 
of  law  of  this  state,  in  open  court,  or  at 
chambers,  for  a  new  trial.  The  ma<;istrate 
presiding  is  required,  for  such  purpose,  to 
furnish  a  full  report  of  the  trial ;  and  if  from 
that,  as  well  as  from  affidavits  on  the  part  of 
the  prisoner,  (which  before  being  laid  before 
the  judge  must  be  shown  to  the  magistrate 
presiding,)  the  judge  should  be  satisfied  the 
conviction  is  erroneous,  a  new  trial  is  to  be 
ordered,  on  which  neither  the  magistrate,  nor 
magistrates,  nor  any  of  the  freeholder.*,  who 
before  sat  on  the  case,  are  to  sit  again.  To 
afford  opportunity  for  this  appeal  to  be  made, 
or  for  an  application  to  the  governor  for  a 
pardon,  time,  reasonable  time,  must  be  al- 
lowed by  the  court  between  the  conviction 
and  the  execution  of  the  sentence. 

Under  these  provisions,  there  is  not  any 
very  well  settled  practice.  Before  a  motion 
for  new  trial  ought  to  be  heard,  reasonable 
notice  of  the  time  and  place  of  such  motion 
should  be  given  to  the  magistrate  presiding. 
When  a  new  trial  is  ordered,  I  have  always 
directed  the  clerk  of  the  court  to  summon 
the  magistrate  and  freeholders,  who  should 
try  the  case  dc  novo,  and  to  give  notice  to  all 
concerned  of  the  time  and  place  of  trial,  and, 
if  necessary,  to  issue  summons  for  the  wit- 
nesses. This  seemed  to  secure,  in  the  best 
way  I  could  devise,  consistently  with  the  law, 
an  impartial  administration  of  it. 

The  right  of  appeal,  in  cases  not  cajiital, 
and  to  afford  sufficient  time  in  such  casc,'^  for 
an  application  for  pardon,  ought  to  be  provi- 
ded for.  For  many  are  the  errors  and  abuses 
of  power  committed  in  this  behalf  The 
whippings  inflicted  by  the  sentence  of  courts 
trying  slaves  and  free  negroes  ai'e  most  enor- 
mous, utterly  disproportioned  to  offenses,  and 
should  be  prevented  by  all  the  means  in  our 
power.  In  all  cases  where  whipping  is  to  be 
resorted  to,  I  would  limit  the  punishment  by 
law,  in  all  cases  affecting  both  black  and 
white,  to  forty  save  one,  and  duect  it  to  be 


NEGROES — SLAVE   LAWS    OF   THE   SOUTH. 


285 


inflicted  iu  portions,  and  at  considerable  in- 
•  tervals  of  time.  Thus  mingling  imprisonment 
and  wiiipping  together,  antl  holding  the  rod 
Buspeiideii,  in  the  contemplation  of  the  party, 
until  the  delay  itself  would  be  worse  punish- 
ment than  the  inflictioa 

The  tribunal  for  the  trial  of  slaves  and  free 
negroes  (a  magistrate  and  freeholders  of  the 
vicinage)  is  the  worst  system  which  could  be 
devised.  The  consequence  is,  that  the  pa.s- 
sions  and  prejudices  of  the  neighborhood,  aris- 
ing from  a  recent  oflense,  enter  into  the  trial, 
and  often  lead  to  the  condemnation  of  the  in- 
nocent. The  Charleston  scheme  is  better  than 
that  which  prevails  in  the  country.  Still  I 
think  it  none  of  the  best.  I  would  establish  a 
tribunal  to  consist  of  one  judicial  magistrate, 
to  be  a])pointe(l  by  the  legislature,  to  try  all 
criminal  cases  against  free  negroes,  mulattoes, 
mestizoes  or  slaves.  He  should  be  compelled 
to  hold  his  court  on  the  first  Wednesday  in 
every  month,  at  the  court  house ;  and  he 
should  have,  the  power  to  direct  a  constable 
(whom  he  should  be  authorized  to  appoint  to 
attend  his  courts)  to  summon  twenty-four 
freeholders  or  slaveholders  of  the  district,  and 
out  of  them  a  jury  of  twelve  should  be  im- 
panelled to  try  the  prisoner,  allowing  him  ,a3 
far  as  ten,  a  peremptory  challenge,  and,  on 
cause  shown,  to  the  balance  of  the  panel.  The 
magistrate  issuing  the  warrant  should  be  re- 
quired to  state  the  offense  and  act  as  prose- 
cuting officer.  To  the  charge  thus  presented, 
the  prisoner  should  be  required  to  answer  ; 
and  he  should  have  the  benefit  of  an  attor- 
ney's services,  to  defend  him  on  the  law  and 
evidence.  The  judicial  magistrate  should  be 
required  to  charge  the  jury  on  the  law  and 
the  facts,  as  judges  of  the  law  courts  now 
do.  The  jury  should  simply  say,  guilty  or 
not  guilty.  Tlie  magistrate  presiding  should 
pronounce  the  judgment  of  the  law.  The 
prisoner  on  conviction  should  have  the  right 
of  appeal  to  the  Court  of  Appeals,  and  no 
sentence  should  be  passed  until  the  case  was 
there  heard,  and  the  prisoner  remantled  for 
judgment.  The  judicial  magistrate,  his  con- 
stable, and  the  magistrate  issuing  the  war- 
rant, should  be  compensated  by  fees,  to  be 
paid  in  all  cases  by  the  state. 

Under  the  law,  as  it  now  stands,  the  state 
is  liable  for  all  the  costs  attending  negro 
trials,  (except  free  negroes,  mulattoes  and 
mestizoes,  m  the  parishes  of  St.  Philip's  and 
St.  Michael's,  who,  if  convicted,  and  able  to 
pay,  are  declared  liable  to  pay  the  same  ;  and 
also,  under  the  21st  section  of  the  act  of  1740, 
if  the  prosecution  against  a  slave,  free  negro, 
mulatto,  or  mestizo,  appears  to  be  malicious, 
the  court  trying  the  case,  and  satisfied  of 
that  fact,  may  order  and  compel  the  prose- 
cutor to  pay  the  costs.)  This  provision  of  the 
21st  section  of  the  act  of  17-i'J  is  re  enacted, 
as  to  slaves,  in  the  magistrates'  and  consta- 


bles' act  for  St.  Philip's  and  St.  Michael's, 
passed  in  1829. 

A  slave  cannot  be  twice  tried  and  punished 
for  the  same  offense. 

If  a  slave  be  out  of  the  house  or  plantation 
where  such  slave  resides,  or  without  some 
white  person  in  company,  and  should  refuse 
to  submit  to  and  undergo  the  examination  of 
any  white  person,  it  is  lawful  for  such  white 
person  to  pursue,  apprehend  and  moderately 
Correct  such  slave,  and  if  such  slave  shall  as- 
sault and  strike  such  white  person,  such  slave 
mai/  be  lawfully  killed. 

Masters,  overseers,  or  other  persons,  have 
the  po'jver  to  apprehend  and  take  up  any 
slave  found  out  of  his  or  her  master's  or  own- 
er's plantatitm  at  any  time,  but  more  especi- 
ally on  Saturday  nights  or  Suncays,  or  other 
holidays,  not  being  on  lawful  business,  or  not 
with  a  ticket  from  the  master,  or  not  having 
some  white  person  in  company,  and  even 
with  a  ticket,  if  armed  with  wooden  swords 
or  other  mischievous  and  dangerous  weapons, 
and  to  disarm  such  slave,  and  all  such  men- 
tioned iu  this  section  to  whip. 

Any  person  is  authorized  to  take  up  any 
runaway  slave,  and  it  seems,  it  is  now  the 
duty  of  the  person  taking  up  a  runaway 
(when  he  knows  or  can  be  informed  without 
difficulty  to  whom  such  slave  belongs)  to 
send  such  slave  to  the  said  owner ;  but  if  the 
owner  be  unknown,  then,  in  Charleston  dis- 
trict, it  is  the  duty  of  the  person  taking  up 
such  runaway  slave  to  send,  within  five  days, 
the  same  to  the  workhouse  in  the  city  of 
Charleston  ;  the  master  of  the  -norkhouse  is  to 
admit  every  such  slave  upon  a  certificate  from 
a  magistrate  of  the  district,  or  mayor,  or  one  of 
the  aldermen  of  the  city,  containing  the  par- 
ticulars of  the  apprehension  of  such  fugitive 
slave,  and  requiring  his  confinement;  in  all 
other  parts  of  the  state  the  runaway  slave  is 
to  be  Sent  to  the  jail  of  the  district.  It  is  the 
duty  of  the  master,  jailor  or  sheriff,  to  securely 
keep  the  .slave  so  committed,  and  if  the  same 
escape  by  negligence,  the  master  or  sheriff 
(for  the  jailor  is  merely  the  sheriff's  keeper) 
is  liable  to  the  owner  for  the  value  of  the 
slave,  or  such  damage  as  may  be  sus^tained 
by  such  escape.  Information  of  the  slave  so 
committed  to  the  care  of  the  master  of  the 
workhouse,  is  to  be  by  him  sent  to  the  owner, 
if  known;  if  he  be  unknown,  the  master  of 
the  workhouse  is  to  advertise  such  slave  in 
the  city  paper,  (under  the  advice  of  the  city 
attorney,)  giving  the  name,  age,  and  further 
description,  so  that  the  owner  may  be  inform- 
ed the  slave  is  iu  custody.  In  other  parts  of 
the  state,  the  runaway  is  to  be  advertised 
once  a  week  for  three  months,  in  some  public 
gazette,  by  the  sheriff  or  jailor,  who  is  also 
required,  if  the  owner's  name  and  address  can 
be  obtained,  to  give  him  specific  notice  of  the 
confinement  of  the  said  runaway.    The  ad- 


286 


KEGROES — SLAVE   LAWS    OF   THE   SOLTH. 


vertisement  must  contain  the  name,  age,  and 
other  particular  description  of  such  slave,  and 
the  name  of  the  person  said  to  be  the  owner. 
The  jailor  or  sherifl^  and  the  master  of  the 
•workhouse,  is  liable  to  a  fine  of  10s.  or  §2  ll 
for  such  slave  committed  as  a  runavi'ay,  neg- 
lected to  be  advertised.  The  runaway  is  to  be 
kept  for  twelve  months,  if  not  claimed  by  the 
owner,  and  in  Charleston,  proof  of  property 
made  on  oath  before  one  of  the  judges'of  the 
Common  Pleas,  or  any  magistrate,  within 
twelve  months  from  the  date  of  the  adver- 
tisement in  Charleston,  in  other  parts  of  the 
state,  from  the  commitment,  the  runaway  is 
to  be  sold.  Iff  Charleston  the  sale  is  to  be 
made  by  city  sheriff,  he  giving  one  month's 
notice  of  the  time,  place,  and  reason  of  such 
sale  ;  he  is  to  give  to  the  purchaser  a  receipt 
for  the  money  arising  from  such  sale,  speci- 
fying the  reasons  of  the  sale,  and  he  (the  city 
shenflt)  is  directed  to  pay  the  said  proceeds 
to  the  city  treasury.  Out  of  the  fund  so  paid 
over  is  to  be  deducted  the  expenses  of  the 
said  runaway,  as  provided  and  allowed  by 
law.  The  balance  is  to  be  retained  by  the 
city  treasurer,  for  the  owner,  but  if  not  claim- 
ed within  a  year  and  a  day,  it  is  to  be  paid 
into  the  state  treasury,  and  out  of  it,  I  pre- 
sume, the  commissioners  of  public  build- 
ings of  Charleston  district  are  entitled  to 
draw  it,  under  the  general  law  of  '39.  In 
other  parts  of  the  state,  the  sheriff  of  the 
district  is  to  advertise  the  runaway  for  a 
month,  and  then  to  sell;  and  after  paying 
the  cliarges  or  expenses  allowed  by  law,  the 
balance  is  to  be  paid  to  the  commissioners 
of  public  buildings,  and  is  to  belong  to  them 
absolutely,  if  not  claimed  by  the  owner  of  tiie 
slave  so  runaway  within  two  years.  The 
title  to  be  executed  by  the  sheriff  to  the  pur- 
chaser of  such  runaway,  is  good,  and  bars  the 
rights  of  the  owner.  Any  neglect  or  default 
in  the  duties  required  by  the  53d  section  of 
the  act  of  '39,  subjects  a  jailor  or  sheriff  to 
an  action  on  the  case. 

A  person  taking  up  a  runaway,  and  failing 
to  send  tlie  same  to  the  workhouse  or  the 
district  jail  within  five  days,  is  liable  to  pay 
20s.  or  §4:28  for  every  day  the  same  may  be 
retainad.  The  person  taking  up  a  runaway 
is  entitled  to  10s.,  or  §2  14  for  taking  up  such 
runaway,  id.  or  7  cts.  for  every  mile  fromihe 
place  wiierc  taken  to  the  owner's  residence, 
(if  the  runaway  be  carried  to  the  owner,)  or  to 
the  district  jail  or  the  workhouse,  and  half  a 
dollar  per  day  for  the  travel,  computing  the 
journey  at  twenty-five  miles  to  tlie  day.  To 
entitle  the  person  taking  up  a  runaway  to  these 
allowances,  he  must  carry  tlie  slave  to  a  neigh- 
boring magistrate,  who  may  examine  on  oath ' 
the  captor,  touching  the  time  and  distance  he  ! 
has  necessarilytravelled,  and  shall  go  with  such  , 
slave,  and  the  said  m;igistrate  shall  give  a  cer- 
tificate, on  a  just  estimate  of  such  time  and  j 
distance,  and  on  presenting  such  certificate,  I 


I  the  jailor  is  to  give  his  note  for  the  same,  pay- 
!  able  to  the  bearer.  The  master  of  the  work- 
i  house  is  to  pay  the  same,  instead  of  giving  a 
I  note.  These  fees  are  to  be  paid  to  the  jailor, 
j  or  master  of  the  workhouse,  by  the  owner,  or 
!  out  of  the  sale  of  the  said  runaway,  if  he  should 
'  not  be  claimed  by  the  owner  and  be  sold. 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  master  of  the  work- 
I  house,  jailor,  or  sheriff,  to  provide   sufficient 
food,  drink,  clothing,  and  covering,  for  every 
runaway  slave  delivered  into  the  custody  of 
j  either.      The  jailor  or  sheriff  is  entitled  to 
1  charge  twenty  cents  per  day  for  each  runaway 
I  confined,  aud  also  for  all  necessary  expenses 
I  in  providing  clothes  or  blankets.    In  the  work- 
house a  runaway  slave  is  directed  to  be  put 
to  labor  on  the  treadmill,  and  therefore  no 
charge  for  diet  is  made. 

Each  militia  beat  company,  by  its  com- 
mander, (except  the  company  or  companies  on 
Charleston  neck,)  is  divided  into  convenient 
patrol  districts.  All  the  free  white  male  in- 
habitants, above  the  age  of  eighteen  years,  of 
each  patrol  district,  are  liable  to  do  patrol 
duty,  except  aliens  or  transient  persons  above 
the  age  of  forty-five  years,  or  who  have  not 
resided  within  the  state  for  six  months,  or  per- 
sons wlio  are  above  the  age  of  forty-five,  who 
do  not  own  slaves,  or  alien  enemies.  Persons 
liable  to  do  patrol  duty  may  send  in  their 
places,  respectively,  an  able-bodied  white  man, 
between  the  ages  of  sixteen  and  sixty,  as  a 
substitute ;  and  for  failing  tc  discharge  the 
patrol  duty,  in  person  or  by  substitute,  each 
person  liable  to  do  the  same,  without  a  legal 
excuse,  is  liable  to  pay  a  fine  of  ?2  for  each 
default,  and  ten  per  cent,  on  his  general  tax 
of  the  preceding  year. 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  commanding  ofilcer  of 
each  beat  company  to  make  out  a  roll  of  the 
inhabitants  of  each  patrol  division  liable  to  do 
patrol  duty,  and  from  such  roll,  at  each  regular 
muster  of  his  company,  to  prick  off,  at  his  dii- 
cretion,  any  number  of  persons  to  do  patrol 
duty  until  tlie  next  muster,  aud  appoint  mine 
prudent  and  discreet  person  to  command  the 
said  patrol.  If  the  officer  commanding  the 
beat  company  fails  to  prick  off,  at  each  mus- 
ter, the  patrol  of  each  division,  or  the  com- 
mandant of  the  patrol  fails  in  his  duty,  each 
of  them  is  liable  to  a  fine  not  exceeding  830. 
It  is  the  duty  of  the  commandant  of  the 
patrol  to  call  them  out  at  least  once  a  fort- 
night, and  to  take  up  and  correct  with  stripes, 
not  exceeding  twenty,  with  a  switch  or  cow- 
skin,  all  .slaves  found  outside  of  their  owner's 
or  employer's  plantation,  without  a  ticket  or 
letter  to  show  the  reasonableness  of  his  ab- 
sence, or  some  white  person  in  company  to  give 
an  account  of  the  business  of  such  slaves ;  and 
also,  if  the  .slave  have  a  ticket,  aud  has  in  his 
possession  a  gun,  pistol,  or  other  offensive  wea- 
pon, unless  such  slave  be  on  lawful  business, 
or  in  company  with  some  white  person  not  less 
than  ten  years  of  age.    Fire-arms  and  other 


NEGROES — SLAVE    LAWS   OF   THE   SOUTH. 


28"? 


offensive  weapons,  found  by  the  patrol  in  the 
possession  of  a  slave,  in  violation  of  the  above 
provisions,  are  liable  to  seizure  by  them,  and 
condemnation  and  forfeiture  to  the  use  of  the 
regiment  to  which  the  patrol  may  belong.  To 
obtain  such  forfeiture,  the  leader  of  the  patrol 
making  the  seizure  must,  within  ten  days,  go 
before  the  nearest  magistrate,  and  make  oath 
of  the  manner,  time  and  place  of  taking  ;  and 
if  the  magistrate  shall  be  satisfied  of  tlie  legal- 
ity of  the  seizure,  he  shall  sunnnon  the  owner 
of  the  slave  from  whom  the  arms  have  been 
taken  to  appear  before  him,  within  ten  days, 
to  show  cause  why  the  arms  should  not  be 
condemned.  If  the  owner  should  fail  to  ap- 
pear, or,  appearing,  should  show  insufficient 
cause,  the  said  arms  or  weapons  shall,  by  cer- 
tificate under  the  hand  of  the  magistrate,  be 
"declared  condemned^'  and  may  be  sold  within 
ten  days,  and  the  proceeds,  after  payment  of 
the  costs,  paid  to  the  paymaster  of  the  regi- 
ment. 

The  patrol  have  the  power,  and  are  required 
to  enter  into  any  disorderly  house,  vessel,  or 
boat,  suspectetl  of  harboring,  trafficking,  or 
dealing  with  negroes,  whether  the  same  be 
occupied  by  white  persons,  free  negroes,  mu- 
lattoes,  mestizoes,  or  slaves  ;  and  to  apprehend 
and  correct  all  slaves  found  there,  by  whip- 
ping, (unless,  as  I  apprehend,  such  slaves  shall 
not  only  have  a  ticket  to  be  absent,  but  also  a 
ticket  to  trade.)  The  patrol  is  required  to  in- 
form a  magistrate  of  such  white  persons,  free 
negroes,  mulattoes,  or  mestizoes,  as  may  be 
found  in  such  house,  vessel,  or  boat,  and  to  de- 
tain, until  recovered  by  law,  such  produce  or 
articles  for  trafficking  as  may  be  therein  f  nind, 
if  such  detention  be  authorized  by  any  three 
freeholders,  or  any  magistrate.  It  is  the  duty 
of  the  owner  of  each  boat  or  vessel  navigating 
the  public  rivers  or  canals  of  tliis  state,  to  keep 
and  produce  to  the  magistrates  or  patrols, 
wlien  required,  a  list  of  all  the  negroes  compos- 
ing the  crew,  with  their  owners'  names,  and 
a  description  of  their  persons. 

The  patrol  may,  as  is  stated  in  the  44th  and 
45th  sections  of  chapter  2d  of  this  digest,  break 
up  unlawful  assemblies  of  slaves,  and  inflict 
punishment  on- slaves  there  found,  not  exceed 
ing  twenty  stripes,  with  a  switch  or  cowskin. 

Every  owner  of  a  settled  plantation,  who 
does  not  live  on  the  same  six  months  in  every 
year,  and  who  employs  upon  the  same  fifteen 
or  more  slaves,  is  required  to  keep  upon  the 
same  some  white  man  capable  of  performing 
patrol  duty,  under  a  penalty  of  fifty  cents  per 
month,  for  each  and  every  working  slave  em- 
ployed on  the  said  plantation. 

Patrols  are  not  liable,  in  the  discharge  of 
tlicir  duty,  to  the  payment  of  any  tolls. 

In  incorporated  towns  and  villages,  the  power 
and  duty  of  regulating  the  patrol  in  the  same, 
is  vested  in  and  devolved  ujjon  the  mimicipal 
authorities  of  the  same. 


j  The  captain  of  a  beat  company  cannot  con- 
'  stitnte  himself  the  captain  of  a  patrol. 
j  Tlie  ticket  or  pass  to  a  slave  need  not  state 
the  place  to  which  he  or  she  is  to  go,  and  a 
'  patrol  whipping  a  slave,  with  such  a  pass,  are 
\  trespassers.  The  form  given  in  the  act  of 
I  1740,  "  Permit  this  slave  to  be  absent  from 

'  the  plantation  of  A.  B.  until ,"  or  any  other 

equivalent  form,  will  be  sufficient. 

It  is  the  duty  of  captains  or  commanders  of 
patrol  to  keep  their  respective  commands  in 
good  order  and  demeanor  when  on  duty  ;  and 
any  patrol  man  misbehaving  himself,  or  neg- 
lecting or  disobeying  the  orders  of  his  com- 
mandant, is  liable  to  a  fine  of  not  less  than  §2, 
nor  more  than  iJ'iO.  If  the  captain  of  a  patrol 
acts  disorderly,  so  as  to  defeat  the  proper  exe- 
cution of  the  patrol  laws,  he  is  liable  to  be  re- 
turned by  any  member  of  his  command,  or  any 
other  person  competent  to  give  evidence,  to 
the  commanding  officer  of  the  beat  company, 
who  is  to  return  him  to  a  court  martial  for 
trial,  and,  if  found  guilty,  he  may  be  fined  not 
less  than  §5,  nor  more  than  $50. 

Each  captain  of  the  patrol  is  required,  at  the 
next  regular  muster  of  the  beat  company  after 
his  appointment,  to  make  a  return,  on  oath,  of 
the  performance  of  his  duties.  Failing  to  make 
sucli  a  return,  he  is  liable  to  a  fine  of  $20. 

Tlie  penalties  to  be  incurred  by  the  com- 
manding officers  of  beat  companies,  command- 
ants of  the  patrols,  and  patrol  men,  for  neglect 
of  duty,  or  violation  of  law,  may  be  imposed 
by  courts  martial. 

If  the  patrol  be  sued,  and  the  party  suing  fail 
to  recover,  he  is  liable  to  treble  costs ;  which 
is  full  costs,  to  which  is  added  one  half,  and 
then  half  of  that  half 

The  act  of  '39,  in  repealing  all  other  laws 
on  the  subject  of  the  patrol,  unfortunately  ex- 
cepts the  act  regulating  the  performance  of 
patrol  duty  on  Charleston  neck.  The  act  of 
'23,  so  saved  from  repeal,  differs  in  many  re- 
spects from  the  general  law,  which  it  is  now 
necessary  to  state.  1st.  A  majority  of  the 
company  officers  is  to  direct  how  the  company 
is  to  be  divided  into  patrol  districts,  and  the 
captain  is  so  to  divide  it,  and  it  is  so  to  continue 
untd  altered  by  a  majority  of  said  officers.  The 
officers  fiiiling  to  do  this  duty,  are  liable  to  a 
fine  of  $30,  to  be  recovered  in  the  court  of  law, 
(by  indictment.)  as  no  mode  is  appointed  by 
the  act.  2d.  All  white  males  above  eigh- 
teen and  under  sixty,  residing  in  said  patrol 
(Hsfricts,  (except  ministers  of  the  gospel,)  all 
females  owning  ten  slaves  above  the  age  often 
years,  and  all  persoufi  having  settled  farms  or 
a  house  and  lot,  with  five  or  more  slaves  above 
the  age  of  sixteen,  residing  within  the  said 
companies,  are  liable  to  tlo  patrol  duty.  Fe- 
males required  to  do  patrol  duty,  must,  of 
course,  do  so  by  substitute.  3d.  The  com- 
manding officer  or  officers  of  a  company  are 
to  appoint,  in  u'riting,  the  leader  of  the  pa- 


288 


NEGROES — SLAVE  LAWS  OE  THE  SOUTH. 


trol,  whose  qualification  and  term  of  office  is 
the  same  as  pointed  out  in  section  40.     The 
person  so  appointed  refusing  to  accept,  the 
comuiandinjj  officer  or  officers  of  companies 
or  the  leaders  of  patrol  not  performing  tiie 
duties  required,  are  hable  to  a  fine  of  $20,  to 
be  recovered  by  indictment   in  the  court  of 
law,  and  ])aid  to  the  commissioners  of  cross 
roads.     No  person  can  be  compelled  to  serve 
as  leader  more  than  once  in  twelve  months. 
4th.  The  patrol  is  not  only  authorized  to  en- 
ter disorderly  houses,  etc.,  as  stated  in  section 
42,  but,  if  resisted,  they   are   authorized  to 
break  open  doors,  windows,  and  locks;  they 
are  required  to  produce  to  the  magistrate, 
whom  they  may  inform  of  wiiite  persons,  free 
negroes,  mulattoes,  and   mestizoes,  found  in 
houses,  the  produce  or  articles  for  trafficking 
found  there,  to  be  disposed  of  according  (o  laic 
5th.  The  leader  of  a  patrol  is,  as  is  stated  in 
section  49,  to  keep  his  command  in  good  order, 
&c. ;  any  p.atrol  man  misbehaving,  ifec,  is  liable 
to  a  fine  of  $2,  to  be  imposed  by  the  officers 
of  the  company  to  which  he  belongs,  and  to 
be  paid  to  the  commissioners  of  cross  roads, 
Charleston  neck.     A  leader  acting  disorderly 
may  be  proceeded  against  as  stated  in  section 
49  ;  lie  is  to  be  tried  by  a  court  consisting  of 
the  officers  of  his  company,  or  any  three  offi- 
cers of  the  regiment,  and  may  be  fined  $10, 
to  be  paid  to  the  same  authorities,  commission- 
ers of  cross  roads,  Charleston  neck.     Gth.    A 
substitute  for  patrol  must  be  between  eighteen 
and  sixty.     7th.  Free  negroes,  mulattoes,  or 
mestizoes  found  on  Charleston  neck,  are  to  be 
treated  by  the  patrol  as  slaves,  unless  they 
produce  their  free  papers,   office   copies,    or 
other  satisfactory  evidence   of  freedom.      If 
found  out  of  their  own  houses,  or  the  inclosure 
of  their  employer,  not  having  a  regular  ticket 
from  their  guardian,  after  9  P.  M.,  from  20th 
September  to  2uth  March,  and  10  P.M.,  from 
20th  March  to  20th  September,  they  are  de- 
clared liable  to  be  treated  as  slaves  without 
a  pass.     8th.  No  grocery,  retail  shop,  or  any 
store,   shop,  or   place,   wlierein   are   vended 
spirituous  liquors,  is  to  be  kept  open  on  the 
Sabbath  day,  or  any  other  day  after  9  P.  M  , 
from  20th  September  to  2()th  March,  and  after 
10  P.  M.,  from  20th  March  to  20th  September ; 
any  owner  or  occupant  violating  this  law,  or 
trading,  trafficking,  or  bartering  therein,  witli 
any  slaves,  free  negroes,  mulattoes,  or  mesti- 
zoes, is  liable  to  a  lino  of  $50,  to  be  recovered 
by  indictment  in  the  court  of  law,  and  paid  to 
the  commissioners  of  cross  loads,  Charleston 
neck.   9tii.  Each  inhabitant  of  Cliarleston  neck, 
liable  to  jiatrol  duty,  is  requireti  to  provide  and 
carry  witii  him  on  service  a  good  gun  or  pis- 
tol in  order,  with  at  least  six  ball  cailridges 
for  the  same,  or  cutlass,  under  tiie  pfiialty  of 
$2,  and  ten  percent,  on  his  general  tax  of  tlie 
year  preceding.  lOtK  The  commanding  officer 
of  the  company  or  companies  on  Charleston 
neck  may  appoint  a  secretary,  whose  duty  it 


shall  be  to  prepare  and  lay  before  the  military 
courts  herein  before  mentioned  all  neces.sary 
papers,  and  to  keep  a  record  of  the  proceedings 
of  the  same,which  is  to  be  open  to  the  inspection 
of  all  interested.  For  this  duty  he  is  exem])ted 
from  patrol  duty.  11th.  The  leader  of  each 
patrol  may  apjjoint  a  warner  to  summon  the 
patrol;  and  for  tiiis  duty  he  is  exempted  from 
the  patrol.  Tith.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  officers 
commanding  the  companies  on  Charleston  neck, 
and  all  magistrates,  to  inform  the  leaders  of 
the  patrols  of  unlawful  assemblies  of  negroes, 
(slaves,)  free  negroes,  nmlattoes,  and  mesti- 
zoes. The  leaders  on  receipt  of  this  informa- 
tion are  to  turn  out  their  patrols,  and  discharge 
the  duty  required  by  hiw ;  failing  to  do  this, 
they  are  respectively  liable  to  a  fine  of  $20, 
to  be  paid  to  the  commissioners  of  cross  roads, 
Charleston  neck.  For  uniformity  sake,  I  think 
this  act  of  '23  should  be  repealed. 

The  commissioners  of  cross  roads  on  Char 
leston  neck,  bj-  the  act  of  '4.5,  were  authorized 
to  build  a  guard-house,  and  it  provides  that  all 
free  negroes,  mulattoes,  mestizoes  and  slaves, 
on  Charleston  neck,  charged  or  found  guilty 
of  violating  the  law,  shall  be  therein  confined 
and  there  punished ;  and  also  slaves,  free  ne- 
groes, mulattoes  and  mestizoes,  taken  up  by 
the  patrol,  shall  there  be  whipped  according 
to  the  patrol  law,  unless  the  owner  or  jjerson 
having  charge  of  such  slaves,  free  negroes, 
mulattoes  or  mestizoes,  or  their  guardians, 
shall  pay  to  the  commissioners  of  cross  roads 
one  dollar  for  each  of  said  slaves,  free  negroes, 
mulattoes  or  mestizoes. 

The  Rights,  Clv^L  and  Crimin.\l  Remedies, 
AXD  Liabilities  of  tue  Master.  Also,  the 
Laav  to  prevent  the  Disturbance  ok  the 
Peace  in  relation  to  Slaves  and  Free  Ne- 
groes.— The  riglit  of  a  master  in  a  slave,  and 
all  which  appertains  or  belongs  to  him,  is  th.it  of 
property.  If  tlie  slave  be  in  the  possession  of 
anothei',  his  owner  may  maintain  detinue  for 
i)is  specific  delivery,  or  may  have  a  bill  in 
equity,  to  conqjol  his  possession  to  be  restored, 
(unless  he  may  have  been  bouglit  for  sale,  in 
which  case  the  owner  is  left  to  his  remedy  at 
law,)  or  may  bring  trover  to  recover  the 
damages  sustained  in  his  conversion.  The 
owner  may  bring  trespass  for  any  forcible 
taking  of  the  slave  from  his  possession,  or  for 
any  forcible  injury  done  to  his  person.  So, 
too,  if  a  slave  wander  from  the  possession  of 
the  owner,  and  another  employ  him,  the  owner 
may  bring  assumpsit  for  his  labor,  or  trover  for 
the  time  he  may  be  in  the  employment  of  a 
third  person,  or  if  such  jierson  kneio  he  was  a 
/slave,  the  action  on  the  ca.se  might  be  sustain- 
ed. So,  too,  if  a  bailee  abuse  or  emjjloy  a 
slave  differently  from  the  contract  of  bailment, 
and  he  is  killi^d  or  injured,  the  bailee  would 
be  liable  to  the  owner.  So,  too,  a  common 
carrier  transporting  a  slave  from  one  place  to 
another,  is  liable  for  an  injury  to,  the  death,  or 


KEGR0E3 — SLAVE  LAWS  OF  THE  SOUTH. 


289 


loss  of  tbe  slarc,  as  he  would  be  for  other 
articles,  with  this  exception,  if  he  shows  that 
he  used  proper  care  and  dilij^ence,  and  the 
injury,  los-:,  or  death  resulted  from  the  act  of 
the  slave,  then  he  would  not  be  liable.  Any 
employment  of  a  slave  without  the  consent 
of  the  maj^ter,  by  which  the  slave  is  killed  or 
injured,  makes  the  person  so  employing  him 
liable  for  the  damages  sustained  by  the  owner. 
For  porsctnal  property  in  the  possession  of  the 
slave,  and  commonly  called  the  property  of 
the  slave,  the  master  may  maintain  the  same 
actions  against  one  possessing  hiui'^elf  of  it,  as 
he  could  for  the  slave  himself.  For  harbor- 
ing a  runaway  slave,  knowing  him  to  be  such, 
an  action  on  the  case  can  be  maintained  by 
the  owner. 

A  contract  for  the  hire  of  a  slave  for  a  year 
is  an  entire  contract ;  yet  if  the  slave  die,  his 
wages  will  be  apportioned.  But  if  the  slave 
be  sick,  or  run  away,  no  deduction  is  to  be 
made  on  either  account.  The  owner  is  not 
liable,  generally,  for  medical  services  rendered 
to  his  slave  while  in  the  possession  of  one  to 
whom  he  may  be  hired.  The  master  is  liable 
for  medical  services  rendered  to  his  slave 
without  his  knowledge,  if  the  slave  be  in  great 
danger. 

By  the  5th  section  of  the  act  of  '39,  provi- 
sion is  made,  if  any  white  man  shall  beat  or 
abuse  any  slave,  quietly  and  peaceably  being 
on  his  master's  plantation,  or  found  any  where 
without  the  same,  with  a  lawful  ticket,  that 
he  shall  forfeit  §50,  to  be  recovered  by  and 
to  the  use  of  the  owner,  by  action  of  debt, 
besides  being  hable  to  the  owner,  in  action  of 
trespass  for  damages.  Under  this  provision, 
it  has  been  held,  that  where  a  slave  was  found 
out  of  his  master's  plantation,  but  had  a  ticket, 
and  was  whipped  by  the  party  finding  him, 
that  the  master  could  maintain  the  action  un- 
der the  act,  and  recover. 

The  act  of '23,  for  the  regulation  of  patrol 
duty  on  Charleston  neck,  section  4,  provides 
if  any  white  man  shall  ^cantonhi  beat  or  abuse 
any  slave,  quietly  and  peaceably  being  in  his 
or  her  owner's  inclosure,  or  found  any  where 
without  the  same,  with  a  lawful  ticket,  he 
shall  forfeit  fifty  dollars,  to  be  recovered  by 
the  owner,  and  to  his  use,  besides  being  liable 
to  the  owner  in  an  action  of  trespass  for  dam- 
ages. This  provision  is  identical  with  that 
of '39,  except  that,  in  the  act  of  '23,  the  beat- 
ing or  abusing  must  be  wa7itonIy.  In  the  act 
of  '39  no  such  word  is  used.  It  may  be, 
under  the  act  of  '23,  malice  or  cruelty  would 
have  to  be  shown. 

The  third  section  of  the  act  of  1747  pro- 
vides, that  if  any  overseer  or  manager  shall 
employ,  upon  his  own  account  or  business,  any 
of  the  negroes  committed  to  his  care,  by  send- 
ing them  on  errands,  or  in  any  other  manner 
whatever,  such  overseer  or  manager  shall  j)ay 
the  sum  of  lOs.  (equal  to  ?2  14)  for  every  day 
he  or  they  shall  so  employ  any  negro  com- 
VOL.  II. 


mitted  to  the  care  of  such  overseer  or  mana- 
ger. (This  pcnalt}',  another  part  of  the  act, 
section  1st,  directs  to  be  recovered  before  a 
justice  of  the  peace,  magistrate  now,  in  the 
manner  and  form  prescribed  for  the  recovery 
of  small  debts  and  damages.)  The  3d  section 
farther  provides  that,  to  establish  the  fact  of 
the  employment  of  the  owner's  slaves  by  the 
overseer  or  manager,  the  information  of  the 
negroes  shall  be  sufficient,  unless  the  overseer 
or  manager  will  exculpate  himself  on  oath. 

In  the  case  of  Dillard  vs.  Wallace,  I  ruled 
that  this  provision  was  obsolete  from  non-user. 
The  Cjurt  of  Appeals,  admitting  that  its  en- 
forcement had  been  hitherto  unknown — and 
ninety  years  had  then  elapsed  from  its  enact- 
ment— held  that  it  was  still  not  obsolete. 
It  is,  therefore,  a  law,  however  anomalous  in 
its  provision  about  evidence,  still  to  be  en- 
forced. 

If  any  slave  shall  be  beat,  bruised,  maimed 
or  disabled,  in  the  lawful  business  or  service 
of  his  mast'T,  owner,  overseer,  or  other  person 
having  charge  of  such  slave,  by  any  person  or 
persons  not  having  sufficient  cause  or  author- 
ity, (of  which  cause  the  magistrate  ti-ying  the 
case  is  to  judge,)  he  or  they  shall  forfeit  40s. 
current  money,  equal  to  5s.  8d.  sterling,  or 
§1  20,  to  the  use  of  the  poor  of  the  district  or 
parish.  If  the  slave  or  slaves  be  maimed,  or 
disabled  from  performing  his  or  her  or  their 
work,  the  person  or  persons  beating  the  slave 
shall  also  forfeit  and  pay  to  the  owner  15.?. 
current  money,  equal  to  about  44  cents,  for 
every  day  he  may  be  unable  to  discharge  his 
usual  service,  and  the  charge  of  the  cure  of 
such  slave.  If  the  damages  in  the  whole  do 
not  exceed  £20  current  money,  equal  to  §12 
27,  they,  as  also  the  penalty  for  the  use  of  the 
poor,  may  be  recovered  before  a  magistrate; 
and  if  the  offender  shall  produce  no  goods,  on 
which  the  same  may  be  levied,  the  magistrate 
is  authorized  to  commit  him  to  jail  until  the 
same  be  paid. 

These  provisions  have  been  very  little  no- 
ticed, and  furnish  so  poor  a  relief  for  the 
abuse  to  which  they  apply,  that  they  will 
rarely  be  resorted  to.  The  action  of  trespass 
is  an  abimdantly  better  remedy.  Still,  this 
law  exists,  and  may,  in  the  case  described  in 
the  act,  be  resorted  to  by  owners,  if  they 
choose  so  to  do.  They  cannot,  however,  have 
this  remedy  and  also  an  action  of  trespass. 

Any  person  who  shall  give  a  ticket  or 
written  permit  to  a  slave,  the  property  of,  or 
'  under  the  charge  of,  another,  (without  the 
consent,  or  against  the  will  of  such  owner,  or 
person  having  charge,)  authorizing  such  slave 
to  be  absent,  or  to  deal,  trade  or  traffic,  such 
person  is  liable  to  be  indicted,  and,  on  convic- 
tion, to  be  punished  by  fiue  not  exceeding 
§1,000,  and  imprisonment  not  exceeding 
twelve  months. 

Notwithstanding  this  act,  a  person  who  might 
give  a  ticket  to  a  slave,  with  a  view  to  aid  a 
19 


290 


NEaROES SLAVE    LAWS   OF   THE    SOUTH. 


slave  in  running  away,  and  departing  from  his 
master's  service,  might  be  tried  and  capitally 
convicted  under  the  act  of  1754. 

If  a  vrhite  person  harbor,  cojiceal,  or  enter- 
tain any  runaway  or  fugitive  slave,  he  or  she 
is  liable  to  be  indicted  for  a  misdemeanor,  or 
prosecuted  in  a  civil  action  for  damages,  at 
the  ekction  of  the  owner  or  person  injured. 
If  indicted  and  convicteil,  the  offender  is  liable 
to  a  fine  not  exceeding  ?  1,000,  and  imprison- 
ment not  exceeding  twelve  months.  Tlie 
owner  may  proceed  by  indictment,  and  also 
civilly,  at  the  same  time ;  he  cannot  be  put 
to  his  election  until  the  trial. 

If  a  person  be  maimed,  wounded,  or  dis- 
abled, in  pursuing,  apprehending,  or  taking 
any  slave  tliat  is  run  away,  or  charged  with 
any  criminal  offense,  or  in  doing  any  thing 
else,  in  obedience  to  the  act  of  1740,  he  shall 
receive  such  reward  from  the  public  as  the 
General  Assembly  may  think  fit ;  and  if  he 
be  killed,  his  heirs,  executors,  or  administra- 
tors shall  receive  the  same. 

I  do  not  know  that  any  claim  has  ever  been 
made  under  tliis  law.  Still,  however,  it  seems 
to  be  of  force,  and  a  claimant  would  be  enti- 
tled to  the  benefit  of  its  provisions. 

The  court  trying  and  capitally  convicting 
a  slave  is  to  appraise  the  same,  not  exceeding 
$200,  and  certify  such  appraisement  to  the 
treasurer  of  the  division  witliin  wliich  the 
slave  may  be  condemned ;  <ind,  in  the  event 
of  the  slave  being  executed  in  pursuance  of 
the  sentence,  the  treasurer  is  directed  to  pay 
the  appraisement  to  the  owner. 

If  a  white  person  game  with  a  free  negro, 
mulatto  or  mestizo,  or  slave,  or  shall  bet  upon 
any  game  played,  wherein  one  of  the  panics 
is  a  free  negro,  mulatto,  mestizo  or  slave,  or 
shall  be  willingly  present,  aiding  and  abetting, 
where  any  game  of  chance  is  played  as  afore- 
said, in  such  case,  such  white  person,  upon 
conviction  by  indictment,  is  liable  to  receive 
thirty-nine  lashes,  and  to  be  fined  and  impri- 
soned at  the  discretion  of  the  court ;  one  half 
of  the  fine  is  to  go  to  the  informer,  the  other 
half  to  the  state. 

Any  shopkeeper,  trader,  or  person,  by  him- 
self or  any  other  person  acting  for  him  or  her, 
who  shall  buy  or  purchase  from  any  slave,  in 
any  part  of  this  state,  any  corn,  rice,  peas  or 
other  grain,  bacon,  flour,  tobacco,  indigo,  cot- 
ton, blades,  hay,  or  any  other  arliclo  whatso 
ever,  or  shall  otherwise  deal,  trade,  or  traffic, 
■with  any  slave  not  having  a  permit  so  to  deal, 
trade,  or  traffic,  or  to  sell  any  such  article,  from 
or  under  the  hand  of  his  master  or  owner,  or 
such  other  person  as  may  have  the  care  and 
management  of  such  slave,  upon  conviction, 
is  liable  to  be  fined, not  exceeding!?  1,000,  and 
to  be  imprisoned  not  more  than  twelve  months 
nor  less  than  one  month.  It  is  the  business 
of  the  party  trading  with  the  slave  to  pro- 
duce and  prove  the  permit. 

If  a  slave  enter  a  shop,  store,  or  house  of 


any  kind  used  for  dealing,  trading  and  traffick- 
ing, with  an  article,  and  come  out  without  the 
same,  or  enter  without  an  article,  and  come 
out  with  one,  it  is  suflicient  evidence  to  con- 
vict the  owner  or  person  occupying  the  same 
for  trade,  in  an  indictment  under  the  act  of 
1817. 

If  a  white  person,  being  a  distiller,  vender 
or  retailer  of  spirituous  liquors,  shall  sell,  ex- 
change, give,  or  in  any  otherwise  deliver  any 
spirituous  liquors  to  any  slave,  except  upon  the 
written  and  express  order  of  the  owner  or 
person  having  the  care  and  management  of 
the  slave,  he  shall,  upon  conviction,  be  fined 
not  exceeding  §100,  and  imprisoned  not  ex- 
ceeding six  months  ;  one  half  of  the  said  fine 
to  the  use  of  the  informer,  and  the  other  half 
to  the  use  of  the  state. 

One  effect  resulting  from  the  act,  and  cer- 
tainly neither  intended  nor  anticipated  by  the 
legislature,  was  to  repeal  the  penalty  of  the 
act  of  1817,  quoad  distillers,  venders  and  re- 
tailers, (the  very  persons  who,  above  all  others, 
ought  to  bear  the  heaviest  penalties,)  in  rela- 
tion to  the  sale  or  exchange  of  spirituous  li- 
quors. The  rule  of  evidence  established  by 
the  act  of  1817,  as  to  the  production  and  proof 
of  the  permit,  still  remains  in  force. 

In  an  indictment  for  trading  with  a  slave, 
or  giving  or  delivering  spirituous  liquors  to  a 
slave,  it  is  necessary  that  the  slave  should  be 
described,  when  possible,  by  his  own  and  his 
owner's  name,  or,  if  that  be  not  possible,  by 
some  equivalent  description  of  the  slave. 

In  indictments  under  the  act  of  1834,  al- 
though the  rule  of  evidence  established  by 
its  5th  section  does  not  apply,  and  so,  too,  un- 
der the  act  of  1817,  where  the  trading  is  not 
in  a  "  shop,  store,  or  house  of  any  kind,  used 
for  trading,"  yet  if  the  slave  be  seen  to  enter 
with  an  article,  and  come  out  without  it,  or  to 
enter  without  an  article  and  come  out  with 
one,  it  is  a  fact  from  which,  at  common  law, 
a  presumption  may  arise  of  guilt,  and  oa 
which  the  jury  may  convict. 

It  was  decided,  immediately  after  the  pas- 
sage of  the  act  of  1817,  that  the  sale  to  a 
slave  of  anil  «'"^^c/c  whatsoever,  or  purchase 
from  a  slave  of  an;/ article  whatsoever,he\ong- 
ing  to  the  slave,  his  master  or  any  other  per- 
son, Avas  a  violation  of  the  law. 

If  the  master  or  overseer,  or  other  person 
having  charge  of  the  slave,  send  a  slave  with 
goods  to  detect  another  in  dealing,  trading 
or  trafficking  with  a  slave,  and  stand  by  and 
see  the  trailing,  it  does  not  excuse  the  defend- 
ant— he  still  is  guilty. 

If  the  owner  or  overseer  or  other  person 
having  charge  of  the  slave,  go  with  him  to 
make  the  sale  or  purchase,  and  stand  by  and 
assent  to  the  same,  the  vender  would  not  be 
guilty.  For  then  the  trading  might  be  re- 
garded as  that  of  the  master  by  his  slave. 

If  the  trader  be  in  the  habit  of  trading  with 
slaves,  and  had  authorized  his  clerk  so  to  trade, 


NEGROES — SLAVE  LAWS  OF  THE  SOUTH. 


291 


he  may  be  convicted  for  a  trading  with  a  slave 
by  his  clerk  in  his  absence.  But  the  principal 
cannot  be  criminally  answerable  for  tiie  act 
of  his  clerk,  unless  clone  with  his  knowledge 
and  cunsent,  actual  or  complied.  The  same 
rule  holds  as  to  a  partner. 

An  overseer  trading  with  his  employer's 
slaves  may  be  indicted  and  convicted  under 
the  act  of  1817. 

Before  the  act  of  'S4,  a  poison  who  sold 
liquor  to  a  slave  might  be  indicted  for  trading 
with  a  slave  without  a  ticket,  and  also  for 
retailing.  It  follows,  since  the  act  of  '3-t  is 
substituted  for  that  of  '17,  so  far  as  the 
penally  is  concerned,  that  a  person  now  may 
be  indicted  for  selling,  giving,  exchanging  or 
delivering  spirituous  liquors  to  a  slave,  and 
for  retailing  without  p,  license,  although  there 
be  but  one  sale  aud  delivery. 

If  one  .sell  spirituous  liquor  to  a  slave,  or  to 
another  for  him,  without  a  permit  from  his 
owner,  employer,  or  other  person  having 
charge  of  him,  and  the  slave  die  in  conse- 
quence of  the  too  free  use  of  the  liquor  so  sold, 
the  person  so  selling  is  liable,  in  an  action  on 
the  case,  for  the  value  of  the  slave  to  the 
owner. 

A  license  to  retail  cannot  be  granted  to  an 
api)licant,  unless  he  will  swear  that  he  will 
not,  during  Iiis  license,  sell,  give,  excliange, 
barter,  or  otherwise  deliver,  spirituous  liquors 
to  any  slave,  contrary  to  the  law  on  that  sub- 
ject If  he  has  been  engaged  before  in  the 
business,  he  must  also  swear  that  he  has  not, 
during  his  past  license,  sold,  given,  delivered, 
exchanged,  bartered,  or  otherwise  delivered, 
spirituous  liquors  to  a  slave  contrary  to  law. 

If  a  master,  or  other  person  having  charge 
of  a  slave  who  may  be  accused  of  any  capital 
or  other  crime,  shall  conceal  or  convey  away 
such  slave,  so  that  he  cannot  be  brought  to 
trial  aud  punishment,  such  master  or  other 
person  shall  be  liable  to  forfeit  £250  cuirent 
money,  equal  to  f.So  ICs.  od.,  or  8153  68,  if 
the  crime  be  cjipital ;  if  not  capital,  then  the 
forfeiture  is  .€50  currency,  equal  to  £7  3.s.  Sd., 
or  .$30  70.  This  provision,  in  capital  felonies, 
supersedes  the  common  law  offense  of  acces- 
sory after  the  fact  in  a  crime  committed  by 
a  slave,  so  far  .as  owners  and  other  persons 
having  charge  of  a  slave  may  be  concerned. 

A  master  is  liable  for  the  acts  of  his  slave 
done  negligently,  unskilfully  or  wilfully,  in 
the  course  of  any  public  emjjloyment  or  busi- 
ness carried  on  by  him,  under  the  authority  or 
with  the  consent  of  his  master.  As  u'herc 
a  slave  navig.aiing  his  master's  ves.«el,  so  iieg- 
ligcnthj  managed  his  craft  as  to  injure  a  wharf 
or  to  run  down  a  car  of  fish;  or,  where  a  slave 
carpenter,  with  his  master's  assent,  actual  or 
implied,  undertakes  to  repair  a  house,  and  in 
doing  it,  does  it  so  unskUfally  that  the  whole 
building  falls  down;  or,  where  a  slave  black- 
smith, in  shoeing  a  horse,  becomes  enraged 
with  him,  and  wilfidly  knocks  out  the  horse's  , 


eye  with  his  shoeing  hammer — in  all  these 
cases,  the  master  is  liable,  according  to  the 
principles  v/hich  I  have  above  stated. 

The  master  is  not  liable  for  the  unauthor- 
ized acts  of  his  slave,  done  without  his  know- 
ledge or  consent,  actual  or  implied,  and  not  in 
any  public  business  or  employment,  iu  which 
he  has  placed  his  shave. 

Any  person  or  persons  who  shall,  on  his, 
her  or  their  own  behalf,  or  under  color  or  in 
virtue  of  any  commission  or  authority  from 
any  state  or  public  authority  of  any  state  in 
this  Union,  or  .any  foreign  power,  come  withia 
this  state,  with  the  intent  to  disturb,  hinder 
or  counteract  the  operation  of  laws,  made  or 
to  be  made,  in  relation  to  slaves,  free  negroes, 
mulattoes  and  mestizoes,  are  liable  to  be 
arrested,  and,  if  not  bailed,  committed  to  jail 
by  any  of  the  judges  of  this  state,  including 
the  recorder,  for  a  high  misdemeanor;  and,  on 
conviction,  is  liable  to  be  sentenced  to  banish- 
ment from  the  state,  and  to  be  fined  and  im- 
prisoned at  the  discretion  of  the  court. 

Any  person  within  this  state,  who  shiill,  at 
any  time,  accept  any  commission  or  authority 
from  any  state,  or  public  authority  of  any 
state  in  this  Umon,_or  from  any  foreign  power, 
in  relation  to  slaves  or  free  persons  of  color, 
and  who  shall  commit  any  overt  act,  with  an 
intent  to  disturb  the  peace  or  security  of  this 
state,  or  with  intent  to  disturb,  counteract  or 
hinder  the  laws  of  this  st.ate,  made  or  to  be 
made,  in  relation  to  slaves  or  free  negroes, 
mulattoes  or  mestizoes,  shall  be  deemed 
guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and,  upon  conviction 
thereof,  shall  be  sentenced  to  pay,  for  the  first 
offense,  a  fine  not  exceeding  §1,000,  and  to  be 
imprisoned  not  exceeding  one  year ;  and,  for 
the  second  offense,  he  shall  be  imprisoned 
seven  years,  and  pay  a  fine  not  less  than 
?  1,000,  or  be  banished  from  the  state,  as  the 
court  shall  see  fit. 

The  governor's  duty  is,  to  require  all  per- 
sons who  come  into  this  state,  for  the  pur- 
jx)ses,  and  under  the  circumstances,  stated  in 
the  first  section  of  the  act  of  '44,  and  the  pre- 
ceding 29th  section  of  this  digest,  to  depart 
from  the  state  in  forty-eight  hours  after  such 
notice ;  and  such  persons  shall  thereupon  be 
bound  to  depart ;  and,  failing  to  do  so,  they 
are  guilty  of  a  high  misdemeanor,  and,  upon 
conviction,  are  to  be  sentenced  to  be  banished 
from  the  state,  and  to  such  fine  and  imprison- 
ment as  the  court  may  think  expedient. 

Any  person  convicted  a  second  or  any  sub- 
sequent time,  under  the  first  and  third  sec- 
tions of  the  act  of '44,  set  out  in  the  preceding 
29th  and  31st  sections  of  this  digest,  is  to  be 
imprisoned  not  less  than  seven  years,  to  pay 
a  fine  not  less  th.in  -?  1,000,  and  to  be  banished 
from  the  state. 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  sheriff  of  the  district 
to  execute  the  sentence  of  b.auishment,  by 
sending  the  offender  out  of  the  state ;  and  if 
he  shall  return,  (unless  by  unavoidable  acci- 


292 


KEGKO    POPULATIOX LIKE    STATISTICS. 


dent,)  the  sheriff  of  the  district  whore  he  may  j 
be  found  is  "to  hold''  him  in  close  confine- 1 
ment,  under   the   original  sentence,  until  he 
shall  enter  into  a  recognizance  to  leave  the 
state  never  to  return. 

Free  negroes,  mulattoes  and  mestizoes,  en- 
tering this  state  as  cook,  steward  or  mariner, 
or  in  any  other  employment,  on  board  any 
vessel,  in  violation  of  tlie  provisions  of  the  2d 
section  of  the  act  of  '35,  and  which  is  set  out 
and  prescribed  in  the  59th  section  of  chapter  1 
of  this  digest,  and  who  mhy  be  apprehended 
and  confined  by  the  sheriff,  are  not  entitled  to 
the  writ  of  habeas  corpus. 

If  the  sheriff  shall,  by  the  usual  posse 
comitatus  and  the  civil  authorities,  not  be  able 
to  enforce  the  provisions  of  the  act  of  '35,  the 
governor,  on  a  requisition  made  on  him  and 
signed  by  the  sheriff,  is  required  to  order  out 
a  sufficient  number  of  the  militia  to  meet  the 
exigency  of  the  case,  to  be  placed  under  the 
command  of  discreet  officers,  who  shall  be 
ordered  to  give  the  sheriff  the  aid  necessary 
to  execute  the  said  act. 

NEGRO  POPULATION"  OF  THE 
SOUTH  WITH  REFERENCE  TO  LIFE 
STATISTICS.— I  now,  in  compliance  with 
your  request,  give  you  a  few  remarks  on  the 
value  of  life  among  the  colored  population, 
which  is  becoming  a  very  important  subject 
for  consideration.  My  time  is  much  occupied 
with  yellow  fever,  and  I  might  very  fairlj- 
claim  indulgence  for  the  hasty  and  imperfect 
manner  in  which  I  am  performing  my  task ; 
but  I  may,  with  still  more  propriety,  offer  as 
an  excuse  a  deficiency  of  material,  from  the 
universal  neglect  of  vital  statistics  in  the 
United  States.  We  have  already  seen  that 
there  is  by  no  means  a  redundancy  of  infor- 
mation as  regards  tiie  whites;  but  the  neglect, 
north  and  south,  of  statistics  of  blacks,  is 
positively  disreputable  in  this  enlightened 
epoch. 

Though  there  is  a  want  of  data,  by  M'hicli 
we  can  fix  with  accuracy  the  value  of  life 
among  the  colored  population,  there  are  still 
sufficient  to  show  that  insurance  companies 
are  going  into  this  brancli  of  their  business 
pell-mell,  without  knowing  any  thing  of  the 
probabilities.  If  I  can  bring  them  to  a  halt, 
and  give  a  better  direction  to  this  part  of  the 
investigation,  it  is  all  I  can  now  hope. 

No  one  can  be  more  fully  alive  than  myself 
to  the  vast  importance  of  insurance  on  negroes, 
to  the  south ;  yet,  though  I  may  be  severely 
censured  by  some,  I  shall  express  myself 
freely,  without  regard  to  the  opinions  of  others, 
as  I  believe  the  truth  alone  can  be  beneficial 
on  the  whole.  If  risks  on  this  class  were 
taken  alone  by  joint-stock  companies,  formed 
of  heavy  capitalists  who  were  disposed  to 
gamble  on  the  chances,  1  should  have  no  ob- 
jection to  see  a  course  of  experiments  which 
might  lead  to  a  discovery  of  the  true  value 


of  life  among  the  colored  population ;  but  it 
should  not  be  forgotten  that  the  life  insurance 
companies  now  preferred  are  the  Muhial,  and 
that  unless  all  the  risks  work  well,  tlie  interest 
of  every  individual  must  be  jeoparded,  as  all 
are  stockholders  under  tliis  system.  Suppose, 
for  example,  1,000  lives  are  insured  in  a  mu- 
tual company,  one  half  whites,  the  other  col- 
ored. If  the  risks  upon  the  latter  are  badly 
selected,  upon  whom  would  fall  the  losses  ? 
Not  upon  the  owners  of  the  slaves  alone,  or 
rich  members  of  the  company,  but  upon  the 
poor,  honest,  industrious,  and,  I  may  add,  un- 
suspicious  man,  who  at  the  end  of  the  year 
scrapes  together  a  few  of  his  hard-earned 
dollars  to  invest  in  an  insurance  company, 
with  the  hope  of  saving  his  wife  and  cliildren 
from  beggary  when  he.  is  no  longer  able  to 
toil  for  them. 

The  data  given  in  my  foraier  paper  go 
strongly  to  prove  that  the  acclimated  popula- 
tion of  our  southern  sea-ports  arc  ku-ed  too 
high  for  life  insurance,  and  I  hope  I  shall  at 
least  gain  credit  for  honesty  of  intention,  if  I 
now  express  my  doubts  whether  we  are  taxed 
enough  on  the  colored  population. 

The  general  fact  that  there  is  less  mortality 
south  than  north  among  the  colored  class  is 
sufficiently  established ;  but  there  are  no 
statistics  by  which  the  chances  of  life  can  be 
calculated  with  sufficient  accuracy  to  form 
the  basis  of  insurance  operations  in  any  city 
in  the  Union.  At  the  south,  vital  statistics 
have  been  so  neglected  by  local  authorities, 
that,  with  the  exception  of  Charleston,  Soutli 
Caroliuii,  we  are  left  wholly  in  the  dark,  and 
even  here  there  has  been  a  great  deficiency 
of  details.  Within  ihe  last  year  or  two,  how- 
ever, imj^wrtant  improvements  have  been 
made  in  the  manner  of  keeping  tables  of 
mortality  in  Charleston  and  Mobile,  and  we 
may  in  a  few  years  expect  important  results. 
Though  tlie  white  and  black  races  stand 
diametrically  opposed  to  each  other  as  to  the 
influence  of  climate  on  health  and  longevity, 
and  the  necessity  for  so  doing  is  manifest,  yet 
in  most  cities  no  attention  has  been  paid  to 
separating  the  two  classes  in  their  bills  of 
mortality.  Even  in  the  large  cities  of  the 
north,  the  bills  of  mortality  are  so  badly  kept, 
or  so  concealed  from  the  public,  that  nothing 
can  be  ascertained  on  this  point.  I  liave  made 
repeated  but  fruitless  eflbrts  to  procure  bills 
of  mortality  of  the  colored  population  from 
B.altimore,  New-York,  and  Boston.  I  Jiave, 
however,  been  fortunate  enough,  through  the 
kindness  of  Dr.  G.  Emerson,  (who  has  taken 
the  trouble  to  ransack  tlie  records  for  me,)  to 
procure  the  bills  of  I'hiladelphia  for  20  years. 
I  am  really  at  a  loss  how  to  account  for  the 
silence  of  Boston  on  this  subject.  The  statis- 
tics of  that  city,  ombiacing  ever}'  thing  which 
the  statesman,  physician,  or  philanthropist 
could  ask,  as  births,  marriages,  deaths,  sexes, 
occupations,  ages,  diseases,  manufactures,  <fec.. 


NEGRO    rOPULATIOX LIFE    STATISTICS. 


293 


Ac,  are  all  given  with  admirable  system  and 
detail  annuallj',  and  j'et  no  alhision  whatever 
is  made  to  the  mortalitj'  of  (he  colored.  I 
have  before  nie  tlie  census  for  each  year  since 
1840,  and  the  last  of  tlwm,  viz.,  for  1845,  is 
accompanied  by  a  long  and  able  report  by 
Dr.  Shattnck  on  vital  statistics,  making  alto- 
getiier  an  octavo  volume  of  oOO  pages,  and 
yet  riot  a  fiict  can  be  found  bearing  on  our 
subject.  Can  it  be  that  tl»e  mortality  of  tlie 
colored  population  is  concealed  on  account  of 
its  connection  with  tlie  question  of  abolition? 
When  I  see  the  intelligence  with  wliich  tliese 
statistics  liave  been  conceived  and  executed — 
wlien  I  see  that  these  details  were  once  care- 
fully kept,  and  then  of  late  years  abandoned — 
and  when  I  reflect  on  the  improbability  of  the 
importance  of  such  facts  being  overlooked  in 
a  city  like  Boston,  I  cannot  iielp  indulging 
such  a  suspicioil. 

I  have  on  a  former  occasion,  in  the  Southern 
Quarterly  Review,  discussed  at  some  length 
the  question  of  the  unity  of  the  races,  and 
shall  not  here  open  tliat  question  again  ;  but 
no  one  at  all  familiar  with  the  past  history  of 
the  negro  and  iiis  present  peculiarities,  can 
entertain  a  doubt  tliat  lie  is  now  veiy  widely 
separated,  both  in  phi/sijuc  and  morale,  from 
the  white  man,  and  that  it  would  require  a 
combination  of  circumstances  not  likel}'^  to 
occur,  and  a  long  series  of  years,  to  bring  him 
up  to  the  Caucasian  standard. 

The  extreme  antiquity  of  Egypt  as  a  civil- 
ized nation,  taught  by  ChampoUion,  Young, 
Vyse,  Birch,  and  others,  has  not  only  been 
confirmed  by  the  recent  important  discoveries 
of  Baron  Buusen  and  Le]isius,  but  these  gen- 
tlemen have  fixed  beyond  dispute  the  epoch 
of  Menes,  the  first  king  of  Egypt,  at  more 
than  3,<J0O  years  before  Christ.     It  is  equally 
well  settled  by  the   monumental   history  of 
that  country,  tliat  the  negroes  existed  at  that 
early  day  with  all  the  pliysical  characteristics 
they  now  possess,  and  that  they  were  treated  i 
and  spoken  of  as  slaves  and  barbarians.     STo  j 
one  familiar  with  this  discussion  will  question 
these  statements,  and  I  think  we  may  couclude  I 
that  if  the  negro  has  never,  in  the  course  of 
5,000  years,  been  thrown  into  a  position  to 
develop  liis  equality,  we  have  no  right  to  ex- 1 
pect  any  great  advance  in  the  next  few  hun- 
dred years.     Tlie  good  i  Id  Bishop  of  Blois, 
(H.  Gregoire,)  in  his  work  on  the  "Literature  ' 
of  Negroes,"  after  exhausting  the  histc)ry  of  j 
trhe  past,  has  only  been  able  to  collect  a  few 
examples  who  hail  attained  a  certain  degree 
of  proficiency  in  the  literature  of  tlie  wliitos; 
but  not  one  of  them  can  bear  comparison  with 
tlie  better  specimens  of  the  Caucasian  race  ; 
and  all  attempts  made  in  the  present  century 
at  bettering  the  condition  of  tiie  slaves  have 
but  added  to  their  ignorance  and  unliappinees. 

But,  passing  by  the  physical  liistory  cf  the 
negro  in  the  old  world,  I  shall  confine  myself 
to  the  influence  of  chmate  as  exhibited  in  this 


country  over  this  race,  so  far  as  it  is  connected 
with  the  subject  of  life  insurance. 

All  testimony  combines  to  establish  the 
fact,  that  cold  climates  are  most  unfavorable 
to  the  health  and  longevity  of  the  blacks ;  and 
as  some  of  our  readers  may  not  be  familiar 
witii  vital  statistics,  I  will  precede  those  of 
the  colored  cla^^s  by  tables,  showing  the  mor- 
tality among  the  whites  in  various  parts  of 
the  workl,  which  may  serve  for  comparison. 
The  deaths,  from  recent  and  authentic  tables, 
were  as  follows: 

STATISTICS   OF   MORTALITY AVERAGE    FOR    ONB 

YEAR. 

Boston 1  in  47 

Philadelphia 1  in  42 

England 1  in  45 

France 1  in  42 

Austria 1  in  33 

Prussia 1  in  38 

Russia. 1  in  38 

London 1  in  37 

Rirmingham 1  in  36 

aheflield 1  in  32 

Leeds 1  in  37 

Bristol 1  in  32 

Manciiester 1  in  '29 

Liverpool 1  in  28 

I  have  not  been  able  to  get  any  tables  from 
the  towns  in  Canada,  showing  the  mortality 
of  the  negroes.  Rankin,  in  his  "  Visit  to 
Sierra  Leone,"  informs  us,  that  the  negroes 
who  deserted  their  masters  during  the  revolu- 
tionary war,  and  joined  the  British  army,  were 
afterward  colonized  in  Nova  Scotia,  but  find- 
ing it  impossible  to  stand  the  climate,  they 
were  removed  to  the  colony  in  Africa  by  the 
British  government.  They  there,  in  tiieir 
state  of  liberty,  showed  their  constitutional 
indolence  and  improvidence,  and  most  of  them 
have  had  the  good  fortune  to  be  kidnapped 
and  sold  back  to  the  LTnited  States.  If  I 
recollect  correctly,  Rankin  states,  that  of  1,100 
taken  to  Sierra  Leone,  but  about  600  of  thera 
and  their  descendants' remained  at  the  end  of 
thirty  years. 

As  before  stated,  I  have  been  nnable  to 
procure  from  Boston  and  New-York  tables 
exhibiting  the  mortality  of  the  negroes  for 
late  years,  but  I  have  so  often  seen  it  stated 
at  1  in  15,  and  1  in  18  respectively,  that  I 
presume  these  figures  may  be  assumed  as 
substantially  correct.* 

Philadel|)hia  may  be  placed  intermediate 
in  point  of  climate  between  the  extremes  of 
iieat  and  cokWo  the  United  States,  and  we 
should  accordingly  expect  to  find  here  an  in- 
termediate mortality  in  this  class.  Tiie  tables 
below  (furnished  me  by  Dr.  (>.  Emerson,)  when 
placed  beside  those  of  Charleston  and  Boston, 


*  If  there  is  any  one  who  has  information  to  the 
contrary,  we  would  gladly  welcome  the  lacta.— Ed. 


294 


NEGRO    POPULATION LIFE    STATISTICS. 


■will  confirm  such  a  result.  As  the  climate 
on  the  gulf  approaches  still  more  closely  that 
of  the  tropic,  it  is  not  improbable  that  the 
longevity  of  the  blacks  is  still  greater  (as  it 
certainly  is  of  mulattoes)  here,  than  in  the 
city  of  Charleston.  The  tables  of  mortality 
for  Charleston  and  Philadelphia  are  as  follows : 

MORTAUTY    OF  CHARLESTON. 

Years.  Whites.  Blacks. 

1830 1  in  39.4  40.0 

1831 1  in  46.6  37.9 

1832 1  in  51.9  55.3 

1833 lin  55.0  55.7 

1834 1  in  42.1  44.1  T.  Fever. 

1835 lin  43.1  46.4 

1836 1  in  40.6  19.6  Cholera. 

1837 lin  47.3  46.7 

1838 1  in  18.3  33.0  Y.  Fever. 

1839 1  in  29.9  39.0 

1840 lin  .50.7  46.6 

1841 1  in  65.1  44.8 

1842 1  in  50.3  47.8 

1843 1  in  60.8  32.9 

1844 1  in  69.3  43.3 

1845 1  in  52.9  48.5 

IIORTALITT  OF  PniLADSLPHIjV. 

Years.  Blacks. 

1821 1  in  16.9 

1822 1  in  21.5 

1823 1  iu  17.5 

1824 1  in  17.5 

1825 1  in  27.0 

1826 1  in  26.1 

1827 1  in  18.9 

1828 1  in  20.8 

1829 1  in  23.7 

1830 1  in  27.2 

Tears.  Whites.  Blacks. 

1831 1  in  39.6  33.6 

1832 1  in  28.8  22.6 

1833 1  in  47.3  35.2 

1834 1  in  41.4  33.3 

1835 1  in  38.3  31.2 

1830 1  in  43.8  21.4 

1837 1  in  45.1  32.7 

1838 1  in  45.0  29.2 

1839 1  in  49.4  31.3 

1840 1  in  52.2  38.6 

It  appears  from  the  above  tables,  that  the 
average  mortality  in  Philadelphia,  among  the 
colored  population,  was  1  in  26,  ami  in 
Charleston,  1  in  44.  Certainly  a  very  marked 
contrast,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that, 
could  the  free  colored  be  eeparatetl  from  the 
slaves,  the  latter  in  Charleston  would  .sliow  a 
Btill  more  favorable  result*     There  is  a  cou- 


*  We  have  tlie  authority  of  Dr.  Niles,  then  a  citi- 
zen or  New-York,  (now  of  Faris,)  in  a  panijihlet  pub- 
lished by  him  in  1827,  for  giving  the  mortality  of 
Ballimore  in  1823-24-25,  as  follows :— Whites,  1  in 


siderable  number  of  mulattoes  and  free  col- 
ored in  Charleston.  The  mortality  in  I'hila- 
delphia  has  been  decreasing  among  both 
whites  and  colored,  no  doubt  from  the  im- 
proved condition  of  the  city. 

I  have  marked  above  the  years  in  which 
yellow  fever  prevailed  in  Charleston,  and  it 
will  be  seen  that  the  mortality  in  those  years 
among  the  negroes  was  lower  than  among 
the  whites,  on  account  of  their  exemption 
from  this  disease.  In  my  former  article  I 
gave  evidence  of  the  fact  that  the  mortality 
from  this  disease  falls  on  the  unacdimated 
ivhites. 

I  have  given  in  the  above  tables  the  mor- 
tality of  whites  and  blacks  together,  in  each 
city,  in  order  to  contrast  the  influence  of  cli- 
mate on  the  races.  The  greatest  mortality 
ever  known  in  Charleston  in  the  colored  class, 
was  in  1836,  when  it  was  raised  by  the  chol- 
era to  1  in  19,  more  thiin  double  the  average; 
but  even  cholera  and  slavery  combined  here 
are  far  less  destructive  to  the  negro  than 
liberty  and  climate  in  Boston,  where  the  mor- 
tality is  said  to  average  1  in  15. 

To  arrive  at  a  fair  estimate  of  the  mortality 
of  this  class  in  northern  and  southern  cities, 
we  must  take  into  consideration,  not  only  the 
influence  of  climate,  but  social  condition  also. 
The  negro  is  by  nature  indolent  and  improv- 
ident, every  where  and  under  all  climates ; 
and  has  no  where  in  a  state  of  freedom  shown 
a  high  degree  of  longevity,  or  prolificacy, 
though  by  nature  the  longest  lived,  I  believe, 
of  all  the  human  family.  These  facts  should 
not  be  overlooked  in  estimating  their  mortal- 
ity at  the  north,  where  they  are  enjoying  all 
the  abstract  delights  of  liberty.  Iti  the  West 
Indies,  we  have  a  strong  illustration  of  the 
effect  of  emancipation,  and  in  their  native 
state,  in  Africa,  the  average  longevity  of  the 
blacks  (as  in  all  barbarous  nations)  will  be 
less  than  among  our  slaves.  In  our  northern 
states,  where  they  to  a  great  extent  fail  to 
provide  against  the  severe  winters,  the  dis- 
eases arising  from  cold  and  want  must  add 
much  to  their  mi.sery  and  mortality. 

History  cannot  pt)int  to  any  epoch  or  spot 
on  the  earth  where  the  condition  of  the  negro 
race,  either  physical  or  moral,  has  been  at  all 
comparable  with  that  of  the  slaves  of  the 
United  State.?.  Mr.  Lyell,  who  seems  to  have 
reflected  much  and  honestly  on  the  evils  of 
slavery,  during  his  last  visit  to  this  coiuitry, 
expressed  to  me  decidedly  his  conviction  that 
the  negroes  could  only  be  civilized  through 
slavery.  They  are  here  brought  into  forced 
contact  with  a  civilized  race,  from  whom  they 
imbibe  new  and  more  enlarged  ideas ;  they 


44;  free  blacks,  1  in  3x!;  slaves,  1  in  77-8,  This  re- 
sult is  probably  attributable  to  two  causes— Ist,  there 
is  a  large  proportion  of  mulattoes  among  the  free 
colored;  2d,  the  physical  wants  of  the  slaves  are- 
better  supplied,  and  they  are  infinitely  more  clieesful 
and  happy  than  the  free  colored. 


NEGRO    POPULATION LIFE    STATISTICS. 


295 


U 


are  taught  a  rational  religion ;  many  learn  to  I 
read  and  write  ;  all  are  taught  the  agricultu- 
ral or  mt'chaiiic  arts,  or  some  other  useful 
employment;  they  not  only  become  more  in- 
tellectual, but  imi)rove  in  pliysical  appear- 
ance. ;  and  if  they  are  capable  of  civilization 
at  all,  they  are  thus  admirably  jirepared  for 
a  further  advance.  Their  progress  haa  cer- 
tainly been  infinitely  more  raj)id  tlian  it  could 
have  been  un<ier  any  missionary  or  colonial 
system.  Mr.  Lyell  thinks,  from  all  this,  that 
they  may  be  brought  up  to  the  Caucasian 
standard  ;  but  if  he  will  live  among  them  as  I 
have,  and  study  well  their  history,  from  the 
palmy  days  of  Egypt  down,  he  will  find 
abundant  reason  to  change  this  opinion.  The 
races  of  men,  like  animals  in  a  wild,  unculti- 
vated state,  maj%  if  docile,  be  tamed,  educated 
and  vastly  improved ;  but  there  are  limits  set 
to  each  by  nature,  beyond  which  no  advance 
can  be  made.  Although  there  may  be  an 
occasional  example  where  a  negro  will  show 
a  degree  of  intelligence  and  capacity  for  im- 
provement beyond  the  mass,  yet  no  negro  has 
ever  left  behind  him  any  intellectual  effort 
worthy  of  being  preserved.  The  negro  is  na- 
turally mild  and  docile;  the  Indian,  on  the 
contrary,  is  an  untamable, carnivorous  animal, 
vrhich  is  fading  away  before  civilization, 
in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  missionaries.  Can 
any  one  who  know.?  any  thing  about  tiie  pre- 
sent condition  of  the  Indians  and  their  past 
history,  propose  a  scheme  for  their  improve- 
ment, which  would  ofi'er  the  least  prospect  of 
success  ?  The  race  must  soon  be  extinct ;  even 
the  pure  blood  Mexicans,  who,  I  have  no 
question,  are  a  different  race  from  the  aborigi- 
nal savage,  are  going  down  in  darkness  to 
their  long  home.* 

The  negro  will  reach,  I  may  say  has  reach- 
ed, his  highest  degree  of  civilization,  and 
emancipation  has  so  far  only  proved  what  I 
think  is  inevitable,  that  when  removed  from 
compulsion  he  relapses  into  barbarism.  The 
Indian  can  be  made  to  do  nothing  "  on  com- 
pulsion"— he  would  rather  die  than  be  a 
slave. 

When  a  race  (as  the  negroes)  has  had  pos- 
session of  a  continent  for  at  least  5,000  years, 
and  no  monument  stands  to  designate  a  sin- 
gle civilized  spot ;  when  we  see  that  it  held 
constant  intercourse  with  Egypt  in  her  glory ; 
when,  too,  we  see  the  result  of  all  recent  ex- 
periments of  abolitionists,  I  think  we  may 
safely  conclude  that  the  negro  attains  his 
greatest  perfection,  physical  and  moral,  and 
also  his  greatest  longevity,  in  a  state  of  sla- 
very. The  single  fact  of  the  longevity  of  the 
colored  class  in  Charleston  is  a  very  signiti- 

•The  Peruvian  and  Mexican,  the  most  civilized 
races  fouud  in  America,  had  smaller  heads  tliaii  the 
savag'!  tribes.  IIow  did  their  lieads  gft  smaller  by 
cultivatini^  their  intellects,  if  they  are  the  some  race 
with  the  latter  V  This  is  a  question  I  should  like  to 
see  solved. 


cant  one,  and  should  be  pondered  on  by  the 
l)hilanthropi8t.  The  colored  population  of 
tiiis  city  show  not  only  a  lower  ratio  of  mor- 
tality than  any  laboring  class  of  any  country, 
but  a  lower  mortality  than  the  aggregate 
population  (including  nobility  and  all)  of  any 
country  in  Europe,  except  England,  with 
which  it  is  about  on  a  par,  and  would  surpass 
even  England  were  the  slaves  taken  separate  , 
from  the  free  colored.  The  mortality  of  the 
aggregate  colored  population  of  Charleston 
now  is  less  than  that  of  the  aggregate  of  any 
lou'ii  in  Europe. 

That  the  negro,  even  when  placed  under 
the  most  favorable  circumstances  as  to  phy 
sical  wants,  Ac,  is  unfavorably  affected  by 
cold  climates,  is  a  fact  wliich  admits  of  no 
dispute.  All  the  hospital  practitioners  of 
the  northern  cities  must  acknowledge  the 
fact.  So  sensitive  are  they  to  cold,  and  so 
little  are  they  affected  by  that  fell  destroyer 
of  the  white  race,  malario,,  which  kills  more 
than  war  and  famine,  that  they  sutler  in  the 
.southern  states  more  from  diseases  of  winter 
than  those  of  summer.  They  are,  I  am  in- 
formed, exempt  from  the  violent  congestive 
feveis  of  our  interior  districts,  and  other  vio- 
lent forms  of  marsh  fever ;  and  so  exempt  are 
they  from  yellow  fever,  that  I  am  now  at- 
tending my  first  case  of  this  disease  in  a  full- 
blooded  negro.  In  fact,  it  would  seem  that 
the  negro  blood  is  an  antidote  against  yellow 
fever,  for  the  smallest  admixture  of  it  wiih 
the  white  will  protect  against  this  disease, 
even  though  the  subject  come  from  a  healthy  , 
northern  latitude  in  the  midst  of  an  e|jidemia_y 
There  are  some  exceptions,  but  they  are  rare. 
I  will  not  fatigue  tiie  reader  by  an  elaborate 
comparison  of  the  diseases  of  the  two  races, 
as  influenced  by  climate,  but  will  allude  to  a 
.single  one — consumption. 

In  Charleston  they  have  but  recently  com- 
menced separating  the  white  and  colored 
population  in  their  bills  of  mortaUty,  with  full 
details,  and  I  have  the  deaths  from  consump- 
tion in  the  latter  class  for  but  one  year,  viz., 
1846;  but  the  ratio  of  deaths  from  this  dis- 
eiLse  is  so  uniform,  that  it  fluctuates  but  little 
when  undisturbed  by  e])idemic  diseases.  In 
Charle.ston,  the  deatiis  Iroiu  consumption  in 
1846  were  1  in  7  «>f  all  the  deaths;  and  in 
Mobile  tlie  average  for  the  thiee  years,  18-14- 
'4o-'46,  the  ratio  was  1  in  8  in  the  colored 
population. 

The  following  extract  is  from  the  New- York 
Medical  and  Surgic;xl  Reporter,  February  27, 
1847: 

''Colored  Home. — The  report  of  the  resident 
physician,  James  D.  Fitch,  M.  D.,  for  the  year 
ending  1st  January,  1847,  is  just  pub'.i-hed. 
By  the  tabular  account  of  the  inmates  during 
that  time,  which  sfji-cifies  the  sex,  age,  history 
and  diseases  of  all  wlio  have  come  under  the 
supervision  of  Dr.  Fitch,  we  find  that  the 
total  number  in  charge  during  the  year  was 


296 


NEGRO    rOPULATIOX LIFE    STATISTICS. 


464,  and  the  number  of  deaths  89.  .  .  . 
The  disease  m«)-;t  ]iromiuent  is  consumption, 
by  which  more  tlian  one  half  of  the  deaths 
have  been  caused,  the  number  being  47,"  &c. 

Now,  how  near  tliis  astounding  mortalit}^ 
from  consumption  may  be  to  the  general  re- 
sult of  other  years  in  New-York  and  Boston, 
I  have  not  tiie  data  to  determine.  I  can  only 
.  say  that  I  have  no  disposition  to  plead  one 
side  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  would  be  very  glad 
if  some  gentleman  of  the  north  would  give 
me  or  the  public  all  the  information  possible. 
Why  do  tlu-y  not  give  us  the  facts  fully  ? 

The  combined  influence  of  climate  and  so- 
cial condition  is  again  illustrated  by  the  com- 
parative increase  of  the  colored  class  north 
and  south.  It  has  been  already  stated  that 
the  whole  population  of  Philadelphia,  includ- 
ing white  and  colored,  in  the  decennial  period 
from  1830  to  1840,  increased  35  per  cent., 
while  the  colored,  taken  alone,  shows  an  in- 
crease of  but  IS  per  cent.  From  the  constant 
escape  of  negroes  from  the  slave  states,  and 
the  protection  offered  them  in  Philadelphia, 
we  should  have  expected  a  different  result. 
I  will  here  introduce  an  extract  bearing  on 
this  point,  from  my  article  in  the  Southern 
Quarterly  Review,  January,  1846,  on  the  Uuity 
of  the  Human  Race. 

It  occurred  to  me  that  one  of  the  best  me 
thods  of  testing  the  influence  of  climate  on 
the  negro  race,  would  be  to  ascertain  the 
relative  proportion  of  children,  in  different 
status,  to  the  free  colored  women  between  15 
and  45  years,  (the  fruitful  age.)  I  have  ac- 
cordingly con-tructed  the  following  table  from 
the  census  of  1840,  in  which  i.s  given  all  the 
free  colored  children  under  10  years,  and  the 
colored  females  as  near  as  possible.  The  cen- 
sus gives  the  free  colored  females  between  10 
and  24,  between  '24  and  36,  and  between  36 
and  55.  I  have,  therefore,  taken  half  of  the 
aggregate  of  tlie  first  and  last,  and  added 
this  amount  to  the  whole  of  those  between  24 
and  36,  which  must  give  a  sufficiently  near 
ap[)roximation  to  the  truth. 

I  have,  in  the  fourth  column  of  the  table, 
placed  the  per  centage  of  excess  or  deficiency 
of  children  compared  with  the  females  ;  and 
the  excess  or  deficiency  in  each  state  is  ex- 
pressed by  placing  the  sign  plus  or  minus  be- 
fore the  number  expressing  the  per  centage. 

I  have  confined  these  statistics  to  the  free 
colored  population,  because  tliey  are  the  most 
stationary  ;  and  .similarity  of  habits  and  other 
circumstances  render  them  the  fairest  test. 
There  are  some  irregulaiities  in  these  statis- 
tics which  are  difficult  to  explain,  but  if  we 
take  the  aggregate  of  sections,  or  any  rational 
view  of  the  matter,  I  think  they  are  not  un- 
satisfactory. I  give  them  for  what  they  are 
worth,  hoping  they  will  at  least  lead  the  way 
to  other  observations. 


Maine 

New-Hampshire. 
Massachusetts. . . 
Rhode  Island .  . . 

Connecticut 

Vermont 

New- York 

New- Jersey 

Pennsylvania.. . . 

Delaware 

Maryland. 

Virginia 

North  Carolina.. , 
South  Carolina.. 

Georgia 

Alabama 

Mississippi 

Louisiana 

Tennessee 

Kentucky 

Ohio 

Indiana 

Illinois 

Missouri 

Florida 

Arkansas 

Michigan 

Dis.  of  Columbia 


3 


280 
117 

1,782 
850 

1,836 

156 

12,511 

4,374' 
11,687 

3,207 
13,727 
10,457 

5,507 

1,776 
515 
406 
269 

5,892 
999 

1,276 

3,558 

1,348 
696 
298 
177 
81 
148 

2,161 


29t 

107 

1,807 

673 

1,902 

167 

12,040 

5,853 

12,509 

5,358 

18,548 

15,857 

7,666 

2,795 

802 

572 

409 

8,178 

1,854 

1,984 

5.190 

2,370 

1,084 

345 

216 

144 

173 

2.376 


=  =5 
S  £  ^ 

?  =  s  a 

S  So  o 


+  5 

—  9 

+  1 
—26 
+  3 
+  7 

—  3 
+33 
+  1 
+33 
+35 
+53 
+  39 
+57 
+55 
+40 
-^50 
+38 
+95 
+55 
+43 
+75 
+55 
+  15 
+23 
+77 
+17 
+  9 


The  only  line  which  can  be  drawn  across 
the  United  States  without  intersecting  states, 
is  one  about  thirty-six  and  a  half  degrees  of 
latitude,  which  very  nearly  bounds  on  the 
north,  North  Carolina,  Tennessee,  and  Arkan- 
sas. The  states  of  North  Carolina,  South 
Carolina,  Tennessee,  Arkansas,  Georgia.  Ala- 
bama, Mississippi,  Louisiana,  and  Floritla,  are 
all  south  of  this  line,  and  the  other  states  al[ 
north  of  it.  From  the  abundance  of  provi- 
sions, the  absence  of  malaria,  the  protection 
here  given  to  the  colored  class,  we  miglit  rea- 
sonably infer  that  they  woulil  bo  most  pros- 
perous and  prolific  in  the  northern  division. 
The  southern  division  comprises  all  the  most 
sickly  portions  of  our  country,  ;um1  tlie  free 
negroes  have  less  liberty  and  indulgence  than 
at  the  north.  A  calculation  made  from  the 
above  table  gives  but. about  2.")  jier  cent,  more 
children  than  females  in  the  northern  division, 
while  in  the  southern  the  excess  is  44  per 
cent.  The  New  England  states  alone  show 
3  per  cent,  less  children  than  females  of  the 
child-beai  ing  age. 


NEGRO    rOPULATIOX LIFE    STATISTICS. 


297 


By  the  census  of  1800,  there  were  in  the 
New-England  states,  of  all  ages,  17,317  free 
colored,  and  in  18-10  there  were  but  2'i,G33, 
or  an  increase  only  of  5,olG  in  40  years!  If 
climate  and  social  c(  nilition  have  nothing  to 
do  with  this  result,  I  must  leave  it  to  others 
to  show  what  becomes  of  the  natural  increase, 
and  of  the  colored  immigrants  constantly  com- 
ing in. 

But,  had  we  all  the  data  necessary  for  fix- 
ing the  value  of  life  in  the  pure  whites  and 
blacks,  another  question  arises  with  regard  to 
the  longevity  of  the  mixed  bloods  or  nmlattoes. 
This  (juestion  presents  many  ramifications, 
which  are  not  only  curious,  but  deeply  im- 
portant to  the  philanthropist.  It  has  been 
more  fidly  treated  in  some  of  its  bearings 
than  I  have  room  for  here,  in  the  article  al- 
luded to  in  the  Southern  Quarterly,  and  I 
now  shall  merely  touch  it  so  far  as  it  is  con- 
nected with  the  value  of  life.  Whether  it  be 
primitive  or  not,  the  white  and  black  races 
are  to  all  intents  and  purposes  specifically 
different,  and  it  is  our  business  now  to  treat 
them  as  we  find  them  in  reference  to  our  sub- 
ject. 

A  writer  in  the  Boston  Medical  and  Sur- 
gical Journal,  November,  18-12,  under  the  sig- 
nature of  "  Philanthropist,"  who  seems  to  be 
an  earnest  seeker  after  truth,  uses  the  follow- 
ing language : 

"  From  authentic  statistics  and  extensive  cor- 
I'oborating  information,  obtained  from  sources 
to  me  of  unquestionable  authority,  together 
with  my  own  observations,  I  am  led  to  be- 
lieve that  the  following  statements  are  sub- 
stantially correct : 

"  1st.  That  the  longevity  of  the  Africans  is 
greater  than  that  of  the  inhabitants  of  any 
other  part  of  the  globe. 

"2d.  That  mulattoes,  i.  c,  those  born  of 
parents  one  being  African  and  the  other  white 
or  Caucasian,  are  the  shortest  lived  of  any 
class  of  the  human  race. 

"  3d.  That  the  mulattoes  are  not  more 
liable  to  die  under  the  age  of  25  than  the 
whites  or  blacks ;  but  from  25  to  40  their 
deaths  are  as  10  to  1  of  either  the  whites  or 
blacks  between  those  ages ;  from  40  to  55, 
the  deaths  are  as  50  to  1 ;  and  from  55  to 
70,  luu  to  1. 

"  4th.  That  the  mortality  of  the  free  peo- 
ple of  color  is  more  than  100  i)er  cent,  great- 
er than  that  of  slaves. 

"  5th.  That  those  of  unmixed  extraction  in 
the  free  states  are  not  more  liable  to  sickness 
or  premature  death  tlian  the  whites  of  their 
rank  and  condition  in  society  ;  but  that  the 
striking  mortality  so  manifest  among  the  free 
people  of  color,  is  in  every  comnuinity  and 
section  of  the  country  invariably  confined  to 
the  mulattoes. ' 

"  It  was  remarked  by  a  gentleman  from  the 
south,  eminent  for  his  intellectual  attainments, 
and  distinguished  for  his  correct  observation, 


and  who  has  lived  many  years  in  the  southern 
states,  that  he  did  not  believe  that  he  had 
ever  seen  a  mulatto  of  7u  years  of  age. 

"  From  a  correspondence  published  in  the 
Boston  Spectator,  in  April  last,  are  taken  the 
following  statistics: 

"  In  a  colored  population  of  2,G34;348,  in- 
cluding free  blacks,  there  are  1,980  over  100 
years  of  age;  whereas  there  are  but  G47 
whites  over  100  in  a  population  of  14,581,000. 

"In  Boston,  the  number  of  deaths  annually 
among  the  colored  population  is  about  1  in 
15,  and  there  are  fewer  pure  blacks  in  this 
city  than  any  other.  The  same  comjiarative 
mortality  between  mulattoes  and  blacks  ex- 
ists in  the  West  Indies  and  in  Guiana,  where 
unfavorable  social  causes  do  not  operate 
against  the  mulattoes  as  in  the  United 
States." 

Though  they  do  substantially,  my  observa- 
tions at  the  south  will  not  fully  corroborate 
all  the  above  conclusions  of  "  Philanthropist." 
My  belief  is  that  the  mulattoes  do  die  more 
than  whites  or  blacks  under  25,  as  they  cer- 
tainly do  above  this  age,  and  tliat  the  pure 
blacks  are  destroyed  by  cold  climate  as  well 
as  the  mulattoes,  though  the  latter  may  be 
most  sensitive. 

I  will  here  give  the  results  of  my  own  pro- 
fessional observation  during  twenty  years  at 
the  south,  which  I  feel  assured  time  and  ex- 
perience will  substantially  confirm.  The  facta 
were  forced  upon  me  during  my  intercourse 
with  the  colored  class,  and  attracted  my  atten- 
tion long  before  I  had  formed  any  theory  on 
the  subject,  and  at  a  time  when  my  convic- 
tions were  the  opposite  of  what  they  now 
are. 

1st.  The  mulattoes  are  intermediate  in  in- 
telligence between  the  blacks  and  whites. 

2d.  They  are  less  capable  of  enduring 
fatigue,  exposure,  and  hardships  of  all  kinds, 
than  either  blacks  or  whites. 

3d.  The  mulatto  women  are  peculiarly  del- 
icate, and  more  subject  to  a  variety  of  chronic 
diseases  peculiar  to  females. 

4th.  Tlie  women  are  bad  breeders  and  bad 
nurses — many  do  not  conceive,  and  most  are 
subject  to  abortions,  or  premature  births. 

5  th.  The  two  sexes,  when  they  maiTy,  are 
less  prolific  than  when  crossed  on  one  of  the 
parent  stocks. 

Gth.  The  specific  difference  of  the  races  is 
strongly  illustrated  in  the  exemption  of  the 
negroes  from  yellow  and  congestive  fevers; 
not  only  the  negro,  but  the  quarteroon,  though 
a  native  of  a  cold  latitude,  is  to  a  great  ex- 
tent exempt ;  there  are  occasional  exceptions, 
and  it  is  well  known  that  yellow  fever,  like 
cholera,  has  often  been  fatal  to  domestic 
animals. 

The  above  facts,  which  I  think  will  in  the 
main  hold  good  in  all  the  Atlantic  states,  and 
are  more  marked  the  farther  north  we  look, 
would  seem  to  be  contradicted  to  a  consider- 


298 


NEGRO    POPULATION LIFE    STATISTICS. 


able  extent,  if  not  wholly  refuted,  by  mi  op- 
posite state  of  tilings  on  the  gulf.  I  hope  the 
contradiction,  however,  will  prove  to  be  only 
apparent. 

The  mulattoes,  by  which  I  mean  all  grades 
of  mixture,  derived  from  the  early  population 
of  Pensacola,  Mobile,  and  New-Orleans,  and 
who  are  a  mixture  principally  of  French  and 
Spanish  blood  with  that  of  the  negro,  present 
very  different  physical  characters  from  the 
mulattoes  seen  in  the  Atlantic  states,  who  are 
derived  mainly  from  the  Anglo-Saxon  race. 
The  complexion  on  the  gulf  of  the  colored 
Creoles  (as  they  are  called)  is  a  strong  copper, 
or  bronze  of  different  shades,  which  is  agree- 
able to  the  eye,  and  strikingly  different  from 
the  chalky,  sickly  hue  of  the  others;  they  ex- 
cite at  once  in  the  mind  the  idea  of  a  new,  or 
distinct  race — are  well  formed,  more  robust 
and  hardy,  and  their  features  often  regular 
and  haudsorne,  partaking  little  of  the  contour 
of  the  negro;  they  are  also  much  more  jiro- 
lific  and  long-lived  than  the  mulattoes  of  the 
colder  states.  A  stranger  coming  to  Mobile, 
or  New-Orleans,  could  not  fail  to  be  forcibly 
struck  by  the  physical  peculiarities  of  these 
colored  Creoles,  many  of  whom  resemble  so 
closely  certain  Mongol  tribes,  as  to  give  strong 
support  to  the  suggestion  of  Dr.  S.  G.  Morton, 
that  the  latter  may  possibly  be  a  mixed  race 
of  Caucasians  and  negroes ;  an  idea  which 
will  be  much  strengthened  by  his  remarks  on 
the  influence  of  climate  on  hybridity.  Their 
hair  is  often  as  straight,  black,  and  glossy  as 
that  of  the  Chinese  or  Indian;  the  high  cheek- 
bone and  obliquity  of  the  eyes  is  not  uncom- 
mon. In  looking  over  the  well-executed 
heads  in  Richards'  Physical  History  of  Alan,  1 
can  find  no  type  of  the  colored  races  of  the 
old  wor/d,  as  the  Mongol,  Hindoo,  Malay,  &c., 
of  which  I  have  not  seen  a  good  imitation  in 
real  life  among  the  colored  Creoles  of  Mobile 
and  New-Orleans;  but  it  is  remarkable  that 
they  show  mo  resemblance  to  the  abor/c/ine.s 
of  the  new  world — these  stand  out  from  the 
rest  of  mankind,  as  Dr.  Morton's  Crania 
Americana  will  show,  as  boldly  as  a  new  and 
distinct  creation. 

It  is  perhaps  a  difficult  task  to  account  for 
the  above  dift'erences  between  these  Creoles 
and  the  mulattoes  of  colder  climates ;  it  is 
possible  that  a  reason  may  be  found  in  certain 
affinities  or  repulsions  of  certain  races,  wliich 
fits  or  unhts  them  for  peifect  amalgamation. 
The  population  of  Crermany,  France,  Sjiain, 
Italy,  England,  Ireland,  and  Scotland,  is  such 
a  heterogeneous  compound  at  the  present  day 
of  aborigines,  Celts,  Sclavonians,  and  Ger- 
mans, that  there  are  now  endless  disputes  as 
to  the  original  physical  character  of  each  of 
these  latter  races,  and  as  to  the  blood  which 
now  predominates  in  each  country.  Tlie 
modern  Britons,  and  tlie  Germans,  from  whom 
they  are  principally  descended,  are  usually 
much  more  fair  in  complexion  than  the  French, 


Spaniards,  Italians,  Russians,  Poles,  Ac,  who, 
Lawrence  and  others  maintain,  are  derived 
from  the  Celts  and  Slavons,  of  dark  skin, 
hair  and  eyes.  Explain  the  fact  as  we  may, 
it  is  to  my  mind  evident  that  negroes  amal- 
gamate much  better  with  the  dark  than  the 
fair  races. 

When  we  reflect  on  the  specific  difference 
between  the  two  races,  (Caucasian  and  Negro,) 
and  the  many  peculiarities  whicli  belong  to 
the  mulatto,  I  think  we  are  justifiable  in  re- 
garding the  latter  as  a  hybrid.  I  have  shown 
on  a  former  occasion  tliat  naturalists  have 
been  able  to  lay  down  no  rule  which  could 
offer  the  slightest  objection  to  tliis  idea.  We 
have  shown  also  that  different  hybrids  are 
subject  to  very  different  laws ;  some  are  pro- 
lific and  others  not,  <fec.  Why  maj'  it  not  be 
a  law  of  the  human  hybrid,  that  it  is  more 
delicate,  less  hardy  and  long-lived  than  the 
parent  stocks  ?  There  are  facts  in  natural  his- 
tory which  lend  support  to  this  idea. 

Dr.  Morton,  the  distinguished  author  of  the 
Crania  Americana  and  Egyptica,  in  a  paper 
read  last  November  before  the  Academy  of 
Natural  Sciences  in  Pliiladelphia,  on  "  hy- 
bridity in  animals  and  plants,  considered  in 
reference  to  the  question  of  the  unity  of  the 
human  species,"  give  us  some  interesting  facts, 
which  may  account  more  satisfactorily  for  the 
distinctive  character  of  the  mulattoes  north 
and  south.  After  showing  that  not  only  dif- 
ferent species,  but  genera  produce  prolific 
hybrids,  he  gives  facts  to  prove  that  climate 
lias  much  to  do  with  the  fecundity  of  certain 
hybrids ;  they  may  not  breed,  for  example," 
in  a  cold  climate,  but  will  in  a  warm  one, 
which  is  more  congenial  to  their  nrture. 
Such  would  seem  to  be  the  case  with  tlie 
mulatto  or  hybrid  offspring  of  the  Cau<  asian 
and  Negro  races ;  the  facts  can  be  clearly  es- 
tablished that  the  mulattoes  (the  colored  Cre- 
oles at  least)  of  Mobile  and  New-Orleans 
are  more  prolific,  more  hardy,  longer  lived, 
and  in  every  respect  a  superior  race  to  those 
of  the  north.  My  observations  for  some 
years  were  made  on  the  mulattoes  of  South 
Carolina,  and,  even  as  far  south  as  this,  their 
inferiority  is  manifest. 

The  facts  and  deductions  thus  far  present- 
ed would  lead  very  strongly  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  black  slaves  of  the  south  are 
very  safe  risks  for  insurance  ;  but  though  fully 
persuaded  of  the  favorable  position  of  this 
class,  both  as  to  climate  and  sncial  condition, 
in  reference  to  hcaltli  and  longevity,  and 
though  deeply  impressed  with  the  importance 
of  this  branch  of  life  insurance  to  the  slave 
states,  still  I  must  say  tiiat  I  believe  there  are 
yet  no  data  by  which  the  value  of  these  lives 
can  be  fixed  with  sutHcient  accuracy  to  justi- 
fy the  thoughtless  procedure  of  some  com- 
panies. 

The  mortality  among  the  colored  class  in 
CharleBtoD,  including  blacks,  mulattoes,  slaves, 


NEGRO    POPULATION LIFE    STATISTICS, 


299 


and  free,  is  1  ia  44  annually ;  and  though  this 
is  a  more  favorable  table  tiian  cau  bo  found 
in  any  laboring  class  in  the  world,  and  tlioiigh 
even"  this  mortality  might  be  greatly  dimin- 
ished could  \vc  separate  the  free  and  the  hy- 
brids from  the  bhick  slaves ;  yet  it  must  be 
remembered  that  among  the  whites  it  is  only 
the  better  class  that  apply  for  policies,  and 
that  the  negroes  are  the  laboring  class  of  the 
south.  It  is  a  well-known  fact,  that  as  you 
rise  in  the  scale  of  society,  so  does  the  lon- 
gevity increase,  simply  because  tlie  upper 
classes  are  less  exposed  to  tlie  causes  of  dis- 
eases, and  can  command  comforts  and  prompt 
medical  advice  in  sickness.  Tlie  experience 
too  of  insurance  con:panies  in  Europe,  shows 
that  there  is  far  less  mortality  in  their  se- 
lected lives  than  in  the  aggregate  population 
of  a  nation.  It  caunot  be  reasonably  expect- 
ed, then,  that  the  slaves  at  the  south  can  equal 
in  longevity  the  better  classes  of  Europe,  or 
the  selected  lives  of  insurance  companies. 

The  black  slaves,  though  generally  treated 
with  kindness  and  indulgence,  are  the  labor- 
ing class — are  exposed  much  to  the  causes  of 
disease,  and  are  less  protected  in  sickness 
than  the  higher  classes ;  like  the  man-servant 
and  maid-servant  of  the  free  states,  they  are 
less  cared  for  in  sickness  and  health  than  the 
master  and  mistress.  The  longest  lived  class 
in  England  are  the  nobility  ;  and  though  pov- 
erty in  itself  may  not  be  a  sin,  it  is  not  only 
a  disgrace,  but  tempts  many  a  poor  fellow  to 
sell  soul  and  body  both. 

"  Lord  lead  us  not  into  temptation,"  is  the 
wisest  prayer  ever  uttered — it  contains  a  pro- 
found reflection  on  human  natui'e.  Men  are 
prone  to  become  very  good  and  pious  when 
tliey  get  too  old  to  be  tempted,  and  we  would 
therefore  pray  daily  not  to  be  tempted.  Life 
insurance  on  negroes  offers  strong  temptations 
to  be  feared,  many  of  which  I  have  not  time 
to  enumerate. 

When  a  company  insures  the  life  of  a  free 
man,  it  has  the  best  of  all  guaranties  against 
foul  play,  viz. :  the  innate  love  of  life  of 
tlie  insured  party.  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
we  occasionally  see  at  the  south  unfeeling 
masters,  as  we  do  unfeeling  husbands,  cruel 
fathers,  and  cruel  masters  to  apprentices,  in 
the  free  states  ;  and  such  individuals  will  not 
show  any  increase  of  kindness  during  sick- 
ness, should  their  interest  be  opposed  to  hu- 
manity. As  long  as  the  negro  is  sound,  and 
I  worth  more  than  the  amount  insured,  self- 
)  interest  will  prompt  the  owner  to  preserve 
the  life  of  the  slave ;  but,  if  the  slave  become 
unsound,  and  there  is  little  prospect  of  per- 
fect recovery, the  underwriters  cannot  expect 
fair  play — the  insurance  money  is  worth  more 
than  the  slave,  and  the  latter  is  regarded 
rather  in  the  light  of  a  superannuated  horse. 

Hum  m  nature  is  the  same  every  where, 
and  at  all  times.  See  how  the  English  manu- 
facturer coins  his  guineas  out  of  the  exhausted 


frames  of  liis  wretched  operatives ;  after  one 
set  of  victims  is  worked  to  death,  another  is 
at  hand  ready  for  the  sacrifice.  So  with  the 
southern  masters;  though  their  slaves,  as  a 
general  rule,  meet  with  more  kindness  than 
any  laboring  class  in  the  world,  yet  when  it 
ceases  to  be  the  interest  of  the  owner  to  pre- 
serve the  life  of  the  slave,  he  will  in  many 
instances  cease  to  be  careful  of  it.  Any  man 
who  will  drive  a  horse  cruelly,  will  drive  a 
negro  or  operative  to  death,  if  he  can  gain 
any  thing  by  so  doing. 

Suppose  a  thousand  slaves  to  be  insured 
for  seven  years,  and  at  the  end  of  one,  two, 
three,  four,  or  five  years,  a  portion  of  them 
should  become  unsound,  and  it  is  no  longer 
the  interest  of  the  owners  that  they  should 
live  out  the  seven  years;  would  not  many 
be  like  the  Yankee  captain  with  the  insured 
ship,  "  Damn  the  old  hulk,  let  her  sink — I 
am  safe."  That  "  Almighty  Dollar  "  Avould 
soon  silence  the  soft,  small  voice  of  human- 
ity. 

We  have  every  reason  to  believe  that 
many  unsound  negroes  would  be  insured 
fraudulently,  which  could  be  easily  done' — 
and  it  is  a  singular  fact,  that  the  negroes 
who  will  nurse  the  master  with  untiring 
devotion  and  kindness,  night  and  day,  are, 
like  dogs,  utterly  regardless  of  each  other's 
wants  in  sickness ;  this  is  a  characteristic  in 
freedom  or  slavery. 

It  would  be  unsafe  to  insure  negroes  on 
plantations  in  the  country,  because  it  is  im- 
possible, I  fear,  to  get  competent  and  reli- 
able medical  examiners,  and  for  other 
reasons.  Most  of  the  applications  would 
probably  be  from  the  towns.  It  has  not 
been,  nor  do  I  think  it  is  likely  to  become, 
the  custom  of  masters  to  insure  slaves, 
except  in  those  instances  where  they  sup- 
pose some  extraordinary  risk  to  life  is  in- 
curred, and  if  such  risks  alone  be  taken,  the 
chances  must  be  against  the  underwriters, 
I  will  mention  for  example  the  fact,  that 
most  of  the  negroes  presented  to  me  for 
insurance  have  been  deck  hands  of  steam- 
boats, who,  besides  the  danger  of  being 
blown  up,  are  exposed  to  other  dangers 
much  greater ;  al  one  moment  they  are  em- 
ployed as  firemen,  and  at  the  next,  they  are 
rolling  cotton  bales  down  the  river  bank  at 
midnight  in  a  cold  rain.  Many  are  conse- 
quently attacked  by  i)leurisy,  and  other 
acute  diseases ;  they  are  not  unfrequently 
seriously  injured  by  blows  from  the  cotton 
bales  while  rolling  down  the  lugh  bluffs, 
and  lastly,  they  often  become  intemperate, 
and  contract  other  bad  habits  which  lead 
to  disturbance  of  health. — Nott. 

Since  the  above  was  printed,  we  have  re- 
ceived the  following  letter  from  Dr.  Nott, 
which  is  worthy  of  attention  : 

The  Sl.vve  Question. — With  what  intense 


300 


NEGRO    POPULATION LIFE    STATISTICS. 


anxiety  are  the  eyes  of  the  whole  country 
fixed  upon  tlie  meeting  of  our  next  national 
assembly  !  Do  we  not  all  feel  that  we  are 
on  the  verge  of  a  struggle  which  must  shake 
the  Union  to  its  very  foundations?  The 
social  position  of  the  negro  race,  and  its 
influences  on  the  various  sections  of  tlie 
country,  is  to  be  discussed,  and,  in  my  opin- 
ion, most  of  the  leaders  of  public  ojiinion, 
north  and  south,  are  wholly  unprepared 
to  meet  the  great  difHculties  that  complicate 
this  subject  ;  and  the  facts  I  have  here  and 
on  former  occasions  alluded  to,  call  loudly 
upon  the  attention  of  the  statesman,  the 
patriot  and  philanthropist.  All  the  reason- 
ing and  action  of  legislators  heretofore  have 
been  deduced  too  much  from  the  history  of 
the  Caucasian  race,  as  if  the  question  were 
settled  that  the  white  man  and  negro  are 
essentially  the  same,  and  demand  the  same 
course  of  policy.  Wlien  we  ask  for  facts 
— for  some  clear  light  of  exjierience,  drawn 
from  the  history  of  the  past,  to  lead  us  out 
of  the  labyrinth  in  which  fate  has  placed  us — 
"we  are  answered  by  the  sentimental  ab- 
stractions of  the  closet.  But,  Mr.  Editor, 
these  great  difficulties  cannot  be  met  and 
overcome  by  abstractions.  We  must  look 
to  the  natural  history  of  the  races  for  light ; 
and  I  have  no  hesitation  in  asserting  that 
nothing  wise — nothing  productive  of  sub- 
stantial good  to  the  negro  race — can  be 
effected  without  a  full  knowledge  of  their 
physical  and  intellectual  character. 

Can  humanity  look  without  a  shudder 
upon  the  reckless  impetuosity  with  which 
demagogues  and  fanatics  decide  great  ques- 
tions like  this,  involving  the  lives,  fortunes, 
and  happiness  of  millions  of  human  bemgs, 
without  the  slightest  knowledge  of  those 
facts  which  are  indispensable  to  the  forma- 
tion of  a  rational  opinion  ?  The  angry  and 
senseless  discussions  on  negro  emancipation, 
which  have  agitated  Christendom  for  the 
last  half  century,  were  commenced  in  igno- 
rance, and  the  abolitionists  have  only  become 
more  angry  and  unreasonable  as  facts  have 
risen  up  against  their  theories. 

It  has  become  evident  ^hat  this  contro- 
versy, as  now  conducted,  must  lead  to  con- 
sequences fraught  with  evil  both  to  the 
■white  and  black  races.  Is  it  not  time,  then, 
that  good  and  wise  men  should  rise  up,  in- 
form themselves  thoroughly,  and,  looking 
the  dillieulties  full  in  the  face,  adopt  such  a 
course  as  reason  and  humanity  shall  dic- 
tate ? 

The  object  of  the  honest  abolitionist  must 
certainly  be,  to  better  the  condition  cither 
of  the  white  or  black  races.  How  are  tlie 
whites  to  be  benefited?  What  the  distant 
future  may  bring  forth,  human  sagacity 
cannot  foretell ;  but  we  know  that  all  grc^at 
and  sudden  changes  in  the  policy  of  a  coun- 


try must  be  productive  of  distress ;  and  no 
one  can  doubt  that  emancipation  of  the 
southern  slaves  would,  for  a  long  scries  of 
years,  be  followed  by  utter  destruction  of 
the  great  stajiles  of  the  south,  and  a  corre- 
sponding destruction  of  the  manufacturing 
and  other  interests  of  the  north.  It  would 
not  stop  here ;  but  the  older  nations  who 
are  fed  by  our  commerce  would  suffer,  even 
more,  perhaps,  than  ourselves.  Should 
such  consequences  be  hazarded  'without 
good  and  sufficient  reasons  ?  But  how  are 
the  blacks  to  be  benefited  by  emancipa- 
tion? This  is  the  great  point  on  which  the 
controversy  should  run.  Where  are  we  to 
look  for  light  on  this  point,  either  in  the 
history  of  the  past,  or  in  the  teachings  of 
the  present  day?  Will  some  abolitionist 
talk  to  us  sober  sense  and  reason,  and  de- 
monstrate some  plan  by  which  the  negro 
can  be  made  free,  prosperous  and  happy  ? 
I  am  a  slave  owner,  and  while  on  the  one 
hand  I  shall,  in  common  with  the  southern 
people,  resist  all  encroachments  on  our  con- 
stitutional and  natural  rights,  I  am,  on  the 
other  hand,  free  to  say  that  I  am  ready  to 
advocate  any  scheme  of  emancipation  which 
will  insure  to  the  slaves  of  the  south  greater 
happiness  than  they  now  enjoy.  Every 
candid  and  intelligent  man,  who  has  exam- 
ined the  facts,  must  acknowledge  that  the 
negroes  of  the  southern  states  are  infinitely 
better  off  than  those  of  Africa,  all  of  whom 
are  the  slaves  of  barbarian  chiefs ;  that  they 
are  in  a  far  better  condition,  morally  and 
physically,  and  more  happy,  than  those  of 
the  free  states ;  that  they  are  in  every  re- 
spect in  a  better  condition  than  the  eman- 
cipated blacks  of  the  West  Indies ;  and  that 
African  colonization,  and  the  long  and  pain- 
ful labors  of  missionaries,  have  so  far  result- 
ed in  no  good. 

Whether  the  negro  be  of  distinct  origin — 
whether  he  be  a  descendant  of  Adam, 
changed  by  the  long  continued  action  of 
physical  causes,  or  Avhethcr  the  Almighty 
has,  by  a  direct  curse,  blackened  his  skin 
and  clouded  his  intellect,  it  is  not  our  inten- 
tion here  to  inquire ;  but  it  cannot  be  denied 
that  the  negro  now  presents  peculiar  jihysi- 
eal  and  intellectual  characters.  We  must, 
therefore,  take  him  as  we  find  him,  and  for 
all  practical  i)urposc3it  is  immaterial  wliich 
theory  we  adojit.  The  true  (piestions  to  be 
decided  are — To  what  position  among  man- 
kind is  he  notv  best  suited  ?  and,  to  what 
position  more  exalted  can  time  and  exjieri- 
ence  elevate  him  ? 

Though  many  contend  tliat  mental  cul- 
tivation, continued  through  several  genera- 
tions, may  greatly  improve  a  race,  no  one 
of  our  authoritative  writers  on  the  natural 
history  of  man,  vv^hethcr  Christian  or  Infi- 
del, whether  advocating  or  opposing  the 


NEGRO    POPULATIO^r LIFE    STATISTICS. 


801 


unity  of  the  human  race,  can  be  found  to 
maintain  the  intellectual  equality  of  the 
black  and  white  races. 

Experience  teaches  that  none  hut  an  in- 
telligent peojile  are  fit  for  any  form  of  gov- 
ernment sliort  of  an  absolute  despotism,  and 
it  is  dirticiilt  to  imagine  how  the  negro  is  to 
be  sufficiently  enlightened  to  qualify  him 
for  self-government.  lie  cannot  be  educat- 
ed to  any  extent  while  a  slave,  because  he 
becomes  unlit -for  slavery  and  dangerous  to 
the  master.  He  cannot  be  liberated  and 
allowed  to  remain  where  he  now  is,  because 
a  large  ]iopulation,  so  indolent,  improvident 
and  vicious  as  free  negroes  every  where  are, 
could  not  be  tolerated  in  any  country. 
Could  Alabama,  for  example,  permit  her 
300,()(10  slaves  to  be  freed  and  turned  loose 
within  her  borders?  And  I  would  ask  the 
states  north  of  the  Potomac,  if  they  would 
vote  for  the  emancipation  of  three  millions 
of  slaves,  with  the  " proiixo"  that  when 
liberated  they  should  all  settle  at  the  north  ? 
I  have  no  doubt  that  the  abolitionists  of  the 
north  would  sooner  vote  that  all  the  tribes 
of  Africa  should  be  turned  over  to  the  devil 
without  benefit  of  clergy.  Self-preservation 
equally  forbids  that  such  an  idea  should  be 

I     entertained  for  the  southern  states. 

^—  But  one  scheme,  then,  can  be  seriously  en- 
tertained, viz.,  that  of  colonization ;  and  it  is 
much  to  be  desired  that  some  one  would  give 
us  a  project  by  which  these  millions  of  igno 
rant,  stupid  negroes  can  be  successfully  col- 
onized, and  kept  from  relapsing  (as  they  are 
rapidly  doing  in  St.  Domingo)  into  African 

^  barbarism.  The  experiments  in  colonization, 
and  even  the  gigantic  efforts  to  suppress  the 
slave  trade,  have  so  far  been  productive  of 
nothing  but  evil ;  and  we  have  every  reason 
to  believe,  that  if  the  negro  can /;c  so  improved 
<is  to  qualify  him  for  self-government,  a  long 
series  of  years  will  be  required  to  effect  such  a 
result.  The  monumental  history  of  Egypt,  ac- 
cording to  recent  researches  of  Bunseu,  Lep- 
siu?,  and  other  learned  hierologists,  shows, 
beyond  dispute,  that  the  negro  presented  the 
same  physical  and  hitellectual  characters  5,000 
years  ago  that  he  does  now  ;  and  how  long, 
may  it  be  asked,  will  it  take  to  bring  him  up 
to  the  Caucasian  standard  ?  I  deny,  positively, 
that  there  is  any  evidence  in  the  history  of  the 
past,  or  the  experience  of  our  own  times,  to 
prove  that  the  brain  of  a  race  can  be  enlarged 
and  the  intellect  expanded  by  cultivation 
througli  a  series  of  generations.  The  skulls 
of  the  untutored  Germans  of  antiquity — of 
the  Greek  peasants — of  the  ancient  Britons, 
and  of  the  wandering  Circassians,  who  are 
now  bidding  defiance  to  the  Emperor  of 
Russia,  are  as  well  formed  as  those  of  the 
nobility  of  England  of  the  present  day. 
Baron  Larrey,  whose  authority  will  not  be 
questioned  in  this  matter,  tells  us  that  the 
wandering  Arabs    have    tlie  finest  formed 


brains  he  ever  saw.  The  Caucasian  head  la 
always  ready  formed,  and  when  the  spark  is 
applied  the  intellect  blazes  forth.  Wherever 
this  race  is  brought  under  a  good  government, 
great  men  spring  up  from  the  very  forests. 
Can  any  one  believe  for  a  moment  that  the 
genius  of  Alexander,  Caisar,  Napoleon,  Han- 
nibal, Newton.  La  Place,  Cuvier,  Shakspearo, 
etc.,  is  attributable  to  cultivated  ancestry? 
No — the  same  blood  has  been  coursing 
through  the  veins  of  the  race  from  Adam 
down  to  the  present  day. 

But  let  us  suppose,  for  a  moment,  that  the 
negro  really  is  susceptible  of  progre.'sive  im- 
provement. Where  is  the  nation  willing  to 
devote  the  time  and  money  necessary  for  the 
perfection  of  three  millions  of  negroes  ?  Will 
Old  England?  No.  Will  New-England  ?  No. 
They  may  both  be  ready  to  sacrifice  both  the 
whites  and  blacks  of  the  south  on  the  altar 
of  false  humanity,  but  neither  will  stretch  out 
his  hand  to  offer  substantial  aid  in  the  cause. 

I  must  bring  this  hasty  letter  to  a  close, 
but  hope  I  have  said  enough  to  make  appa- 
rent the  paramount  importance  of  negro 
statistics.  If  the  blacks  are  intellectually  in- 
ferior to  the  whites — if  the  whites  are  dete- 
riorated by  amalgamation  with  the  blacks — 
if  the  longevity  and  physical  perfection  of  the 
mixed  race  is  below  that  of  either  of  the  pure 
races,  and  if  the  negro  is  by  nature  unfit  for 
self-government,  these  are  grave  matters  for 
consideration.  These  conclusions  I  solemnly 
believe  to  be  true,  and  that  full  investigation 
will  only  tend  to  confirm  them ;  and  I  may 
add,  that  my  conviction  is  the  result  of  much 
personal  observation  and  careful  perusal  of 
every  work  of  note  on  the  natural  history  of 
man  in  the  French  and  English  languages. 

The  negroes  have  attained  a  greater  moral 
and  intellectual  elevation — greater  physical 
development  and  longevity,  and  incon)parably 
more  happiness,  in  our  slave  states,  than  they 
have  ever  enjoyed  under  any  other  circum- 
stances. Every  feeling  of  humanity,  then, 
and  every  motive  of  policj-,  should  bid  us 
handle  gently  a  question  of  such  extreme 
delicacy.  We  have  yet  no  light  to  guide  us 
safely  in  a  change ;  and  as  we  know  that  the 
southern  people  are  responsible  to  God  alone 
for  their  sins,  and  that  it  is  his  hand  at  last 
that  rules  the  destinies  of  nations,  it  would 
be  better,  far,  to  leave  this  question  to  the 
slow  but  certain  work  of  time  and  expe 
rience.    (Mobile,  Ala.) 

Physical  and  Moral  Condition  of  Blacks, 
North  and  South.* — We  have  lately  taken 
some  pains  in  examining  the  reports  of  1845, 
1846,  and  1847,  of  the  Prison  Discipline  As- 
sociation, kindly  furnished  us  at  the  office  in 
New-York,  in  the  hope  of  finding  stati?tical 
information  which  might  be  of  value  in  con- 


By  tho  Editor. 


302 


KEGRO   POPULATION — LIFE   STATISTICS. 


nection  with  the  subject  of  the  above  article ;  I 
but,  unfurtunately,  the  same  fault  may  be  '• 
found  with  these  reports  as  with  all  others,  j 
that  they  do  not  suiEciently  discriminate ; 
between  black  and  white.  However,  such 
facts  as  we  could  gather,  after  a  search  of  a  { 
thousand  pages,  we  present.  They  pertain  ' 
as  much  to  the  morals  as  the  longevity  ofi 
northern  negroes. 

MORTALITY    OF    PHILADELPHLV. 

I'e7iit€ntiari/. 

"WTiites,  Blacks, 

Yenrs.  per  cent.  per  cent. 

1830  4.19  0. 

1831  4.18  10.02 

1S32  1.44  13.52 

1833      1.11  0. 

1834 8  6.68 

1835  1.26  4.61 

1836 99  6.74 

1837  3.  6.49 

1838 2.92  11.80 

1839 81  4.62 

1840   3.88  8.02 

1841    1.97  4.61 

1842   1.41  9.03 


27.24 


2.09 


3.14 


6.C2 


City. 

1821  ... 

2.31 

5.92 

1822  . . . 

2.39 

4.65 

1823  . . . 

2.96 

5.71 

1824  .... 

2.85 

5.71 

1825  . . . 

2.36 

3.70 

1826  . . . 

2.48 

3.82 

1827  ... 

2.11 

5.29 

1828  ... 

2.29 

4.81 

1829  ... 

2.27 

4.22 

1830  ... 

2.20 

3.68 

24.22 


2.42 


47.51 
4.75 


"  It  will  be  perceived,"  says  the  report  of 
1845,  (from  which  this  table  is  taken,)  "that 
these  numbers  are  to  each  other  in  the  pro- 
portion of  1  to  1.96.  That  is,  out  of  1,000  of 
each  color  residing  in  the  city,  196  blacks  die 
for  every  100  whites;  and  for  every  1,000  of 
each  color  in  the  Penitentiary,  the  astoni.'h- 
ing  number  of  316  blacks  to  every  100 
whites.  Returns  from  the  Philadelphia 
County  Prison,  for  the  last  ten  years,  show 
that  out  of  101  deaths  in  that  establishment, 
54  died  of  consumption.  Of  these,  40  were 
colored,  and  14  white." 

In  the  Wethersfield  Penitentiary,  from 
March,  1841,  to  March,  1844,  the  average  of 
deaths  was  2.82  for  whites,  10.96  for  colored. 


Eastern  Penitentiary,  Pennsylvania,  for  three 
years,  ending  1843,  1.85  per  cent,  deaths, 
white ;  G.63  black.  In  the  PlJiladelphia  prison, 
for  ten  years,  ending  1845,  white  prisoners, 
1.179;  black,  1,089;  deaths,  white,  1  in  46; 
black,  1  in  12.  The  whole  admission  of  con- 
victs in  the  Eastern  Penitentiary  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, from  October,  1820,  to  December,  1845, 
was  2,054,  of  which  692  were  black,  or  about 
one  third !  This  fritfhtful  immorality  and  crime 
of  the  black  population  will  be  understood 
when  it  is  reflected  how  small  a  proportion  of 
the  population  of  Pennsylvania,  or  even  of 
Philadelphia,  it  embraces.  Extraordinary  as  it 
may  seem,  in  1840  very  nearly  140  per  cent, 
of  the  inmates  of  the  same  prison  were  col- 
ored !  "  Perhaps,"  says  Dr.  Ginon,  the  phy- 
sician in  charge,  in  his  report,  "  the  most 
striking  feature  is  '^the  great  disprojuirtion 
between  white  and  colored  deaths — a  dispro- 
portion that  has  engaged  the  attention  and 
sympathy  of  some  of  our  most  enlightened 
and  benevolent  citizens,  and  given  rise  to 
various  hypotheses.  If  my  experience,  drc, 
justify,  I  would  say,  without  hesitation,  it  is 
oivhic/  entirely/  to  their  utter  neglect  of  the 
necessary  means  of  preserving  health,  extreme 
sensuality,  (i;c.  This  opinion  I  believe  myself 
in  possession  of  suflScient  facts  to  substan- 
tiate," (tc. 

In  1845,  Matthew  L.  Bevan,  Esq.,  Presi- 
dent of  the  Eastern  Penitentiary  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, adverts  again  to  the  subject:  "Tlie  in- 
crease of  deaths  comes  from  blacks.  This  in- 
crease of  mortality  is  found  in  the  fact  that 
those  colored  inmates  from  the  county  of 
Philadelphia,  are  so  co7istitutionalh/  diseased, 
as  under  any  and  all  circwnstances  to  be  short- 
lived,  from  their  character  and  habits.  Tliey 
die  of  constituiioual  and  chronic  disorders, 
which  are  (/cnem/ among  their  order,  owing  to 
the  privatio7is  they  undergo,  and  the  want  of 
proper  attejition  in  infancy,  and  their  pecu- 
liar mode  of  living."  Mr.  Bevan  concludes: 
"Indulging  in  the  use  of  ardent  spirits,  sub- 
jected to  a  prejudice,  xvhich  bids  defiance  I o  any 
successful  atternpd  to  improve  their  physical 
or  moral  condition,  from  youth  to  manhood, 
solving  the  seeds  of  disease  in  their  consti- 
tutiotis,  and  at  last  becoming  intnatcs  of 
prisons." !  I ! 

These  sad  and  mournful  pictures  from  a 
city  like  Philadelphia,  where  the  blacks  might 
be  supposed  as  favorably  situated  as  fret'tlom 
could  make  them,  are  worthy  of  dee])  con- 
templation. If,  after  a  period  of  so  protract- 
ed freedom,  their  condition  has,  so  far  from 
improving,  sunk  lower  and  lower,  beyond 
measure  lower  than  in  any  city  where  the 
institution  of  slavery  exists,  it  would  seem 
full  time  for  blind  and  raving  sentimentality 
to  come  to  its  senses,  and  let  alone  M'hat  it  ia 
incapable  of  meddling  with  without  mischief. 
If,  however,  the  "equality"  of  the  negroes 
I  north,  south,  and  east  is   the  point,  degrade 


NEGRO    SLAVERY ORIGIN    AND   PROSPECTS    OF. 


303 


';  the  southern,  or,  what  is  the  same  thinpf,  as 
:  Philadelphia  shows,  free  than,  and  you  have 
the  desired  remit. 

We  intrutiiice  a  few  more  facts  from  the 
Prison  Discipline  Reports.  lu  the  New- York 
Penitentiary,  1846,  there  were  788  whites, 
96  black?,  or  1  in  8.  The  blacks  in  New- 
York  do  not  exceed,  if  they  equal,  1-50  of  the 
wliolo  population.  In  the  City  Prison  the 
blacks  were  about  20  per  cent,  or  1  in  5.^-. 
The  reader  will  understand  what  is  the  rela- 
tive proportion  of  black  and  white  population 
-  in  the  city  of  New- York.  At  Sing  Sing, 
^  1846,  there  were  854  inmates,  of  which  193 
\^  in  Ah)  were  black.  One  seventh  of  the 
commitments  of  that  year  were  black.  Of 
the  committed,  400  were  intemperate — 110 
being  blacks.  Number  of  deaths  in  prison 
among  blacks,  in  1846,  were  29 — 4  beiug  of 
consumption,  and  7  rheumatism. 

Dr.  Welch,  in  his  report  of  1844,  says:  "  It 
also  ap[)ears  from  the  records  of  the  State 
Prison  of  Connecticut  that,  since  the  com- 
mencement of  the  institution  in  1828,  Jialf  of 
the  deathfi  have  been  among  the  b/ackx,  amount- 
ing to  5.40  per  cent.,  whites,  1.07  per  cent.!" 
He  also  refers  to  the  authority  of  Dr.  Nott,  of 
Mobile,  in  support  of  his  opinion  that  the 
blacks  of  the  north  possess*'  less  vitality  than 
the  whites." 

We  regret  that  our  data  at  this  moment 
are  so  incomplete.  They,  however,  pi-esent 
some  food  for  reflection.  One  might  think 
that  our  friends  aud  fellow-citizens  at  the 
north  would  have  enough  to  do  to  look  after 
the  comlition  of  their  own  affairs,  instead  of 
troubling  themselves  with  ours.  We  do  not 
envy  them  their  occupation  in  either  case. 

NEGRO  SLAVERY.— The  Origin,  Pro- 
GUE.ss,  .\.ND  Prospects  of  Slavery  in  the 
United  States,  ttc. — Whatever  deluiition  may 
be  given  to  slavery,  or  by  whatever  laws  it 
has  been  conceived  necessary  to  regulate  it, 
nothing  can  be  more  clear  than  that  the  per- 
sonal ciiaracter  of  the  slave,  or  his  rank  as  an 
element  of  population,  distinguishes  entirely 
the  relation,  and  that  the  idea  of  property  is 
a  subordinate  one,  sui  generis  and  in  but  a 
limited  degree  analogous  to  what  is  usually 
understood  by  that  term  in  its  technical  sense. 
Property  gives  the  absolute  power  and  con- 
trol, not  only  over,  but  iH.the  subject,  without 
any  limitation  or  restraint,  except  so  far  as 
the  rights  of  others  shall  not  be  interfered  with. 
It  exi>ts  by  my  will,  and  I  may  change,  alter, 
or  destroy  it.  No  such  power  is,  or  perhaps 
ever  has  been,  claimed  or  exercised  over  the 
slave,  .'-ince  the  Christian  world  (irst  aVjandoned 
the  bailiarous  (k)ctrine  that  an  infidel  was  not 
eiititlid  to  the  rights  of  a  human  being. 

The  power  which  the  master  exercises  over 
a  slav''  is  far  more  analogous  to  that  exer- 
cised upon  an  indentured  ap[»reniice  than  to 
any  power  claimed  over  a  mere  chattel.    The 


apprenticeship  may  be  as  involuntary  as  the 
slavery  in  its  incipiency  and  continuance,  and 
very  often  is.  The  apprentice  and  the  slave  are 
bf)th  for  a  term  of  years,  the  one  being  for  a  life- 
time. The  master's  power,  in  both  instances, 
extends  t()  the  entire  regulation  and  control  of 
the  person,  and  the  absolute  enjoyment  of  his 
labor.  In  both  instances  is  he  res]>onsible  to 
the  law  for  an  abuse  of  power.  The  obliga- 
tions of  the  master  are  identical  in  kind, 
though  not  in  degree — support,  or  support  and 
instruction.  In  either  instance  there  is  loom 
for  much  kindness  and  much  tyranny. 

The  analogy  between  the  slave  and  the  ap- 
prentice fails  in  these  respects,  that  the  master 
may  at  any  time  transfer  to  another  his  right 
in  the  personal  services  of  his  slave,  and  has 
the  same  disposing  power  over  his  offspring 
born  during  slavery.  It  is  evident,  however, 
that  these  are  not  necessary  and  characteristic 
elements  of  slavery,  any  more  than  the  ab- 
sence of  a  transferring  power  is  necessary  in 
apprenticeship.  The  master's  obligations  to 
the  slave  are  not  personal  to  him,  are  not 
founded  upon  any  particular  skill  which  may 
be  peculiar,  but  may  be  performed  by  any  of 
the  human  family.  He  has  been  at  the  whole 
expense,  care,  aud  concern  of  raising  and  pro- 
viding for  the  offspring  of  the  slave  during  in- 
fancy and  childhood,  and  has  a  well-established 
claim  to  be  reimbursed.  The  child  is  but 
naturally  sulistituted  to  the  parents.  The  con- 
sideration is  a  clear  one  which  the  slave  re- 
ceives; and,  should  one  pretend  that  it  is  in- 
adequate, he  will  have  enough  to  do  to  travel 
the  world  over  in  search  of  the  labor  which 
meets  with  an  adequate  consideration. 

The  truth  is,  the  power  of  the  master  over 
the  slave  is  only  that  of  controlling  his  labor, 
and  he  is  entitled  to  use  all  the  means  neces- 
sary for  that  purpose.  Without  inquiring  into 
the  foundation  of  the  right,  it  is  evident  that 
this  power  of  the  master  no  more  affects  the 
individual  and  personal  character  of  the  slave, 
than  that  of  the  capitalist,  all  the  Avorld  over, 
and  especially  in  the  great  manufacturing 
towns  of  England,  over  his  operatives.  It  is 
idle  to  pretend  that  the  labor  of  the  latter  is 
not  as  imperiously  bowed  down  and  controlled 
liy  the  sternest  dictates  of  necessity,  and  with- 
out the  hope  of  change  or  improvement,  as 
that  t)f  the  former.  The  English  master  has 
the  absolute  power  over  the  bread — the  life 
of  the  laborer,  and  that  of  his  children ;  how 
much  more  over  his  labor  1 

As  persons,  then,  and  population,  we  pro- 
ceed to  consider  that  whole  class,  in  our  coun- 
try, not  embraced  under  the  head  of  free  white 
citizens  and  "  Indians  untaxed."  We  shall 
trace  the  history  of  their  introduction,  their 
])rogress,  their  relations,  aud  their  numbers. 
Having  concluded  this  branch  of  the  subject, 
we  shall  proceed  to  discuss  the  qualified  light 
of  property  which  is  maintained  over  them, 
showing  its  foundation  and  extent,  its  expe- 


804 


KEGRO    SLAVERY ORIGIN    AXD    PROSPECTS    OF. 


diency  and  necessity.  These  matters  are  too ' 
important  to  be  passed  over  in  times  like : 
these.  It  is  necessary  that  we  all  clearly  and 
fully  understnnd  tliein.  It  will  be  thus  seen 
■we  have  opened  before  us  the  subject  ot 
slavery  in  all  its  aspects,  political,  civil,  reli- 
gipus,  liistorica],  and  economical. 
"T  The  first  attempt  to  introduce  negro  slaves 
I  -within  the  United  States  was  in  1C45,  by  a 
/  citizen  of  Boston,  and  it  was  not  until  1G70  that 
the  first  cargo  of  African  slaves  were  brouiiht 
to  Virginia,  by  a  Dutch  vessel,  and  sold.  Tlie 
increase  in  that  colony  was  at  first  very  slow.  In 
1671,  Siv  John  Yearaans  introduced  slaves  into 
South  Carolina,  from  Barbadoes,  almost  coeval 
with  the  establishment  of  the  colony.  The 
increase  in  this  class,  by  propagation  and  im- 
migration, was  very  rapid,  doubling,  before 
long,  the  number  of  the  whites.  Maryland, 
also,  in  1 07 1,  passed  a  law  for  '' encourag'ng 
the  introduction  of  negroes  and  slaves." 
^  From  this  pei-iod,  the  introduction  of  slavery 
-"'  became  general  in  all  the  American  colonies, 
increasing  by  natural  means  and  by  the  slave- 
trade,  so  long  as  that  was  permitted,  and  since, 
by  the  ordinary  augmentation  of  population. 

At  the  period  of  the  first  census  of  the 
United  States,  in  1790,  we  fi:ud  that  slavery 
existed  in  all  of  the  states  and  western  terri- 
tories, except  Massachusetts  and  Maine,  which 
were  at  that  period  united.  In  Massachusetts, 
however,  exist  various  early  laws  in  regard 
to  slavery.  In  1691,  the  general  court  de- 
creed, "  that  there  shall  never  be  any  bond- 
slavery,  (fee,  among  us,  icnless  it  be  laivful  cap- 
tives tnken  in  just  wars,  or  such  as  u<illi)i(/lij 
sell.  t/icinsclveSf  or  arc  sold  to  tis,  <tc  ,  j^rovidedi 
this  exempt  none  from  servitude  icho  shall  be 
judged  thereto  by  authority"* 

In  1703,  a  duty  of  £4  was  laid  upon  every 
negro  imi)orted  into  Massachusetts.!  The 
same  year,  we  find  a  law  of  the  general  court, 
relating  to  mulatto  and  negro  slaves,  pro// i6i<- 
ing  their  manumission,  without  previous  se- 
curity that  they  should  not  afterward  be  at 
the  charge  of  the  colony,  and  all  other  manu- 
mission to  be  void.:];  In  1735,  the  number  of 
blacks  were  2,000  ;  whole  population,  about 
50,0()0.  In  1763,  the  blacks  were  5,000; 
wliites,  240,000,  What  portion  were  slaves 
we  are  unable  to  say,  though  it  was  judicially 
declared,  after  the  revolution,  in  Massachusetts, 
that  slavery  was  virtually  abolished  by  the 
constitution  of  the  state.* 

Tlie  census  of  1790  showed  697,697  slaves 
in  the  United  States,  or  nearly  17.70  percent, 
of  the  whole  population.  The  free  colored 
were  59,466,  or  1  \  per  cent. ;  the  free  negro 
and  slave  population  together,  being  about  one 


•  Ancient  Charters  and  Laws  of  Msssachuaetts 
Bny,  Boston,  1841,  p.  53. 

+  Collection  Massachusett.s  [listork-al  Society,  vol. 
iv.,  p.  too. 

X  Ancient  Clinrtcrs,  &c.,  Rlussachusctts  Bay. 

§  Kent,  vol.  ii.,  Com.  Slavery. 


fifth   of  the  whole.    In  those  states  where 
slavery  has  been  subsequently  retained,  the| 
proportion  was,  of  course,  largest,  being  about 
35  per  cent,  or  one  third.     In  South  Carolina, 
the  proportion  of  slaves  was  most  consider- 
able of  all,  being  43  per  cent.,  or  nearly  one 
half;  in  Tennessee  the  proportion  was  least, 
being  9.6  per  cent.,  or  one  tenth.    The  propor- 
tion of  free  blacks  was  largest  in  Rhode  Island, 
3,407,  or  one  twenty-third,  and  in  Delaware, 
one  fifteenth.     In  Massachusetts  and  Pennsyl- 
vania, they  were   one    seventy-fifth,  and    in 
Maryland,  one  fortieth  of  the  Avhole  popula-  i 
tion.     Virginia  had  1.70  per  cent.,  SoutliCaro-j 
lina,  .07  per  cent.,  of  free  blacks.  ^  "  ^ 

Tlie  census  of  1800  showed  893,041  slaves, 
and  108,395  free  colored — being  a  proportion 
in  the  former  of  16.83  per  cent.,  and  2.05  per 
cent,  in  the  latter.  Thus  was  exhibited  a  de- 
dine  in  the  proportion  of  slaves  to  free  whites 
of  .73,  or  nearly  1  per  cent.,  and  an  increase 
in  the  proportion  of  free  negroes  of  .54,  or  ^ 
per  cent.  The  proportion  of  whole  colored  to 
whole  white  had  lost  .39,  or  -^  of  1  per  cent. 
The  increase  of  slaves  in  ten  years  had  been 
27.96  per  cent.,  being  7|  per  cent',  less  than 
the  increase  of  whites ;  the  increase  in  free 
colored  being  82.28,  more  than  twice  as  great 
as  that  of  the  whites.  Tlie  increase  of  whites 
was,  of  course,  greatly  affected  by  itumigra- 
tion,  that  of  the  free  colored  by  emancipation. 
The  slaves  lost  by  emancipation,  and  gained 
by  a  few  importations  still  from  Africa,  per- 
haps equally.  Their  increase  may  thus  be  con- 
sideretl  a  natural  one.  The  colored  jjopida- 
tion  of  the  New  England  states  increasetl  in 
ten  years  but  9  per  cent. ;  the  same  popidation 
in  the  south  increased  33^.*  In  all  the  slave 
states  the  proportion  of  slaves  was  35  per 
cent.,  being  a  white  gain ;  the  slaves,  from 
being  somewhat  more  than  a  third  of  the  whole 
population,  became  somewhat  less.  South 
Carolina  still  continued  to  show  the  largest 
proportion  of  slaves,  42.3,  showing  at  the  same 
time  a  slight  decline.  Delaware  showed  the" 
least,  9.6  per  cent.  Tlie  free  blacks  of  New- 
PJngland  had  increased  about  33  per  cent, 
while  the  slaves  there  had  lost  60  per  cent. 
Now,  either  the  black  population  of  New-l^ig- 
land,  or  the  slave  portion  of  it,  liad  been  sold 
to  the  southward,  or  it  exhibits  the  lowest  in- 
crease kn(jwn  to  our  population.! 

The  census  of  1810  indicated  1,191,364 
slaves,  and  186,440  free  colored  ;  an  increase 
in  the  slaves  of  33.40  as  against  27.90  in  the 
previous  ten  years  ;  of  the  whole  colored, 
37.58  against  32.23.  To  account  for  this  en- 
larged increase,  it  nuist  be  remembered  that 
Louisiana  had  been  purchased  with  slaves  and 
colored,  and  that  Africans  were  continually 
imported  up  to  1808.    Tlie  increase  of  whites, 


*  Mississippi  territory  e.\cluded. 
+  See  Tucker  ou  the  Population  of  the  United 
States. 


NEGRO    SLAVERY^-ORIGIN    AND    PROSPECTS    OF. 


305 


owing  to  immigratioD,  was  2^  per  cent, 
greater  than  that  of  slaves,  and  14- less  than 
that  of  the  free  blacks.  In  this  ten  years, 
the  whites  gained  very  slightly  upon  the 
slaves,  and  the  whole  colored  population 
gained  upon  the  whites.  In  the  slave  states 
the  free  colored  gained  1  per  cent.  The 
slaves  gained  also,  and,  from  a  little  less,  had 
become  a  little  more  than  one  third.  The 
increase  of  blacks  in  New-England  exceeded 
1  per  cent.,  being  a  loss  of  2  per  cent.  Their 
increase  in  slave  states  was  nearly  35  per 
cent. — a  gain  of  1^  to  2  per  cent.  The  pro- 
portion of  slaves  to  whites  is  still  highest  in 
South  Carolina,  47.3.  having  gained  5  per 
cent.  Louisiana  stands  next,  45.s ;  then  come 
Mississippi,  Georgia,. and  Virginia. 

The  census  of  1820*  showed  1,543,688 
slaves,  and  238,19'7  free  colored,  an  increase 
in  the  slaves  of  29.57,  being  nearly  2  per 
cent,  more  than  the  increase  of  the  ten  years 
ending  1800.  The  whole  colored  increase 
was  29.33  per  cent,  against  37.58;  free  col- 
ored, 27.75  against  72  per  cent.  The  white 
population  gained  1  per  cent,  on  colored,  the 
same  on  slaves ;  the  free  colored  gained  one 
tenth  of  1  per  cent.  The  falling  away  of  the 
increase  of  slaves  was  owing  to  many  elope- 
ments of  this  class  during  the  war,  <fec.  In 
the  slave  states  the  free  colored  had  remained 
stationary,  acd  the  slaves  had  gained  nearly 
1  per  cent ;  the  whole  colored  had  gained  on 
the  whites  i  per  cent.,  nearly.  The  increase 
of  blacks  in  New-England  was  still  about  7 
per  cent. ;  at  the  south,  30  per  cent.  The 
proportion  of  blacks  in  South  Carolina  re- 
mains highest,  61.4,  having  gained  4  per  cent. 
In  Louisiana,  45  per  cent. ;  G  eorgia  and  Mis- 
sissippi, 43  per  cent  The  free  blacks  to  whole 
population  have  declined  in  Louisiana,  Mis- 
souri, and  Georgia,  an  average  of  near  2  per 
cent.,  but  increased  in  all  the  other  slave 
states  except  Delaware  ;  in  no  instance,  how- 
ever, more  than  1^  per  cent.,  and  in  some 
instances,  a  mere  fraction. 

The  census  of  1830  included  2,009,043 
slaves,  and  319,599  free,  an  increase  in  the 
slaves  of  30.75,  being  an  augmented  increase 
of  1  per  cent. — in  the  whole  colored,  31.37; 
also  an  increased  increase  of  2  per  centf  The 
white  population  gained  slightly  on  tlie  col- 
ored, and  the  colored  on  the  slaves.  The 
free  colored  in  slave  states  increased  one  tenth 
of  1  per  cent. ;  the  slaves  gained  ^  per  cent, 
and  the  whole  colored  had  again  gained  on 
the  whites.  The  blacks  have  actually  lost  16 
in  New-England,  whereas  at  the  soutli  they 
have  gained  527,533,  or  about  one  third  of 
the    original  number.      The    proportion    of 


*  1820  i.s  compared  with  1810,  so  as  not  to  allow 
the  calculations  to  be  affected  by  the  purchase  of 
Louisiana. 

t  The  returns  are  corrected  for  two  months,  as  the 
census  was  taken  in  a  dilTeieut  month. 
VOL.  11. 


slaves  has,  in  ten  years,  increased  3  per  cent 
in  South  Carolina.  In  Missi.ssippi,  5  ]ier  cent., 
and  are  48.1  of  the  whole  population.  In 
Louisiana  they  were  50.8,  an  increase  of  5  per 
cent  The  free  blacks  increased  in  Maryland, 
District  of  Columbia  and  Delaware,  2  to  3 
per  cent ;  in  Kentucky,  1  per  cent  In  other 
states,  trifling  losses  or  gains.* 

By  the  census  of  1840,  it  appeared  there 
were  2,487,350  slaves,  and  38<;,348  free  co- 
lored  persons  in  the  United  States,  an  increase 
in  slaves,  in  ten  years,  of  23.81  ;  of  free  co- 
lored, 20.88  ;  a  decline  in  the  increase  of  this 
population  of  13.97  and  6.94  per  cent  Pro- 
fessor Tucker  argues  a  very  great  error  some- 
where. Though  free  blacks  have  emigrated 
to  Briti,sh  provinces,  and  slaves  have  been 
carried  to  Texas,  the  numbers  were  not  suffi- 
cient to  affect,  in  any  degree,  the  result  The 
whites  have  hence  gained  largely  upon  the 
colored,  supposing  the  returns  correct,  and  the 
free  colored  have  diminished  in  their  ratio  of 
increase.  The  latter  have  declined,  in  propor- 
tion, in  the  slave  states,  as  also  have  the 
slaves ;  the  last,  in  extent,  more  than  one  half 
per  cent.  Tiie  proportion  of  slaves  has  in- 
creased in  South  Carolina,  and  is  still  largest 
In  Mississippi  it  is  fifty-two  per  cent. ;  in 
Louisiana  it  appears  to  have  lost  two  per 
cent,  being  now  less  than  half.  In  the  south- 
ern states,  the  free  blacks  have  ceased  to  in- 
crease with  the  same  ratio;  the  proportion 
in  Louisiana  remains  largest,  being  seven  per 
cent  of  the  whole  population.  Virginia 
comes  next.  The  blacks  of  New-England 
increased  six  per  cent  in  ten  years ;  those  of 
the  slave  states,  twenty -six  per  cent  I  By 
this  census  it  appears  that  every  state  re- 
turned slaves,  except  Maine,  Vermont,  Mas- 
sachusetts, and  Michigan.  By  the  last  census, 
Massachusetts  and  Vermont  only  were  ex- 
cepted. 

We  have  thus  traced  the  progress  of 
slavery  in  the  United  States,  from  the  first 
introduction  of  the  institution  down  to  the 
completion  of  the  census  of  1840.  The  de- 
cennial eniuueration  to  be  taken  the  present 
year,  1850,  and  hereafter,  will  show  some- 
thing like  the  following,  supposing  the  ratio 
of  increase  of  slaves  and  free  blacks  to  be 
preserved : 

Total  Slave 
Slaves.         Free  Blacks,      and  Free. 

1850f,...   3,059,441  463.G17  3,523,058 

1860 3,763,112  556,340  4,319,452 

1870 4,628,627  667,608  5,296,235 

1880 5,693,211  801,129  6,494,334 

1890 7,002,649  961,355  7,962,004 

1900 8,613,258  1,153,626  9,766,884 

1910 10,594,307  1,384,351  11,978,658 

It  is  possible  the  free  blacks  may  increase 


•  Florida  hod  been  purchased, 
t  See  the  actual  returns  of  this  census  under 
heads  Population— United  Statbs. 

20 


306 


IsEGRO    SLAVERr ORIGIN    AITD   PROSPECTS    OV. 


K 


r 


in  a  greater,  and  the  slaves  in  a  _les3  ratio, 
■without  affecting  the  sum  total  of  increase  of 
the  two  classes.  A  diminution  in  the  increase 
of  slaves  may  result  from  frequent  emancipa- 
tion, from  emigration  from  the  country — but 
this  must  be  very  inconsiderable— or  from  a 
lower  degree  of  productiveness,  the  result  of 
lower  physical  comfort,  diminished  valuation, 
and  less  industrial  uses,  &c.  We  see  no  rea- 
son to  allow  much  for  the  operation  of  these 
causes  within  the  next  half  century,  and  may 
safely  estimate  ten  millions  of  blacks  and 
colored  in  the  country  at  the  close  of  it. 

It  is  also  clear,  fi'om  our  investigations,  that 
no  state,  or  class  of  states,  can  be  more  re- 
sponsible than  another  for  the  introduction  and 
extension  of  the  institution  of  slavery  in  the 
Union.  The  results  show,  too,  that,  in  a  con- 
dition of  freedom,  the  blacks  of  New-England 
have  been  situated  most  unpropitiously,  as 
indicated  in  their  trifling  increase  of  numbers — 
unless  we  suppose  they  have  passed  south- 
ward, as  general  emancipation  was  expected, 
or  took  place  in  this  quarter.  Taking  the 
■whole  Union  into  account,  whatever  the  merits 
or  demerits  of  the  institution  of  slavery,  ours 
is  but  a  small  share  of  responsibility  for  its 
continuance,  and  none  for  its  introduction. 

The  history  of  slavery  carries  us  back  to 
the  origin  of  society  itself.  It  was  found  in 
the  earliest  advanced  nations  of  antiquity. 
To  attribute  its  derivation  to  war  is  absurd ; 
for,  admitting  servus  to  be  derived  from  the 
Latin  servare,  (to  preserve  a  captive,)  slavery, 
■we  know,  was  old  before  Rome  had  been 
founded.  Perhaps  the  most  curious  and  ridicu- 
lous position  is  tliat  taken  in  the  Enrydopedia 
Brltannica,  that  it  originated  among  the  an 
tediluvian  giants,  whose  name  implied  as-, 
saulters  of  others.  Nimrod,  according  to  the 
same  authority,  was  one  of  its  authors — since 
the  Bible  tells  us  he  was  a  mighty  hunter 
before  the  Lord  1  To  such  stuff  are  authors 
driven  in  maintaining  their  favorite  theories. 

The  fact  is,  that,  immediately  after  the 
deluge,  we  have  a  decree  of  God  himself, 
condemning  the  children  of  Ham  to  perpetual 
servitude,  using  the  very  Hebrew  word 
■which  translators  render  slave.  After  a  few 
generations,  slavery  is  referred  to  as  a  well 
established  institution — for  Abraham,  the 
patriarch,  had  ai8  slaves.  (Gen.  xiv.)  The 
laws  of  God  strictly  regulated  this  relation 
in  all  its  aspects,  and  his  own  peculiar  people 
•were  commanded  to  buy  slaves  from  the 
heathen,  and  not  to  steal  them,  and  instructed 
how  to  treat  them  after  they  Avere  bought. 


of  this  mild  slavery,  tolerated  by  God,  es'- 
tablished  a  much  worse   kind  among  them- 
selves.     However  this  may  be,  and  it  is  no? 
improbable,  many  of  the  Je^ws,  also,  abused 
the  institution,  as  they  did  other  laws;  wo 
may   well  affirm   that  slavery   presents   no 
worse  aspect  in  Hie  civilized  nations  of  the 
present  day,  than  it  did  among  the  Hebrews. 
In  Homer,  one  of  the  oldest  historians  ex- 
tant, there  is  abundant  evidence  that  all  cap- 
tives were  considered  slaves;    and   Ulysses 
relates  his  escape  from  a  Phenician,  ■who  had 
doomed  him  to  Lybian  slavery.     Tims  have 
we   the  slave   trade   at    that   early    period. 
Philip  of  Macedon  sold  the  captive  Tiiebans, 
in  which  example  he  was  followed  by  his  son. 
Alexander  the  Great.     In  Athens,  during  the 
most  polished  ages,  slavery  was  a  well-estab- 
lished order,  although  it  is  sai<l  that  slaves 
were  treated  with  more  leniency  than  among 
other  nations.   In  Rome  and  Sparta  the  worst 
features  were  exhibited.   The  Spartans  butch- 
ered their  slaves,  when,  by  reason  of  great 
numbers,  they  would  likely  become  danger- 
ous.    Camillus,  one  of  the  most  accomplished 
generals   of    the   Roman   republic,   sold   his 
Etrurian  captives  to  pay  the  Roman  ladiesfor 
the  jewels   they   had  presented   to   Apollo, 
Fabius  sold  30,000  citizu-ns  of  Tarentum  to 
the   highest   bidder.     Julius  Ctesar  did   the 
same  with  53,000   captives.     Even   debtors 
were  allowed,  by  the  twelve  tables,  to  become 
the  slaves  of  their  creditors.    So  numerous 
were  the  slaves  owned  by  the  rich  patricians, 
that  Isidorus,  who  was  almost  a  cotenaporary 
with  our  Saviour,  left  to  his  heirs  4,1 16  sWes; 
and  Augustus  put  20,000,  of  the  same  class, 
on  board  the  corn  ships.     Though  many  laws 
were  enacted  by  Augustus  and  other  patriotic 
emperors,  says  the  British  Encyclopedia,  to 
diminish  the  power  of   creditors  over  their 
insolvent  debtors — though  the  influence  of  the 
mild  spirit  of   Christianity  tended  much  to 
meliorate  the  condition  of  slaves,  even  under 
Pagan    masters,   and    though    the    emperor 
Hadrian  made  it  capital  to  kill  a  slave  with- 
out a  just  reason,  yet  this  commerce  prevailed 
for  many  ages,    universally,  in  the   empire, 
after  the  conversion   of  Constantine   to  the 
religion   of  Christ.     It  was   not  completely 
abolished  even  in  the  reign  of  Justinian ;  and 
in  many  countries,  which  had  been  once  pro- 
vinces of  the  empire,  it  continued  long  after 
the  empire  had  fallen  to  pieces. 

Among  the  ancient  Germans,  gamesters 
often  became  slaves  from  play,  and  slavery 
is  said  to  have  existed  extensively,  though  in 
a  mild  form,  according  to  Tacitus.     In  Eng- 


Itissaidthatthebeathen,  taking  advantage  land,  in  the  age  of  Alfred  the  Great,  (tenth 

century,)  purchases  of  men,  horses,  and  oxen 
are  mentioned  in  the  same  statute.  In  1574, 
Queen  Elizabeth  issued  a  commission  to  in- 
quire into  the  condition  of  her  bond  men  and 
women  in  Cornwall,  etc.,  with  a  view  of  com- 
pounding with  them  for  their  freedom.    The 


•  Dr.  Cartwriglit  once  told  us,  that  one  of  the 
crimes  denounced  in  the  Bible  is  deiioniiimtod  by  a 
term  which  means,  literally,  siauc  stenitrs,  (abolition- 
ists.) We  forget  in  what  connection  the  term  is 
■used ;  perhaps  in  reference  to  Tyre. 


KEGRO    SLATKRY — ORIOIN   AND    PROSPECTS    OF. 


307 


colliers  and  salters  of  Scotland  were  not  man- 
umitted until  tlie  close  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tuiy.  Tiiesi;  men  could  be  transferred  by 
written  deed  froni  proprietor  to  proprietor, 
and  were  in  no  respect  privileged  without 
such  deed. 

We  have  not  mentioned  Egypt,  where 
Josepli  was  sold  to  slavery,  and  where,  in  that 
condition,  the  Israelites  existed  four  hundred 
years.  The  Scythians  established  slavery 
throughout  their  northern  wilds.  Babylon, 
Tyre,  and  all  the  countries  around  Palestine, 
had  slavery  as  one  of  their  iu-stitutions.  Tlie 
"  wrath  of  Achilles  "  was  a  quarrel  about  a 
slave.  "  In  early  Grecian  republics,  slavery 
seemed  to  be  an  mdispensable  element.  The 
slave  markets  of  Rome  were  filled  with  men 
of  every  complexion  and  every  clime."  After 
the  conquest  of  the  Normans,  slaves  were  ex- 
ported from  England  into  Ireland,  until  the 
Irish  themselves  decreed  their  emancipation. 
On  the  Baltic,  the  Germans  conducted  the 
slave  trade,  and  the  Russians  supplied  slaves 
to  Constantinople  by  way  of  the  Dnieper. 
Even  the  word  slave  is  derived  from  tlie  Scla- 
vonic tribes,  who  were  reduced  to  slavery  in 
their  wars  with  the  Germans.  The  Jews  pur- 
chased slaves  in  France  for  the  Saracens.  The 
Arabians  are  said  to  have  pawned  their  chil- 
dren to  I  he  Italian  monarchs.  The  Venetians 
purchased  slaves  at  Rome  for  the  Arabs  of 
Spain  and  Sicily.  In  the  time  of  the  cru- 
sades, three  slaves  were  the  price  of  a  war 
horse.  In  the  countless  battles  of  the  Moors 
and  Christians,  the  captives  were  indi.scrimi- 
nately  enslaved  in  the  worst  form.  Christians 
regarded  it  a  pious  work,  and  the  infidels  re- 
taliated through  the  pirates  of  Barbary. 

On  the  discovery  of  America,  the  native  In- 
dians were  imported  into  Spain  as  slaves.  All 
the  rivers  of  the  country  were  penetrated  for 
this  commerce,  which  was  effected  through 
fraud  and  force.  Even  Columbus  sent  five 
hundred  such  slaves  to  be  sold  at  Seville. 
This  trafiic  is  said  to  have  continued  two  cen- 
turies. The  New-Englanders  enslaved  the 
Pequods,  the  Waldrans  and  the  Annon  In- 
dians, and  they  even  sought  Indian  slaves 
from  the  southern  provinces.*  The  colonists 
were  supplied  with  white  servants  from  Eng- 
land by  a  class  of  men  called  "  spirits,"  wlio 
deluded  them  away  and  sold  tliem  in  Eng- 
land, as  well  as  in  this  country,  under  the 
hammer.  The  Scots  taken  in  battle  were 
sold  to  slavery,  the  royalist  prisoners,  and  the 
Catholics  of  Ireland.  The  prisoners  of  Mon- 
mouth were  eagerly  sought  as  a  merchantable 
commodity.  Jeffries,  the  famous  judge  of 
James  II.,  considered  these  prisoners  as  worth 
"ten  or  fifteen  pounds  apiece." f 


•  See  Thornton's  "  Slavery,"  and  the  authorities 
therecited,  p.  21. 

t  See  the  stirring  but  disgusting  picture  of  the 
scene,  when  peers  iiud  dignitaries  and  favorites,  male 


In  regard  to  African  slavery,  it  appears 
first  to  have  taken  deep  root  in  Africa  itself, 
tliough  it  is  clear,  from  modern  researches, 
that  this  people  were  held  in  slavery  by  the 
Egyptians,  as  proved  by  their  monuments. 
Tlie  Africans,  at  no  period  of  history,  were 
devoid  of  slavery  among  themselves.  They 
traded  slaves  to  the  Tyrians  and  Carthagi- 
nians. Slavery,  says  the  Encyclopedia,  seems 
indeed  to  have  prevailed  through  all  Africa, 
from  the  very  first,  peopling  of  that  unex- 
plored country ;  and  we  doubt  if  in  any  age 
of  the  world  the  unhappy  negro  was  absolute- 
ly secure  of  liis  personal  freedom,  or  even  of 
not  being  sold  to  a  foreign  trader.  The  Afri- 
can princes  were  in  the  habit  of  destroying 
thousands  of  their  prisoners,  before  an  oppor- 
tunity offered  of  selling  them.  The  Guinea  coast 
supplied  the  Arabs  with  slaves  hundreds  of 
years  before  the  Portuguese  embarked  in  the 
trafiic.  The  Arabs  of  the  desert  have  always 
been  served  by  negro  slaves.  In  651,  the 
king  of  Numidia  promised  an  annual  present 
of  Ethiopian  slaves  to  the  Arabs  of  Egypt. 
Negro  slaves  were  found  in  Greece,  [Bancroft.] 
In  1100,  they  must  have  been  uncommon  in 
Europe,  for  we  learn  the  crusaders  burst  into 
laughter  on  seeing  some  negroes  in  Asia,  so 
comical  was  their  appearance.  It  appears, 
however,  the  Portuguese,  fifty  years  before 
the  discovery  of  America,  found  the  "  trade  in 
negro  slaves,  having  curled  hair,"  very  profit- 
able. The  Spaniards  vied  with  thein  in  the 
trade  at  Seville.  Isabella  excepted  the  Moors 
or  negroes  of  Africa,  from  the  act  emancipat- 
ing the  Indians  of  America. 

Queen  Elizabeth  was  so  delighted  with  the 
success  of  John  Hawkins's  slave  operations  in 
America,  that  she  became  a  partner  in  his 
monopoly,  sharing  his  gains  and  protecting 
him  in  his  worst  enterprises. 

The  early  history  of  slavery  in  the  United 
States  we  have  already  given.  (See  Thornton, 
26th  and  27th  pages,  for  the  Quaker  and 
Yankee  participation  in  it.)  The  West  India 
Company  sent  slaves  to  New- York  by  thou- 
sands. The  Stuarts,  and  even  Queen  Anne, 
patronized  the  traffic.  Amsterdam  partici- 
pated in  its  results  in  her  corporate  capacity. 
Pennsylvania  maintained  that  it  was  "  neither 
just  nor  convenient  to  emancipate  her  slaves," 
and  Rhode  Island,  the  greatest  of  all  the 
slave  traders,  "  doubted  if  slaves  should  be 
baptized,  as  then  they  might  become  free." 

It  is  well  known  how  the  introduction  of 
slavery  was  forced  upon  the  south,  and  how 
long  resisted.  The  northern  country  even  de- 
clared that  no  person  should  own  in  the  col- 
onies land  at  all,  unless  he  would  purchase  at 
least  four  negro  slaves  to  every  hundred  acres ! 


and  female,  importuned  the  King  for  the  privilege  of 
disposing  of  these  prisoners,  and  iho  success  which  aU 
tended  them,  in  Macaulay's  History  of  England. 


308 


NEGRO NATURE    AND    DESTINY    OE   THE. 


NEGRO — Nature  and  Destiny  of  the, —  [  any  rational  being  believe  that  any  time  or 
We  are  indebted  to  our  friend,  Dr.  J.  C.  Nott, '  efforts  can  civilize  a  people  embracing  so  many 
for  a  copy  of  his  most  interesting  and  instruc- 1  milUnns,  and  who  have  resisted  all  external 
tive  a  klressi,  delivered  before  the  Soutliern  i  impulses  for  more  than  two  thousand  years  ? 
Rights'  Association  of  that  city,  on  the  "Nat-  A  capital  error— which  has  been  received 
ural  History  of  Man  in  connection  with  Negro  i  without  reflection  or  investigation,  and  which 
Slavary  :"  has  misled  many  of  the  most  enlightened  and 

Here  we  are  in  the  year  1850,  the  owners  zealous  philanthropists  of  the  past  and  pre- 
of  three  millions  of  negro  slaves,  and  vntliout  I  sent— is  the  idea  that  cultivation,  througli  a 
any  agency  of  ours;  the  mother  country  and  |  series  of  generations,  can  expand  the  defective 
the  original  colonies  bequeathed  them  to  us.  |  brains,  develop  the  intellectual  faculties  of  the 


When  the  constitution  was  formed,  this  insti- 
tion  was  recognized,  and  slave  states  entered 
the  confederacy  as  equals,  with  constitutional 
guarantees  for  their  property,  and  would  have 
formed  the  copartnership  on  no  other  terms. 
All  experience  proves  that  the  negroes  cannot 
be  emaucipated  without  bringing  want,  mis- 
erv,  and  barbarism  upon  them.  It  is  clear, 
too,  that  these  negroes  cannot  be  liberated 
without  destroying  the  prosperity,  happiness, 
and  political  power  of  the  southern  states ;  and 
yet  we  are  scoffed  at  and  insulted,  as  outside 
barbarians,  for  perpetuatmg  this  institution, 
though  no  one  has  ever  proposed  a  scheme  by 
which  these  slaves  can  be  emancipated  with 
safety  to  the  whites,  and  with  benefit  to  them. 
Such  conduct  is  unjust — is  insulting,  and  not 
to  be  tolerated  by  men  worthy  of  liberty. 

Few  persons  realize  the  fact  taught  by  his- 
tory, that  it  is  infinitely  more  difficult  to  de- 
stroy, or  alter,  great  political  or  social  institu- 
tions, than  to  create  them. 

The  time  of  deliverance  for  the  negro  slaves, 
if  a  better  destiny  awaits  them,  has  not  yet 
come;  nor  will  the  Lord  call  forth  a  Moses 
from  the  ranks  of  the  Sewards  and  George 
Thompsons.  His  chosen  people  were  afflicted 
with  much  longer  and  more  cruel  bondage 
than  have  been  our  blacks,  and  had  to  abide 
the  fulness  of  time. 

Let  us,  on  the  other  hand,  take  a  glance  at 
the  history  of  African  races.     The  population 


negro  races,  and  thus  raise  them,  by  degrees,  to 
the  full  standard  of  excellence  which  belongs 
to  the  Caucasian  races;  that  they  can,  in  a 
word,  be  fully  civilized,  and  fitted  for  self-gov- 
ernment, in  its  highest  and  most  complicated 
forms  ;  that  a  black  king,  lords  and  commons 
could  wield  the  mighty  machineiy  of  the 
British  Empire !  A  greater  delusion  never 
entered  the  mind  of  a  sane  man ;  and  how  it 
ever  got  into  vogue,  with  all  history,  all  sci- 
ence, and  all  common  sense  against  it,  would 
be  difBcult  to  divine.  Absurd  religious  opin- 
ions alone  can  explain. 

Some  of  the  aboriginal  tribes  of  America, 
as  the  Toltecans,  while  isolated  from  all  ex- 
ternal aids,  have  achieved  a  semi-civilization. 
The  Mongols,  Hindoos,  <fcc.,  under  similar  cir- 
cumstances, have  gone  a  step  further ;  but  the 
negroes,  when  left  to  themselves,  have  risen 
but  little  above  the  beasts  of  the  field.  No 
pure  blooded  negro  has  ever  risen  above  the 
grade  of  mediocrity  in  the  whites.  The  noto- 
rious Toussaint  Louverture,  of  H.ayti,  is  the 
most  remarkable  negro  in  history;  and  though 
showing  extraordinary  powers  for  a  negro, 
would  have  left  no  name  as  a  white  man,  and 
was  a  brute  in  morals.  He  was  unquestion- 
ably dark,  but  I  have  not  been  able  to  get 
any  accurate  information  about  his  pedigree 
and  precise  race. 

If,  then,  the  negro  races  stand  at  the  lowest 
point  in  the  scale  of  human  beings,  and  we 


of  that  continent  is  estimated  at  a  little  short  of !  know  of  no  moral  or  physical  agencies  which 
onehundred millions.ofwhich fifty-five millious  can  reileem  them  from  their  degradation,  itis 


are  negro  races;  and  yet,  except  in  the  Barbary 
States,  Egypt,  Abyssinia,  Nubia,  &c.,  wliich 
are  populated  by  other  races,  not  a  monument, 
nor  record,  nor  oven  a  tradition  exists,  to  mark 
the  birth  or  death  of  civilization.  This  whole 
continent,  south  of  the  great  Desert  of  Sahara, 
is  a  perfect  blank  in  the  world's  history.  The 
negro  race  were  in  close  commercial  intimacy 
with  ancient  Egypt  and  CarLhage,  in  their 
palmiest  days ;  they  liave  continued  their  in- 
tercourse with  Egypt  and  the  Barbary  States, 
down  to  the  present  day ;  they  have  had  mis- 
sionaries sent  to  them  for  centuries,  and  colo- 
nies established  among  them ;  in  sliort,  they 
have  had  every  facility  and  every  temptation 
held  out  wliich  a  people  could  ask,  and  still  the 
first  step  towards  civilization  is  not  made.  No 
negro  race  has  ever  yet  invented  anal[)habet. 


clear  that  they  are  incapable  of  self  govern- 
ment, and  that  any  attempt  to  improve  their 
condition  is  warring  against  an  immutable  law 
of  nature. 

This  brings  us  to  the  great  practical  ques- 
tions. What  is  to  be  the  fate  of  the  tinee  mil- 
lions of  negro  slaves  now  in  our  southern 
states  ?  And  what  is  to  be  our  destiny,  which 
is  indissolnbly  linked  with  theirs  ?  Here  we 
have  stood,  with  our  arms  folded,  year  after 
year,  suffering  aggression  after  aggression  from 
the  north,  till  the  cordon  is  now  drawn  around 
us,  and  looking  calmly  at  the  growth  of  evils 
which  ere  long  must  inevitably  end  in  blood- 
shed. Tiiere  are  appalling  issues  before  us 
which  must  be  met,  and  the  results  of  which 
no  human  wisdom  can  foretell.     The  slaves 

)uble  by  natural  increase  every  thirty  years. 


however  rude,  or  possessed  the  semblatice  of  and  this  ratio  would  give  us  fifty  millions  in 
literature.    What  does  all  this  mean  ?     Can  j  little  more  than  a  century  ;  a  rapidity  of  in- 


NEGRO — NATURE  AND  DESTINY  OF  THE. 


309 


crease  which  no  scheme  of  philanthropy  ever 
yet  proposed  by  emaucipationists  couhl  keep 
pace  witli.  Tlie  northern  abolitionists  are 
acting  uniler  the  influence  of  ignorance  and 
fanaticisni,  and  there  may,  therefore,  be  some 
palliation  for  their  offenses ;  but  for  us  at  the 
south,  who  are  familiar  with  the  black  races, 
and  know  how  impracticable  all  propos^ed 
schemes  of  emancipation  are,  there  can  be  no 
excuse  for  our  sujiineness.  We  could  not 
educate  the  millions  of  slaves  amongst  us,  for 
they  would  be  unfit  for  slavery,  and  danger- 
ous to  us,  while  they  would  still  be  unfit  for 
liberty.  And  admitting  that  cultivation  coidd 
improve  their  intelligence,  a  century  would  be 
but  a  beginning  in  the  work  of  regeneration. 
Many  centuries  would  elapse,  admitting  its 
possibility,before  the  work  could  be  completed; 
and  it  is  expecting  too  much  of  human  nature, 
to  sup])ose  that  one  race  will  sacrifice  itself 
during  so  many  generations,  for  the  sole  bene- 
fit of  another. 

Well,  suppose  the  slaves  to  be  educated  as 
far  as  practicable,  and  prepared  for  emanci- 
pation, what  then  could  be  done  with  them  ? 
The  free  states  are  passing  laws  every  wiiere 
to  protect  themselves  against  the  influx  of  free 
negroes,  and  very  soon  the  barrier  around  us 
will  be  complete.  It  is  clear  that  the  three 
millions  of  slaves  now  at  the  south  could  not 
be  turned  loose  upon  its  Would  a  single 
man  in  Alabama  vote  to  turn  loose  the  three 
hundred  thousand  negroes  within /te?-  borders, 
upon  any  terms  which  could  be  ])roposed  ? 

It  is  evident,  then,  that  if  the  negroes  in  the 
slave  states  are  permitted  to  exist  at  all  on  this 
continent,  it  can  be  no  where  but  in  slave  states, 
and  no  where  but  in  slavery,  with  all  their 
fearful  increase.  Can  any  one  deny  this  as- 
sertion ?  The  number  which  would  escape  to 
free  states  would  be  too  small  to  affect  ma- 
terially the  result;  and  the  time  is  fast  ap- 
proaching when  all  free  states  will  pass  pro- 
hibitory laws  against  this  population  ;  fur  tlie}' 
know,  as  well  as  we  do,  that  a  large  free  ne- 
gro population— which  is  an  indolent,  impro- 
vident, vicious,  non-producing  class — could  not 
be  tolerated.  It  is,  therefore,  evident,  that  we 
should  have  to  provide  for  the  evil  at  home, 
however  incurable,  or  look  to  Liberia  as  a 
safety-valve. 

It  has  been  seriously  suggested  by  some, 
and  by  Sir  Charles  Lyell  amongst  f>thers,  that 
the  negroes  should  be  gradually  educated  and 
emancipated  at  home,  and  allowed  to  amalga- 
mate with  the  whites,  and  thus  be  absoibed, 
and  become  a  part  of  our  flesh  and  bone,  and 
a  part  of  our  civilization.  This  proposition  is 
not  only  insulting  and  revolting  to  us,  but  is 
overruled  by  other  objections.  There  is  uo 
doubt  that  the  intellectual  grade  of  the  negro 
races  may  be  greatly  improved  by  crossing 
them  with  the  whites;  but  it  must  not  be  for- 
gotten, on  the  other  hand,  that  the  white  races 
would  be  dragged  down  by  the  adulteration, 


and  their  civilization  destroyed.  We  see  now 
how  difficult  it  is  for  the  purest  races  of  the 
earth  to  maintain  any  thing  like  rational  gov- 
ernments ;  and  what  would  become  of  our  in- 
etituti<ins  in  the  hands  of  mulattoes  ?  A  great 
aim  of  jihilanthropy  should  be,  to  keep  the 
ruling  races  of  the  world  as  j)ure  and  as  wise 
as  possible,  for  it  is  only  through  them  that 
the  others  can  be  made  prosperous  and  happy. 
Look  at  Ilayti,  where  the  mulatto  caste  gov- 
erned feebly  for  a  time.  Their  movement 
was  constantly  retrogiade,  imtil,  finally  drag- 
ged down  by  the  pure  blacks,  they  were  ex- 
terminated or  driven  away.  That  beautiful 
island  is  now  plunged  into  a  perfectly  savage  J 
state  ;  and  I  am  credibly  informed,  by  an  eye- 
witness, that  he,  on  two  occasions,  saw  the  ne- 
groes roasting  and  eating  Dominican  prisoners 
on  the  roadside  1 

It  being  certain,  then,  (accumulating  with 
the  rapidity  we  have  stated,)  that  the  slaves 
of  the  southern  states  must  have  an  outlet,  at 
no  very  distant  day,  in  some  direction,  let  us 
revert  to  the  proposed  colonization  in  Africa. 
This  is  a  scheme  which  has  occupied  the  seri- 
ous attention,  and  met  wtth  the  full  approval, 
of  all  the  leading  men  of  the  north,  and  not  a 
few  of  those  at  the  south  ;  and  though  fully 
convinced  of  its  impracticability,  I  shall  be 
glad  to  see  the  experiment  now  making  with 
the  free  negroes  fairly  carried  out,  as  I  am 
convinced  it  will  serve  to  prove  the  correct- 
ness of  the  views  I  have  advanced. 

It  is  utterly  inconceivable  to  my  mind  how 
so  many  men  of  intelligtn<'e  could  be  led  to 
favor  a  scheme  so  impracticable,  with  the  his- 
tory of  the  two  races  open  before  them. 
There  Africa  stands  with  her  fifty  millions  of 
blacks,  and  there  she  has  stood  for  the  last  five 
thousand  years,  with  this  petiple  occupying 
the  same  countries,  without  one  step  towards 
civilization;  and  all  the. experiments  in  the 
United  Slates,  the  West  Indies,  itc,  have 
failed.  The  boon  has  been  presented  to  them 
in  every  possible  shape,  and  thej'  liave  never 
been  able  to  grasp  it.  Is  not  the  delusion 
the  more  extraordinary,  when  we  see  sensible 
men  in  this  country  and  Euro])e  fostering,  with 
confident  hopes,  the  republic  of  Liberia — 
while  they  laugh  at  the  absurdity  of  the 
French  nation,  one  of  the  most  intellectual  in 
the  world,  in  attempting  to  make  a  repub- 
lican, or  any  other  rational  form  of  govern- 
ment ? 

It  is  far  from  my  feelings  or  design  to  mis- 
represent the  facts  connected  with  this  scheme 
of  colonization,  for  it  has  been  approved  by 
many  of  the  wisest  and  best  men  of  our  coun- 
try ;  but  still  I  fear  we  have  been  grossly  de- 
ceived, not  only  by  bad,  but  by  well-meaning 
men,  at  home,  as  well  as  in  Africa.  Letters 
and  statements  are  publi-hed  from  Liberia; 
speeches  are  made  before  the  Colonization 
Society  in  Washington,  and  published  in  the 
National  Intelligencer,  giving  the  most  poetic 


310 


KEGRO    SLAVERY NORTHERN    AND    SOUTHERN'. 


accounto  of  the  intelligence,  morality  and  re- 
finement of  the  black  colonists,  and  the  rapid 
progress  of  civilization  in  Liberia.  I  have 
good  reason  to  believe  that  these  statements 
are  utterly  untrue,  and  a  moment's  reflection 
would  bring  any  thinking  man  to  the  same 
conclusion.  Can  any  one  believe  that  such  a 
change  would  come  over  four  or  tive  thousand 
ignorant,  stupid,  and,  for  the  most  part,  vicious 
free  negroes,  in  a  few  years  ?  "  The  first  set- 
tlement was  made  by  free  negroes  from  the 
United  States,  under  the  auspices  <if  the 
American  Colonization  Society,  in  the  year 
1820,"  and  this  class  there  is  the  same  as  we 
see  it  around  us  here,  every  day;  and  we 
know  fnll  well  the  nature  of  the  material  on 
which  these  mighty  changes  are  to  be  wrought. 
Some  of  them  have  made  their  way  back  to 
the  United  States  in  disgust,  and  contradict 
the  statements  given.  A  lamented  friend, 
who  died  in  Mobile  a  few  years  ago,  (Dr. 
Mechlin.)  and  who  lived  in  Liberia  five  years 
— a  part  of  which  time  he  was  governor  of 
that  colony — told  me  that  he  regarded  the 
experiment  a.s  a  failure,  and  that  he  saw  no 
hope  of  ever  rendering  the  negro  race  fit  for 
self-government;  and  no  one  who  knew  this 
gentleman  ever  doubted  his  honesty  or  intelli- 
gence. 

The  colony,  so  far,  has  only  been  held 
together  by  the  fostering  care  of  the  Coloniza- 
tion Societj',  and  support  of  foreign  govern- 
ments. It  is  governed  too  directly  by  the 
white  agents  of  tlK!  society,  and  by  the  white 
blood  coursing  through  the  veins  of  the  mulat- 
to leaders  amongst  the  colonists.  President 
Roberts,  who  was  once  a  blacksmith  in  Peters- 
burg, Virginia,  I  am  informed  by  those  who 
knew  him  well,  is  three-fourths  white  blood, 
with  florid  complexion,  red  hair,  and  disagree- 
able expression  of  countenance.  He  is  repre- 
sented as  "  a  keen,  shrewd,  designing  fellow, 
who  is  turning  matters  in  Liberia  to  his  own 
account."  Most  of  the  other  leading  men  are 
also  mulattoes.  The  colonists  have  had  many 
difficulties  to  contend  with,  but  if  the  history 
of  races  teaches  any  thing,  the  delusion  will 
probably  not  last  much  longer. 

Slavery  is  already  virtually  abolished  in 
the  District  of  Columbia  In  consequence  of 
the  incessant  agitation  in  Congress,  and  the 
growth  of  the  abolition  party,  this  species  of 
property  has  become  insecure  ;  and  the  slave- 
owners, from  prudential  motives,  have  been 
riddling  themselves  of  their  slaves,  who  are 
now  refluced  to  but  a  handful.  Even  in  Bal- 
timore, by  the  census  of  184(t,  out  of  twenty 
thousand  negroes,  there  were  but  three  thou- 
sand .slaves,  and  this  drain  is  g'ling  on  in  all  the 
frontier  slave  states,  while  the  slaves  are 
emptied  into  the  gulf  states.  Few  realize 
the  rapidity  with  which  this  process  is  going 
on.  In  Alabama,  there  were  in  1820  but 
forty-one  thousand  slaves;  in  1830,  they  had 
increased  to  one  hundred  and  seventeen  thou- 


sand ;  in  1840.  the  number  had  reached  two 
hundred  and  fifty-three  thousand !  and  it  re- 
mains to  see  what  the  census  of  1850  will 
show.  How  long  will  it  be  before  Alabama 
must  pass  and  enforce  laws  against  tlie  fur- 
ther introduction  of  slaves  ?  The  slaves  double 
in  thirty  years,  by  natural  increase,  and,  with 
the  immigration,  our  children  will  see  around 
them  in  this  short  period  at  least  one  million 
All  the  cotton  and  sugar  states  will  be  «in 
the  same  crowded  condition,  and  each  will  be 
passing  laws  for  its  own  protection.  Kentucky 
is  already  agitating  the  question  of  abolition 
within  her  own  borders,  and  it  requires  no 
prophet's  eye  to  see  that  emancipation  is  in- 
evitable in  all  the  farming  states  where  white 
labor  can  be  advantageously  used. 

These  reflections  afford  ample  field  for 
sober  consideration.  What  disposition  God, 
in  his  providence,  will  eventually  make  of 
these  blacks,  cannot  be  foretold ;  but  it  is 
our  duty  to  provide  for  our  own  happiness 
and  theirs,  as  long  as  we  can.  In  dealing 
with  this  question,  it  will  not  do  to  be  guided 
by  abstract  notions  of  liberty  and  slavery. 
We  can  only  judge  the  future  by  the  past; 
and  as  experience  proves  that  the  negro  is 
better  off"  in  slavery  at  the  south  than  in 
freedom  elsewhere,  it  is  the  part  of  philan- 
thropy to  keep  him  here,  as  we  keep  our 
children  in  subjection  for  their  own  good. 

NEGRO  SLAVERY.— Decline  of  North- 
ern AND  Growth  of  Southern  Sl.wery. — 
We  have  on  one  or  two  occasions  spoken  of 
the  essay  by  E.  B.  Bryan,  of  Charleston,  en- 
titled "  The  Rightful  Remedy,"  addressed  to 
the  Slaveholders  of  the  South.  The  author 
has  condensed  a  great  deal  of  valuable  infor- 
mation upon  the  subject  of  slavery,  considered 
in  almost  every  point  of  view,  and  upon  a 
great  many  collateral  topics.  We  deem  the 
publication  of  such  documents  highly  valuable 
in  enabling  us  to  give  a  reason  for  our  faith, 
and  we  think,  in  particular,  that  the  labors  of 
Mr.  Bryan  deserve  high  appreciation. 

"  The  importation  of  negroes  into  the  Brit- 
ish American  colonies  commenced  during  the 
reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  under  the  immedi- 
ate supervision  of  Sir  John  Hawkins.  During 
the  succeeding  reigns  of  James  1st,  Charles 
1st  and  2d,  the  slave  trade  in  the  British 
colonies  steadily  and  rapidly  increased  ;  and 
Great  Britain  far  outstripped  an3'  other  nation 
in  the  world,  in  the  extent  to  which  she  carried 
the  trade. 

In  the  year  1793,  Great  Britain  imported 
more  than  half  the  number  of  slaves  import- 
ed by  all  the  J]uropean  powers  put  together. 
Froin  the  year  1700  to  178G,  the  number  of 
slaves  imported  by  British  subjects  into  the 
island  of  Jamaica  alone,  was  nix  hundred  and 
ten  thousnnd ;  or  about  seven  thousand  one 
hundred  every  year.  In  the  year  I'll!,  forty- 
seven  thousand  one  hxmdred  forty-six  negroes 


NEGRO    SLAVERY NORTHERN    AND    SOUTHERN. 


3U 


^eve   imported  into  the  British  colonies,  in 
British  ships  alone. 

Is  it  not  difficult  to  believe  that  Great  Brit- 
ain, who  80  short  a  time  Jigo  was  the  most  ex- 
tensive and  cruel  slave-trader  in  the  world,  is 
the  same  (!  roat  Britain  who  is  now  the  greatest 
suppressor  of  tluit  very  trade  ?  The  entire 
number  of  negroes  said  to  have  been  enslaved 
(that  is,  transported  .and  1  inded  in  the  Brit- 
ish colonies,  for  tiiose  wl  o  died  on  the  voyage 
across  the  Atlantic  are  not  included)  by  Great 
Britain,  is  over  three  m'Mions. 

For  the  great  majority  of  negroes  now  in 
the  United  States,  English  traders  are  to  be 
thanked.  Let  us,  therefme,  before  we  utter 
our  thanks,  examine  our  affairs,  and  see  to 
wljil>ei:tent  these  thank:^  are  due. 
/The  census  of  1790  affords  us  the  earliest 
/information  as  to  the  number  of  negroes  in 
f tlie  country  at  tlie  close  of  the  revolution ;  and 
though  there  will  be  error,  yet  the  error  will 
not  be  very  material,  if  we  adopt  that  census 
as  indicating  the  true  number  in  the  states  at 
the  close  of  the  war. 

The  population  of  the  free  states  was  then 
as  follows:  Whites,  1,852,116.  Free  colored, 
29,435.     Slaves,  49,257. 

The  population  of  the  slaveholding  states 
was:  Whites,  1,201,351.  Free  colored  and 
Indians,  28,265.     Slaves,  046,183. 

In  Vermont  there  were  85,268  whites,  255 
free  colored,  and  16  slaves. 

lu  New-Hampsi)ir«  there  were  141,137 
whites,  630  free  colored,  and  158  slaves. 

In  Massachusetts,  the  negro  trade  had  been 
prohibited  in  1778,  and  there  was  not  a  slave 
(that  is,  a  negro  bondman)  in  the  state.  There 
were  373,324  whites,  and  5,463  fi^ee  negroes,  i 
In  this,  as  in  other  New-England  states,  there 
was  comparatively  little  necessity,  and  less 
profit,  for  the  peculiar  labor  to  which  the 
African  disposition  is  adapted,  viz.:  agricul- 
ture on  a  large  scale ;  for  the  negro  is  dissatis- 
fied on  a  form,  his  predilection  is  decidedly 
for  the  large  plantation,  on  which  reside  fifty 
or  a  hundred  of  his  associates :  he  there  has 
every  facility  for  that  merry  and  blithesome 
intercourse,  the  love  of  which  is  a  striking 
characteristic  of  the  race ;  whereas  the  lone- 
some life  he  would  lead  on  a  small  New-Eng- 
land farm  would  be  distressing  to  him.  The  cli- 
mate of  these  states  is  against  the  health  and 
comfort  of  the  negro  ;  his  native  home  is  under 
a  tropical  sun,  and  notwithstanding  he  can 
endure,  without  serious  inconvenience,  the  ex- 
treme degree  of  heat  incident  to  such  a<:Umate 
as  Africa's,  he  is  utterly  averse  to  the  frigid 
blasts  of  winter.  There  not  being  any  means 
by  which  money  could  be  made  in  these 
states,  through  the  medium  of  slave  labor 
within  their  limits,  is  the  cliief  cause  of  its 
never  having  been  resorted  to  on  a  larger 
scale. 

In  Rhode  Island  the  slave-trade  was  always 
extensively  carried  on  until  prohibited^by  law. 


The  rum  distilled  in  the  West  Indies  was 
carried  to  Africa  to  purchase  negroes,  and  the 
negroes  purchased  in  Africa  were  carried  to 
the  West  Indies  to  purchase  rum;  this  pro- 
fitable trade  was  continued,  by  those  interested 
in  it,  to  the  latest  possible  period.  It  was  the 
source  of  wealth  to  many  of  the  people  of 
Newport.  The  population  of  this  state  was 
64,470  whites,  3,4u7  free  negroes,  and  948 


In  Connecticut  thei"e  w^ere  232,374  whites, 
2,810  IreFn^roeg;  and  2,7G4  slaves. 

In  New- York  there  were  314,142  whites, 
4,654  free  negroes,  and  21,324  slaves. 

In  New-Jersey  there  were  170,954  whites, 
1,762  free  negroes,  and  1 1,423  slaves.  For  about 
six  or  eight  years  previous  to  1790,  there  had 
been  a  remarkable  increase  in  the  number  of 
slaves,  and  an  equally  remarkable  decrease  in 
the  number  of  free  negroes.  But  for  a  space 
of  over  forty-five  years,  it  is  to  be  observed 
that  the  increase  of  the  black  population  (in- 
cluding both  slave  and  free)  was  at  the  same 
rate  as  that  of  the  white  population.  At  this 
time  the  principal  pursuit  of  the  people  of 
New-Jersey  was  agriculture,  and  that  on  a 
small  scale ;  a  kind  of  farming  not  calculated 
to  enhance  slave  labor,  though  perhaps  able 
to  support  it.  And  it  is  said  by  a  writer,  who 
travelled  all  over  North  America  and  the 
West  Indies,  when  preparing  his  history,  that 
agriculture  (in  this  state)  had  not  been  im- 
proved to  that  degree  which,  from  long  ex- 
perience, we  might  rationally  expect,  and 
which  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  in  many  places, 
certainly  encouraged.  Evincing  either  a  want 
of  enterprise  on  the  part  of  proprietors,  or  a 
fault  in  the  system  of  labor  ;  the  latter  cause 
is,  perhaps,  that  which  may  most  reasonably 
be  assigned,  for  no  one  can  doubt  the  energy 
and  enterprise  of  the  people  of  New-Jersey. 
This  is  a  good  instance  of  the  unprofitable- 
ness and  misapplication  of  slave  labor  in  the 
northern  states. 

In  Pennsylvania  there  were  424,079  whites, 
6,557  free  negroes,  and  3,703  slaves. 

In  Delaware,  which  is  more  assimilated  in 
climate  aiKlhatural  resources  with  Maryland 
and  Virginia  than  any  other  state,  lying,  as  it 
does,  in  the  same  latitude,  and  possessing 
similar  natural  features,  we  find  a  greater  pro- 
portion of  slaves  than  in  any  state  north  of  it. 
There  were  46,306  whites,  3,899  free  negroes, 
and  8^7  slaves.  This  is  the  last  of  the  free 
states  ^vhich  then  held  slaves. 

Since  that  census  was  taken,  all  the  45,371 
slaves  held  in  these  states  have  disappeared, 
and  the  current  which  swept  them  away  has 
borne  along  with  it  we  cannot  tell  how  many 
times  that  number  from  the  southern  states, 
through  the  agency  of  those  good  abolition 
gentlemen,  who  never  fail  to  let  "charity,  in 
golden  links  of  love,  connect  them  with  the 
brotherhood  of  man ;"  the  essence  of  which 
golden  links  of  love  is  the  golden  rule,  "  rob 


312 


NEGKO    SLAVERY NORTHERN    AKD    SOUTHERN. 


Peter  to  pay  Paul,"  or  rob  -white  to  pay  black. 
In  all  tbtse  states  the  white  population  has 
regularly  aud  rapidly  increased ;  but  the  ne- 
groes, whore  are  they  ?  Some  have  been  sent 
to  their  fatherland,  Liberia,  to  set  up  a  model 
republic,  and  to  enlighten  and  amend  the  civil 
code  of  Ethiopia.  Some  have  gone  the  way 
of  all  flesh,  through  sheer  want  of  that  same 
thing,  wherewith  they  might  have  been  nour- 
ished and  kept  aiive  but  for  want  of  it.  Some 
have  emigrated  westward,  and  the  glory  of 
their  enlightened  minds  has  shed  lustre  on 
the  name  of  Ohio.  Some  choice  spirits  among 
them  are  the  pride  and  boast  of  divers  north- 
ern penitentiaries  and  almshouses.  And  some 
remain,  the  sportive  imps  of  fun  and  frolic,  in 
the  large  cities  of  the  north,  and  have  their 
annual  and  semi-annual  exhibitions,  for  the 
benefit  of  their  gaping  brethren  of  a  paler 
hue,  of  the  spontaneous  effervescence  of  the 
spirit  of  liberty  fresh  from  their  American 
bosoms.  And  for  the  rest,  they  are  among  the 
most  influential  and  respectable  citizens  of 
the  northern  community. 

In  Maryland  there  were  208,649  whites, 
8,043  free  negroes  and  Indians,  and  103,036 
slaves. 

In  V|iginia  there  were  442,117  whites, 
12,866  free  negroes  and  Indians,  and  292,027 
slaves.  It  must  be  remarked  here,  that  the 
increase  of  the  slave  ]jopulatiou  of  Virginia, 
for  fourteen  years  preceding  this  census,  was 
less  than  it  had  been  for  a  century  before ; 
owing  to  the  fact,  that  about  30,000  slaves 
died  of  the  smallpox  or  camp-fever,  caught 
from  the  British  army ;  or  were  inveigled  off, 
while  Lord  Cornwallis  was  roving  over  the 
state. 

In-4vontucky)  then  in  its  infancy,  there  were 
61,133  whites,  114  free  negroes,  aud  12,430 
slaves. 

In  Nouth,  CajolLna  there  were  288,205 
■whites,  4,975  free  negroes  and  Indians,  and 
100.571  slaves. 

In  Tennessee  there  were  5,813  whites,  and 
1,161  slaves: 

In  South  Carolina  there  were  compara- 
tively more  slaves  than  in  any  other  state ; 
the  population  being  140,278  whites,  and 
107,094  slaves.  A  gr^at  loss  in  slave  property 
was  incurred  by  this  state  during  the  revolu- 
tionary war,  and  was,  comparatively  speaking, 
about  three  times  as  great  as  that  met  with 
by  Virginia.  During  the  three  years  the 
'British  wer^in  posses.sion  of  Charleston,  they 
stole  away  aud  sold  in  the  West  Indies  no 
less  than  25,000  negroes. 

In.  Gfiorgia-fchere  were  55,156  whites,  and 
29,264  slaves.  Tlie  circumstances  connected 
■with  slavery  in  the  early  settlement  of  this 
state,  present  a  striking  contrast  with  those 
of  Massachusetts  and  other  New-Engljind 
states ;  in  those  latter  slavery  was  originally 
introduced  and  considerably  practised,  but,  as 


the  population  increased,  hired  labor  took  the 
place  of  slave  labor.  In  Georgia,  exactly  the 
reverse  was  the  case.  The  original  "  Board 
of  Trustees  for  the  settling  and  establishing 
the  colony  of  Georgia,"  consisting  of  twenty- 
one  opulent  and  humane  gentlemen  in  Eng- 
land, prohibited  the  use  of  negroes  in  the 
colony,  and  the  importation  of  rum.  By  this 
one  ruthless  stroke  of  philanthropy,  the 
settlers  of  Georgia  were  deprived  of  tlie  two- 
fold blessings  enjoyed  by  their  more  fortunate 
neighbors  of  Rhode  Island :  they  could  accu- 
mulate wealth  by  trading  in  Africans  and 
I  um.  But  Georgia  was  designed  for  a  free 
state,  and  Africans  were  not  to  be  used, 
neither  rum.  This  was  about  the  year  1732. 
The  plan  was  a  theoretical  one,  and  was,  per- 
haps, the  worst  that  could  have  been  adopted  •, 
it  was  certainly  productive  of  the  most  perni- 
cious consequences  to  the  prosperity  of  the 
colony.  The  paramount  object  of  the  trustees 
being  to  raise  silk  and  wine,  they  deemed  it 
inexpedient  to  introduce  slave  labor.  And,  in 
addition  to  this,  the  colony  being  at  this  early 
period  a  kind  of  barrier  between  Carolina  on 
the  one  side,  and  the  Spanish  settlement  and 
St.  Augustine  on  the  other,  the  trustees  fell 
into  the  very  general,  though  equally  errone- 
ous belief,  that  negroes  would  rather  weaken 
than  strengthen  its  defensive  powers.  These 
were  the  chief  reasons  why  the  settlers  were 
prohibited  from  employing  slaves ;  but  the 
absurd  restriction  had  a  visible  effect.  It 
was  found  impracticable  in  such  a  climate,  and 
without  African  labor,  for  the  colony  to  flour- 
ish ;  the  enterprise,  therefore,  proved  a  failure. 
In  a  country  so  ricli,  with  a  climate  so  favor- 
able, and  a  soil  so  productive  as  that  of 
Georgia,  the  colonists,  nevertheless,  gradually 
disappeared,  and  eifectaally  deserted  the  en- 
terprise ;  because  they  were  convinced  they 
could  never  succeed  under  such  impolitic  re- 
strictions. 

Tiie  trustees,  finding  that  the  colony  was 
languishing  under  their  transatlantic  care,  re- 
signed their  charter,  in  the  year  1752,  to  the 
kmg  of  England,  and  the  deserted  colony  be- 
came a  royal  government.  History  informs 
us  that  at  this  time  "  the  vestiges  of  cultiva- 
tion were  scarcely  perceptible  in  the  forests, 
aixl  in  England  all  commerce  with  the  colony 
was  neglected."  But,  immediately  on  the 
goverinnent  being  changed,  the  people  became 
possessed  of  the  same  privileges  which  their 
neighbors  enjoyed ;  prominent  among  which 
was  tlie  privilege  of  cultivating  their  rich 
lands  by  tlie  only  profitable  means,  which  is 
no  other  than  slave  labor.  Several  yeara 
elapsed,  however,  before  the  value  of  tlie  landa 
became  generally  appreciated.  And  about 
the  year  1760  aspirit  of  enterprise  sprung  up, 
wliich  has  ever  since  been  a  characteristic  of 
this  state.  And  it  should  be  particularly  ob- 
served, that  no  portion  of   the   population. 


NEGRO    rOPULATION REMEDY    FOR   ITS    EXCESS. 


3ia 


under  the  new  laws,  increased  so  rapidly,  and 
no  system  of  lahor  became  so  generally  dis- 
seminated, as  that  of  the  African  slave. 

The  experiment  lias,  therefore,  we  think, 
been  fairly  tried  ;  both  north  and  south  have 
had  ample  opportunities  to  discover  the  inter- 
est and  policy  of  their  respective  sections.  All 
the  Ncw-]'^ngland  states  have  tried  slave  la- 
bor, but  it  was  not  found  profitable,  and  was 
abandoned.  In  the  south,  the  state  of  tireorgia 
was,  for  a  period  of  twenty  years,  not  a  free, 
but  decidedly  a  white  colony.  White  labor 
wa3  found  here  to  be  incompatible  with  the 
climate  ;  slave  labor  was  introduced  ;  and,  in 
the  short  space  of  thirty  years,  nearly  thirty 
thousand  slaves  were  actively  employed  in  the 
pursuits  of  agriculture.  And,  at  the  present 
daj',  slaveholding  Georgia  will  favorably  com- 
pare with  any  state  in  the  Union." 

NEGRO  POPULATION.— Remedy  for 
ITS  Excess  at  the  South. — What  shall  we  do 
to  remedy  the  evils  of  an  excessive  slave  pop- 
ulation, is  the  question  that  we  propose  now 
to  consider.  The  number  of  slaves  in  the 
United  States  was  697,897  in  1790,  and  in 
1850  it  was  3,179,589,  showing  an  increase  of 
2,481,692  since  1790.  From  1830  to  1840 
the  annual  increase  of  slaves  was  47,831,  and 
from  1840  to  1850  it  was  69,223,  and  from 
1850  to  1860  it  will  probably  be  as  much  as 
80,000.  The  number  of  slaves  in  the  United 
States,  in  1820,  was  1,538,128,  which  is  about 
half  the  amount  of  the  present  slave  popula- 
tion. It  thus  appears  that  the  slave  popula- 
tion of  this  country  has  been  doubled  within 
the  last  thirty  years.  The  increase  of  slaves 
within  the  last  ten  years  was  692,234,  and  it 
is  probable  the  increase  will  be  800,000  dur- 
ing the  next  ten  years.  In  1860,  the  slaves 
will  be  about  4,000,000.  At  the  end  of  the 
next  thirty  years  it  will  be  about  six  millions 
and  a  half,  and  at  the  commencement  of  the 
next  century  it  will  not  fall  far  short  of  thir- 
teen millions.  This  is  a  state  of  things  which 
must  inevitably  come,  unless  there  should  be 
some  unforeseen  and  unexpected  occurrences 
to  prevent  it.  It  may  be  a  remote,  but  it  is 
I  a  sure  result.  In  ftiis  view  of  the  case,  we 
,  'are  led  to  inquire,  with  a  feeling  of  deep  in- 
■^  terest,  what  is  to  become  of  this  rapidly  in- 
creasing population  ?  Can  they  be  profitably 
employed  in  agriculture,  and  will  we  have  a 
sufficiency  of  land  for  thenr  to  cultivate  ? 
Some  may  hope  that  we  will  find  an  outlet 
for  our  slaves  in  territories  now  unoccupied 
/by  slaves,  and  where  there  are  but  few  inhab- 
itants. It  has  been  a  favorite  idea  with  some 
of  our  statesmen  to  acquire  territory  in  which 
our  slave  institutions  will  exist,  aud  thus  pre- 
serve us  from  the  dangers  of  a  redundant 
slave  population.  Whatever  hope  may  have 
once  been  entertained  that  this  was  a  feasible 
scheme,  has,  we  think,  been  dissipated  by  the 
occurrences  of   the  past  four  years.      We 


should  look  at  things  as  they  really  exist,  and 
not  permit  ourselves  to  be  deluded  with  false 
hopes  which  are  never  to  be  realized.  .  We 
must  be  aware  of  the  approach  of  danger  be- 
fore we  will  take  the  necessary  steps  to  guard 
against  it.  We  nmst  in  all  candor  fay,  that 
we  think  the  limits  of  slave  territory  are 
fixed.  California,  New-Mexico,  and  Utah  are, 
we  think,  alr(;ady  closed  against  the  institu- 
tion of  slavery,  and  any  other  territories 
which  we  may  acquire  will  share  the  same 
fate.  The  south  has  been  excluded  from  aa 
equal  participation  in  the  enjoyment  of  the 
territories  recently  obtained  from  the  Mexi- 
can republic,  whether  properly  or  improperly, 
justly  or  unjustly,  constitutionally  or  uncon- 
stitutionally, it  is  not  our  purpose  now  to  in-  / 
quire.  We  only  wish  to  deal  with  facts  as 
they  exist,  without  undertaking  to  dntermine 
how  this  state  of  things  was  brought  about, 
and  who  are  responsible.  That  it  is  the  in- 
terest of  the  northern  people  to  favor  the  exten- 
sion of  slavery  we  entertain  not  a  doubt;  and 
in  attempting  to  confine  it  within  its  present 
limits,  they  are  aiming  a  fatal  blow  at  their 
own  prosperity,  if  the  southern  people  will 
now  adopt  that  line  of  policy  which  their  du- 
ties and  their  interests  alike  demand.  The 
introduction  of  slavery  into  territories  where 
it  now  does  not  exist,  would  benefit  the  north 
by  furnishing  a  greater  quantity  of  those  raw 
materials  which  the  north  so  much  needs  for 
manufiicturing  purposes,  by  opening  new  mar- 
kets for  the  sale  of  northern  fabrics,  and  by 
enlarging  the  commerce  of  the  northern  ship- 
owners. If,  however,  slavery  is  confined 
within  its  present  limits,  the  rapid  increase  in 
the  number  of  slaves  will  compel  the  south- 
ern people  to  employ  their  slaves  in  the  man- 
ufacture of  such  articles  as  are  now  made 
almost  exclusively  in  the  northern  states.  In 
this  way  the  slave  labor  of  the  south  will, 
instead  of  contributing  to  the  wealth  of  the 
north,  as  it  has  heretofore  done,  become  the 
successful  competitor  of  northern  white  labor 
in  those  departments  of  industry  of  which  the 
north  has  in  times  past  enjoyed  a  monopoly. 
We  will  be  compelled  to  use  the  surplus 
bliick  population,  which  is  likely  to  accumu- 
late upon  our  hands,  in  cotton  and  woollen 
factories,  in  iron  furnaces,  and  in  all  those  pur- 
suits which  now  furnish  employment  to  so 
large  a  portion  of  the  northern  ])eople.  Al- 
though at  this  time  the  white  labor  of  the 
north  may  be  somewhat  cheaper  for  manufac- 
turing purposes  than  slave  labor,  on  account 
of  the  comparative  scarcity  of  slave  labor  and 
the  value  of  the  agricultural  products  chiefly 
raised  by  it,  yet  when  the  number  of  slaves 
is  doubled  or  trebled,  and  they  are  confined 
within  their  present  limits,  the  real  or  fancied 
advantages  which  the  north  enjoys  from  cheap 
labor  will  no  longer  exist.  AVhen  this  takes 
place,  the  southern  people  will  be  forced  to 
resort  to  employments  for  theix-  slaves  other 


3U 


NEGRO   POPrLATION REMEDY    FOR    ITS    EXCESS. 


than  those  in  which  they  are  now  engaged, 
which  are  mostly  agricultural.  Not  only  will 
a  large  portion  of  the  cotton  raised  in  the 
eouth  be  manufactured  in  the  south,  but  many 
of  those  extensive  establishments  of  mechani- 
cal industry  at  the  north,  which  depend  upon 
the  south  for  their  patronage,  yea,  for  their 
very  existence,  will  be  transferred  to  the 
south,  and  we  will  not  then  be  dependent  on 
the  north  for  the  articles  of  clothing  we  and 
our  slaves  use.  If  we  knew  the  amount  of 
money  annually  taken  from  us  to  purchase 
articles  of  negro  clothing,  including  hats, 
boots,  shoes,  blankets,  ifec,  we  would  be  start- 
led. Why  is  this,  and  how  long  will  it  con- 
tmue  ?  If  the  people  of  the  north  are  not 
willing  for  us  to  take  our  slaves  to  the  new 
territories,  we  must,  in  self-defense,  bring  the 
slave  labor  of  the  south  into  competition  with 
the  free  white  labor  of  tiie  north.  What  is 
to  be  the  result  when  the  northern  people 
lose  their  southern  trade ;  when  they  find  the 
manufacture  of  cotton  and  woollen  fabrics 
transferred  to  the  south,  and  all  their  mechan- 
ics, wlio  obtain  a  liveliliood  by  making  arti- 
cles for  the  southern  market,  thrown  out  of 
employment,  we  do  not  pretend  to  conjecture ; 
but  be  it  what  it  may,  it  will  be  the  fruit  of 
northern  opposition  to  the  institution  of  slav- 
ery and  to  its  extension.  Will  we  be  able,  it 
may  be  asked,  to  find  a  market  for  our  fab- 
rics, if  we  manufacture  all  or  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  cotton  raised  in  the  southern 
states  ?  Most  assuredly  we  can.  We  will 
have  for  our  market-place  the  whole  habitable 
globe,  and  all  the  people  of  the  earth  will  be 
our  customers.  We  can  give  our  manufac- 
tures in  exchange  for  the  teas  and  silks  of 
Asia,  the  sugar  and  coifee  of  the  West  Indies, 
the  palm  oil,  dye  stutfs,  ivory  and  gold  of 
Africa ;  and,  in  a  word,  for  any  thing  which 
any  other  people  have  to  sell,  because  cotton, 
on  account  of  its  cheapness,  its  durability,  and 
its  comfort,  is  destined  to  be  the  clothing  for 
mankind.  We  have  now  seen  that  tlie  south 
is  not  dependent  upon  the  north  for  any  thing, 
except  80  far  as  she  chooses  to  make  herself 
80 ;  and  that  the  north  is  dependent  upon  the 
south  for  her  existence,  as  a  commercial  and 
manufacturing  people.  Ought  not  this  to 
teach  the  north  to  beware  lest  she  carry  her 
aggressions  to  that  point  where  resistance  will 
become  the  first  and  highest  duty  of  the 
south?  One  of  the  most  obvious  remedies 
against  an  excessive  slave  population,  is  to 
employ  a  considerable  portion  ot  that  kind  of 
labor  in  the  construction  of  plank  roads,  turn- 
pike roads,  and  railroads  in  the  southern 
states.  Let  us  suppose  that  one  fourth  of  the 
labor  now  engaged  in  raising  cotton  should  be 
thus  directed ;  tlie  amount  of  the  cotton  crop 
would  be  diminished  one  fourth,  and  the  in- 
creased price  consequent  thereon  would  make 
up  for  the  diminished  quantity,  and  would 


enable  the  cotton  growers  to  realize  as  much 
money  as  if  the  one  fourth  of  the  labor  had 
not  been  turned  into  other  channels.  Sup- 
pose again,  that  another  fourth  should  be  em- 
ployed in  factories  of  different  kinds ;  this 
would  cause  a  further  diminution  in  the  quan- 
tity raised,  and  a  corresponding  increase  in 
the  price.  Should  the  cotton  crop  of  the 
United  States  be  reduced  to  1,500,000  bales 
per  annum,  of  which  one  third  would  be  con- 
sumed in  the  south'  rn  states,  it  is  easy  to  see 
what  a  fatal  effect  it  woultl  have  upon  the 
manufacturers  of  the  northern  states  and  of 
Europe.  The  result  would  be  their  utter 
prostration.  We  have  supposed  this,  which 
may  seem  an  extreme  case,  to  show  that  the 
northern  states,  and  Europe  also,  are  in  the 
power  of  the  cotton  growers  of  the  south.  A 
withdrawal  of  the  cotton  of  the  United  States 
from  England  would  produce  an  instant  and  'i 
terrible  revolution  in  that  island ;  and  to  cut  ■ 
off  from  the  northern  states  of  this  co!ifede- 
racy  their  southern  trade  would  destroy  their 
merchants  and  manufacturers,  cause  a  failure 
of  their  banks,  and  bring  about  a  financial 
crisis  such  as  they  have  never  experienced, 
and  of  which  their  imagination  can  scarcely  , 
conceive.  The  amount  of  cotton  consumed  in 
the  northern  states  during  the  last  five  years 
has  been  2,360,645  bales,  or  an  average  per 
annum  of  473,931  bales.  The  value  of  the 
cotton  consumed  during  the  last  five  years  in 
the  northern  states  has  been  §88,637,049,  or 
an  average  of  $17,727,409  per  annum.  The 
profits  arising  from  the  manufacture  of  this 
cotton,  and  selling  it  to  the  northern  people, 
amounted  to  perhaps  double  the  cost  of  the 
raw  material,  whilst  it  furnished  employuicnt 
to  thousands  of  operatives,  and  secured  to 
the  northern  farmer  a  market  for  his  produce. 
Surely,  then,  the  north  can  have  nothing  to 
hope  from  a  disruption  of  this  confederacy, 
which  many  of  its  people  seem  to  be  striving 
so  hard  to  bring  about.  The  remedies  tiien 
which  we  propose,  to  prevent  the  evils  of  a 
redundant  slave  population,  are  the  employ' 
■merit  of  slave  labor  in  the  construction  of  rail- 
roads throughout  the  southern  states,  and  the 
use  of  negroes  in  our  factories  and  in  our 
v}orkshops.  In  tliis  way  we  can  build  all 
the  important  roads  in  the  southern  states 
without  tidiing  any  thing  of  consequence  from 
the  available  means  of  our  people,  and  we 
can  obtain  those  articles  of  taste  and  elegance 
which  we  now  rely  upon  the  north  to  furnish 
us,  made  at  our  own  doors.  We  must  bring 
slave  labor  directly  in  competition  with  north-  / 
ern  labor.  We  must  continue  to  seek  out  and 
find  new  fields  for  slave  labor,  whenever  it 
ceases  to  be  profitable  in  agriculture.  These 
are  the  measures  winch  we  are  bound  by  the 
highest  obligations  to  adopt,  to  ward  olf  the 
alarming  evils  of  a  rapidly  and  fearfully  in- 
creasing slave    population,  confined  as  we 


NEGROES — DISEASES    AND    PECULIARITIES    OF. 


SIC 


think  it  will  be  within  its  present  limits,  un- 
less tliere  is  a  greiit  change  in  the  political 
condition  of  the  country. 

NEGROES. — Diseases  and  Pecuuaritiks 
OF  Tiiic  Nkijuo,  nv  Dii.  Cartwuigiit,  of  New- 
Orlkans. — Altlioi)j;h  the  African  race  consti- 
tutes nearly  a  moiety  of  our  southern  popu- 
lation, it  has  not  been  made  the  subject  of 
much  scientific  investigation,  and  is  almost 
entirely  unnoticed  in  medical  books  and 
schools.  It  is  only  very  lately  that  it  has,  in 
large  masses,  dwelt  in  juxtaposition  with 
science  and  mental  progress.  On  the  Niger, 
and  in  the  wilds  of  Africa,  it  has  existed  for 
thousands  of  years,  excluded  from  the  observa- 
tion of  the  scientific  world.  It  is  only  since 
the  revival  of  learning  that  the  people  of  that 
race  have  been  introduced  on  this  continent. 
They  are  located  in  tliose  parts  of  it  not  pro- 
lific in  books  and  medical  authors.  No  med- 
ical school  was  ever  established  near  them 
until  a  few  years  ago;  hence,  their  diseases 
and  physical  peculiarities  are  almost  unknown 
to  the  learned.  The  little  knowledge  that 
soutiiern  pliysicians  have  acquired  concerning 
them  has  not  been  derivetl  from  books  or 
medical  lectures,  but  from  facts  learned  from 
their  oven  observation  in  the  field  of  experi- 
ence, or  picked  up  here  and  there  from 
others. 

Before  going  into  the  peculiarities  of  their 
diseases,  it  is  necessary  to  glance  at  the  ana- 
tomical and  physiological  differences  between 
the  negro  and  the  white  man  ;  otherwise,  their 
diseases  cannot  be  understood.  It  is  com- 
monly taken  for  granted  that  the  color  of  tiie 
skin  constitutes  the  main  and  essential  differ- 
ence between  the  black  and  the  white  race ; 
but  there  are  other  differences  more  deep, 
durable  and  indelible,  in  their  anatomy  and 
physiology,  than  that  of  mere  color.  In  the 
albino  the  skin  is  white,  yet  the  organization 
is  that  of  the  negro.  Besides,  it  is  not  only 
in  th(!  skin  that  a  difference  of  color  exists  be- 
tween the  negro  and  the  white  man,  but  in 
the  membranes,  the  nuiscles,  tlie  tendons,  and 
in  all  the  fluids  and  secretions.  Even  the 
negro's  brain  and  nerves,  the  chyle  anil  all  the 
humors,  an;  tinctured  with  a  shade  of  the 
pervading  darkness.  His  bile  is  of  a  deeper 
color,  and  his  blood  is  blacker  than  the  white 
man's.  Theie  is  the  same  difference  in  the 
flesh  of  the  white  and  black  man,  in  regard 
to  color,  that  exists  between  the  flesh  of  the 
rabbit  and  the  hare.  His  btnies  are  whiter 
and  harder  than  those  of  the  white  race,  ow 
ing  to  their  containing  more  phosphate  of  lime 
and  less  gelatine.  His  head  is  hung  on  the 
atlas  differently  from  tlie  wdiite  man ;  the  face 
is  thrown  more  upwards,  and  the  neck  is 
shorter  and  less  oblique;  the  spine  more  in- 
wards, and  the  pelvis  more  obliquely  out- 
wards; the  thigh-bones  larger,  and  flattened 
from  before  backwards ;  the  bones  more  bent ; 


the  legs  curved  outwards,  or  bowed  ;  the  feet 
flat;  the  gastrocnemii  muscles  so  long,  as  to 
make  the  ankle  appear  as  if  planted  in  the 
middle  of  the  foo'„ ;  tiie  gait,  hopper-hip})ed, 
or  what  the  French  call  Valhirc  dc/tauchee, 
not  unlike  that  of  a  person  carrying  a  bur- 
den. The  projectiiig  mouth,  the  retreating 
forehead,  the  broad,  flat  nose,  thick  lips  and 
woolly  hair,  are  peculiarities  that  strike  every 
beholder.  According  to  Stemmerring  and 
other  anatomists,  who  have  dissected  the  ne- 
gro, his  brain  is  a  ninth  or  tenth  less  than  in 
other  races  of  men,  his  facial  angle  smaller, 
and  all  the  nerves  going  from  the  brain,  as  also 
the  ganglionic  system  of  nerves,  are  larger  in 
proportuiu  than  in  the  white  man.  The  nerves 
distributed  to  the  muscles  are  an  exception, 
being  smaller  than  in  the  white  race.  S(jera- 
merring  remarks,  that  the  negro's  brain  has  in 
a  great  measure  run  into  nerves.  One  of  the 
most  striking  differences  is  found  in  the  much 
greater  size  of  the  foramen  marfuum  in  the 
nefjro  than  the  white  man.  The  foramen,  or 
orifice  between  the  Vjrain  and  the  spinal  mar- 
row, is  not  only  larger,  but  the  medulla  ob- 
longata, and  particularly  the  nerves  supplying 
the  abdominal  and  pelvic  viscera.  Although 
the  nose  is  flut,  the  turbinated  bones  are  more 
developed,  and  the  pituitary  membrane,  lining 
the  internal  cavities  of  the  nose,  more  exten- 
sive than  in  the  white  man,  and  causing  the 
sense  of  smell  to  be  more  acute.  The  ne- 
gro's lipariug  is  better,  his  sight  is  stronger, 
and  he  seldom  needs  spectacles. 

The  field  of  vision  is  not  so  large  in  the 
negro's  eye  as  in  the  white  man's.  He  bears 
the  rays  of  the  sun  better,  because  he  is  pro- 
vided with  an  anatomical  peculiarity  in  the 
inner  canthus,  contracting  the  field  of  vision, 
and  excluding  the  sun's  rays;  something  like 
the  membrana  nictitans,  formed  by  a  preter- 
natural development  of  the  plica  lunaris,  like 
that  which  is  observed  in  apes.  His  imitative 
powers  are  very  great,  and  he  can  agitate 
every  part  of  the  body  at  the  same  time,  or 
what  he  calls  dancing  all  over.  From  the 
ditTusion  of  brain,  as  it  were,  into  the  various 
organs  of  the  body,  in  the  shape  of  nerves  to 
minister  to  the  senses,  every  thing,  from 
the  necessity  of  such  a  conformation,  partakes 
of  sensuality,  at  the  expense  of  intellectu- 
ality. Thus,  music  is  a  mere  sensual  pleasure  \ 
with  the  negro.  There  is  nothing  in  his 
music  addressing  the  understanding ;  it  has 
melody,  but  no  harmony ;  his  songs  are  mere 
sounds,  without  sense  or  meaning — pleasing 
the  ear,  without  conveying  a  single  idea  to  the 
mind  ;  his  ear  is  gratified  by  sound,  as  his 
stomach  is  by  food.  The  great  development 
of  the  nervous  system,  and  the  profuse  dis- 
tribution of  nervous  matter  to  the  stomach, 
liver  and  genital  organs,  would  make  the 
Ethiopian  race  entirely  unmanageable,  if  it 
were  not  that  this  excessive  nervous  develop- 
ment is  associated  with   a  deficiency  of  red 


S16 


KEGROES DISEASES    AND    PECULIARITIES    OF. 


blood  in  ibe  pulmonary  and  arterial  systems, 
from  a  defective  atmospherization  or  arterial- 
ization  of  the  blood  in  the  lungs — constituting 
the  best  type  of  what  is  called  the  lymphatic 
temperament,  in  which  lymph,  phlegm,  mu- 
cus, and  other  humors  predominate  over  the 
red  blood.  It  is  this  defective  hematosis,  or 
atmospherization  of  the  blood,  conjoined  with 
a  deficiency  of  cerebral  matter  in  the  cranium, 
and  an  excess  of  nei-vous  matter  distributed 
to  the  organs  of  sensation  and  assimilation, 
that  is  the  true  cause  of  that  debasement  of 
mind  which  has  rendered  the  people  of 
Africa  unable  to  take  care  of  themselves.  It 
is  the  true  cause  of  their  indolence  and  apa- 
thy, and  why  they  have  chosen,  through 
countless  ages,  idleness,  misery  and  barbarism, 
to  industry  and  frugality;  why  social  indus- 
try, or  associated  labor,  so  essential  to  all 
progress  in  civilization  and  improvement,  has 
never  made  any  progress  among  them,  or  the 
arts  and  sciences  taken  root  on  any  portion  of 
African  soil  inhabited  by  them ;  as  is  proved 
by  the  fact  that  no  letters,  or  even  hiero- 
glyphics— no  buildings,  roads  or  improve- 
ments, or  monuments  of  any  kind,  are  any 
where  found,  to  indicate  that  tliey  have  ever 
been  awakened  from  their  apathy  and  slee|)y 
indolence,  to  physical  or  mental  exertion.  To 
the  same  physiological  causes,  deeply  rooted 
in  the  organization,  we  must  look  for  an  ex- 
planation of  the  strange  facts,  why  none  of  the 
languages  of  the  native  tribes  of  Africa,  as 
proved  by  ethnographical  researches,  have 
risen  above  common  names,  standing  for 
things  and  actions,  to  abstract  terms  or  gen- 
eralizations ;  why  no  form  of  government  on 
abstract  principles,  with  divisions  of  power 
into  separate  departments,  has  ever  been  in- 
stituted by  them ;  why  they  have  always 
preferred,  as  more  congenial  to  tlieir  nature, 
a  government  combining  the  legislative,  ju- 
dicial and  executive  powers  in  the  same  indi- 
vidual, in  the  person  of  a  petty  king,  a  chief- 
tain, or  master;  why,  in  America,  if  let 
alone,  they  always  prefer  the  same  kind  of 
government,  which  we  call  slavery,  but  which 
is  actually  an  improvement  on  the  government 
of  their  forefatliers,  as  it  gives  them  more 
tranquillity  and  sensual  enjoyment,  expands 
the  mind  and  improves  the  morals,  by  arous- 
ing them  from  that  natural  indolence  so  fatal 
to  menial  and  moral  progress.  Even  if  they 
did  not  prefer  slavery,  trancjuillity  and  sensual 
enjoyment,  to  liberty,  yet  their  organization  of 
mind  is  such,  that  if  they  had  their  liberty, 
they  have  not  the  industry,  the  moral  virtue, 
the  courage  and  vigilance  to  maintain  it,  but 
would  relapse  intf)  Ijarbarism,  or  into  slavery, 
as  they  have  done  in  Hayti.  The  reason  of 
this  is  founded  in  unalterable  physiological 
laws.  Unilor  the  compulsive  power  of  tiie 
white  man,  they  are  made  to  labor  or  exer- 
cise, which  makes  the  lungs  perform  the  duty 
of  vitalizing  the  blood  more  perfectly  than 


is  done  when  they  are  left  free  to  indulge  in 
idleness.  It  is  the  red,  vital  blood,  sent  to 
the  brain,  that  liberates  their  mind  when  un- 
der the  white  man's  control ;  and  it  is  the 
want  of  a  sufficiency  of  red,  vital  blood,  that 
chains  their  mind  to  ignorance  and  barbarism 
when  in  freedom. 

The  excess  of  organic  nervous  matter,  and 
the  deficiency  of  cerebral — the  predominance 
of  the  humors  over  the  red  blood,  from  de- 
fective atmospherization  of  the  blood  in  the 
lungs,  impart  to  the  negro  a  nature  not  unlike 
that  of  a  new-born  infant  of  the  white  race. 
In  children,  the  nervous  system  predominates, 
and  the  temperament  is  lymphatic.  The 
liver,  and  the  rest  of  the  glandular  system, 
are  out  of  proportion  to  the  sanguineous  and 
respiratory  systems,  the  white  fluids  predom- 
inating over  the  red ;  the  lungs  consume  less 
oxygen,  and  the  liver  separates  more  carbon 
than  in  the  adult  age.  This  constitution,  so 
well  marked  in  infancy,  is  the  type  of  the 
Ethiopian  constitution,  of  all  ages  and  sexes. 
It  is  well  known,  that  in  infancy,  full  and  free 
respiration  of  pure  fresh  air  in  repose,  so  far 
from  being  required,  is  hurtful  and  prejudicial. 
Half  smothered  by  its  mother's  bosom,  or  the 
cold  external  aii  carefully  excluded  by  a 
warm  room  or  external  covering  over  the 
face,  the  infant  reposes;  re-breathing  its  own 
breath,  warmed  to  the  same  tem]ierature  as 
that  of  its  body,  and  loaded  with  carbonic 
acid  and  aqueous  vapor.  The  natural  effect 
of  this  kind  of  respiration  is,  imperfect  atmos- 
pherization of  the  blood  in  the  lungs,  and  a 
hebetude  of  intellect,  from  the  defective 
vitalization  of  the  blood  distributed  to  the 
brain.  But  it  has  heretofore  escaped  the  at- 
tention of  the  scientific  world,  that  the  defec- 
tive atmospherization  of  the  blood,  known  to 
occur  during  sleep  in  infancy,  and  to  be  the 
most  congenial  to  their  constitution,  is  the 
identical  kind  of  respiration  most  congenial  to 
the  negro  constitution,  of  all  ages  and  sexes, 
when  in  repose.  This  is  proved  by  the  fact 
of  the  universal  ]iractice  among  them  of  cov- 
ering their  heads  and  fiices  during  sleep,  with 
a  blanket,  or  any  kind  of  covering  that  they 
can  get  hold  of  If  they  have  only  a  part  of 
a  blanket,  they  will  cover  their  foces  when 
about  to  go  to  sleep.  If  they  have  no  cover- 
ing, they  will  throw  their  h.ands  or  arms  across 
the  mouth  and  nose,  and  turn  on  their  faces, 
as  if  with  an  instinctive  design  to  obstruct  the 
entrance  of  the  free  external  air  into  the  lungs 
during  sleep.  As  is  the  case  with  infants,  the 
air  that  negroes  breatlie,with  their  faces  thus 
smothered  with  blankets  or  other  covering,  is 
not  so  much  the  external  air  as  their  own 
breath,  warmed  to  the  same  temperature  as 
that  of  their  bodies,  by  confinement  and  re- 
inspiration.  This  instinctive  and  universal 
metliod  of  breathing,  during  sleep,  proves  the 
similarity  of  organization  and  physiological 
1  laws  existing  between  negi'oes  and  infants,  as 


NEGROES — DISEA8ES    AND    PECULIARITIES    OF. 


317 


far  fts  the  important  function  of  respiration  is  i 
concerned.  Both  are  alike  in  re-breathiug  | 
their  own  breath,  and  in  requiring  it  to  be  I 
warmed  to  tlieir  own  temperature,  by  con- 1 
fincineut  whicli  would  be  insupportable  to  the 
white  race  after  passing  the  age  of  infancy. 
The  inevitable  efl'ect  of  breatliing  a  heated  j 
air,  loaded  with  carbonic  acid  and  aqueous  j 
vapor,  is  defective  hematosis  and  hebetude  of  j 
intellect. 

Negroes,  moreover,  resemble  children  in  the 
activity  of  the  liver  and  in  their  strong  aasimi-  j 
latiiig  powers,  and  in  the  predominance  of 
tlje  other  systems  over  the  sanguineous  ;  hence 
they  are  difficult  to  bleed,  owing  to  the  small- 
ness  of  their  veins.  On  cording  the  arm  of 
the  stoutest  negro,  the  veins  will  be  found 
scarcely  as  large  as  a  white  boy's  of  ten  years 
of  age.  They  are  liable  to  all  the  convulsive 
diseases,  cramps,  spasms,  colics,  etc.,  that  chil- 
dren are  so  subject  to. 

Although  their  skin  is  very  thick,  it  is  as 
sensitive,  when  they  are  in  perfect  health,  as 
that  of  children,  and  like  them  they  fear  the  '■ 
rod.     They  resemble  children  in  another  very  , 
important   particular :   they  are   very  easily ; 
governed   by  love  combined  with  fear,  and 
are  ungovernable,  vicious  and  rude  under  any  ' 
form  of  government  whatever,  not  resting  on 
love  and  fear  as  a  basis.     Like  children,  it  is 
not  necessary  that  they  be  kept  under  the  ; 
fear  of  the  lash ;  it  is  sufficient  that  they  be  : 
ke[)t  under  the  fear  of  <jffending  those  who 
have   authority  over   them.     Like   children, 
they  are  constrained,  by  unalterable  physiolo-  j 
gical  laws,  to  love  those  in  authority  over  \ 
them,  who  minister  to  their  wants  and  imme- 1 
diate  necessities,  and  are  not  cruel  or  unmer- 
ciful.    The  defective  hematosis,  in  both  cases, 
and  the  want  of  courage  and  energy  of  mind 
as  a  consequence  thereof,  produces  in  both 
an  instinctive  feeling  of  dependence  on  others, 
to   direct  them   and   to  take  care  of  them. 
Hence,  from  a  law  of  liis  nature,  the  negro 
can  no  more  help  loving  a  kind  master,  than 
the  child  can  help  loving  her  who  gives  it 
suck. 

Like  children,  they  require  government  in 
every  thing  ;  food,  clothing,  exercise,  sleep — 
all  require  to  be  prescribed  by  rule,  or  they 
will  run  into  excesses.  Like  children,  they 
are  apt  to  over-eat  themselves,  or  to  confine 
their  diet  too  much  to  one  favorite  article, 
unless  restrained  from  doing  so.  They  often 
gorge  themselves  with  fat  meat,  as  children 
do  with  sugar. 

One  of  the  greatest  mysteries  to  those  un- 
acquainted with  the  negro  character,  is  the 
facility  with  which  an  hundred,  even  two  or 
three  hundred,  able-bodied  and  vigorous  ne- 
groes are  kept  in  subjection  by  one  white  man, 
who  sleeps  in  perfect  security  among  them, 
generally,  in  warm  weather,  with  doors  and 
windows  open,  with  all  his  people,  called 
slaves,  at  large  around  him.   But  a  still  greater 


mystery  is  the  undoubted  fact  of  the  love 
they  bear  to  their  masters,  similar  in  all  re- 
spects to  the  love  that  children  bear  to  their 
parents,  which  nothing  but  severity  or  cruelty 
in  either  case  can  alienate.  The  physiological 
laws,  on  which  this  instinctive  and  most  mys- 
terious love  is  founded  in  the  one  case,  are 
applicable  to  the  other.  Like  children,  when 
well-behaved  and  disposed  to  do  their  duty, 
it  is  not  the  arbitrary  authority  over  them 
that  they  dread,  but  the  petty  tyranny  and 
imposition  of  one  another.  The  overseer 
among  them,  like  the  school-master  among 
children,  has  only  to  be  impartial,  and  to  pre- 
serve order  by  strict  justice  to  all,  to  gain 
tlieir  good-will  and  affections,  and  to  be  viewed 
not  as  an  object  of  terror,  but  as  a  friend  and 
protector  to  quiet  their  fears  of  one  another.  — -^ 

There  is  a  difference  between  infant  negroes 
and  infant  white  chiln'ren :  the  former  are  born 
with  heads  like  gourds,  the  fontiuelles  being 
nearly  closed,  and  the  sutures  between  the 
various  bones  of  the  head  united — not  open 
and  permitting  of  overlapping,  as  in  white 
children.  There  is  no  necessity  for  the  over- 
lapping of  the  bones  of  the  head  in  infant 
negroes,  as  they  are  smaller,  and  the  pelvis 
of  their  mothers  larger  than  in  the  white  race. 
All  negroes  are  not  equally  black ;  the  black«=r, 
the  healthier  and  stronger;  any  deviation  from 
the  black  color,  in  the  pure  race,  is  a  mark  of 
feebleness  or  ill-health.  When  heated  from 
exercise,  the  negro's  skin  is  covered  with  an 
oily  exudation  that  gives  a  dark  color  to  white 
linen,  and  has  a  very  strong  odor.  The  odor 
is' strongest  in  the  most  robust;  children  and 
the  aged  have  very  little  of  it. 

I  have  thus  hastily  and  imperfectly  noticed 
some  of  the  more  striking  anatomical  and  phy- 
siological peculiarities  of  the  negro  race.  The 
question  may  be  asked :  Does  he  belong  to 
the  same  race  as  the  white  man  ?  Is  he  a  son 
of  Adam  ?  Does  his  peculiar  physical  con- 
formation stand  in  opposition  to  the  Bible,  or 
does  it  prove  its  truth  ?  These  are  important 
questions,  both  in  a  medical,  historical,  and 
theological  point  of  view.  They  can  better 
be  answered  by  a  comparison  of  the  facts  de 
rived  from  anatomy,  physiology,  history  and 
theology,  to  see  if  tbey  sustain  one  another. 
We  learn  from  the  book  of  Genesis  that  Noah 
had  three  sons,  Shem,  Ham,  and  Japheth, 
and  that  Canaan,  the  son  of  Ham,  was  doomed 
to  be  servant  of  servants  unto  his  breth- 
ren. From  history  we  learn,  that  the  de- 
scendants of  Canaan  settled  in  Africa,  and  are 
the  present  Ethiopians,  or  black  race  of  men; 
that  Shera  occupied  Asia,  and  Japheth  the 
north  of  Europe.  In  the  9th  chapter  and  27th 
verse  of  Genesis,  one  of  the  most  authentic 
books  of  the  Bible,  is  this  remarkable  proph- 
ecy :  "  God  shall  enlarge  Japheth,  and  he  shall 
dwell  iu  the  tents  of  Shem ;  and  Canaan  shall 
\  be  his  servant."  Japheth  has  been  greatly 
i  enlarged  by  the  discovery  of  a  new  world,  the 


318 


NEGROES — DISEASES    AND    PECULIARITIES    OE. 


continent  of  America.  He  found  in  it  the 
Indians,  -wlioni  natural  history  declares  to  be 
of  Asiatic  origin,  in  other  words,  the  descend- 
ants of  Sliem  ;  he  drove  out  Sheni,  and  occu- 
pied his  tents :  and  now  the  remaining  part 
of  the  prophecy  is  in  the  process  of  fultiiment, 
from  the  facts  everywhere  before  us,  of  Ca- 
naan having  become  his  servant.  The  ques- 
tion arises,  is  the  Canaanite,  or  Ethiopian, 
qualified  for  tlie  trying  duties  of  servitude,  and 
unfitted  for  the  enjoyment  of  freedom  ?  If 
he  be,  there  is  both  wisdom,  mercy  and  jus- 
tice in  the  decree  dooming  him  to  be  servant 
of  sei  vants,  as  the  decree  is  in  conformity  to 
his  nature.  Anatomy  and  physiology  have 
been  interrogated,  and  the  response  is,  that 
the  Ethiopian  or  Canaanite  is  unfitted,  from 
his  organization  and  the  physiological  laws 
predicated  on  that  organization,  for  the  re- 
sponsible duties  of  a  free  man,  but,  like  the 
child,  is  only  fitted  for  a  state  of  dependence 
and  subordination.  When  history  is  interro- 
gated, the  response  is,  that  the  only  govern- 
ment under  which  the  negro  has  made  any 
improvement  in  mind,  morals,  religion,  and 
the  only  government  under  which  he  has  led 
a  happy,  quiet  and  contented  life,  is  that  un 
der  which  he  is  subjected  to  the  arbitrary 
power  of  Japheth,  in  obedience  to  the  Divine 
decree.  When  the  original  Hebrew  of  the 
Bible  is  interrogated,  we  find,  in  the  signifi- 
cant meaning  of  the  original  name  of  the 
negro,  the  identical  fact  set  forth,  which  the 
knife  of  the  anatomist  at  the  dissecting-table 
has  made  appear;  as  if  the  revelations  of 
anatomy,  physiology  and  history  were  a  mere 
re-writing  of  what  Moses  wrote.  In  the  He- 
brew word  "  Canaan,"  the  original  name  of  the 
Ethiopian,  the  word  slave  by  nature,  or  lan- 
guage to  the  same  effect,  is  written  by  the 
inspired  penman.  Hence  there  is  no  conflict 
between  the  revelations  of  the  science  of  medi- 
cine, history,  and  the  inductions  drawn  from 
the  Baconian  philosophy  and  the  authority  of 
the  Bible;  one  supports  the  other. 

As  an  illustration,  it  is  known  that  all  the 
Hebrew  names  are  derived  from  verbs,  and 
are  significant.  The  Hebrew  verb  Canah, 
from  which  the  original  name  of  the  negro  is 
derived,  literally  means  to  submit  himself — to 
hc7id  the  knee.  Gesenius,  the  best  Hebrew 
scholar  of  modern  times,  renders  both  the 
Kal,  Hiphil  and  Niphal  form  of  the  verb  from 
which  Canaan,  the  original  name  of  the  negro, 
is  derived,  in  the  following  Latin:  Genujlexit 
— he  bends  the  knee;  in  r/eiina  procidet — he 
falls  on  his  knees;  depressus  est  anbnns — his 
mind  is  depressed ;  snbmisse  sc  gessit — he  de- 
ports himself  submissively ;  frnctus  est — he  is 
crouched  fir  broken  ;  or  in  other  words,  slave 
by  nature,  the  same  thing  which  anatomy, 
physiology,  history,  and  the  inductions  drawn 
from  philosophical  observations,  prove  him 
to  be. 

A  knowledge  of  the  great  primary  truth, 


that  the  negro  is  a  slave  by  nature,  and  can 
never  be  happy,  industrious,  moral,  or  reli- 
gion", in  any  other  condition  than  the  one  he 
was  intended  to  fill,  is  of  great  importance  to 
tlie  theologian  and  statesman,  and  to  all 
those  who  are  at  heart  seeking  to  promote 
his  temporal  and  future  welfiire.  This  great 
truth,  if  better  known  and  understood,  would 
go  far  to  prevent  the  East  India  Company 
and  British  government  from  indulging  any 
expectation  of  seeing  their  immense  posses- 
sions in  Asia  enhanced  in  value  by  the  over- 
throw of  slave-labor  in  America,  through  the 
instrumentality  of  nortliern  fanaticism;  or  of 
seeing  the  Union  divided  into  two  or  more 
factions  hostile  to  each  other;  or  of  gaining 
any  advantages  that  civil  commotion  on  this 
side  of  the  Atlantic  would  give  to  the  totter- 
ing monarchies  of  Europe.  With  the  sul)ject 
under  this  aspect,  the  science  of  medicine  has 
nothing  to  do,  further  than  to  uncover  its 
light — to  show  truth  from  error. 

Pulmonary  Congestions,  Pneumonia,  etc. 
— One  of  the  most  formidable  complaints 
among  negroes,  more  fatal  than  any  other,  is 
congestion  of  the  lungs;  or  what  European 
writers  would  call  false  pleurisj',  or  peri- 
pneumonia notha.  It  is  often  called  cold 
plague,  typhus  pneumonia,  bilious  pleurisy, 
<fec.,  according  to  its  particular  type  and  the 
circumstances  attending  it;  sometimes  the 
head  complains  more  than  any  other  part, 
and  it  then  bears  the  misnomer,  "  head  pleu- 
risy." It  occurs,  mostly,  in  winter  and  spring, 
but  is  met  with  at  every  season  of  the  year, 
when  cold  nights  succeed  to  warm  days.  It 
is  more  common  among  those  who  sleep  in 
open  houses,  without  suificient  fires  to  keep 
them  warm  and  comfortable.  It  is  seldom 
observed  among  negroes  who  inhabit  log 
cabins,  with  cemented  or  clay  floors,  or  warm 
houses  made  of  brick,  or  any  material  to  ex- 
clude the  cold  wind  and  air.  The  frame 
houses,  with  open  weather-boarding  and  loose 
floors,  admitting  air  both  at  the  sides  and  from 
below,  are  buiklings  formed  in  ignorance  of 
the  peculiar  physiological  laws  of  the  negro's 
organization,  and  are  the  fruitful  sources  of 
many  of  his  most  dangerous  diseases. 

Want  of  sufficient  fires  and  warm  blankets 
is  also  another  cause  of  thoracic  complaints. 
The  negro's  lungs,  except  when  the  body  is 
warmed  by  exercise,  are  very  sensitive  to  the 
impressions  of  cold  air.  When  not  working 
or  taking  exercise,  they  always  crowd  around 
a  fire,  even  in  comparatively  warm  weather, 
and  seem  to  take  a  positive  pleasure  in 
breathing  heated  air  and  warm  smoke.  In 
cold  weather,  instead  of  sleeping  with  their 
feet  to  tlic  fire,  as  all  other  kinds  of  people 
do,  whether  civilized  or  savage,  they  turn 
their  head  to  the  fire — evidently  for  the  satis- 
fiiction  of  inhaling  warm  air,  as  congenial  to 
their  lutigs,  in  repose,  as  it  is  to  infuits.  In 
bed,  when  disposing  themselves  for  sleep,  the 


NEGROES — DISEASES    AND    PECULIAUITIES    OP. 


319 


young'  and  old,  male  and  female,  instinctively 
cover  tJicir  lieads  and  faces,  as  if  to  insure  tlie 
inlialivtion  of  warm,  impure  air,  louded  with 
carbonic  acid  and  aqueous  vapor.  The  natural 
effect  of  this  practice  is,  imperfect  atmos- 
pherizafion  of  the  blood— one  of  the  lieaviest 
chains  that  binds  the  negro  to  slavery.  In 
treating',  therefore,  their  pulmonary  afffctions, 
the  imjiortant  fact  should  be  taken  into  con- 
sideration, that  cold  air  is  inimiral  to  the 
lungs  of  healthy  negroes  when  the  body  is  in 
repose  and  not  healed  by  exercise,  and  conse- 
quently more  prejudicial  in  the  diseases  of 
those  organs.  A  small,  steady  fire,  a  close 
room,  and  plenty  of  thick  blanket  covering, 
aided  with  hot  stimulating  teas,  are  very 
essential  means  in  the  treatment  of  the  pul- 
monary congestions  to  which  their  lungs  are 
80  prone.  An  accurate  diagnosis,  whether 
the  complaint  be  a  mere  congestion,  pleuriiis 
or  pneumonia,  is  not  of  much  practical  im- 
portance in  the  first  instance,  because,  whether 
it  be  one  or  the  other,  warm  air  is  equally 
essential,  and  warm  stimulating  teas  to  de- 
termine to  the  surface.  It  is  proper  first  to 
warm  the  body  by  external  means  and  stimu- 
lating tirinks,  after  which  an  emetic,  followed 
by  a  purgative  of  a  mild  kind,  will  be  bene- 
ficial. When  there  is  pain  in  taking  a  full 
inspiration,  a  moderate  blooddetting  from  the 
arm,  followed  by  half  grain  or  grain  doses  of 
tartar  emetic,  repeated  at  intervals  of  an 
hour  or  two,  and  combined  with  a  little  ano- 
dyne, to  prevent  its  running  off  by  the  bowels, 
will  be  found  a  very  effectual  remedy  in  sub- 
duing inflammation  and  promoting  expectora- 
tion. In  the  typhoid  forms  of  pneumonia,  the 
quinine,  in  efficient  doses,  combined  with 
camphor,  aromatics  and  calomel,  is  generally 
the  best  practice.  Bleeding  is  not  admissible 
in  tills  form  of  pneumonia,  otherwise  they 
bear  bloodletting  in  chest  complaints  much 
better  than  any  others.  But  even  in  these, 
they  will  not  bear  repeated  blood  letting,  as 
the  white  race  do. 

Bilious  and  Adynamic  Fevkrs — Remit- 
tents AND  Intermittents. — The  next  class  of 
complaints  to  which  they  are  mostly  liable, 
are  bilious  and  adynamic  f(n'ers — remittents 
and  intermittents.  Evacuating  the  stomach 
and  bowels  by  a  mild  emetico-cathartic,  com- 
bined with  a  weak  anodyne  carminative,  to 
prevent  its  excessive  action,  is  generally  the 
best  medicine  to  begin  with;  for,  whatever  be 
the  type  of  the  fever,  as  negroes  are  hearty 
eaters,  it  will  be  an  advantage,  in  the  after 
treatment  of  the  case,  to  have  the  prinice  via; 
cleared  of  their  load  of  undigested  food,  and 
the  superabundant  mucosities  poured  out  into 
the  ahmentary  canal,  of  a  people  so  phleg- 
matic, when  attacked  with  a  fever  suspend- 
ing digestion  and  interrupting  absorption. 

For  this  purpose,  a  combination  of  ipecacu- 
anha, rhubarb  and  cream  of  tartar,  each  half 
a  drachm,  and  a  tea-spoonful  of  paregoric,  in 


ginger  or  pepper  tea,  is  a  very  safe  and  effec- 
tual medicine.  It  will  vomit,  if  there  be  bile 
or  much  mucosity,  and  will  afterwards  act  on 
the  bowels,  promote  secretion  of  uriiu;,  and 
determine  to  the  surfiice;  after  which  a  dose 
or  two  of  quinine  will  generally  effect  a  cure. 
Calomel  is  used  too  indiscriminately  in  the 
treatment  of  their  diseases;  nevertheless,  in 
olistiuate  cases,  it  is  not  to  be  dispensed  with. 
Negroes  are  very  liable  to  become  comatose, 
[larticularly  after  watery  operati(  ns,  or  in  tor- 
pid states  of  the  liver.  Such  cases  are  best 
treated  by  a  combination  of  calomel,  camphor, 
capsicum,  quinine  and  laudanum,  and  a  blis- 
ter to  the  back  of  the  neck.  Cold  water  to 
the  head  is  dangerous.  Nearly  all  their  com- 
plaints bear  stimulating,  aromatic  substances 
much  better  than  similar  affections  among 
white  people,  and  will  not  tolerate  evacu- 
ations so  well.  The  pure  anti-phlogistic  treat- 
ment by  evacuations,  cold  air,  starvation  and 
gum  water,  so  effectual  in  the  inflammatory 
complaints  of  the  hematose  white  man,  will 
soon  sink  them  into  hopeless  collapse.  Even 
under  the  use  of  anti-phlogistics  in  their  in- 
flammatory complaints,  pepper  or  ginger-tea, 
or  some  stimulant,  is  necessary  to  suppdrt  the 
vital  actions,  which  would  soon  fail  under 
such  insipid  drinks  as  gum-water.  The  rea- 
son of  this  is,  that  the  fluids  and  all  the  secre- 
tions are  more  acrid  than  those  of  the  white 
man.  In  the  latter,  the  lungs  consume  more 
oxygen,  the  blood  is  redder  and  more  stimu- 
lating, and  all  the  fluids  more  bland  and 
sweet;  whereas,  in  the  negro,  the  deficient 
hematosis  renders  the  blood  less  stimulating, 
and  requires  acrid  and  piquant  substances  ad- 
dressed to  the  digestive  .system  to  supply  the 
stimulus  that  would  otherwise  be  derived 
from  the  air  in  the  lungs.  Although  they  are 
so  liable  to  congestive  and  bilious  fevens — re- 
mittents and  intermittents  —  they  are  not 
liable  to  the  dreaded  el  vomito,  or  yellow 
fever.  At  least,  they  have  it  so  lightly,  that 
I  have  never  seen  a  negro  die  Avitli  black 
vomit,  although  I  have  witnessed  a  number 
of  yellow  fever  epidemics.  This  is  a  strong 
proof  against  the  identity  of  yellow  fever  and 
the  other  fevers  just  named. 

Scrofula,  etc. — Like  children,  negroes  are 
very  liable  to  colics,  cramps,  convulsions, 
worms,  glandular  and  nervous  aft'ections, 
sores,  biles,  warts,  and  other  diseases  of  the 
skin.  Scrofula  is  very  common  among  them. 
Rickets,  diseases  of  the  spine  and  hip-joint, 
and  white  swellings  are  not  uncommon.  They 
are  also  subject  to  the  goitre.  All  very  fat 
negroes,  except  women  who  have  passed  the 
prime  of  life,  are  unhealthy  and  scrofulous. 
The  great  remedy  for  the  whole  tribe  of  their 
scrofulous  affections,  without  which  all  other 
remedies  do  very  little  good,  is  simxliinr.  The 
solar  rays  is  one  of  the  most  efficient  therapeutic 
agents,  in  the  treatment  ofmany  other  affections 
to  which  they  arc  liable.    A  good,  wholesome, 


329 


NEGROES DISEASES    AND    PECULIARITIES    OF. 


mixed  diet,  vrarm  clothing,  warm,  dry  lodg- 
iogs  and  inuuction  of  the  skiu  with  dleaginoiis 
substances,  and  occasional  tepid  baths  of  salt 
and  water,  are  also  very  necessary  remedies. 
The  limits  of  this  report  will  not  permit  me  to 
go  .into  details  of  familiar  treatment,  as  the 
lise  of  iodine  and  the  usual  remedies. 

Framb.«sia,  Pian,  oa  Taws. — The  Fram- 
baesia,  Pian,  or  Yaws,  is  a  disease  thought  to 
be  peculiar  to  negroes.  I  have  seen  it  in  its 
worst  form  in  the  West  Indies.  I  have  occa- 
sionally met  with  it  iu  its  modified  form  in  the 
states  of  Mississippi  and  Louisiana,  where  it 
is  commonly  mistaken  for  syphilis.  It  is  a 
contagious  disease,  communicable  by  contact 
among  those  who  greatly  neglect  cleanliness. 
Children  are  liable  to  it  as  well  as  adults.  It 
is  supposed  to  be  communicable  in  a  modified 
form  to  the  white  race,  among  whom  it  re 
eembles  pseudo-syphilis,  or  some  disease  of 
the  nose,  throat  ur  larjnx.  Further  observa- 
tions are  wanting  iu  regard  to  it.  It  is  said 
to  be  very  prevalent  in  Tamaulipas  in  Mex- 
ico, attacking  the  nose  and  throat,  in  the  first 
instance,  very  similar  to  secondary  syphilitic 
affections,  without  ever  having  appeared  on 
the  genital  organs  at  all,  except  in  the  shape 
of  a  slight  herpes  preputialis.  According  to 
my  experience,  no  other  remedies  have  been 
found  to  make  the  least  impression  upon  it 
but  tlie  deutochloride  of  mercury,  combined 
with  guaiacum  and  dulcamarn.  Our  planters 
do  not  go  to  the  north  or  to  Europe  to  learn 
the  art  of  making  sugar,  cotton,  rice,  and  to- 
bacco, but  they  send  their  sous  there  to  study 
medicine  in  the  hospitals,  where  nearly  all  the 
diseases  they  see  arise  from  causes  unknown 
on  our  plantations — want  of  fooil,  fire,  and  the 
common  necessaries  of  life.  Very  good  phy- 
sicians they  might  be,  if  they  staid  there ;  but, 
on  returning  home,  they  have  to  study  medi- 
cine over  again  iu  the  school  of  experience,  be- 
fore they  can  practise  with  success,  particu- 
larly among  negroes.  It  would  be  very 
strange,  that  among  the  whole  nuiltitude  of 
medical  schools  iu  the  United  States,  there  is 
not  one  that  has  made  any  special  provision 
for  instruction  in  regard  to  tliree  millions  of 
people  in  the  southern  states,  representing 
half  the  value  of  southern  property,  diffei- 
ently  organized  in  mind  and  body  from  any 
other  people,  and  having  diseases  requirfng 
peculiar  treatment, — if  it  were  not  for  the 
Well-known  fact  of  the  predominance  of  a 
most  erroneous  hypi>the>is  among  statesmen, 
divines,  and  other  classes  of  people  nearly 
every  where,  '  That  there  are  no  radical  or 
physical  differences  in  mankind,  other  than 
tho-e  produced  by  external  circumstances, 
and  that  the  treatment  applicable  to  the 
white  man  would  be  just  as  good,  under  simi 
lar  external  circum.-tances,  for  the  negro.' 
This  false  hy[iotliesis  is  at  the  root  of  the,  doo 
trine  that  the  liberty  and  ]jolitical  institutions 
60  beneficial   to   the   white   man,  would   be 


equally  beneficial  to  the  negro — that  there  is 
no  internal  or  physical  difference  between  the 
two  races.  The  every-day  experience  of  the 
southern  people,  where  the  two  races  dwell 
together,  proves  this  hypothesis  ^to  bej  un- 
founded ;  whereas  its  fallacy  is  not  so  appa- 
rent to  the  people  of  the  north  and  of  Europe, 
where  only  one  race  of  mankind  is  found  in 
numbers  sufficient  to  make  comparisons  be- 
tween the  two.  Hence  they  have  not  the  data 
to  arrive  at  the  truth,  and  nothing  to  correct 
the  erroneous  views  tliat  a  false  dogma  has 
given  them  in  regard  to  negro  slavery.  But 
it  is  most  strange  that  our  institutions  for 
medical  learning,  south,  should  be  doing  no- 
thing, with  such  ample  materials  around 
them,  to  overturn  an  hypothesis  founded  in 
gros«  ignorance  of  the  anatomy  and  physiology 
of  the  African  race — an  hypothesis  threaten- 
ing to  cause  a  disruption  of  our  federal  gov- 
ernment, one  that  could  be  disproved  and  put 
down  for  ever  at  the  dissecting  table ;  as  it 
also  could  be  by  contrasting  the  pheuomena 
drawn  from  daily  observations  taken  among 
three  millions  of  negroes  in  health  and  disease, 
with  the  phenomena  already  drawn  from  ob- 
servations of  the  white  race ;  and  thereby 
proving  the  difference  of  organization  in  mind 
and  body  between  the  two  races.  Stranger 
still,  that  our  southern  schools  in  medicine 
should  be  content  to  linger  behind  those  of 
the  noith,  without  even  the  hope  of  rivalling 
them  in  the  numbers  of  their  students,  when 
a  prov'sion  for  including  in  their  course  of  in- 
struction the  three  millions  of  people  in  our 
midst  not  cared  for  by  any  school,  would,  in 
time,  put  them  fur  ahead  by  attracting  the 
current  of  students  south,  who  have  hereto- 
fore been  attracted  to  the  north.  Some  pro- 
vision iu  our  schools  especially  devoted  to  the 
anatomy  and  physiology  of  our  negroes, — to 
the  treatment  of  their  diseases,  to  the  best 
means  to  prevent  sickness  among  them,  to 
improve  their  condition,  and  at  the  same  time 
to  make  them  more  valuable  to  their  owners, 
and  governed  with  more  ease  and  safety, — 
would  be  sending  scieuce  into  a  new  and 
wide  field  of  usefulness,  to  reap  immense  ben- 
efits for  the  millions  of  both  races  inhabiting 
the  south. 

Necuio  Coxsumi'Tiox. — Xcgro  consumption 
is  a  disease  almost  unknown  to  medical  men 
of  the  northern  states  and  Europe.  A  few 
southi'rn  piiysiciaiis  have  acquired  some  valu- 
able iuformation  concerning  it  from  personal 
experience  and  observation;  but  this  know- 
ledge is  scattered  in  fragments  about,  and  has 
never  been  condenseil  in  a  form  to  make  it 
of  nuich  practical  utility.  Some  physicians, 
looking  upon  negro  consumption  through 
northern  books,  suppose  it  to  be  a  variety  of 
phthisis  pulmonalis ;  but  it  has  no  form  of 
resemblance  to  the  phthisis  of  the  white  race, 
except  iu  the  emiieiatiou,  or  when  it  is  com- 
plicated with  the  relics  of  pneumonia  or  a 


NEGROES — DISEASES    AND   PECULIARITIES   OF. 


321 


badly  cured  pleurisy.  Others  regard  it  as 
a  dyspepsia  or  some  disease  of  the  liver  or 
stomach ;  the  Frencli  call  it  mat  d'csloinac. 
But  dyspep.'iia  is  not  a  disease  of  the  negro ; 
it  is,  par  exccUcucc,  a  disease  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  race.  I  have  never  seen  a  well  marked 
case  of  dyspepsia  among  the  blacks.  It 
is  a  disease  that  selects  its  victims  from  the 
most  intellectual  of  manldnd,  passing  by  the 
ignorant  and  unreflecting. 

Tlie  popular  opinion  is  that  nogro  consump- 
tion is  caused  by  dlrt-eatbi(j.  The  eating  of 
dirt  is  not  the  cause,  but  only  one  of  the  ef- 
fects— a  mere  symptom,  -which  may  or  may 
not  attend  it  As  in  pica,  there  is  often  a  de- 
praved appetite  for  substaucos  not  nutritious, 
as  eartli,  chalk,  lime,  etc. ;  but  oftener,  as  in 
malacia,  a  depraved  a[)petite  for  nutritious 
substances,  to  a  greater  degree  than  for  non- 
nutritious.  In  negro  consumption  the  patients 
are  generally  hearty  eaters  of  all  kinds  of 
food ;  but  there  are  exceptions. 

The  disease  may  be  detected  at  a  very 
early  stage  of  its  existence,  by  the  pale,  whit- 
ish color  of  the  mucous  membrane  lining  the 
gums  and  the  inside  of  the  mouth,  lips  and 
chet'ks:  so  white  are  the  mucous  surfaces, 
that  some  overseers  call  it  the  paper-gum  dis- 
ease. It  can  be  detected,  however,  in  its  in- 
cipient f-tate,  by  making  the  patient  ascend  a 
flight  of  stairs  ;  the  pulse  will  be  accelerated 
from  eighty  or  ninety  beats  to  an  hundred  and 
thirty  or  forty.  All  kinds  of  active  exercise 
will  greatly  accelerate  the  pulse — that  of  walk- 
ing up  hill  or  up  stairs  more  than  any  other. 
The  skin  is  ashy  pale  and  dry  ;  the  veins  of 
the  head  are  distended,  and  show  more  than 
in  health  •,  occasionally  during  the  day,  there 
is  some  heat  of  the  skin  and  febrile  excite- 
ment; the  blood  is  poor,  pale  and  thm,  in  the 
advanced  stages,  containing  very  few  red 
globules;  but  the  pathognomonic  symptoms 
of  the  complaint  are  the  acceleration  of  the 
pulse  on  exercise,  and  the  whiteness  of  the 
lining  membrane  of  the  cheeks,  lips  and  gums ; 
the  lining  membrane  of  the  eye-lids  is  also 
pale  and  whitish.  It  is  of  nnportance  to  know 
the  pathognomonic  signs  in  its  caily  stages, 
not  only  in  regard  to  its  treatment,  but  to  de- 
tect impositions,  as  negroes  afflicted  with  the 
complaint  are  often  for  sale ;  the  acceleration 
of  the  pulse  on  exercise  incapacitates  them 
for  labor,  as  they  quickly  give  out  and  have 
to  leave  their  work.  This  induces  their  own- 
ers to  sell  them,  although  they  may  not  know 
the  cause  of  their  inability  to  labor.  Many 
of  the  negroes  brought  south  for  sale  are  in 
the  incipient  stage  of  the  disease ;  they  are 
found  to  be  inefficient  laborers,  and  are  sold 
in  consequence  thereof. 

In  order  to  be  able  to  prevent  or  cure  any 

malady,  it  is  necessaiy  to  know  its  cause  and 

its  seat.     The  seat  of  negro  consumption  is 

not  in  the  Inngs,  stomach,  liver,  or  any  organ 

VOL.  II. 


of  the  body,  but  in  the  mind,  and  its  cause  is 
generally  mismanagement  or  bad  government 
on  the  part  of  the  master,  and  superstition  or 
dissatisfaction  on  the  part  of  the  negro.  The 
patients  themselves  believe  that  they  are  poi- 
soned :  they  are  right,  but  it  is  not  the  body, 
but  the  mind  that  is  poisoned.  Negroes  are 
very  jealous  and  suspicious;  hence,  if  they 
are  slighted  or  imposed  on  in  any  way,  or 
over-tasked;  or  do  not  get  what  they  call  their 
rights,  they  are  apt  to  fall  into  a  morbid  state 
of  mind,  with  sulkiness  and  dissatisfaction 
very  plainly  depicted  in  their  countenances. 
It  is  bad  government  to  let  them  remain  ia 
this  sulky,  dissatisfied  mood,  without  inquir- 
ing into  its  causes  and  removing  them ;  other- 
wise, its  long  continuance  leads  to  the  disease 
under  consideration.  They  fancy  that  their 
fellow-servants  are  against  them,  that  their 
master  or  overseer  cares  nothing  for  them  or 
is  prejudiced  against  them,  or  that  some  ene- 
my on  the  plantation  or  in  the  neighborhood 
has  tricked  ihem,  that  is,  laid  poison  for  them 
to  walk  over,  or  given  it  to  them  in  their 
food  or  drinks.  On  almost  every  large  plan- 
tation there  is  one  or  more  negroes,  who  are 
ambitious  of  being  considered  in  the  charac- 
ter of  conjurers,  in  order  to  gain  influence,  and 
to  make  the  others  fear  and  obey  them. 
The  influence  that  these  pretended  conjurers 
exercise  over  their  fellow-servants  would  not 
be  credited  by  persons  unacquainted  with  the 
superstitious  mind  of  the  negro.  Nearly  all, 
particularly  those  who  have  passed  the  age 
of  puberty,  are  at  times  kept  in  constant 
dread  and  terror  by  the  conjurers.  These 
impostors,  like  all  other  impostors,  take  ad- 
vantage of  circumstances  to  swell  their  im- 
portance, and  to  inculcate  a  belief  in  their 
miraculous  powers  to  bring  good  or  evil  upon 
those  they  like  or  dislike.  It  may  be  thought 
that  the  old  superstition  about  conjuration  has 
passed  away  with  the  old  stock  of  native 
Africans ;  but  it  is  too  deeply  radicated  in 
the  negro  intellect  to  pass  away ;  intelligent 
negroes  believe  in  it,  who  are  ashamed  to 
acknowledge  it.  The  effect  of  such  a  super- 
stition—a firm  belief  that  he  is  poisoned  or 
conjured — upon  the  patient's  mind,  already 
in  a  morbid  state,  and  his  health  affected 
from  hard  usage,  over-tasking,  or  exposure, 
want  of  wholesome  food,  good  clothing,  warm, 
comfortable  lodging,  with  the  distressing  idea 
that  he  is  an  object  of  hatred  or  dislike  both 
to  his  master  and  fellow-servants,  and  has  no 
one  to  befriend  him,  tends  directly  to  gene- 
rate that  erythism  of  mind  which  is  the 
essential  cause  of  negro  consumption.  This 
erythism  of  mind,  like  the  erythism  of  the 
gravid  uterus  in  delicate  females,  often  causes 
a  depraved  appetite  for  earth,  chalk,  lime, 
and  such  indigestible  substances.  The  digest- 
ive passages,  in  both  cases,  become  coated 
with  acescent  mucosities  or  clogged  with  sa- 
21 


322 


NEGROES DISEASES   AND   PECULIARITIES    OF. 


burricious  matters.     Natural  instinct  leads' 
Buch  patients  to  absorbents  to   correct  the 
state  of  the  stomach. 

In  the  depraved  appetite  caused  by  preg- 
nancy, or  in  young  women  afflicted  with  leu- 
corrh(oa,  true  art  improves  upon  instinct,  or 
the  natural  medication  of  the  patients  them- 
selves, by  substituting  magnesia,  cathartics,  i 
bitters  and  tonics.  But  for  the  same  morbid 
appetite  in  negro  consumption,  the  natural ; 
medication,  resorted  to  by  the  instinctive 
wants  of  the  patient,  is  mistaken  for  the  cause  ' 
of  the  disease.  It  is  not  only  earth  or  claj^ 
that  the  patients  have  an  appetite  for,  but, 
like  chlorotic  girls,  they  desire  vinegar,  pep- 
per, salt,  and  stimulants.  Tiieir'skins  are  dry, 
£  roving  want  of  cutaneous  exhalation ;  very 
ttle  aqueous  vapor  is  thrown  off  from  the 
lungs,  owing  to  their  inability  to  take  exer- 
cise. Consequently,  defluxions  occur  on  the 
mucous  coat  of  the  digestive  passages,  from 
want  of  action  of  the  skin  and  lungs;  the 
mucosity  lining  the  intestinal  canal  interrupts 
the  absorption  of  chyle ;  the  blood  becomes 
impoverished,  and  the  body  wastes  away 
from  interstitial  absorption  and  want  of  uutri 
ment. 

As  far  as  medication  is  concei-ned,  I  have 
found  a  combination  of  tartar  emetic  half 
grain,  capsicum  five  grains,  a  teasjjoonful  of 
charcoal,  a  tablespoonful  of  gum  guaiacum, 
three  times  a  day,  a  good  remedy ;  also,  rub- 
bing the  whole  surface  of  the  body  over  with 
some  oily  substance.  But  there  are  various 
other  remedies,  as  purgatives,  tonics,  &c., 
•which  should  be  assisted  by  removing  the  ori- 
ginal cause  of  the  dissatisfaction  or  trouble  of 
mind,  and  by  using  every  means  to  make  the 
patient  comfortable,  satisfied  and  happy. 

Drapetomaxia,  or  the  Disease  causing 
Negroes  to  Run  Away. — Drapetoraauia  is 
from  6part£z''/f,  a  runaway  slave,  and  fiavici, 
mad  or  crazy.  It  is  unknown  to  our  medical 
authorities,  although  its  diagnostic  symptom, 
the  absconding  from  service,  is  as  well  known 
to  our  planters  and  overseers  as  it  was  to  the 
ancient  Greeks,  Avho  expressed,  by  the  single 
■word  6pttrt£T'';j,  the  fact  of  the  absconding, 
and  the  relation  that  the  fugitive  held  to  the 
person  he  fled  from.  I  have  added  to  the 
word  meaning  runaway  slave  another  Greek 
term,  to  express  the  disease  of  the  mind 
causing  him  to  abscond.  In  noticing  a  disease 
not  lieretofore  classed  among  the  long  list  of 
maladies  that  man  is  subject  to,  it  was  neces- 
sary to  have  a  new  term  to  express  it.  The 
cause,  in  the  most  of  cases,  that  induces  the 
negro  to  run  away  from  service,  is  as  much  a 
disease  of  the  mind  as  any  other  species  of 
mental  alienation,  and  much  more  curable,  as 
a  general  rule.  With  the  advantages  of  pro 
per  medical  advice,  strictly  followed,  this 
troublesome  practice  that  many  negroes  have 
of  running  away  can  be  almost  entirely  jire- 
vented,  although  the  slaves  be  located  on  the 


borders  of  a  free  state,  within  a  stone's  throw 
of  the  abolitionists.  I  was  born  in  Virginia, 
east  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  where  negroes  were 
numerous,  and  studied  medicine  some  years 
in  Maryland,  a  slave  state,  separated  from 
Penn3Ylvania,a  free  state, by  Mason  <fe  Dixon's 
line — a  mere  air  line,  without  wall  or  guard. 
I  long  ago  observed  that  some  persons  consid- 
ered as  very  good,  and  others  as  very  bad 
masters,  often  lost  their  negroes  by  their  ab- 
sconding from  service;  while  the  slaves  of 
another  class  of  persons,  remarkable  for  order 
ami  good  discipline,  but  not  praised  or  blamed 
as  good  or  bad  masters,  never  ran  away, 
although  no  guard  or  forcible  means  were 
used  to  prevent  them.  The  same  manage- 
ment which  prevented  them  from  walking 
over  a  mere  nominal,  unguarded  line,  will 
prevent  them  from  running  away  any  where. 
To  ascertain  the  true  method  of  governing 
negroes,  so  as  ti  cure  and  prevent  the  disease 
under  consideration,  we  must  go  back  to  the 
Pentateuch,  and  learn  the  true  meaning  of 
the  untranslated  term  that  represents  the 
negro  race.  In  the  name  there  given  to  that 
race,  is  locked  up  the  true  art  of  governing 
negroes  in  such  a  manner  that  they  cannot 
run  away.  The  correct  translation  of  that 
term  declares  the  Creator's  will  in  regard  to 
the  negro ;  it  declares  him  to  be  the  submis- 
sive knee-bender.  In  the  anatomical  confor- 
mation of  his  knees,  we  see  "  genu  fcxit"  > 
written  in  his  physical  structure,  being  more  ' 
flexed  or  bent  than  anj'  other  kind  of  man, 
If  the  white  man  attempts  to  oppose  the  > 
Deity's  will,  by  trying  to  make  the  negro  any 
thing  else  than  "the  submissive  knee-bender" 
(which  the  Almighty  declared  he  should  be,) 
hy  trying  to  raise  him  to  a  level  with  himself 
or  by  putting  himself  on  an  equality  witli  the 
negro ;  or  if  he  abuses  the  power  Avhich  God 
has  given  him  over  his  fellow-man,  by  being 
cruel  to  him,  or  punishing  him  in  anger,  or  by 
neglecting  to  protect  him  from  the  wanton 
abuses  of  his  fellow-servants  and  all  others, 
or  by  denying  him  the  usual  comforts  and  ne- 
cessaries of  life,  the  negro  will  run  away, 
but  if  he  keeps  him  in  the  position  that  we 
learn  from  the  Scri]>tures  he  was  intended  to 
occupy,  that  is,  the  position  of  submission-, 
and  if  his  master  or  overseer  be  kind  and 
gracious  in  his  bearing  towards  him,  without 
condescension,  and  at  the  same  time  ministers 
to  his  physical  wants,  and  protects  him  from 
abuses,  the  negro  is  spell-bound,  and  cannot 
runaway.  " lie  shall  serve  Jap/idh ;  he  shall 
be  his  servant  of  servants,"  on  the  conditions 
above  mentioned — conditions  that  are  clearly 
implied,  though  not  directly  expressed.  Ac- 
cording to  my  experience,  the  "  genu  flexit," 
the  awe  and  reverence,  must  be  exacted  from 
them,  or  tlu^y  will  dos])ise  their  masters,  be- 
come rude  and  ungovernable,  and  run  away.  , 
On  Mason  »t  Dixon's  line,  two  classes  of  per- 
sons were  apt  to  lose  their  negroes :  those  who 


NEGROES — DISEASES   AND    PECULIARITIES    OF. 


323 


made  themselves  too  familiar  with  them,l  slaves  on  our  plantations,  and  attacks  only 
treating  tlicin  as  cquab,  aod  nialdng  little  orj  such  slaves  as  live  like  free  negroes  in  re- 
no  (iistiiu'tion  in  regard  to  color;  and,  on  the ,  gard  to  diet,  drinks,  exercise,  etc.  It  is  not 
otlKT  hand,  those  who  treated  them  cruelly, .my  purpose  to  treat  of  the  complaint  as  it 
denied  them  the  common  necessaries  of  life,  prevails  among  free  negroes,  nearly  all  of 
neglected  to  protect  them  against  the  abuses  whom  are  more  or  less  aillicted  with  it, 
of  others,  or  frightened  them  by  a  blustering  that  have  not  got  some  white  person  to 
manner  of  approach,  when  about  to  punish  direct  and  take  care  of  them.  To  narrate 
them  for  misdemeanors.     Before  negroes  run  |  its  symptoms  and  efiects  among  them  would 


away,  unless  they  are  frightened  or  panic- 
struck,  tliey  become  sulky  and  dissatisfied. 
The  cause  of  this  sulkiness  and  d  ssatisfaction 
should  be  inquired  into  and  removed,  or  they 
are  apt  to  run  away,  or  fall  info  the  negro 
consumption.  When  sulky  and  dissatisfied 
without  cause,  the  experience  of  thos^e  on  the 
line  or  elsewhere  was  decidedly  in  favor  of 
whipping  them  out  of  it,  as  a  preventive 
measure  against  absconding,  or  other  bad  con- 
duct. It  was  called  whipping  the  devil  out 
of  them. 

If  treated  kindly,  well  fed  and  clothed, 
with  fuel  enough  to  keep  a  small  fire  burning 
all  night  — separated  mto  families,  each  family 
having  its  own  house — not  permitted  to  run 
about  at  ni  ght  to  visit  their  neighbors,  to  re- 
ceive visits,  or  to  use  intoxicating  liquors,  and 
not  overworked  or  exposed  too  much  to  the 
weather,  they  are  easily  governed — more  so 
than  any  other  people  in  the  world.  When 
all  this  is  done,  if  any  one  or  more  of  them, 
at  any  time,  are  inclined  to  raise  their  heads 
to  a  level  with  their  master  or  overseer,  hu- 
manity and  their  own  good  require  that  they 
should  be  punished  until  they  fall  into  that 


be  to  write  a  history  of  the  ruins  and  dilapi- 
dation of  Ilayti,  and  every  spot  of  earth 
they  have  ever  had  uncontrolled  possession 
over  for  any  length  of  time.  1  propose  only 
to  describe  its  symptoms  among  slaves. 

From  the  careless  movements  of  the  indi- 
viduals affected  with  the  complaint,  they 
are  apt  to  do  much  mischief,  which  apjieara 
as  if  intentional,  but  is  mostly  owing  to  the 
stupidness  of  mind  and  insensibility  of  the 
nerves  induced  by  the  disease.  Thus,  they 
break,  waste  and  destroy  every  thing  they 
handle — abuse  horses  and  cattle — tear,  burn 
or  rend  their  own  clothing,  and,  paying  no 
attention  to  the  rights  of  jn-operty,  steal 
others,  to  replace  what  they  have  destroy- 
ed. They  wander  about  at  night,  and  keep 
in  a  half  nodding  sleep  during  the  day. 
They  slight  their  work — cut  up  corn,  cane, 
cotton  or  tobacco  when  hoeing  it,  as  if  for 
pure  mischief.  They  raise  disturbances 
with  their  overseers  and  fellow-servants 
without  cause  or  motive,  and  seem  to  be  in- 
sensible to  pain  when  subjected  to  punish- 
ment. The  fact  of  the  existence  of  such  a 
complaint,  making  man  like  an  automaton 


submissive  state  which  it  was  intended  for  or  senseless  machine,  having  the  above  or 
them  to  occupy  in  all  after-time,  when  their  i  similar  symptoms,  can  be  clearly  established 
progenitor  received  the  name  of  Canaan  or  by  the  most  direct  and  positive  testimony. 
"  submissive  knee-bender."  They  have  only  That  it  should  have  escaped  the  attention  of 
to  be  kept  iu  that  state  and  treated  like  the  medical  profession,  can  only  be  account- 
children,  with  care,  kindness,  attention,  and   ed  for  because  its  attention  has  not  been 


humanity,  to  prevent  and  cure  them  from 
running  away, 


sufficiently  directed  to  the  maladies  of  the 
negro  race.     Otherwise  a  complaint  of  so 


Dvs.KsriiESi.v  ^riiiopiCA,  or  Hebetude  of  common  occurrence  on  badly-governed  plan 

MixDAND  Obtuse  SEXsiBtLrrv  OF  Body — Adis-  tations,  and  so  universal  among  free  negroes, 

EASE  PECtJLiAR  TO  Xegeoes,  CALLED  BY  OvER-  er  tliosc  who  are  not  governed  at  all — a  dis- 

8EER.S,    "  Rascality." — Dj-sa^sthesia    ^thio-  ease  radicated  in  physical  lesions,  and  hav- 

pica  is  a  disease  peculiar  to  negroes,  affect-  ing  its  peculiar  and  well-marked  symptoms 

mg  both  mind  and  body  in  a  manner  as  well  and  its  curative  indications,  would  not  have 


expressed  by  dysa^sthesia,  the  name  I  have 
given  it,  as  could  bo  by  a  single  term. 
There  is  both  mind  and  sensibility,  but  both 
seem  to  be  dillieult  to  reach  by  impressions 
from  without.  Tliere  is  a  partial  insensi- 
bility of  the  skin,  and  so  great  a  hebetude 
of  the  intellectual  faculties,  as  to  be  like  a 
person  half  asleep,  that  is  with  difficulty 
aroused  and  kept  awake.  It  differs  from 
every  other  species  of  mental  disease,  as  it 
is  accompanied  with  physical  signs  or  lesions 
of  the  body   discoverable  to  the   medical 


escaped  the  notice  of  the  profession.  The 
northern  physicians  and  people  have  noticed 
the  symptoms,  but  not  the  disease  from 
which  they  spring.  They  ignorantly  attrib- 
ute the  symptoms  to  the  debasing  influence 
of  slavery  on  the  mind,  without  considering 
that  those  who  have  never  been  in  slavery, 
or  their  fathers  before  them,  are  the  most 
alfiieted,  and  the  latest  from  the  slavehold- 
ing  south  the  least  The  disease  is  the  nat- 
ural offspring  of  negro  liberty — the  liberty 
to  be  idle,  to  wallow  in  filth,  and  to  indulge 


observer,  Avliieh  are  always  present  and  in  improper  food  and  drinks, 
sufficient  to  account  for  the  symptoms.  It  In  treating  of  the  anatomy  and  ])hysiol- 
is  much  more  prevalent  among  free  negroes  ogy  of  the  negro,  I  showed  that  his  respi- 
living  in  clusters  by  themselves,  than  among  I  ratory  system  was  under  the  same  physio- 


324 


KEGROES — DISEASES   AND   PECULIARITIES   OF. 


logical  laws'as  that  of  an  infant  child  of  the 
white  race  ;  that  a  warm  atmosphere,  load- 
ed with  carbonic  acid  and  aqueous  vapor, 
was  the  most  congenial  to  his  lungs  during 
sleep,  as  it  is  to  the  infant ;  that  to  insure 
the  respiration  of  such  an  atmosphere,  he 
invariably,  as  if  moved  by  instinct,  shrouds 
his  head  and  face  in  a  blanket  or  some 
other  covering  when  disposing  himself  to 
sleep ;  that  in  sleeping  by  the  fire  in  cold 
weather,  he  turns  his  head  to  it,  instead  of 
his  feet,  evidently  to  inhale  warm  air ;  that 
when  not  in  active  exercise,  he  always 
hovers  over  a  fire  in  comparatively  warm 
weather,  as  if  he  took  a  positive  pleasure  in 
inhaling  hot  air  and  smoke  when  his  body 
is  qiiiescent.  The  natural  effect  of  this 
practice,  it  was  shown,  caused  inperfect 
atmospherization  or  vitalization  of  the  blood 
in  the  lungs,  as  occurs  in  infancy,  and  a 
hebetude  or  torpor  of  intellect — from  blood 
not  sufficiently  vitalized  being  distributed 
to  the  brain  ;  also  a  slothfulness,  torpor  and 
disinclination  to  exercise  from  the  same 
cause — the  want  of  blood  sufficiently  vital- 
ized in  the  circulating  system. 

"When  left  to  himself,  the  negro  indulges 
in  his  natural  disposition  to  idleness  and 
sloth,  and  does  not  take  exercise  enough  to 
expand  his  lungs  and  to  vitalize  his  blood, 
but  dozes  oiit  a  miserable  existence  in  the 
midst  of  filth  and  imcleanliness,  being  too 
indolent,  and  having  too  little  energy  of 
mind  to  provide  for  himself  proper  food  and 
comfortable  lodging  andclotliing.  The  con- 
sequence is,  that  the  blood  becomes  so  high- 
ly carbonized  and  deprived  of  oxygen,  that 
it  not  only  becomes  unfit  to  stimulate  the 
brain  to  energy,  but  unfit  to  stimulate  the 
nerves  of  sensation  distributed  to  the  body. 
A  torpor  and  insensibility  pervades  the  sys- 
tem ;  the  sentient  nerves  distributed  to  the 
skin  lose  their  feeling  in  so  great  a  degree, 
that  he  often  burns  his  skin  by  the  fire  he 
hovers  over  without  knowing  it,  and  fre- 
quently has  large  holes  in  his  clothes,  and 
the  shoes  on  his  feet  burnt  to  a  crisp,  with- 
out having  been  conscious  when  it  was 
done.  This  is  the  disease  called  dysfosthe- 
sia — a  Greek  term  expressing  the  dull  or  ob- 
tuse sensation  that  always  attends  the  com- 
plaint. When  aroused  from  his  sloth  by 
the  stimulus  of  hunger,  he  takes  any  thing 
he  can  lay  his  hands  on,  and  ti'amples  on 
the  rights,  as  well  as  on  the  property  of 
others,  with  perfect  indifference  as  to  con- 
sequences. When  driven  to  labor  by  the 
compulsive  power  of  the  white  man,  he  per 
forms  the  task  assigned  to  him  in  a  head- 
long, careless  manner,  treading  down  with 
his  feet,  or  cutting  with  his  hoe  the  plants 
he  is  put  to  cultivate — breaking  the  tools 
he  works  with,  and  spoiling  every  thing  he 
touches  that  can  be  injured  by  careless 
handling.     Hence  the  overseers  call  it  "ras- 


cality," supposing  that  the  mischief  is  inten- 
tionally done.  But  there  is  no  premedi- 
tated mischief  in  the  case  ;  the  mind  is  too 
torpid  to  meditate  mischief,  or  CA'en  to  be 
aroused  by  any  angry  passions  to  deeds  of 
daring.  Dysu'sthesia,  or  hebetude  of  sensa- 
tion of  both  mind  and  body,  prevails  to  so 
great  an  extent^  that  when  the  unfortunate 
individual  is  subjected  to  jnmishment.,  he 
neither  feels  pain  of  any  consequence,  nor 
shows  any  unusual  resentment,  more  than 
by  a  stupid  sulkiness.  In  some  cases,  anaes- 
thesia' would  be  a  more  suitable  name  for 
it,  as  there  appears  to  be  an  almost  total 
loss  of  feeling.  The  term  "rascality,"  given 
to  this  disease  by  overseers,  is  founded  on 
an  erroneous  hypothesis,  and  leads  to  an 
incorrect  empirical  treatment,  which  seldom 
or  never  cures  it. 

The  complaint  is  easily  curable,  if  treated 
on  sound  physiological  principles.  The 
skin  is  dry,  thick  and  harsh  to  the  touch, 
and  the  liver  inactive.  Tlie  liver,  skin  and 
kidneys  should  be  stimulated  to  activity, 
and  be  made  to  assist  in  decarbonizing  the 
blood.  The  best  means  to  stimulate  the 
skin  is,  first,  to  have  the  patient  well  wash- 
ed with  warm  water  and  soap ;  then,  to  an- 
oint it  all  over  with  oil,  iind  to  slap  the  oil 
in  with  a  broad  leather  strap  ;  then  to  put 
the  patient  to  some  hard  kind  of  work  in  the 
open  air  and  sunshine,  that  will  compel  him 
to  expand  his  lungs,  as  chopping  wood, 
splitting  rails,  or  sawing  with  the  cross-cut 
or  whip  saw.  Any  kind  of  labor  will  do 
that  will  cause  full  and  free  respiration  in 
its  performance,  as  lifting  or  carrying  heavy 
weights,  or  brisk  walking ;  the  object  being 
to  expand  the  lungs  by  full  and  deep  inspi- 
rations and  expirations,  thereby  to  vitalize 
the  impure  circulating  blood  by  introducing 
oxygen  and  expelling  carbon.  This  treat- 
ment should  not  be  continued  too  long  at  a 
time,  because,  where  the  circulating  fluids 
are  so  impure  as  in  this  complaint,  patients 
cannot  stand  protracted  exercise  without 
resting  frequently,  and  drinking  freely  of 
cold  water  or  some  cooling  beverage,  as 
lemonade,  or  alternated  pepper  tea  sweet- 
ened with  molasses.  In  bad  cases,  the 
blood  has  always  the  appearance  of  blood 
in  scurvy,  and  commonly  there  is  a  scor- 
butic affection  to  be  seen  on  the  gums. 
After  resting  until  the  palpitation  of  the 
heart  caused  by  the  exercise  is  allayed,  the 

f)atient  should  cat  some  good  wholesome 
ood,  well  seasoned  with  spices,  and  mixed 
with  vegetables,  ns  turnip  or  mustard  salad, 
with  vinegar.  After  a  moderate  meal,  he 
should  resume  his  work  again,  resting  at  in- 
tervals, and  taking  refreshments,  and  sup- 
porting the  perspiration  1)y  partaking  freely 
of  li(juids.  At  niglit  he  should  be  lodged 
in  a  warm  room  with  a  small  fire  in  it,  and 
should   have   a   clean  bed  with  sufficient 


NEGROES DISEASKS    AND    PECULIARITIES    OF. 


325 


Llanket  covering,  aud  be  washed  clean  be- 
fore going  to  lied  :  in  the  moi'iiiiig,  oiled, 
slapped,  and  put  to  work  as  before.  Such 
treatment  will,  in  a  short  time,  effect  a  cure 
in  all  cases  v.-liieh  are  not  eonipliealed  with 
chronic  visceral  derangements.  The  effect 
of  this  or  a  like  course  of  treatment  is  often 
like  enchantment.  No  sooner  does  the 
blood  feel  the  vivifying  intUiences  derived 
from  its  full  and  perfect  atmospherization 
by  exercise  in  the  open  air  and  in  the  sun. 
than  the  negro  seems  to  be  awakened  to  a 
new  existence,  and  to  look  grateful  and 
thankful  to  the  white  man  Avhose  compul- 
sory power,  hj  making  him  inhale  vital  air, 
has  restored  his  sensation,  and  disjielled  the 
mist  that  clouded  his  intellect.  His  intelli- 
gence restored,  and  his  sensations  awaken- 
ed, he  is  no  longer  the  b'ljtedum  ncquissinuis, 
or  arrant  rascal,  he  was  su]iposed  to  be,  but 
a  good  negro  that  can  hoe  or  plough,  and 
handle  things  with  as  much  care  as  his  fel- 
low servants. 

Contrary  to  the  received  opinion,  a  northern 
climate  is  the  most  fiivorable  to  the  intellect- 
ual development  of  negroes;  those  of  Mis- 
souri, Kentucky,  and  the  colder  parts  of  Vir- 
ginia aud  Maryland  havmg  much  more  mental 
energy,  being  more  bold  and  ungovernable, 
than  in  the  southern  lowlands ;  a  dense  at- 
mosphere causing  a  better  ventihition  of  their 
blood. 

Although  idleness  is  the  most  prolific  cause 
of  dysa3sthe8ia,  yet  there  are  other  ways  that 
the  blood  gets  deteriorated.  I  said  before 
that  negroes  are  like  children,  requiring  gov- 
ernment in  every  thing.  If  not  governed  m 
their  diet,  they  are  apt  to  eat  too  much  salt 
meat  and  not  enough  bread  and  vegetables, 
which  practice  generates  a  scorbutic  state  of 
the  fluids  aud  leads  to  the  affection  under 
consideration.  This  form  of  the  complaint 
always  shows  itself  in  the  gums,  wliich  be- 
come spongy  aud  dark  and  leave  the  teeth. 
Uncleanliness  of  skin  and  torpid  liver  also 
tend  to  produce  it.  A  scurvy  set  of  negroes 
means  the  same  thing,  in  the  south,  as  a  dis- 
orderly, worthless  set.  Tliat  the  blood,  when 
rendered  impure  and  carbonaceous  from  any 
cause,  as  from  idleness,  filthy  habits,  unwhole- 
some food  or  alcoholic  drinks,  affects  the  mind, 
is  not  only  known  to  physicians,  but  was 
known  to  the  Bard  of  Avon  when  he  penned 
the  lines — "  We  are  uot  ourselves  when  Na- 
ture, being  oppressed,  commands  the  mind  to 
suffer  with  the  body." 

According  to  unaltered  pliysiological  laws, 
negroes,  as  a  general  rule,  to  which  there  are 
but  few  exceptions,  can  only  have  their  intel- 
lectual faculties  awakened  in  a  sufficient  de- 
gree to  receive  moral  culture  and  to  profit  by 
religious  or  other  instructions,  wlien  under  the 
compulsory  authority  of  tlie  white  man ; 
because,  as  a  general  rule,  to  which  there  are 
but  few  exceptions,  they  will  uot  take  suffi- 


cient exercise,  when  removed  from  the  white 
man's  authority,  to  vitalize  aud  decarbonize 
their  blood  by  the  process  of  full  and  free 
respiration,  that  active  exercise  of  some  kind 
alone  can  effect.  A  northern  climate  i-emodies, 
in  a  considerable  degree,  their  naturally  indo- 
lent disposition  ;  but  the  dense  atmosphere  of 
Boston  or  Canada  can  scarcely  produce  suflj- 
cient  hematosis  and  vigor  of  mind  to  induce 
them  to  labor.  From  their  natural  indolence, 
uuless  under  the  stimulus  of  compulsion,  they 
doze  away  their  lives,  with  the  capacity  of 
their  lungs  for  atmospheric  air  only  half  ex- 
panded, from  the  want  of  exercise  to  superin- 
duce full  and  deep  respiration.  The  inevitable 
effect  is  to  prevent  a  sufficient  atmospheriza- 
tion or  vitalization  of  the  blood,  so  essential 
to  the  expansion  and  the  freedom  of  action  of 
the  intellectual  faculties.  The  black  blood 
distributed  to  the  brain  chains  the  mind  to 
ignorance,  superstition  and  barbarism,  aud 
bolts  the  door  against  civilization,  moral  cul- 
ture, and  religious  truth.  The  compulsory 
power  of  the  white  man,  by  making  the 
slothfid  negro  take  active  exercise,  puts  into 
active  play  the  lungs,  through  whose  agency 
the  vitalized  blood  is  sent  to  the  brain,  to  give 
liberty  to  the  mind  and  to  open  the  door  to 
intellectual  improvement.  The  very  exercise, 
so  beneficial  to  the  negro,  is  expended  in  cul- 
tivating those  burning  fields  of  cotton,  sugar, 
rice,  and  tobacco,  which,  but  for  his  labor, 
would,  from  the  heat  of  the  climate,  go  un- 
cidtivated,  and  their  products  be  lost  to  the 
world.  Both  parties  are  benefited — the  negro 
as  well  as  the  master — eveu  more.  But  there 
is  a  third  party  benefited — the  world  at  large. 
The  three  millions  of  bales  of  cotton,  made 
by  negro  labor,  afford  a  cheap  clothing  for  the 
civilized  world.  The  laboring  classes  of  all 
mankind  having  less  to  pay  for  clothing,  have 
more  mouey  to  spend  in  educating  their  child- 
ren in  intellectual,  moral,  and  rehgious  pro- 
gress. 

The  wisdom,  mercy,  aud  justice  of  the  de- 
cree, that  Canaan  shall  serve  Japheth,  is 
proved  by  the  disease  we  have  been  consider- 
ing, because  it  proves  that  his  physical  organ- 
ization and  the  laws  of  his  nature  are  in  per- 
fect unison  with  slavery,  aud  in  entire  dis- 
cordance with  liberty — a  discordance  so  great 
as  to  produce  the  loathsome  disease  that  we 
have  been  considering,  as  one  of  its  inevitable 
effects — a  disease  that  locks  up  the  under- 
stantiing,  blunts  the  sensations,  and  chains  the 
mind  to  sujjcrstition,  ignorance,  and  barbarism. 
Slaves  are  not  subject  to  this  disease,  unless 
they  are  permitted  to  live  like  free  negroes, 
in  idleness  and  filth — to  eat  improper  ftwd  or 
to  indulge  in  spiiituous  liquors.  It  is  not 
their  masters'  interest  that  they  should  do  so; 
as  they  would  uot  only  be  unprofitable,  but 
as  great  a  nuisance  to  the  south  as  the  free 
negroes  were  found  to  be  in  London,  whom 
\  the  British  governmeat,  more  than  half  a 


326 


NEGROES DISEASES    AND    PECULIARITIES    OP. 


century  ago,  colonized  in  Sierra  Leone  to  get 
them  out  of  the  way.  The  mad  fanaticism 
that  British  writers,  lecturers  and  emissaries, 
and  the  East  India  Company,  planted  in  our 
northern  states,  after  it  was  found  by  well- 
tried  experiments  that  free  negroes  in  Eng- 
land, in  Canada,  in  Sierra  Leone  and  elsewhere 
were  a  perfect  nuisance,  and  would  not  work 
as  free  laborers,  but  would  retrograde  to 
barl)arism,  was  not  planted  there  in  opposition 
to  British  policy.  Whatever  was  the  motive 
of  Great  Britain  in  sowing  the  whirlwind  in 
our  nortlieru  states,  it  is  now  threatening  the 
disruption  of  a  mighty  empire  of  the  happiest, 
most  progressive,  and  Christian  people  that 
ever  inhabited  the  earth — and  the  only  em- 
pire on  the  wide  earth  that  England  dreads 
as  a  rival,  either  in  arts  or  in  arms. 

Our  Declaration  of  Independence,  which 
was  drawn  up  at  a  time  when  negroes  were 
scarcely  considered  as  human  beings,  "  That 
all  men  are  by  nature  free  and  equal"  and 
only  intended  to-  apply  to  white  men,  is  often 
quoted  in  support  of  the  false  dogma  that  all 
mankind  possess  the  same  mental,  physiolo- 
gical, and  anatomical  organization,  and  that 
the  liberty,  free  institutions,  and  whatever 
else  would  be  a  blessing  to  one  portion,  would, 
under  the  same  external  circumstances,  be  to 
all,  without  regard  to  any  original  or  internal 
differences  inherent  in  the  organiz:ition.  Al- 
though England  preaches  this  doctrine,  she 
practises  in  opposition  to  it  every  where.  In- 
stance her  treatment  of  the  Gipsies  in  Eng- 
land, the  Hindoos  in  India,  the  Hottentots  at 
her  Cape  colony,  and  the  aboriginal  inhabitants 
of  New-Holland.  The  dys£OJthesia  rethiopica 
adds  another  to  the  man}'  ten  thousand  evi- 
dences of  the  fallacy  of  the  dogma  that 
abolitionism  is  built  on ;  for  here,  in  a  country 
where  two  races  of  men  dwell  together,  both 
born  on  the  same  soil,  breathing  the  same  air, 
and  surrounded  by  the  same  external  agents — 
liberty,  which  is  cdevating  the  one  race  of 
people  above  all  other  nations,  sinks  the  other 
into  beastly  sloth  and  torpidity ;  and  the 
slavery,  which  the  one  would  prefer  death 
rather  than  endure,  improves  the  other  iu 
body,  mind,  and  morals ;  thus  proving  the 
dogma  false,  and  establishiug  the  truth  that 
there  is  a  radical,  internal,  or  physical  differ- 
ence between  the  two  races,  so  great  in  kind, 
as  to  make  what  is  wholesome  and  beneficial 
for  the  white  man,  as  liberty,  republican  or 
free  institutions,  itc,  not  only  unsuitable  to  the 
negro  race,  but  actually  poisonous  to  its  hap- 
piness. 

Conclusion. — In  the  Report  on  the  Diseases 
and  Physical  Peculiarities  of  the  Negro  Race, 
read  before  the  Medical  Association  of  Louisi- 
ana, and  published  in  the  "  New-Orleans  Med- 
ical and  Surgical  Journal "  of  May  last,  I 
briefly  enumerated  some  of  the  more  striking 
anatomatical  and  physiological  differences  sep- 
ai'ating  the  negro  from  the  white  man.      At- 


tention was  also  called  to  the  fact,  that  the 
same  medical  treatment  which  would  benefit 
or  cure  a  white  man  would  often  injure  or 
kill  a  negro,  because  of  the  differences  in  the 
organic  or  physical  characters  imprinted  by 
the  hand  of  nature  on  the  two  races.  It  was 
not  deemed  necessary,  in  that  brief  paper,  to 
refer  to  authorities  to  prove  the  facts  enumer- 
ated, which  arc  just  as  well  known  and  estab- 
lished in  that  branch  of  medicine  embracing 
comjiarative  anatomy  and  physiology,  as  the 
size  and  motion  of  tlie  planets  in  astronomy. 
The  report  was  not  drawn  up  to  meet  objec- 
tions coming  from  those  persons  who  had  never 
made  comparative  anatomy  and  physiology  a 
special  study.  But  as  they  have  made  objec- 
tions to  it,and  are  inclined  to  look  upon  the  facts 
it  sets  forth  as  a  farrago  of  nonsense,  or  at  least 
as  very  questionable  assertions,  needing  proof, 
the  object  of  this  paper  is  to  give  them  the 
proof.  This  trouble  might  have  been  spared, 
if  the  comparative  anatomy  and  physiology  of 
the  different  races  of  mankind  had  not  been 
strangely  neglected  in  the  course  of  instruc- 
tion in  the  medical  schools  of  the  present  day. 
In  Europe,  where  there  is  but  one  race  of  man- 
kind to  treat,  comparative  anatomy  and  phy- 
siology are  of  no  great  practical  importance  ; 
nevertheless,  these  branches  have  been  exten- 
sively cultivated,  particularly  in  Germany  and 
France,  by  the  greatest  men  that  have  ever 
adorned  the  medical  profession.  In  this  coun- 
try, comparative  anatomy  has  been  very  much 
neglected,  and  comparative  physiology  and 
therapeutics  more  so.  Our  northern  states, 
like  Europe,  contain  but  one  race  of  men,  (ex- 
cept a  few  worthless  free  negroes,)  and  all  the 
medical  instruction  of  the  books  and  schools 
in  that  region  is  confined  to  that  one  race. 
But  here,  in  the  south,  we  have  two  dis- 
tinct races  of  people  living  in  juxtaposition, 
in  nearly  equal  numbers,  differiug  widely  in 
their  anatomy  and  physiology,  and  conse- 
queutly  requiring  a  corresponding  difference  in 
their  medical  treatment.  Yet,  when  it  was 
asserted  in  the  report,  that  the  Ciueen  of  Eng- 
land's medical  advisers,  without  a  knowledge 
of  the  physical  differences  between  the  Ethi- 
opian anrl  Caucasian,  would  not  be  qualified 
to  prescribe  for  a  negro,  great  exceptions  were 
taken  to  the  remark  by  those  who  are  aware 
that  different  temperaments,  as  the  sanguine 
and  phlegmatic,  require  important  modifica- 
tions in  medical  treatment,  but  were  not  aware 
that  Cuvier,  Ebel,  Siemmerring,  Malpighi, 
Pechlin.  Meckel,  Alhiuus,  Stubner,  "N^irey, 
Blumenbach,  and  many  illustrious  men,  have 
long  ago  demoustratei',  by  dissections,  so 
great  a  difference  in  the  organization  of  the 
negro  from  that  of  the  white  man,  as  to  in- 
duce the  majority  of  naturalists  to  refer  him 
to  a  different  species,  having  a  different  origin. 
So  great  is  tlie  dilfercuce  in  the  medical  treat- 
ment demanded  by  the  peculiar  organization, 
physiology,  and  habits  of  our  black  popula- 


NEGROES — DISEASES    AKD    PECUOAmxiES    OF. 


327 


lion,  that  very  learned  physicians  from  Europe 

and  the  northern  states,  on  first  eoming 
south,  have  felt  and  acknowledged  tlicir  in- 
competency to  treat  their  diseases  successfully, 
until  they  have  had  time  to  make  themselves 
acquainted  with  their  peculiarities.  The  own- 
ers of  slaves  consider  it  safer,  in  most  cases, 
to  trust  to  the  emjiiriciam  of  overseers,  rather 
than  to  tlic  regular  doctors  who  are  new- 
comers, practising  on  tlie  false  abolition  theory 
that  the  negro  is  only  a  lamp-blacktd  white 
man.  There  is  nothing  to  prevent  young  phy- 
sicians, new-comers  to  the  south,  from  treating 
negroes  successfully,  if  they  were  to  study 
their  diseases,  their  anatomy,  2")hysiology,  and 
pathology,  with  half  the  care  they  devote  to 
the  white  paupers  in  the  northern  and  Euro- 
pean hospitals  and  almshouses.  On  coming 
south,  they  find  no  such  class  of  persons  as 
those  whom  they  have  mostly  studied,  to  treat. 
They  not  only  find  no  complaints  arising  from 
want  of  food,  fire,  clothing,  and  the  common 
comforts  of  life,  such  as  they  have  been  ac- 
customed to  see  in  the  hospitals,  but  they  find 
one  half  the  population  coujposcd  of  a  people 
whose  anatomy  and  physiology  is  a  sealed 
book  to  them.  Although  the  every-day  ex- 
perience of  the  southern  people  proves  that  na- 
ture has  made  so  great  a  difference  between 
the  white  and  black  races  as  to  make  it  abso- 
lutely necessary,  for  the  safety  of  the  state  and 
■well-being  of  society,  that  the  latter  should  be 
subjected  to  different  laws  and  iustitutions  from 
the  former,  yet  tiie  text-books  of  the  northern 
medical  schools  contain  not  a  syllable  to  show 
what  that  difference  is,  but  advise  the  same 
rules  and  principles,  and  the  same  therapeutic 
agents,  as  if  there  was  no  other  race  of  man- 
kind than  that  inhabiting  the  northern  states. 
The  popular  error  prevalent  at  the  north, 
that  the  negro  is  a  white  man,  but,  by  some 
accident  of  climate  or  locality,  painted  black, 
requiring  nothing  but  liberty  and  e(][uality — 
social  and  political — to  wash  him  white,  is  per- 
mitted to  go  uncorrected  by  the  northern  med 
ical  schools.  This  error  can  be  and  should  be 
corrected  at  the  dissecting  table,  by  reviving 
comparative  anatomy,  and  making  it  an  essen- 
tial part  of  a  medical  education.  If  the  north- 
ern school  will  not  correct  it,  the  southern 
schools,  instead  of  being,  as  they  now  are, 
northern  iustitutions  located  in  the  soutii,  using 
the  same  text-books,  and  echoing  the  same 
doctrines,  should  take  upon  themselves  its  cor- 
rection, and  have  their  own  text  books,  con- 
taining not  only  the  anatomy,  physiology,  and 
therapeutics  applicable  to  the  white  race  of 
people,  but  the  anatomy,  physiology,  and  the- 
rapeutics of  the  black  race  also.  As  soon  as 
they  do  thi",  the  empire  of  medical  learning 
will  come  south,  where  the  study  of  two  races 
of  people  will  give  students  better  opportuni- 
ties of  acquiring  knowh'dge  than  the  one  race 
at  the  north.  Piiysicians  will  also  reclaim  the 
practice,  among  three  millions  of  people,  that 


the  overseers  have  mostly  got.  It  will  be  to  the 
interest  of  the  planters  to  employ  physicians 
instead  of  overseers  to  treat  tlie  diseases  of 
their  negroes,  as  soon  as  they  properly  qualify 
themselves  for  this  branch  of  southern  practice, 
I  have  never  known,  in  all  my  experience,  a 
southern  country  physician  want  practice  who 
was  properly  ipialified  to  treat  the  diseases  of 
negroes.  It  is  only  those  mechcal  men  whose 
knowledge  is  confined  to  the  diseases,  the  an- 
atomy and  physiology  of  only  one  race  of  men, 
as  contained  in  the  northern  hornbooks  in 
medicine,  who  are  superseded  by  overseers  and 
empirical  practitioners. 

So  little  attention  has  been  paid  to  the 
anatomy  and  physiology  of  the  negro  race, 
that  when  it  was  mentioned,  among  other  pe- 
culiarities of  the  negro,  that  his  blood  was 
blacker  than  the  white  man's,  it  was  supposed 
by  those  j)hyiiicians  who  have  paid  no  atten- 
tion to  compaiative  anatomy  and  physiology, 
that  I  was  making  random  assertions,  requir- 
ing proof,  instead  of  reiterating  truths  that 
have  been  known  for  centuries,  needing  no 
oilier  jiroof  than  the  perusal  of  works  of  the 
highest  authority  in  medicine. 

Thus,  Malpighi,  the  celebrated  anatomist,  of 
rete mucosum  memory,  says:  "  La couleur  noire 
reside  non  seulement  dans  le  fluide  qui  colore 
le  tissu  muqueux,  mais  encore  le  sang,  le  part 
corticale  du  cerveau  et  plusieurs  autres  parts 
internes  du  corps  impregnees  d'une  teinte  noire, 
et  ce  qui  a  ete  remarque  egalement  par  d'au- 
tres  observateurs." 

Here  is  not  only  the  authority  of  Malpighi 
in  proof  of  the  darker  color  of  the  negro's 
blood,  and  the  impregnation  of  the  brain, 
membranes,  and  other  internal  parts  of  the 
body  with  a  darker  hue,  but  likewise  his  tes- 
timony tliat  other  observers  had  remarked  the 
same  thing. 

J.  F.  Meckel  (see  vol.  xiii.,  p.  69,  Mem. 
Acad.  Berlin)  says,  that  not  only  the  blood, 
but  the  bile  and  cortical  part  of  the  brain  are 
of  a  darker  color  in  the  negro  than  the  white 
man.  According  to  his  authority,  the  negro 
is  not  only  a  negro  on  the  skin,  but  under  the 
skin.  The  words  of  that  great  comparative 
anatomist  are  :  "Ze  nigre  n'cst  done  pas  seule- 
ment nlgre  a  I'exterieure,  mais  dans  loutes  ses 
parts  et  jusque  dans  les  plus  profondement 
situees." 

Nich.  Pechlin,  in  a  work  entitled  "  Be  cute 
yEt/dopum,"  and  Albituis,  {Diss,  de  scde  ct 
causa  colon's  yElhiop^)  have  remarked,  that 
not  only  the  blood  but  tlie  muscles  of  the  ne- 
gro are  of  a  darker  red  than  the  white  man. 
These  authors  also  state  tliat  tlie  membranes, 
tendons,  and  aponeuroses,  so  brilliantly  white 
in  the  Caucasian  race,  have  a  livid  cloudiness 
in  the  African. 

J.  J.  Virey,  one  of  the  authors  of  the  great 
Dictionary  of  Bledical  Sciences,  Paris,  says,  ia 
the  thirty-fifth  volume,  p.  388,  that  the  negro's 
flesh  differs  iu  color  from  the  wliite  man's,  aa 


S28 


NEGROES DISEASES   AND   PECULIARITIES    OF. 


the  flesh  of  the  hare  differs  from  the  rabbit. 
Tliis  autlior  confirms  every  thiug  said  in  the 
report  about  the  darker  color  of  the  blood, 
merabr.iiies,  smaller  size  of  the  brain,  and 
larger  size  of  the  nerves  in  the  negro  than  the 
white  man. 

The  celebrated  anatomists,  Scemmerring  and 
Ebel,  also  speak  of  the  darker  color  of  the 
blood,  muscles,  &c.  These  anatomists  confirm 
ever}'  word  in  the  report  about  the  brain  being 
smaller  and  the  nerves  larger  in  the  black 
than  in  the  white  race. 

MM.  Cuvier,  Gall  and  Spurzheim,  also 
found  the  capacity  of  the  brain  about  a  ninth 
less  in  the  negro  than  in  the  European. 

Samuel  George  Morton  (see  "  Cbservations 
of  the  size  of  the  Brain  in  Various  Races  and 
Families  of  Man,"  Philadelphia,  1849)  has 
ascertained  that  the  negro's  brain  is  nine  cubic 
inches  less  than  the  white  man's. 

Lately,  some  attempts  have  been  made  by 
British  abolitionists  to  distort  the  facts  of  sci- 
ence,by  representing  the  African  brain  as  equal 
to  that  of  the  European,  Jtnd  the  mind  of  the 
former  equal  to  the  latter.  A  certain  Dr. 
Eobert  Bentley  Todd,  of  King's  College,  Lon- 
don, in  a  work  on  the  "  Observations  of  the 
Brain,  Spinal  Cord,  and  Ganglions"  (Lou- 
don, 1845,)  endeavors  to  throw  some  doubt 
and  uncertainty  on  the  received  and  well- 
established  iiicts  iu  regard  to  the  inferiority  of 
the  negro's  intellect,  the  comparative  small- 
ness  of  his  brain,  and  the  larger  size  of  his 
nerves.  Also,  James  Cowles  Pritchard,  an- 
other British  writer,  author  of  the  "  Researches 
on  tlie  Physical  Histoiy  of  Mankind,"  in  four 
volumes,  (London,  1844,)  an  abolition  work, 
disguised  under  the  pretense  that  the  authority 
of  the  Bible  would  be  impeached  if  the  great 
differences  that  natural  historians  and  com- 
parative anatomists  professed  to  have  discov- 
ered in  mankind  were  not  called  in  question — 
Pritcliard,  in  the  preface  of  his  work,  admits 
that  the  weight  of  authority  in  the  learned 
world  is  altogether  against  his  conclusions.  His 
conclusions,  not  flowing  from  the  premises, 
prove  that  scientific  truth  was  not  the  object 
of  his  work ;  that  it  was  not  written  for 
learned  men,  but  to  cast  dust  into  the  eyes  of 
the  vulgar,  to  prevent  them  from  seeing  the 
trutii  on  the  slavery  question.  He  pretends 
to  be  very  fearful  that  the  learned  anatomists 
and  naturalists,  unless  held  in  check,  will  bring 
the  Scriptures  into  disrepute.  He  does  not 
seem  to  be  aware  of  what  Cardinal  Wiseman 
justly  observes,  "that  it  is  only  half-way  sci- 
ence and  half-way  truths  that  militate  against 
the  autliority  of  the  Bible."'  The  whole  truth, 
when  V)ri)ught  out,  and  perfect  freedom  of  sci- 
ence to  pursue  its  investigations  untrammellod 
to  its  tcnniinis,  hav(!,  in  every  instance,  de- 
monstrated the  truth  of  the  Bible ;  whilu  im- 
perfect investigations  and  the  omission  of  the 
truth,  or  the  tying  science  down  to  the  narrow 
interprefeations  of  biblical  commeatators,  have 


generally  led  to  skepticism  and  infidelity. 
Pritchard  seems  to  be  so  much  afraid  that  if 
the  differences  which  Malpighi,  Sccmmerring, 
Cuvier,  and  other  comparative  anatomists  have 
discovered  in  the  negro's  organiz;ition,  approxi- 
mating him  to  the  monkey  tribes,  be  admitted, 
the  Bible  will  be  invalidated,  that  he  has  taken 
much  pains  to  try  to  overturn  general  truths 
and  j^rinciples  by  partial  exceptions.  He  ad- 
duces instances  to  prove  that  white  persons 
have  turned  black,  in  whole  or  in  part,  and 
that  the  negro's  skin  has,  in  some  instances, 
turned  white.  But  he  ought  to  know  that  the 
change  of  color  in  all  such  cases  is  the  effect 
of  disease.  Dr.  Rush  was  so  much  afraid  that 
the  black  skin,  thick  lips,  and  flat  nose  of  the 
negro  would  invalidate  the  Mosaic  account  of 
the  creation  of  man,  and  the  unity  of  the  human 
family,  that  he  published  in  the  Medical  Re- 
pository (vol.  iv.,  p.  409)  some  suggestions,  at- 
tributing the  black  color,  thick  lips,  and  flat 
nose  to  a  disease  resembling  leprosy.  But 
observation  proved  that,  so  far  from  the  black 
color  being  caused  by  disease,  the  blackest  ne- 
groes were  always  the  healthiest,  and  the 
thicker  the  lips,  and  the  flatter  the  nose,  the 
sounder  the  constitution.  Both  Pritchard  and 
Todd  labor  to  prove  by  a  few  cases,  exceptions 
to  the  general  rule,  that  the  brain  of  the  negro 
and  his  mental  capacity  are  equal  to  the  white 
man,  lest  the  Scriptures  be  invalidated,  if  any 
inferior  slave  race  be  admitted.  They  over- 
looked the  fact  that  the  Mosaic  history  dis- 
tinctly specifies  an  inferior  slave  race  of  people, 
called  Canaanites,  Gibeonites,  «tc.,  and  that 
these  people  were  reduced  to  slavery,  and 
their  country  taken  from  them,  by  Divine  com- 
mand. In  aiming  to  overthrow  Cuvier's  spe- 
cific traits  of  the  negro's  organization,  Prit- 
chard did  not  seem  to  be  aware  tliat  Cuvier 
and  Moses  agree  exactly  in  their  definitions — 
both  defining  th  ■  negro  as  the  "knee  bender." 
(See  Cuvier's  Mem.  du  Museum  d'Histoirc 
Nat.,  tome  iii.,  p.  159 — where  the  anatomical 
structure  of  the  negro's  knees  is  brought  for- 
ward, by  the  greatest  naturalist  the  world 
ever  saw,  as  a  specific  difference  between  him 
and  the  white  man,  and  also  the  inferiority  of 
intellect,  from  the  diminished  quantity  of 
brain.)  Exactly  the  same  things  are  set  forth 
iu  the  inspired  writings,  by  the  name  given 
to  the  Canaanite,  or  Ethiopian  race — the  He- 
brew verb,  Canah,  from  which  the  word  Ca- 
naan is  derived,  literally  meaning  knee-bender 
— er^ished  or  broken  in  7nind ; — tantamount 
to  Cuvier's  race  of  man  with  weak  and  timid 
mind,  and  les  genoux  0,  demi-fechis.  Hence 
it  would  appear  that  the  Bible  docs  not  stand 
in  need  of  Todd,  Pritchard,  and  other  British 
abolitionists,  to  support  its  truth  by  special 
pleading,  or  by  dodging  the  truths  of  science. 
Both  Todd  and  Pritchard  are  compelled  to 
admit  that  the  negro's  blood  is  darker  than 
the  white  man's  ;  but  they  deny  that  the  brain 
is  of  a  dai-ker  color,  as  Meckel,  Pechlin,  Albi- 


KEGROES PHYSICAL    CHARACTER    OF. 


329 


nus,  Malpiglii,  and  many  other  comparative  an- 1 
atouiists  liave  iLsserted.  Tliey  quote  three  dis- 
sections made  by  Sa?mmcrrinjj,  wiiere  the  dif- 
ference in  color  was  not  apparent,  but  rather 
unnaturally  white.  They  concealed  the  fact, 
or  did  not  know  it,  that  disease  tends  to  oblit- 
erate the  dark  color  that  pervades  the  negro's 
organization,  giving  the  deeper-seated  parts  an 
unnatural  whiteness.  Tluis,  as  the  report  sets 
forth,  in  negro  consumption,  the  mucous  mem- 
branes, instead  of  being  dark,  are  paler  and 
whiter  than  in  the  Caucasian  race.  It  would  be 
very  unfair  to  adduce  those  cases  of  whiteness 
of  the  gums  and  mucous  .surfaces  in  diseased 
or  consumptive  negroes,  to  disprove  the  fact 
of  darkness  being  the  general  rule. 

Todd  and  Pritchard  labor  much  to  call  in 
question  the  facts,  heretofore  observed  by  com- 
parative anatomists,  that  the  nerves  leading 
from  the  brain  are  larger,  in  proportion,  than 
in  the  white  man.  Yet  they  are  forced  to  ad- 
mit that  the  negro's  sense  of  smell  and  hear- 
ing is  more  acute.  The  auditory  and  olfiictory 
nerves  must,  therefore,  be  larger,  or  the  phy- 
siological law  of  nervous  development,  being 
proportional  to  activity  of  function,  must  be 
denied.  Those,  likewise,  who  df-ny  that  the 
nerves  of  the  stomach  are  no  larger  in  the 
negro  than  the  white  man,  are  compelled  to  ad- 
mit that  his  digestive  and  assimilating  powers 
are  stronger,  which  is  the  same  thing  as  to  ad- 
mit that  the  nerves  of  organic  life  are  larger. 

Every  thing  asserted  in  the  report  in  regard 
to  the  negro's  eye,  and  his  bearing  sunlight 
without  a  covering  on  his  head,  will  be  fully 
confirmed  by  reference  to  Sam.  Thorn.  Scem- 
merring's  work,  entitled  "  Icoiics  Oculi  Hu- 
mani,''  where  it  is  distinctly  stated  that  the 
plica  hmarls  in  the  inner  canthus  of  the  ne- 
gro's ej^e  is  anatomically  constructed  like  that 
of  the  orang-outang,  and  not  like  that  of  the 
"white  man. 

Yirey  confirms  every  word  said  in  the  re- 
port about  the  small  size  of  infant  negroes' 
heads,  and  the  sutures  being  closed.  (See 
Diet,  des  Science  Med.,  vol.  xxxv.,  p.  401.) 

In  regard  to  the  bones  of  the  negro  being 
harder,  whiter,  and  containing  more  phosphate 
of  lime  than  those  of  the  white  man,  natural- 
ists universally  agree.  Herodotus  mentions 
the  greater  hardness  of  the  Ethiopian  skulls, 
proving,  in  that  respect  at  least,  that  the  ne- 
gro is  the  same  now  that  he  was  two  thousand 
years  ago. 

The  Crania  ^gyptiaca  prove,  as  Morton 
justly  observes,  and  has  placed  on  the  title- 
page  of  his  catalogue  of  skulls,  that  "  the  phy- 
sical or  organic  characters  which  distinguish 
the  several  races  of  men,  are  as  old  as  the 
earliest  records  of  our  species." 

A  radical  reformation  is  greatly  needed  in 
our  system  of  medical  education,  which  is  so 
defective  as  to  lead  to  the  fatal  error  in  prac- 
tice, that  there  are  no  physical  or  organic 
characters  in  the  negro's  organization  different 


1  from  that  of  the  white  man.  A  blundering 
practice  in  ignorance  of  the  negro's  anatomy 
and  physiology  is  not  the  only  evil  of  this  de- 
j  fective  system  of  education.  The  peculiar 
I  phenomena  indicating  the  debasement  of  mind 
springing  from  this  difference  in  organization, 
are  attributed  by  the  profanum  vulgus  of  the 
north  to  the  effects  of  southern  slavery.  But 
it  could  easily  be  shown,  by  anatomy,  physio- 
logy, and  etlinographical  investigations,  that 
the  debasement  of  mind  supposed  to  arise  from 
southern  slavery,  arises  from  causes  imprinted 
by  the  hand  of  nature  on  the  sons  of  Ham,  so 
far  back  as  the  time  when  the  catacombs  of 
Egypt  were  constructed.  The  vulgar  error  that 
there  is  no  difference  in  the  negro's  organiza- 
tion, physiology,  and  psychology,  and  that  all 
the  apparent  difference  arises  from  southern 
slavery,  is  the  cause  of  all  those  political  agi- 
tations which  are  threatening  to  dissolve  our 
Union.  The  knowledge  to  correct  this  most 
mischevious  error,  which  has  already  split 
nearly  every  Protestant  denomination  of  Chris- 
tians in  the  United'  States,  is  to  be  found  by 
cultivating  comparative  anatomy,  physiology, 
history,  and  ethnography. 

NEGROES — Physical  Character  of. — 
The  question  of  the  human  race,  whether  a 
unily  or  not,  is  being  now  discussed,  with 
great  ability,  by  naturalists  all  over  the  world. 
We  may  mention  among  others,  Morton, 
Pritchard,  etc.,  and  Nott,  of  Mobile,  whose 
contributions  have  appeared  in  our  Keview, 
and  who  has  lately  written  an  able  work 
upon  the  subject,  Bachman  of  Charleston,  also 
the  author  of  a  late  treatise,  and  Professor 
Agassiz.  This  subject  has  an  important  bear- 
ing just  now,  in  examining  the  position  occu- 
pied by  the  negro,  whom  philanthropy  is 
seeking  to  elevate  to  the  highest  Hiatus  of 
humanity. 

U[)on  the  table  before  us  is  an  interesting 
pamphlet,  read  before  the  American  Ethno- 
logical Society,  Nov.  1849,  by  P.  A.  Browne, 
LL.D.,  in  answer  to  the  declaration  of  Pritch- 
ard, that  "  The  covering  of  the  negro's  head 
is  hair,  projjcrl}-  so  termed,  and  n6t  wool." 
We  extract  the  conclusions  of  Mr.  Browne,  as 
having  some  practical  weight : 

1st.  Hair  is  in  shape  either  cylindrical  or 
oval;  but  wool  is  eccentrically  elliptical  or 
flat ;  and  the  covering  of  the  negro's  head  is 
eccentrically  elliptical  or  flat. 

2d.  The  direction  of  hair  is  either  straight, 
flowing,  or  curled ;  but  wool  is  crisped  or 
frizzled,  and  sometimes  spirally  twisted  ;  and 
the  covering  of  the  negro's  head  is  crisped  or 
frizzled,  and  sometimes  spirally  twisted. 

3d.  Hair  issues  out  of  the  epidermis  at  an 
acute  angle,  but  wool  emerges  at  a  right 
angle ;  and  the  covering  of  the  negro's  head 
issues  out  of  the  epidermis  at  a  right  angle. 
^4th.  The  coloring  matter  of  a  perfect  hair, 
for  example  that  of  the  head  of  the  white 


330 


XEGROES MANAGEMENT    OF   UPON    SOUTHERN   ESTATES. 


man,  is  contained  in  a  central  canal,  but  that '  Tve  find  men  comparing  notes  as  to  their  mode 
of  wool  is  disseminated  in  the  cortex,  or  in  of  feeding,  clothing,  nursing,  working,  and 
the  cortex  and  intermediate  fibres ;  and  the  taking  care  of  those  human  beings  intrusted 
covering  of  the  head  of  the  negro  has  no  to  our  charge,  whose  best  condition  is  slavery, 
central  canal.  when  they  are  treated  with  humanity,  and 

oth.  The  scales  of  the  cortex  of  hair  are  I  their  labor  properly  directed  !  I  have  been  a 
less  numerous  than  those  of  wool,  are  smooth,  j  reader  of  agricultural  papers  for  more  than 
and  less  pointed,  and  they  embrace  the  shaft  [  twenty  years,  and  while  I  have  been  surfeited, 
more  intimately ;  and  the  scales  on  tlie  fila-   and  not  unfrequently  disgusted,  with  those 


ments  of  the  covering  of  the  negro's  head  are 
numerous,  rough,  pointed,  and  do  not  embrace 
the  shaft  intimately. 

Corollary. — Hair  will  not  felt,  but  wool 
will;  and  the  covering  of  the  negro's  head 
will  felt — has  been  felted. 

For  these  and  otlier  reasons  we  are  "  con- 
vinced" that  the  negro  has  on  his  head  "  wool, 
properly  so  termed,"  and  not  hair.  And 
since  the  wliite  man  has  hair  upon  his  head, 
and  the  negro  has  wool,  we  have  no  hesitancy 
in  pronouncing  that  they  belong  to  tico  distinct 
species. 

M.  Flourens,  an  eminent  French  physiolo- 
gist, found  four  distinct  layers  between  the 
cuticle  and  the  cutis;  the  second  of  which,  he 
says,  is  a  mucous  membrane — a  distinct  or- 
ganized bodij,  underlaying  the  pigment,  and 
existing  in  persons  of  darlc  color  only.  M. 
Flourens  sought  in  vain  for  this  membrane 
between  the  cutis  and  outer  lamina  of  the 
epidermis  of  a  white  man ;  and  yet  this  is  the 
seat  of  the  discoloration  produced  in  his  com- 
plexion by  exposure  to  the  sun.  From  these 
examinations,  this  distinguished  naturalist  and 
anatomist  was  able  to  pronounce,  definitely, 
that  the  discoloration  in  the  skin  of  the  white 
man  is  totally  diff'ercnt  in  kind  from  the  cause 
of  blackness  in  the  negro;  he  therefore  justly 
concludes,  that  the  negro  and  the  European 
are  separate  species  of  beings. 

NEGROES — Management  of  upon  South- 
ern Estates. — Some  very  sensible  and  prac- 
tical writer  in  the  March  No.  of  "  The  Re- 
view," under  the  ''  Agricultural  Department" 


chimney-corner  theories  (that  have  no  practi- 
cal result,  emanating  from  men  wlio  are 
fonder  of  using  the  pen  than  the  plough- 
handle)  upon  the  subject  of  raising  crops,  and 
preparing  them  for  market,  I  have  seldom 
met  with  an  article  laying  down  general  rules 
for  the  management  of  negroes,  by  which 
their  condition  could  be  ameliorated,  and  the 
master  be  profited  at  the  same  time.  One 
good  article  upon  this  subject  would  be  worth 
more  to  the  master  tliau  a  hundred  theories 
about  "  rotations"  and  "  scientific  culture ;" 
and  infinitely  more  to  the  slave  than  whole 
volumes  dictated  by  a  spurious  philanthropy 
looking  to  his  emancipation.  For  it  is  a  fact, 
established  beyond  all  controversy,  that  when 
the  negro  is  treated  with  humanity,  and  sub- 
jected to  constant  employment  without  the 
labor  of  thought,  and  the  cares  incident  to  the 
necessity  of  providing  for  his  own  support,  he 
is  by  far  happier  than  he  would  be  if  emanci- 
pated, and  left  to  think,  and  act,  and  provide 
for  himself  And  from  the  vast  amount  of 
experience  in  the  management  of  slaves,  can 
we  not  deduce  some  general,  practicaVjle  rules 
for  their  government,  that  would  add  to  the 
happiness  of  both  master  and  servant?  I 
know  of  no  other  mode  of  arriving  at  this 
great  desideratum,  than  for  planters  to  give 
to  the  public  their  rules  for  feeding,  clothing, 
housing,  and  working  their  slaves,  and  of  tak- 
ing care  of  them  when  sick,  together  with 
their  plautation  discipline.  In  this  way,  we 
shall  be  continually  learning  something  new 
upon  this  vitally  interesting  question,  filled, 
as  it  is,  with  great  responsibilities;  and  while 
has  given  us  an  article  upon  the  manngenient '  our  slaves  will  be  made  happier,  our  profits 
of  negroes,  which  entitles  him  to  the  gratitude  from  their  labor  will  be  greater,  and  our  con- 
of  the  i^Tanting  community,  not  only  for  the  sciences  be  made  easier, 
sound  and  useful  information  it  contains,  but  I  would  gladly  avail  myself  of  the  privi- 
because  it  has  opened  up  this  subject,  to  be  lege  of  contributing  my  mite  to  the  accom- 
thought  of,  written  about,  and  improved  upon, !  plishment  of  this  end,  by  giving  my  own  sys- 
uutil  the  cosnfarts  of  our  black  population  ;  tern  of  management,  not  because  there  is  any 


shall  be  greatly  increased,  and  their  services 
become  m(jre  profitable  to  their  owners, 
Surely  there  is  no  subject  which  demands  of 


thing  novel  in  it — that  it  is  better,  or  differs 
essentially  from  thatof  mo3t*f  my  neighbors — 
but  because  it  may  meet  the  eye  of  some  man 


the  planter  more  careful  consideration  than  of  enlarged  experience,  who  will  necessarily 
the  proper  treatment  of  his  slaves,  by  whose  detect  its  faults,  and  who  may  be  induced  to 
labor  he  lives,  and  for  whose  conduct  and  suggest  the  proper  corrections,  and  for  which 
happiness  he  is  responsible  in  the  eyes  of  I  should  feel  profoundly  grateful.  To  begin, 
God.  We  very  often  find  planters  comparing !  then,  I  send  you  my  plantation  rules,  that  are 
notes  and  making  suggestions  as  to  the  most !  printed  in  the  ])lant;ition  book,  which  consti- 
profitable  modes  of  tilling  the  soil,  erecting  i  tute  a  part  of  the  contract  made  iu  the  era- 
gates,  fences,  farm  houses,  machinery,  and,  i  ployment  of  the  overseer,  and  which  are 
indeed,  everythitig  else  conducive  to  their  |  observed,  so  far  as  my  constant  and  vigilant 
comfort  and  prosperity ;  but  how  seldom  do  |  superintendence  can  enforce  them.     My  fii-st 


NEGROES — MANAGEMENT    OF   UPON    SOUTHERN    ESTATES. 


331 


care  has  been  to  select  a  proper  place  for  my  :  each  one  having  a  coffee-pot,  (and  generally 
"Quarter,"  well  protected  by  the  shade  of 'some  coffee  to  put  in  it,)  with  knives  and 
forest  trees,  sufficiently  tliiiiiied  out  to  admit '  forks,  plates,  spoons,  cups,  Ac,  of  their  own 
a  free  circulation  of  air,  so  situated  as  to  be  providing.  The  wood  is  regularly  furnished 
free  from  the  impurities  of  stagnant  water,  j  them ;  ior  I  hold  it  to  be  absolutely  mean 
and  to  erect  comfortable  houses  for  my  for  a  man  to  require  a  negro  to  work  until 
negroes.  Planters  do  not  always  reflect  that  daylight  closes  in,  and  then  force  him  to  get 
there  is  more  sickness,  and  consequently  wood,  sometimes  half  a  mile  off,  before  he 
greater  loss  of  life,  from  the  decaying  logs  of  can  get  a  fire,  either  to  warm  himself  or  cook 
negro  houses,  open  floors,  leaky  roofs,  and  his  supper.  Every  negro  has  his  hen-house, 
crowded  rooms,  than  all  other  causes  com-  where  he  raises  poultry,  which  he  is  not  per- 
bined;  and  if  humanity  will  not  pomt  out  the  mitted  to  sell,  and  he  cooks  and  eats  his 
proper  remedy,  let  self  interest  for  once  act  as  chickens  and  eggs  for  his  evening  and  mom- 
a  virtue,  and  prompt  him  to  save  the  health  ing  meals  to  suit  himself;  besides,  every 
and  lives  of  his  negroes,  by  at  once  providing  '  fiimily  has  a  garden,  paled  in,  where  they 
comfortable  quarters  for  them.  There  being  raise  such  vegetables  and  fruits  as  they  take 
upwards  of  150  negroes  on  the  plantation,  I  a  fancy  to.  A  large  house  is  provided  as  a 
provide  for  them  'li  houses  made  of  hewn  '  nursery  for  the  children,  where  all  are  taken 
post  oak,  covered  with  cypress,  16  by  18,  [  at  daylight,  and  placed  under  the  charge  of  a 
with  close  plank  floors  ami  good  chimneys,  I  careful  and  experienced  woman,  whose  sole 
and  elevated  two  feet  from  the  ground.  The  j  occupation  is  to  attend  to  them,  and  see  that 
ground  under  and  around  the  houses  is  swept  |  they  are  properly  fed  and  attended  to,  and 
every  mouth,  and  the  houses,  both  inside  and  above  all  things  to  keep  them  as  dry  and  as 
out,  white-washed  twice  a  year.  The  houses  cleanly  as  possible,  under  the  circumstances, 
are  situated  in  a  double  row  from  north  to  The  suckling  women  come  in  to  nurse  their 
south,  about  200  feet  ajjart,  the  doors  facing  children  four  times  during  the  day  ;  and  it  is 
inwards,  aud  the  houses  being  in  a  line,  about  the  duty  of  the  nurse  to  see  that  they  do  not 
50  feet  apart.  At  one  end  of  the  street  perform  this  duty  until  they  have  become 
stands  the  overseer's  house,  workshops,  tool  properly  cool,  after  walking  from  the  field, 
house,  and  wagon  .sheds ;  at  the  other,  the  \  In  consequence  of  these  regulations,  I  have 
grist  and  .saw-mill,  with  good  cisterns  at  each  never  lost  a  chUd  from  being  burnt  to  death, 
end,  providing  an  ample  supply  of  pure  water. '  or,  indeed,  by  accidents  of  any  description  ; 
My  experience  has  satisfied  me,  that  spring,  and  although  I  have  had  more  than  thirty 
well,  and  lake  water  are  all  unhealthy  in  this  born  within  the  last  five  years,  yet  I  have  not 
climate,  and  that  large  under-ground  cisterns, :  lost  a  single  one  from  teething,  or  the  ordinary 
keeping  the  water  pure  and  cool,  are  greatly  summer  complaints  so  prevalent  amongst  the 
to  be  preferred.    They  are  easily  and  cheaply  '  children  in  this  climate. 

constructed,  very  convenient,  and  save  both  I  give  to  my  negroes  four  full  suits  of 
doctors'  bills  and  loss  of  life.  The  negroes .  clothes  with  two  pair  of  shoes,  every  year, 
arc  never  permitted  to  sleep  before  the  fire, '  and  to  ray  women  and  girls  a  calico  dress  and 
either  lying  down  or  sitting  up,  if  it  can  be  two  handkerchiefs  extra.  I  do  not  permit 
avoided,  as  they  are  always  prone  to  sleep  !  them  to  have  "truck  patches"  other  than  their 
with  their  heads  to  the  fire,  are  liable  to  be  '  gardens,  or  to  raise  any  thing  whatever  for 
burnt  and  to  contract  disease:  but  beds  with  |  market;  but  in  lieu  thereof,  I  give  to  each 
ample  clothing  are  provided  for  them,  and  in  !  head  of  a  family  and  to  every  single  negro, 
them  they  are  made  io  sleep.  As  to  their  on  Christmas  day,  five  dollars,  and  send  therp 
Labi's  of  amalgamation  and  intercourse,  I '  to  the  county  town,  under  the  charge  of  the 
know  of  no  means  whereby  to  regulate  them,  overseer  or  driver,  to  spend  their  money.  In 
or  to  restrain  them ;  I  attempted  it  for  many  [  this  way,  I  save  my  mules  from  being  killed 
years  by  preaching  virtue  and  decency,  en-  up  in  summer,  and  my  oxen  in  winter,  by 
couraging  marriages,  and  by  punishing,  with  working  and  hauling  off  their  crops ;  and 
some  severity,  departures  from  marital  obliga-  more  than  all,  the  negroes  are  prevented  from 
tions  ;  but  it  was  all  in  vain.  I  allow  for  each  acquiring  habits  of  trading  in  farm  produce, 
hand  that  works  out,  four  pounds  of  clear  J  which  invariably  leads  to  stealing,  followed 
meat  and  one  peck  of  meal  per  week.  Their  by  whipping,  trouble  to  the  master,  and  dis- 
dinners  are  cooked  fm*  them,  and  earned  to  content  on  the  part  of  the  slave.  I  permit 
the  field,  always  with  vegetables,  according '  no  spirits  to  be  brought  on  the  plantation,  or 
to  the  season.  There  are  two  houses  set  i  used  by  any  negro,  if  I  can  prevent  it ;  and  a 
apart  at  mid-day  for  resting,  eating,  and  violation  of  this  rule,  if  found  out,  is  always 
sleeping,  if  they  desire  it,  and  thej-  retire  to  followed  by  a  whipping,  and  a  forfeiture  of 
one  of  the  weather  sheds  or  the  grove  to  pass  ;  the  five  dollars  next  Christmas, 
this  time,  not  being  permitted  to  remain  in  j  I  have  a  large  and  comfortable  hospital 
the  hot  sun  while  at  rest.  They  cook  their  \  provided  for  my  negroes  when  they  are  sick; 
own  ouppers  and  breakfasts,  each  family  being  '  to  this  is  attaclied  a  nuree's  room  ;  and  when 
provided  with  an  oven,  skillet,  and  sifter,  and  \  a  negro  complains  of  being  too  unwell  to 


332 


^^EGROES MAXAGEMEXT    OF    UPON    SOUTHEBN   ESTATES. 


work,  he  is  at  once  sent  to  the  hospital,  and 
put  uud.  r  the  charge  of  a  very  experienced 
and  careful  negro  woman,  who  administers 
the  medicine  and  attends  to  his  diet,  and 
where  they  remain  until  they  are  able  to 
work  again.  This  woman  is  provided  with 
sugar,  coffee,  molasses,  rice,  flour,  and  tea,  and 
docs  not  permit  a  patient  to  taste  of  meat  or 
vegetables  until  he  is  restored  to  health. 
Many  negroes  relapse  after  the  disease  is 
broken,  and  die,  in  consequence  of  remaining 
in  their  houses  and  stuffing  themselves  with 
coarse  food  after  their  appetites  return,  and 
botli  humanity  and  economy  dictate  that  this 
should  be  prevented.  Prom  the  system  I 
have  pursued,  I  have  not  lost  a  hand  since 
the  summer  of  1845,  (except  one  that  was 
killed  by  accident,)  nor  has  my  physician's 
bill  averaged  fifty  dollars  a  year,  notwith- 
standing I  live  near  the  edge  of  the  swamp  of 
Big  Black  River,  where  it  is  thought  to  be 
very  unhealthy. 

I  cultivate  about  ten  acres  of  cotton  and 
six  of  corn  to  the  hand,  not  forgetting  the  little 
wheat  patch  that  your  correspondent  speaks 
of,  which  costs  but  little  trouble,  and  proves  a 
great  comfort  to  the  negroes ;  aud  have  as 
few  sour  looks  and  as  little  whipping  as  al- 
most any  other  place  of  the  same  size. 

I  must  not  omit  to  mention  that  I  have  a 
good  fiddler,  and  keep  him  well  supplied  with 
catgut,  and  I  make  it  his  duty  to  play  for  the 
negroes  every  Saturday  night  until  twelve 
o'clock.  They  are  exceedingly  punctual  in 
their  attendance  at  the  ball,  while  Charley's 
fiddle  is  always  accompanied  with  Ihurod  on 
the  triangle,  and  Sam  to  "  pat." 

I  also  employ  a  good  preacher,  who  regu- 
larly preaches  to  them  on  the  Sabbath  day, 
and  it  is  made  the  duty  of  every  one  to  come 
up  clean  and  decent  to  the  place  of  worship. 
As  Father  Garritt  regularly  calls  on  Brother 
Abram  (the  foreman  of  the  jjrayer -meeting,) 
to  close  the  exercises,  he  gives  out  and  sings 
his  hymn  with  much  unction,  and  always 
cocks  his  eye  at  Charley,  the  fiddler,  as  much 
as  to  say,  "  Old  fellow,  you  had  your  time  last 
night ;  now  it  is  mine." 

I  would  gladly  learn  every  negro  on  the 
place  to  read  the  Biljle,  but  for  a  fanaticism 
which,  while  it  professes  friendship  to  the  ne- 
gro, is  keeping  a  cloud  over  his  mental  vision, 
and  almost  crushing  out  his  hopes  of  salvation. 

These  are  some  of  the  leading  outlines  of 
my  management,  so  far  as  my  negroes  are 
concerned.  That  they  are  imperfect,  and 
could  be  greatly  improved,  I  readily  admit ; 
and  it  is  only  with  the  hope  that  I  shall  be 
able  to  improve  them  by  the  experience  of 
others,  that  I  have  given  them  to  the  public. 

Slioiilcj  you  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
these  rules  would  be  of  any  service  when 
made  known  to  others,  you  will  please  give 
them  a  place  in  the  "  Review." 

A  JilississiPPi  Plantee. 


RuLKS  AND  Regulations  foe  the  Govern- 
ment OF  A.  Southern  I'lantation. — 1.  Tliere 
shall  be  a  place  for  every  thing,  and  every 
thing  shall  be  kept  in  its  place. 

2.  On  the  first  days  of  January  and  July, 
there  shall  be  an  account  taken  of  the  number 
and  condition  of  all  the  negroes,  stock,  and 
farming  utensils  of  every  description  on  the 
premises,  and  the  same  shall  be  entered  in  the 
plantation  book. 

3.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  overseer  to 
call  upon  the  stock-minder  once  every  day,  to 
know  if  the  cattle,  sheep,  and  hogs  have  been 
seen  and  counted,  and  to  find  out  if  any  are 
dead,  missing,  or  lost. 

4.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  overseer,  at 
least  once  in  every  week,  to  see  and  count  the 
stock  himself,  and  to  inspect  the  fences,  gates, 
and  water  gaps  on  the  plantation,  and  see  that 
they  are  in  good  order. 

0.  The  wagons,  carts,  and  all  other  imple- 
ments, are  to  be  kept  binder  the  sheds,  and  in 
the  houses  where  they  belong,  except  when  in 
use. 

6.  Each  negro  man  will  be  permitted  to 
keep  his  own  axe,  and  shall  have  it  forthcom- 
ing when  required  by  the  overseer.  No  other 
tool  shall  be  taken  or  used  by  any  negro 
without  the  permission  of  the  overseer. 

1.  Humanity  on  the  part  of  the  overseer, 
and  unqualified  obedience  on  the  part  of  the 
negro,  are,  under  all  circumstances,  indispen- 
sable. 

8.  Whipping,  when  necessary,  shall  be  in 
moderation,  and  never  done  in  a  passion ;  and 
the  driver  shall  in  no  instance  inflict  punish- 
ment, except  in  the  presence  of  the  overseer, 
and  when,  from  sickness,  he  is  unable  to  do  it 
himself. 

9.  The  overseer  shall  see  that  the  negroes 
are  properly  clothed  and  well  fed.  He  shall 
lay  off  a  garden  of  at  least  six  acres,  and  culti- 
vate it  as  part  of  his  crop,  and  give  the  negroes 
as  many  vegetables  as  n-.ay  be  necessary. 

10.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  overseer  to 
select  a  sufficient  uumber  of  the  women,  each 
week,  to  wash  for  all.  The  clothes  shall  be 
well  washed,  ironed,  and  mendeil,  and  distri- 
buted to  the  negroes  on  Sunday  morning; 
when  every  negro  is  expected  to  wash  him- 
self, comb  his  head,  and  put  on  clean  clothes. 
No  washing  or  other  labor  will  be  tolerated 
on  the  Sabbath. 

11.  The  negroes  shall  not  be  worked  in  the 
rain,  or  kept  out  after  night,  except  in  Aveigh- 
iug  or  putting  away  cotton. 

12.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  driver,  at 
such  hours  of  the  night  as  the  overseer  may 
designate,  to  blow  his  horn,  and  go  around 
and  see  that  every  negro  is  at  his  proper 
place,  and  to  report  to  the  overseer  any  that 
may  be  absent;  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of 
the  overseer,  at  some  hour  between  that  time 
and  daybreak,  to  patrol  the  quarters  himself, 
and  see  that  every  negro  is  where  he  should  be. 


NEGROES — MANAGEMENT  OF. 


333 


13.  Tlie  negro  cliiklron  are  to  be  taken, 
every  morning,  by  their  mothers,  and  carried 
to  the  liouses  of  the  nurses ;  and  every  cabin 
shall  be  kept  loekod  during  the  day. 

14.  Sick  negroes  are  to  receive  particular 
attention.  When  they  are  first  reported  sick, 
they  are  to  be  examined  by  the  overseer,  and 
prescribed  for,  and  put  under  tlie  care  of  the 
nurse,  and  not  put  to  work  utitil  the  disease  is 
broken  and  the  patient  beyond  the  power  of  a 
relapse. 

1.5.  When  the  overseer  shall  consider  it  ne- 
cessary to  send  for  a  physician,  he  shall  enter 
in  the  plantation  book  the  number  of  visits, 
and  to  what  negro  they  are  made. 

16.  When  the  negro  shall  die,  an  hour  shall 
be  set  apart  by  the  over.«eer  for  his  burial ; 
and  at  that  hour  all  business  shall  cease,  and 
every  negro  on  the  plantation,  who  is  able  to 
do  so,  shall  attend  the  burial. 

17.  Tiic  overseei'  shall  keep  a  plantation 
book,  in  which  he  shall  register  the  birth  ansl 
name  of  each  negro  that  is  born  ;  the  name  ] 
of  each  negro  that  died,  and  specify  the  dis- 
ease that  killed  him.  He  shall  also  keep  in 
it  the  weights  of  the  daily  picking  of  each 
hand ;  the  mark,  number,  and  weight  of  each 
bale  of  cotton,  and  the  time  of  sending  the 
same  to  market ;  and  .all  other  such  occur- 
rences, relating  to  the  crop,  the  weather,  and 
all  other  matters  pertaining  to  the  plantation, 
that  he  may  deem  advisable. 

18  The  overseer  shall  pitch  the  crops,  and 
work  them  according  to  his  own  judgment, 
with  the  distinct  understanding  that  a  failure 
to  make  a  bountiful  supply  of  corn  and  meat 
for  the  use  of  the  plantation,  will  be  consid- 
ered as  notice  that  his  services  will  not  be  re- 
quired for  the  succeeding  year. 
\j  19.  The  negroes,  teams,  and  tools  are  to  be 
considered  under  the  overseer's  exclusive 
management,  and  are  not  to  be  interfered  with 
by  the  employer,  only  so  far  as  to  see  that  the 
foregoing  rules  are  strictly  observed. 

20.  The  overseer  shall,  under  no  circum- 
stances, create  an  account  against  his  em- 
ployer, except  in  the  emjiloyment  of  a  jiliy- 
sician,  or  in  the  jjurchase  of  medicines;  but 
whenever  any  thing  is  wanted  about  the  plan- 
tation, he  shall  apply  to  his  employer  for  it. 

21  Whenever  the  overseer,  or  his  em- 
ployer, shall  become  dissatisfied,  they  sliall, 
in  a  frank  and  friendly  mjinuer,  express  the 
eaniH,  and,  if  either  party  desires  it,  he  shall 
have  the  right  to  settle  and  separate. 

NEGROES— Management  of.  — As  the 
proper  management  of  our  negroes  is  a  sub- 
ject not  second  in  importance  to  any  discussed 
in  your  columns,  I  hope  it  will  not  be  deemed 
amiss  if,  in  giving  my  views,  I  enter  some- 
what into  detail.  That  on  some  points  I  shall 
be  found  to  differ  in  opinion  from  some  of  your 
readers  and  correspondents,  is  to  be  expected. 
I  shall  not,  however,  object  to  any  one's  ex- 


pressing his  dissent,  provided  it  be  done  in  the 
spirit  of  kindness. 

Our  first  obligation  is  undoubtedly  to  pro- 
vide them  with  suitable  food  and  clothing. 
Here  the  question  arises:  What  is  suflicient 
footl  ?  For  as  there  is  a  difference  in  practice, 
there  must  be  also  in  opinion  among  owners. 
The  most  common  practice  is  to  allow  each 
hand  that  labors,  whether  man,  woman,  or 
chiUl,  (for  a  boy  or  girl  ten  years  old  or  over, 
who  is  healthy,  and  growing  rapidly,  will  eat 
quite  as  much  as  a  full-grown  man  or  woman,) 
three  and  a  lialf  pounds  bacon,  if  middling,  or 
four  pounds  if  sheulder,  per  week,  and  bread 
at  will;  or  if  allowanced  in  this  also,  a  peck 
of  meal  is  usually  thought  sufficient.  With 
plenty  of  vegetables,  this  allowance  is  quite 
sufficient ;  but  if  confined  to  meat  and  bread, 
negroes  who  work  hard  will  eat  a  peck  and  a 
half  of  meal  per  week. 

As  I  live  on  my  farm  and  occasionally  in- 
spect the  cooking  for  the  negroes,  I  see  that 
they  have  enough,  but  nothing  to  waste ;  and 
I  speak  from  personal  observation  when  I 
state  that  without  vegetables  they  will  eat 
this  ([uantity. 

With  very  little  trouble  we  can  always, 
(luring  spring  and  summer,  have  plenty  of 
cabbage,  kale,  or  mustard  for  greens,  also 
squashes,  Irish  potatoes,  and  beans.  In  fall 
and  winter,  sweet  potatoes,  turnips,  pumpkins, 
and  peas.  I  believe  there  is  no  labor  devoted 
to  a  provision  crop,  that  pays  equal  to  tliat 
bestowed  on  a  pl.iin  kitchen  garden.  As  there 
is  no  vegetable  of  which  negroes  are  more 
fond  than  of  the  common  field  pea,  it  is  well 
to  save  enough  of  them  in  the  fall  to  have 
them  frequently  during  the  spring  and  sum- 
mer. They  are  very  nutritious,  and  if  cooked 
perfectly  done,  and  well  seasoned  with  red 
pepper,  are  quite  healthy.  If  occasionally  a 
little  molasses  be  added  to  the  allowance,  the 
cost  will  be  but  a  trifle,  while  the  negro  wiU 
esteem  it  as  a  great  luxury.  As  most  persona 
feel  a  great  reluctance  at  paying  out  money 
for  little  luxuries  for  negroes,  I  would  suggest 
the  propriety  of  sowing  a  small  patch  of  wheat 
for  their  benefit.  The  time  and  labor  will 
never  be  missed.  Many  persons  are  in  the 
habit  of  giving  out  the  allowance  to  their 
negroes  once  a  week,  and  requiring  them  to 
do  their  own  cooking.  This  plan  is  objection- 
able on  various  accounts.  Unless  better  pro- 
vided for  taking  care  of  their  provisions  than 
is  common  among  negroes,  some  will  steal  the 
meat  from  others,  and  the  loser  is  compelled 
for  the  remainder  of  the  week  to  live  on  bread, 
or  the  master  must  give  him  an  additional 
allowance.  The  master  cannot  expect  full 
work  from  one  who  is  but  partially  fed ;  while, 
on  the  other  hand,  if  he  will  give  the  loser  an 
additional  supply,  the  negroes  soon  learn  to 
impose  upon  his  kindness,  by  being  intention- 
ally careless,  or  by  trading  oft'  their  meat  and 
1  pretending  it  has  been  stolen,    Another  ob- 


334 


NEGROES MANAGEMFNT    OF. 


jection  is  that  some  are  improvident,  and  will 
get  through  with  their  whole  allowance  of 
meat  before  the  week  is  gone,  and  conse- 
quently are  a  part  of  their  time  without  any. 

To  make  the  negroes  do  their  own  cooking, 
the  objections  are  still  more  weighty.  It 
encroaches  upon  the  rest  they  should  have 
both  at  noou  and  at  night.  The  cooking  being 
done  in  a  hurry,  is  badly  done ;  being  usually 
burnt  outside  while  it  is  raw  within,  and 
consequently  unhealthy.  However  abundant 
may  be  the  supply  of  vegetables,  the  hands 
have  no  time  to  cook  them,  and  consequently 
are  badly  fed,  and  have  not  the  strength  to 
do  as  much  labor  as  they  could  otherwise 
perform  with  comfort. 

The  plan  pursued  by  the  wiiter  is,  to  weigh 
out  a  certain  amount  of  meat  for  each  day,  a 
portion  of  which  is  given  to  the  cook  every 
morning,  to  be  boiled  for  dinner,  and  with  it 
are  cooked  as  many  vegetables  and  as  much 
bread  as  the  negroes  will  eat ;  all  of  which  is 
usually  divided  among  them  by  the  foreman. 
In  the  evening  enough  is  cooked  for  both  sup- 
per and  breakfast;  so  that  by  the  time  we 
are  done  feeding  stock,  supper  is  ready,  and 
the  hands  have  only  to  eat,  and  they  are  ready 
for  bed.  When  the  nights  are  long,  the  meat 
for  supper  and  breakfast  is  sometimes  divided 
•without  cooking.  In  addition  to  the  above, 
the  negroes,  during  spring  and  summer,  usually 
get  plenty  of  milk  once  a  day.  During  the 
fall  and  winter  the  quantity  of  milk  is  more 
limited,  and  what  molasses  they  get,  they  are 
made  to  win  by  picking  cotton. 

To  make  one  negro  cook  for  all  is  a  saving 
of  time.  If  there  be  but  ten  hands,  and  these 
are  allowed  two  hours  at  noon,  one  of  which 
is  employed  in  cooking  their  dinner,  for  all  pur- 
poses of  rest  that  hour  had  as  well  be  spent 
m  ploughing  or  hoeing,  and  would  be  equal 
to  ten  hours'  work  of  one  hand ;  whereas,  the 
fourth  of  that  time  would  be  sufficient  for  one 
to  cook  for  all.  As  there  are  usually  a  num- 
ber of  children  to  be  taken  care  of,  the  cook 
can  attend  to  these,  and  see  that,  the  nurses 
do  their  duty.  I  would  add  that,  besides 
occasional  personal  inspection,  it  is  made  ob- 
ligatory ou  the  overseer  frequently  to  examine 
the  cooking,  and  see  that  it  is  pioperly  done. 

One  of  your  correspondents  has  endeavored 
to  prove  that  lean  meat  is  more  nutritious 
than  fiit.  It  is,  however,  a  well-known  foct 
that  the  more  exhausting  the  labor,  the  fatter 
the  meat  which  the  negro's  appetite  craves, 
and  it  agrees  well  with  him.  This  I  regard 
as  one  of  the  instincts  of  nature ;  and  think 
experience  is  opposed  to  your  correspondent's 
theory. 

As  to  clothing,  less  than  three  suits  a  year 
of  every-day  clothes  will  not  keep  a  negro 
decent,  and  many  of  them  require  more. 
Children,  particularly  boys,  are  worse  than 
grown  persons  on  their  clothes,  and  conse- 
quently require  more  of  them.    I  have  never 


been  able  to  keep  a  boy,  from  ten  to  sixteen 
years  of  age,  decently  clothed  with  less  than 
four  suits  a  year ;  nor  would  that  answer,  if 
some  of  the  women  were  not  compelled  to  do 
their  mending.  It  is  also  important  that 
women  who  work  out  should,  in  addition  to 
their  usual  clothuig,  have  a  change  of  drawers 
for  winter. 

As  no  article  of  water-proof,  suitable  for  an 
outer  garment,  and  sufficiently  cheap  for  plan- 
tation use,  is  to  be  had  in  the  stores,  the  writer 
would  suggest  the  propriety  of  having  for 
each  hand  a  long  apron  with  sleeves,  made 
of  cotton  osnaburgs,  and  coated  with  well- 
boiled  linseed  oil.  In  the  fall,  when  picking 
cotton,  this  apron  may  be  worn  early  in  the 
morning  until  the  dew  dries  off,  then  laid  | 
aside.  By  making  it  sufficiently  loose  across 
the  breast,  it  can  be  used  as  an  overcoat  at 
any  time  that  the  negro  is  necessarily  exposed 
to  rain. 

Patching  may  be  done  by  the  women  on 
wet  days,  when  they  are  compelled  to  be  in 
the  house.     Or  when  a  breeding  woman  gets  / 
too  heavy  to  go  to  the  field,  she  may  be  made  ! 
to  do  a  general  patching  for  all  the  hands. 

In  furnishing  negroes  with  bed-clothes,  it  is 
folly  to  buy  the  common  blankets,  such  as     > 
sell  for  $1  or  ?1  25.     They  have  but  little     1 
warmth   or  durability.     One  that  will   cost 
double  the  money  will   do  more   than   four 
times  the  service. 

Besides  whole  clothes,  negroes  should  have 
clean  clothes ;  and  in  order  to  do  this,  they 
should  have  a  little  time  allowed  them  to  do 
their  washing.  As  it  is  not  convenient  for  all 
hands  to  wash  at  the  same  time,  they  may  be 
divided  into  companies,  and  a  certain  evening 
assigned  to  each  company.  Those  whose  time 
it  is  to  wash  should  be  let  off'  from  the  field 
earlier  than  the  rest  of  the  hands,  and  on  that 
night  should  be  free  from  all  attention  to 
feeding  stock.  The  rule  works  equal;  for 
those  wlio  have  to  do  extra  feeding  on  one 
night  are  in  their  turn  exempt.  It  should, 
however,  be  an  invariable  rule  not  to  allow 
any  of  them  to  wash  on  Saturday  night,  for 
they  will  be  dirty  on  the  Sabbath,  and  render 
as  an  excuse  that  their  clothes  are  wet.  On 
some  large  plantations  it  is  the  daily  business 
of  one  hand  to  wash  and  mend  for  the  rest. 

In  building  houses  for  negroes,  it  is  im- 
portant to  set  tlicm  well  up,  (say  two  and 
a  half  or  three  feet  from  the  ground  to  the 
sills,)  so  as  to  be  conveniently  swept  under- 
neath. When  thus  elevated,  if  there  should 
be  any  filth  under  them,  the  master  or 
overseer,  in  passing,  can  see  it,  and  haA'e  it 
removed.  The  houses  should  be  neat  and 
comfortable ;  and,  as  far  as  circumstances 
will  allow,  it  looks  best  to  have  them  of 
uniform  size  and  appearance;  16  by  18  feet 
is  a  convenient  size  for  a  small  family.  If 
there  be  many  children  in  a  family,  a  larger 
house  will  be  necessary. 


NEGROES — MANAGEMENT   OF. 


336 


Many  persons,  in  building  negro  houses, ' 
in  order  to  get  clay  convenient  for  filling 
the  hearth,  and  for  mortar,  dig  a  hole  under 
the  floor.  As  such  excavations  uiiifornilj' 
become  a  common  receptacle  for  filth,  which 
generates  disease,  they  should  by  no  means 
be  allowed.  In  soils  where  the  clay  Avill 
make  brick,  the  saving  of  fuel,  and  the 
greater  security  against  fire,  render  it  a  ; 
matter  of  economy  to  build  brick  chimneys. 
In  all  cases  the  chimneys  should  be  extend-  ] 
cd  fully  two  feet  above  the  roof,  that  there 
may  be  less  danger  in  discharging  sparks. 
They  are  also  less  liable  to  smoke.  In  con- 
sequence of  negro  houses  being  but  one 
Btory  high,  the  lowness  of  the  chimneys  ren- 
ders them  very  liable  to  smoke  from  currents 
of  wind  driving  down  the  flue.  This  may  be 
effectually  prevented  by  the  following  simple 
precaution  :  Around  the  top  of  the  chimney 
throw  out  a  base  some  eight  or  ten  inches 
■wide,  and  from  the  outer  edge  of  this  draw 
in  the  cap  at  an  angle  of  thirty-five  or  forty 
degrees  with  the  horizon,  until  true  with 
the  flue.  No  matter  in  what  direction  the 
wind  blows,  on  striking  this  inclined  plane 
the  current  will  glance  upwards  and  pass 
the  chimne}",  without  the  possibility  of 
blowing  down  it.  On  page  454  of  Kcports 
of  Commissioner  of  Patents  for  1844,  will 
be  found  plates  illustrative  of  my  meaning. 
The  wings  of  the  angles,  as  explained  in  re- 
ports, are,  however,  unnecessary,  as  the 
remed}*  is  eft'eetual  without  them,  though 
they  evidently  increase  the  draft.  A  coat 
of  whitewash  inside  and  out,  every  sum- 
mer, adds  very  much  to  the  neat  and  com- 
fortable appearance  of  the  buildings,  and  is 
also,  by  its  cleansing  and  purifying  effect, 
conducive  to  health.  The  cost  is  almost 
nothing,  as  one  barrel  of  good  lime  will 
■whitewash  a  dozen  common-sized  negro 
houses,  and  any  negro  can  put  it  on. 

If  thei'e  be  not  natural  shades  suflicient 
to  keep  the  houses  comfortable,  a  row  of 
mulberries,  or  such  other  shades  as  may  suit 
the  owner's  fancy,  should  by  all  means  be 
planted  in  front,  and  so  as  to  protect  the 
houses  on  the  south  and  southwest. 

The  negroes  should  be  required  to  keep 
their  houses  and  yards  clean  ;  and  in  case 
of  neglect,  should  receive  such  punishment 
as  will  be  likely  to  insure  more  cleanly 
habits  in  future. 

la  no  case  should  two  families  be  allowed 
to  occupy  the  same  house.  The  crowding 
a  number  into  one  house  is  uuhealth}^  It 
breeds  contention  ;  is  destructive  of  delicacy 
of  feeling,  and  it  promotes  immorality  be- 
tween the  sexes. 

In  addition  to  their  dwellings,  where 
there  are  a  number  of  negroes,  they  should 
be  provided  with  a  suitable  number  of 
properly  located  water-closets.  These  may 
contribute   an  income  much  greater  than 


their  cost,  by  enabling  the  owner  to  pre- 
pare poudrette ;  while  they  serve  the  much 
more  important  purpose  of  cultivating  feel- 
ings of  delicacy. 

Tliere  sliould  at  all  times  be  plenty  of 
wood  hauled.  Surely  no  man  of  any  pre- 
tensions to  humanity,  would  require  a  negro, 
after  having  done  a  heavy  day's  -work,  to 
toil  for  a  quarter  or  a  half  mile  under  a 
load  of  wood  before  he  can  have  a  fire.  An 
economical  way  of  supplying  them  with 
wood  is  to  haul  logs  instead  of  small  wood. 
This  may  be  most  conveniently  done  with 
a  cart  and  a  pair  of  hooks,  such  as  are  used 
for  hauling  stocks  to  a  saw-mill.  Such 
hooks  will  often  come  in  use,  and  the  greater 
convenience  and  expedition  of  liooks  instead 
of  a  chain,  will  soon  save  more  time  than 
will  pay  for  them. 

The  master  should  never  establish  any 
regulation  among  his  slaves  until  he  is  fully 
convinced  of  its  jiropriety  and  equity.  Be- 
ing thus  convinced,  and  having  issued  his 
orders,  implicit  obedience  should  be  requir- 
ed and  rigidly  enforced.  Firmness  of  man- 
ner and  promptness  to  enforce  obedience 
will  save  much  trouble,  and  be  the  means 
of  avoiding  the  necessity  for  much  whip- 
ping. The  negro  should  feel  that  his  mas- 
ter is  his  law-giver  and  judge,  and  yet  is 
his  protector  and  friend,  but  so  far  above 
him  f  s  never  to  be  apjiroachcd  save  in  the 
most  respectful  manner.  That  is,  where  he 
has  just  cause,  he  may  with  due  deference 
approach  his  master  and  lay  before  him  his 
troubles  and  complaints;  but  not  on  false 
pretexts  or  trivial  occasions.  If  the  master 
be  a  tyrant,  his  negroes  may  be  so  much 
embarrassed  by  his  presence  as  to  be  inca- 
pable of  doing  their  work  properly  when  he 
is  near. 

It  is  expected  that  servants  shoidd  rise 
early  enough  to  be  at  work  by  the  time  it 
is  light.  In  sections  of  country  that  are 
sickly,  it  will  be  found  conducive  to  health, 
in  the  fall, to  make  the  hands  eat  their  break- 
fast before  going  into  the  dew.  In  winter,  as 
the  days  are  short  and  nights  long,  it  will 
be  no  encroachment  upon  their  necessary 
rest  to  make  them  eat  breakfast  before  day- 
light. One  properly  taken  care  of,  and 
suj)plied  with  good  tools,  is  certainly  able 
to  do  more  work  than  under  other  circum- 
stances. While  at  work,  they  should  be 
brisk.  If  one  is  called  to  you,  or  sent  from 
you,  and  he  does  not  move  briskh*,  chastise 
him  at  once.  If  this  does  not  answer,  re- 
peat the  dose  and  double  the  quantity. 
When  at  work,  I  have  no  objection  to  their 
whistling  or  singing  some  lively  tune,  but 
no  drawling  tunes  are  allowed  in  the  field, 
for  their  motions  are  almost  certain  to  keep 
time  with  tlie  music. 

In  winter,  a  hand  may  be  pressed  all  day, 
1  but  not  so  in  summer.     In  the  first  of  the 


336 


NEGROES — ^MANAGEMENT  OF. 


spring,  a  hand  need  not  be  allowed  any 
more  time  at  noon  than  is  sufficient  to  eat. 
As  the  days  get  longer  and  Avarnier,  a  longer 
rest  is  necessary.  In  May,  from  one  and  a 
half  to  two  hours;  in  .Tune,  two  and  a  half; 
in  July  and  August,  throe  hours  rest  at  noon. 
If  the  day  is  unusually  sultry,  a  longer  time 
is  better.  When  the  weather  is  oppressive, 
it  is  best  for  all  hands  to  take  a  nap  at  noon. 
It  is  refreshing,  aud  they  are  better  able 
to  stand  pressing  the  balance  of  the  day. 
Hands  by  being  kept  out  of  the  sun  daring 
the  hottest  of  the  day,  have  better  health, 
and  can  do  more  work  through  the  season 
than  those  who  take  what  they  call  a  good 
steady  gait,  and  work  regularl}^  from  morn- 
ing till  night.  They  will  certainly  last 
much  longer. 

If  the  corn  for  feeding  is  in  the  shuck,  the 
husking  should  be  done  at  noon ;  and  all 
corn  for  milling  should,  during  summer,  be 
shelled  at  noon,  that  as  the  nights  are  short, 
the  hands  may  be  ready  for  bed  at  an  early 
hour. 

If  water  be  not  convenient  in  the  field 
where  the  hands  are  at  work,  instead  of 
having  it  brought  from  a  distance  in  buck- 
ets, it  will  be  found  more  convenient  to 
have  a  barrel  fixed  on  wheels  and  carried 
full  of  water  to  some  convenient  place,  and 
let  a  small  boy  or  girl  with  a  bucket  supply 
the  hands  from  the  barrel.  Some  persons 
make  each  negro  carry  a  jug  or  large  gourd 
full  of  water  to  the  field  every  morning,  and 
this  has  to  serve  for  the  day. 

During  the  fall  and  winter,  hands  may  be 
made  to  pack  at  night  what  cotton  has  been 
ginned  in  the  day.  The  women  may  be 
required  to  sjiin  what  little  roping  will  be 
necessary  for  plough  lines,  and  to  make 
some  heavy  bed-quilts  for  themselves.  Be- 
sides this,  there  is  very  little  that  can 
properly  be  done  of  nights. 

One  of  the  most  important  regulations  on 
a  farm  is  to  see  that  the  hands  get  ])lenty 
of  sleep.  They  are  thouglitless,  and  if 
allowed  to  do  so,  will  sit  up  late  of  nights. 
Some  of  them  will  be  up  at  all  hours;  and 
others,  instead  of  going  to  bed,  will  sit  on 
a  stool  or  chair  and  nod  or  sleep  till  morning. 
By  half-past  9  or  10  o'clock  all  hands  should 
be  in  bed  ;  and,  unless  in  case  of  sickness,  or 
where  a  woman  has  been  up  with  her  child, 
if  any  one  is  cauglit  out  of  bed  after  that 
hour,  they  shoidd  be  punished. 


NEGROES— Management  of.— Tlie  pub- 
lic may  desire  to  know  the  age  of  the 
writer,  the  length  of  time  he  has  been  man- 
aging negroes,  and  how  long  he  has  tried 
the  mode  of  management  he  reeommonds. 
It  is  sufficient  to  say,  I  have  had  control  of 
negroes  in  and  out  of  the  field  for  thirty 
years,  and  have  been  carrying  out  my  pres- 


ent system,  and  improving  it  gradually,  lor 
twenty  years. 

I  do  not  deem  it  needful  to  follow  "  A 
Planter,"  nor  shall  I  strike  a  blow  at  book- 
farming  or  theories,  as  I  am  an  advocate 
for  both,  believing  that  even  an  error  has 
its  advantages,  as  it  will  frequently  elicit 
inquiry  and  a  good  article  in  reply,  where- 
as a  statement  of  facts  will  sometimes  pass 
unnoticed. 

Housing  for  negroes  shoiild  be  good ; 
each  family  should  have  a  house,  IC  by  18 
feet  in  the  clear,  plank  floor,  brick  chimney, 
shingle  roof;  floor  elevated  two  feet  above 
the  earth.  There  should  be  no  loft,  no 
place  to  stow  away  any  thing,  but  pins  to 
hang  clothes  upon.  Each  house  should  be 
provided  with  a  bedstead,  cotton  mattress, 
and  sufficient  bed-clothes  for  comfort  for  the 
heads  of  the  family,  and  also  for  the  young 
ones. 

Clothing  should  be  sufficient,  but  of  no 
set  quantity,  as  all  will  use  or  waste  what 
is  given,  and  many  be  no  better  clad  with 
four  suits  than  others  with  two.  I  know 
families  that  never  give  more  than  two 
suits,  and  their  servants  are  always  neater 
than  others  with  even  four. 

My  rule  is  to  give  for  winter  a  linsey  suit, 
one  shirt  of  best  towelling,  one  hat,  one  pair 
of  shoes,  a  good  blanket,  costing  $2  to  $2  50, 
every  other  year,  (or  I  prefer,  after  tr^-ing 
three  years,  a  comfort.)  In  the  summer, 
two  shirts,  two  p.air  pants,  and  one  straw 
hat.  Several  of  my  negroes  will  requiVe 
two  pair  pants  for  winter,  and  occasionally 
even  a  third  pair,  depending  mostly  upon 
the  material.  Others  require  another  shirt 
and  a  third  pair  of  pants  for  summer.  I 
seldom  give  two  pair  of  shoes. 

Food  is  cooked  by  a  woman,  Avho  has  the 
children  under  her  charge.  I  do  not  regard 
it  as  good  economy,  to  say  nothing  of  any 
feeling,  to  require  negroes  to  do  any  cook- 
ing after  their  day's  labor  is  over. 

The  food  is  given  out  dail}'',  a  half  pound 
to  each  hand  that  goes  to  the  field,  large  and 
small,  water  carriers  and  all ;  bread  aud 
vegetables  without  stint,  the  latter  jirepared 
in  my  own  garden,  and  dealt  out  to  the  best 
advantage,  endeavoring  to  have  something 
every  day  in  the  year.  I  think  four  pounds 
of  clear  meat  is  too  much.  I  have  negroes 
here  that  have  had  only  a  half  ])ound  each 
for  twenty  years,  and  they  l)id  fair  to  out- 
live their  master,  who  occasionally  forgets 
his  duty,  and  will  be  a  gourmand.  I  prac- 
tise on  the  plan,  that  all  of  us  would  be 
better  to  be  restrained,  and  that  health  is 
best  subserved  by  not  over-eating. 

My  cook  would  make  cotton  enough  to 
give  the  extra  one  pound.  The  labor  iu 
making  vegetables  would  make  another 
l)0und.  I  say  this  to  show  I  do  not  dole 
out  a  half  pound  per  day  from  parsimony. 


NEGROES — UOUSES    FOR. 


33Y 


My    hours    of    labor,  commencing  witli 

Sitchin<^  my  crop,  is  from  daylight  until  12 
1;  all  hands  then  come  in  and  remain  until 
2  o'clock  P.  M.,  then  back  to  the  lield  until 
dark.  Some  time  in  May  we  prolong  the 
rest  three  hours ;  and  if  a  very  hot  day, 
even  four  hours.  Breakfast  is  eaten  in  the 
field,  half  an  hour  to  an  hour  being  given  ; 
or  they  eat  and  go  to  work  without  being 
driven  iu  and  out — all  stopping  when  my 
driver  is  ready. 

I  give  all  females  half  of  every  Saturday 
to  wash  and  clean  \ip,  my  cook  washing  for 
young  men  and  boys  through  the  week. 
The  cabins  are  scoured  once  a  week,  swept 
out  every  day,  and  beds  made  up  at  noon 
in  summer,  by  daylight  in  winter.  In  the 
winter,  breakfast  is  eaten  before  going  to 
work,  and  dinner  is  carried  to  the  hands. 

I  do  not  punish  often,  but  I  seldom  let 
an  offense  pass,  making  a  lumping  settle- 
ment, and  then  correct  for  the  servant's  re- 
membrance. I  find  it  better  to  whip  very 
little.  Young  ones  being  rather  treacher- 
ous in  their  memory,  pulling  an  ear,  or  a 
sound  box,  will  bring  every  thing  right.  I 
am  almost  afraid  I  will  subject  myself  to 
the  "  chimney-corner  theorist's  "  animadver- 
sion if  I  say  more,  but  I  will  risk  it.  Put 
up  a  hewed  log-house,  with  a  good  substan- 
tial door,  lock  and  key,  story  12  feet  high, 
logs  across  above,  so  as  to  make  a  regular 
built  jail.  Have  air-holes  near  the  ceiling, 
•well  ])rotected  by  iron  bars.  The  first 
negro  that  steals,  or  runs  away,  or  fights, 
or  who  is  hard  to  manage  in  order  to  get  a 
day's  work,  must  be  locked  up  every  night 
as  soon  as  he  comes  in  from  work,  and 
turned  out  next  morning ;  kept  up  every 
Sunday.  Negroes  are  gregarious ;  they 
dread  solitariness,  and  to  be  deprived  from 
the  little  weekly  dances  and  chit-chat. 
They  will  work  to  death  rather  than  be 
shut  up.  I  know  the  advantage,  though  I 
have  no  jail,  my  house  being  a  similar  one, 
yet  used  for  other  purposes. 

I  have  a  fiddle  in  my  quarters,  and  though 
some  of  my  good  old  brethren  ia  the  church 
would  think  hard  of  mo,  yet  I  allow  danc- 
ing ;  ay,  I  buy  the  fiddle  and  encourage  it, 
by  giving  the  boys  occasionally  a  big  sup- 
Per. 

I  have  no  overseer,  and  do  not  manage 
80  scientifically  as  those  who  are  able  to  lay 
down  rules ;  yet  I  endeavor  to  manage  so 
that  myself,  family  and  negroes  may  take 
pleasure  and  delight  in  our  relations. 

It  is  not  possible  in  my  usual  crude  way 
to  give  my  whole  plans,  but  enough  is  prob- 
ably said.  I  permit  no  night-work,  except 
feeding  stock  and  weighing  cotton.  No 
work  of  any  kind  at  noon,  unless  to  clean 
out  cabins,  and  bathe  the  children  when 
nursing,  not  even  washing  their  clothes. 

I  require  every  servant  to  be  present 
VOL.  U. 


each  Sabbath  morning  and  Sabbath  evening 
at  family  prayers.  In  the  evening  the  mas- 
ter, or  sometimes  a  visitor,  if  a  professor, 
expounds  the  chapter  read.  Thus  my  ser- 
vants hear  lUO  to  200  chapters  read  each 
year  anyhow.  One  of  my  servants,  a  pro- 
fessor, is  sometimes  called  on  to  close  our 
exercises  with  prayei\ 

Owning  but  few  slaves,  I  am  probably 
able  to  do  a  better  part  by  them  than  if 
there  were  one  or  two  hundred.  But  I  think 
I  could  do  better  if  I  had  enough  to  permit 
me  to  systematize  better. 

I  would  keep  a  cook  and  a  nurse.  I 
would  keep  a  stock  feeder,  whose  whole 
duty  should  be  to  attend  to  stock  in  general, 
to  clean  out  the  stable,  have  troughs  filled 
with  food,  so  that  the  jdough  hands  would 
have  nothing  to  do  but  water,  clean  down, 
and  tie  up  the  teams.  I  would  build  a 
house  large  enough,  and  use  it  for  a  dance- 
house  for  the  young,  and  those  who  wished 
to  dance,  as  well  as  for  prayer-meetings,  and 
for  church  on  Sunday — making  it  a  rule  to 
be  present  myself  occasionally  at  both,  and 
my  overseer  always.  I  know  the  rebuke  in 
store  about  dancing,  but  I  cannot  help  it.  I 
believe  negroes  will  be  better  disposed  this 
way  than  any  other.  I  would  employ  a 
preacher  for  every  Sabbath.  One  of  my  ne- 
groes can  read  the  Bible,  and  he  has  prayer- 
meeting  every  Sabbath  at  four  o'clock  P. 
M. ;  all  the  negroes  attend  regularly,  no 
compulsion  being  used. 

I  have  tried  faithfully  to  break  up  immo- 
rality. I  have  not  known  an  oath  to  be 
sworn  for  a  long  time.  I  know  of  no  quar- 
relling, no  calling  harsh  names,  and  but 
little  stealing.  "Habits  of  amalgamation  " 
I  cannot  stop ;  I  can  check  it,  but  only  in 
the  name.  I  am  willing  to  be  taught,  for  I 
have  tried  every  thing  I  know.  Yours, 
truly,  A  Small  Farmee. 

P.  S. — I  endeavor  to  have  regularity  on 
going  to  bed  ;  forbid  sitting  or  lying  by 
the  tire  after  bed-time.  I  require  fire-mak- 
ers to  be  up  before  day  in  winter,  but  for- 
bid getting  up  before  day,  trotting  off  to  the 
field,  and  waiting  for  daylight,  as  some  per- 
sons are  said  to  do.  I  forbid  my  driver 
from  keeping  hands  in  the  field  when  there 
is  an  appearance  of  rain. 

My  negroes  get  baits  of  fresh  meat  occa- 
sionally, but  always  seasoned  high  with  red 
pepper.  At  times  I  give  molasses,  sugar, 
coffee  and  flour,  generally  laying  out  about 
$10  per  hand  for  such  luxuries. 

NEGROES  —  Houses  for.—  One  of  the 
most  prolific  sources  of  disease  among  negroes 
is  the  condition  of  their  houses  and  the  man- 
ner in  which  they  live.  Small,  low,  tight  and 
filthy,  their  houses  can  be  but  laboratories  of 
disease ;  whilst  on  every  side  grow  rancorous 

22 


338 


KEGROES COLORED    POPULATION    OF    THE    SOUTH. 


weeds  and  grass,  interspersed  with  fruit  trees, 
little  patclies  of  vegetables  and  fowl-houses 
effectually  shading  the  ground,  and  prevent- 
ing that  free  circulation  of  air  so  essential  to 
the  enjovment  of  health  in  a  quarter.  Your 
correspondent  lias  frequently  detected  the 
presence  of  worms,  ami  sometimes  in  large 
numbers,  in  negroes  inhabiting  houses  thus 
conditioned  and  situated ;  so  often,  indeed, 
that  lie  almost  regarded  their  existence  "  as  a 
matter  of  course."  Nothing  can  be  so  deteri- 
orating to  the  blood,  and  consequently  to  the 
secretions,  as  bad  air.  To  be  convinced  of  the 
truth  of  this  assertion,  your  readers  need  but 
to  refer  to  the  "  Reports  of  the  Board  of 
Health,"  in  the  nearest  close-built  and  ill-ven- 
tilated cities  and  towns,  and  to  the  "  sick  lists"  j 
of  hospitals,  jails,  and  ships.  That  fatal  form 
of  febrile  disease,  denominated  "  ship  fever," 
though,  to  some  extent,  modified,  has  occurred 
repeatedly  in  negro  houses.  Not  to  contend 
for,  in  all  probability,  an  admitted  point,  then, 
it  may  be  concluded  that  it  is  important  that 
planters  should  adopt  some  system  or  rule 
under  the  operation  of  wliich  their  negro 
houses  shall  be  properly  constructed,  their 
quarters  adequately  ventilated  and  dried,  and 
the  manner  of  living  among  their  negroes  reg- 
ulated. 

It  is  a  common  custom  with  negroes  to  re- 
turn in  the  evening  from  the  field  tired,  and 
often  in  a  perspiration,  and  lie  down  before 
their  doors  upon  a  board  or  bench,  and  sleep 
till  nine  or  ten  o'clock,  while  the  dew  is  fall- 
ing and  the  atmosphere  becemes  cool  and 
damp ;  instead  of  going  into  their  houses  and 
either  lying  down  in  bed  or  before  a  gentle 
fire,  where  the  exhalation  from  the  ekin  would 
be  more  gradual,  and  that  chilliness  conse- 
quent upon  their  sudden  "  cooling  "  would  be 
avoiiled.  Let  planters  go  at  this  hour  around 
thf  ir  quarters,  and  feel  the  hands  and  feet  of 
negroes  thus  conducting  themselves,  and  they 
will  no  longer  be  in  doubt  as  to  the  source  of 
their  "  chills  and  fevers."  Now,  it  is  not  the 
wish  of  your  correspondent  to  interfere  with 
the  household  and  domestic  arrangements  and 
affairs  of  negroes,  nor  to  destroy  their  gar- 
dens and  patches,  to  allow  them  which  is  all 
very  projier;  but  when  they  will  not  have 
"  an  eye  to  health"  themselves,  it  is  to  the 
interest  of  their  owners  to  have  an  eye  for 
them. — Southern  Cultivator. 

NEGROES.— Black  and  iluLATxc  Topu- 
LATFON  OK  THE  South. — Tiic  llou.  Mr.  Cling- 
man,  of  North  Carolina,  liaa  addressed  a  let- 
ter to  the  census  board,  urging  the  importance 
of  more  accurate  inforinatit)n  than  has  hitherto 
been  elicited  with  reference  to  the  black  race, 
and  especially  to  tliat  portion  of  it  in  whicli 
there  is  a  mixture  between  the  black  and 
white  races.  The  last  census  was  notoriously 
faultv  in  this  respect,  and,  owing  to  the  con- 
flicting  extremes  of    opinion   and    assertion 


which  have  been  adduced  by  the  parties  who 
are  associated  most  intimately  with  the  inter- 
ests of  the  negro  ])opulation,  nothing  like  a 
true  knowledge  of  the  state  of  the  black  race 
in  the  United  States  has  been  arrived  at.  In 
the  south,  the  negro  is  described  as  hardly 
human — incapable  of  refinement  or  intellect- 
ual advance ;  while  the  abolitionists  extol 
him  as  naturally  the  equal  of  the  white  man, 
physically  and  mentally.  So  that  it  is  a 
mooted  question  whether  slavery  has  degen- 
erated, or  freedom  at  the  north  has  improved 
the  negro. 

It  appears  at  all  events  certain,  that  the 
mixed  race  exhibits  powers  more  susceptible 
of  cultivation  than  the  pure  African.  They 
are  selected  at  the  south  for  the  performance 
of  duties  requiring  higlier  capacities  than  are 
possessed  by  the  mere  field  negro ;  and  at  the 
north,  every  d<ay'8  observation  shows  that  the 
mulatto  is  endowed  with  mental  gifts  superior 
to  his  black  brother.  But  whether  the  mu- 
latto deteriorates  physically  in  proportion  as 
he  ascends  in  the  intellectual  scale,  is  the 
question  of  the  highest  importance,  consider- 
ing the  ratio  in  which  this  portion  of  our  pop- 
ulation is  increasing. 

It  has  been  lately  asserted,  by  men  who 
have  made  this  branch  of  science  their  study, 
that  the  hybridity  of  animals  is,  in  course  of 
time,  fatal  to  their  powers  of  procreation  ;  and 
that  after  two  or  three  generations,  the  mu- 
latto (the  hybrid  man)  loses  this  power  as 
does  the  mule.  Tins  theory  argues  a  diver- 
sity of  the  human  race,  and  is  of  course  vio- 
lently opposed  by  the  advocates  of  its  unity ; 
but  hypothesis  and  controversy  are  alike  pow- 
erless to  elucidate  a  truth  which  de]iends 
upon  statistics  for  its  developments.  Hence 
the  importance  of  Mr.  Clingman's  suggestion 
to  ascertain  not  only  the  number  of  all  such 
persons,  whether  free  or  slaves,  of  extending 
mquiries  as  to  the  parents  of  the  mulatto  pop- 
ulation, whether  they  were  black,  white,  or 
mixed — and  going  on  still  further  back,  where 
necessary,  until  the  pedigree  is  traced  back 
to  the  individual  white  and  black  races.  In 
connection  with  this  subject,  a  writer  in  the 
Boston  "  Medical  Journal  "  states  the  follow- 
ing facts,  which  are  said  to  liave  been  col- 
lected from  authentic  statistics :  ■ 

1.  Tiiat  the  longevity  of  the  pure  African 
is  greater  than  that  of  the  inhabitants  of  any 
other  portion  of  the  globe. 

±  Tiiat  the  mulattoes  {i.  e.  those  born  of 
parents,  one  being  African  and  the  other  Cau- 
casian, or  white)  are  decidedly  the  shortest 
lived  of  any  class  of  the  human  race. 

3.  That  mulattoes  arc  more  liable  to  die 
under  the  age  of  twenty-five,  than  the  whites 
or  blacks  between  these  ages  ;  from  forty  to 
forty  six,  50  to  1  ;  and  from  fifty-five  to  sev- 
enty, loo  to  1. 

4.  That  the  mortality  of  the  free  people  of 
color  in  the  United  States  is  more  than  one 


NEGROES — SLAVE    TRADE    OF    THE    SOUTH. 


359 


•hundred  per  crat.  greater  than  that  of  the 
slaves. 

It  is  questional )lc  whether  the  negro  -will 
care  about  a  cluuige  to  freedom,  if  its  only 
■benefit  is  «  short  cut  to  the  grave.  There  is 
no  question  but  slavery  is  an  evil,  but  statis- 
tics of  mortality  prove  that,  as  far  as  the 
■negro  is  coiiceruetl,  poverty  is  one  hundred 
fold  tlie  greater  evil. 

The  abolitionists  seem  always  to  be  unac- 
quainted with  one  fact — that  the  relation  Ix;- 
■tween  master  and  slave  was  one  of  the  first 
and  most  universal  furms  of  jiroperty  and  ser- 
vitude in  the  world.  Wr.  Calhoun  may  be 
sneered  at  by  some  of  the  long-eared  Solo- 
•mons  of  the  northern  press,  but  his  arguments 
on  this  subject  have  never  yet  been  answered. 
He  says  truly  that  the  slave  property  is  so 
ANCiEXT  that  there  is  xo  uecoud  of  its  oai- 
GiN.  it  is  probably  more  ancient  than  sepa- 
rate and  distinct  property  in  lauds,  and  quite 
as  ea^il}'  defended  on  abstract  principles.  So 
•far  from  being  created  by  positive  enactment, 
I  know  of  no  instance  in  which  it  ever  was,  or 
to  express  it  more  accurately,  in  which  it  had 
its  origin  in  acts  of  legislatures.  It  is  always 
•older  than  the  Laws  which  undertake  to  regu- 
■late  it,  and  such  is  the  case  with  slavery  as  it 
exists  with  us.  They  were  for  the  most  part 
slaves  in  Africa — they  were  bouglit  as  slaves, 
brought  here  as  slaves,  sold  here  as  slaves, 
and  held  as  slaves,  long  before  any  enactment 
made  them  slaves.  I  even  doubt  whether 
there  is  a  single  state  in  the  south  tliat  ever 
enacted  them  to  be  slaves.  There  are  hun- 
dreds of  acts  that  recognize  and  regulate  them 
as  such ;  but  none,  I  apprehend,  that  under- 
take to  create  them  slaves.  Master  and 
slave  are  constantly  regarded  as  preexisting 
relations. 

NEGROES. — Emplovment  of  i\  Cotton 
FactopvIes. — A  writer  in  the  Augusta  Consti- 
tutionalist takes  this  enlightened  view  of  the 
subject : 

"Tlie  blacks  comprise  a  large  portion  of  the 
population  of  tlie  south.  They  are  an  inferior 
Tace,  and  dcpejidcnc)/  is  iheir  inheritance.  No 
mistaken  philanthropy  or  wild  theories  can 
change  slavery  as  it  exists  in  the  southern 
states.  It  is  the  condition  in  which  the  blacks 
can  be  best  comforted  and  provided  for.  It 
is  truly  gratifying,  therefore,  to  witness  the 
awakening  of  late  to  these  truths.  The  tri- 
umph of  sound  practical  sense  and  reason  over 
the  past  hallucinations  and  impracticable  spec- 
ulations of  otie,  whose  lead  Kentuckj'  was 
wont,  hitherto,  to  follow,  imparts  an  instructive 
lesson  to  the  whole  south.  We  will,  it  is  to 
be  hoped,  profit  and  set  ourselves  steadily  to 
work  to  preserve  and  render  slavery  what 
Providence  designed  it  to  be,  a  blessing  and 
comfort  to  the  African  heathen.  Tlie  blacks 
constitute,  to  a  great  extent,  the  laboring  class 
•of  the  south,  and  beyond  this  they  cannot, 


and  have  not,  the'  aspirations  to  rise.  As  ia 
all  other  countries,  there  is  an  obligation  ina- 
posed  to  provide  for  the  laboring  classes.  In- 
deed, this  is  the  all-absorbing  subject  of  states- 
men under  every  government,  however  con- 
stituted. With  us  this  obligation  devolves 
upon  the  master,  the  owner  of  the  slave  ;  and 
if  he  cannot  employ  the  negro  profitably  in  one 
pursuit,  liis  own  sagacity  and  interests  should 
be  left  free  to  divei't  gradually  his  physical 
energies  into  other  channels  of  productive  la- 
bor. The  African  has  an  aptitude  for  endur- 
ance, and  at  the  south  will  succeed  in  many 
of  the  laborious  operations  where  others  would 
fail.  For  manufacturing  in  the  hot  and  lower 
latitudes,  they  are  peculiarly  qualified  ;  and 
the  time  is  approaching  when  they  will  be 
sought  as  the  operators  most  to  be  preferred 
and  depeyided  on.  If  our  object  in  embarking 
in  manufactories  is  to  avail  ourselves  of  our 
natural  advantages,  and  thus  counteract  the 
incessant  and  vexatious  attacks  of  the  north, 
we  cannot  more  effectually  accomplish  this  than 
by  tlie  introduction  of  African  slaves  into  fac- 
tories. They  are  more  manageable,  more  pli- 
able, and  can  best  endure  the  heated  atmo- 
sphere of  a  confined  room — to  which  hundreds 
of  tlie  whites  are  daily  falling  victims.  The 
hackling,  or  preparing  and  sizing  apartments, 
hurry  many  white  operators  to  premature 
graves.  I  do  not  speculate  on  this  subject; 
facts  ev-ery  where  sustain  me  as  to  the  suffer- 
ings and  moriality  in  the  one  case,  and  as  to 
the  peculiar  qualities  in  the  other.  I  could 
name  factories  in  South  Carolina,  Alabama, 
and  Georgia,  where  the  success  of  black  labor 
has  been  encouraging ;  but  the  recent  public 
acknowledgment  of  the  director  of  the  Saluda 
fiictory,  near  Columbia — a  northern  man,  and 
who  took  charge  with  northern  prejudices — is 
conclusive. 

"  It  is  not,  however,  merely  the  adaptation  of 
black  slave-labor  to  manufacturing,  that  would 
make  me  an  advocate  of  its  employment. 
I  "  I  take  a  wider  range,  and  am  influenced  by 
j  a  more  enlightened  policy.  Our  blacks  com- 
i  pose  one  half  of  the  population  of  the  southern 
1  states,  and,  from  very  obvious  causes,  are  in- 
1  creasing  with  a  rapidity  far  beyond  the  other 
I  races.  We  have  to  make  provision  for  them. 
I  The  obligation  to  protect,  to  feed,  to  clothe, 
j  and  take  care  for  in  sickness  and  in  health,  in 
want  and  in  tribulation,  is  sacred  with  the 
■'  master.  He  should  not  be  prohibited,  there- 
fore, from  directing  their  labor  to  any  object 
I  in  which  they  may  be  profitably  emj'>loyed. 
j  Tiie  African  is  ecpial  to  any  operation  wliich 
I  involves  enduring  labor  under  a  trojjical  sun  ; 
[  and  any  attempt  to  restrict  or  limit  him  to  one 
■  pursuit,  would  be  fatal  to  the  institution  of 
'  slavery,  and  an  infringement  on  the  rights  of 
those  on  whom  has  devolved  the  responsibility 
j  of  taking  care  of  dependants." 

I     NEGROES.— Slave  Tbade  of  the  South. 


340 


JTEaBOES — SLAVE   TRADE    OF   THE   SOUTH. 


— Tlic  following  statistics  of  the  slave  trade 
at  Charleston,  from  1804  to  180Y,  are  taken 
from  the  speech  of  the  Hon,  Judge  Smith, 
senator  from  South  Carolina,  delivered  in  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States  on  8th  Decem- 
ber, 1820: 

"  In  the  year  1804,  tlie  ports  of  South  Ca- 
rolina, by  an  act  of  its  Legislature,  under  the 
permission  of  the  constitution  of  the  United 
States,  were  opened  for  the  importation  of 
Africans.  They  remained  open  four  years. 
During  that  time  tliere  were  two  hundred  and 
two  vessels  entered  tlie  port  of%Charleston, 
with  African  slaves."         *         *         * 

*  *  *  "He  wrote  to  a  friend 
in  Charleston,  to  apply  to  the  custom-house 
oflBcers  for  a  fall  statement  of  all  the  ships 
engaged  in  that  trade  during  the  four  years. 
*  *  *  In  answer  to  his  request, 
he  had  received  from  the  custom-house  books, 
from  the  hand  of  the  collector,  the  following 
authentic  docnments :" 

1804. 
Teasels.  Country  of  the  Proprie- 

tors of  the  Cargo. 

Aurora New-England 

Ann Scotland 

Easter 

Brilliant Rhode  Island 

Armed  Neutrality Great  Britain 

Argo Ireland 

Thomas Great  Britain 

Horizon " 

Harriet 

Eliza " 

Alexander " 

Francis " 

Christopher. " 

Favorite " 

M'Lespine " 

Susanna New-England 

Active Great  Britain 

Hamilton " 

Ruby 

Mary 

1805. 

Perseverance Great  Britain 

Kitty Charleston 

Lupin Rhode  Island 

Mary  Huntley Great  Britain 

Gov.  Wentworth " 

Experiment. " 

Eagle Rhode  Island 

Neptune " 

Fanny Great  Britain 

Thomas " 

Nile 

Recourse " 

Isabella 

Armed  Neutrality " 

Su=anna *' 

Love  and  Unity Rhode  Island 

Jack  Park Great  Britain 

Manning " 


1805  continued. 

Juliet .Rhode  Island 

Margaret Great  Britain 

Louisiana Rhode  Island' 

Ariel Great  Britairr 

Eator 

Margaret " 

Hiram Rhode  Island 

Louisiana, " 

Maria .Great  Britain' 

Hambleton " 

Rambler Rhode  Island 

William. Great  Britain 

1806. 

Ariel Great  Britain 

Mary " 

Daphna " 

Carie " 

America " 

Davis " 

Lydia .New-Jersey 

Dutton Great  Britain 

Amazon " 

Fair  American Rhode  Island 

Miller. Ireland 

Edward  and  Edmund. Great  Britain 

Factor Rhode  Island 

Louisa. " 

Commerce " 

Gustavus .» Charleston 

Neptune Rhode  Island 

Robert. Gi-eat  Britain 

Polly Rhode  Island 

Hiram 

Samuel New-Jersey 

Love  and  Unity Rhode  Island 

Three  Sisters " 

Hector Great  Britain 

Ruby 

Farmer " 

Maria -. Rhode  Island 

Ceres. , Great  Britain 

Independence Rhode  Island 

Ilibcrnia Great  Britain 

Alert 

Agent Rhode  Island 

Mary Great  Britain 

Three  Friends " 

Fair  Eliza " 

Fox Rhode  Island 

Kitty Charleston 

Hope Rhode  Island 

Hope Ireland 

Nantasket Great  Britain 

John  Watson " 

Gov.  Dodsworth " 

Mary  Ann " 

Diana " 

Davenport New- Jersey 

Corydon Great  Britain 

Kate " 

Mercury " 

Union " 

Washington " 


NE6R0ES SLAVE    TRADE    OF   THK    SOUTH. 


341 


186$  continued.  i 

ionisa. Rhode  Island 

Nicholson Great  Britain 

Edward  and  Edmund " 

Mercury " 

Little  Ann Charleston 

Margaret Great  Britain 

1807. 

Katy. Great  Britain 

James " 

Eliza Rhode  Island 

Cleopatra, Great  Britain 

Union Rhode  Island 

Tartar Great  Britain 

Maria " 

James Massachusetts 

Mary Rhode  Island 

Aspinal .Great  Britain 

James Charleston 

Norfolk Ireland 

Fourth  of  July Charleston 

Dudder Great  Britain 

Habit Fracce 

Agent Rhode  Island 

Eliza. Great  Britain 

Ann " 

Ellis 

Andromache Rhode  Island 

Gov.  Clairborne France 

Hiram Rhode  Island 

Semiramis " 

Neptune " 

Nancy " 

Minerva , France 

Columbia. Rhode  Island 

Factor " 

Lavinia " 

Leander " 

Daphna Great  Britain 

Vulture Rhode  Island 

Africa. Great  Biitain 

Three  Friends. " 

Eliza Rhode  Island 

Lark. " 

Alfred... 

Louisa Great  Britain 

Hiram Rhode  Island 

Concord ^ " 

Friendship Rhode  Island 

Flora. 

Ann  aad  Harriet " 

Montieello " 

Amazon Great  Britain 

Baltimore. Rhode  Island 

Juliet. " 

Miriam ^ France 

Heron.. . . ^ ^ . . .  Ireland 

Ruby .Great  Britain 

Three  Sisters. . . .  ^ . . , Rhode  Island 

Betsy  and  Sally " 

Armed  Neutrality. Great  Britain 

Anna France 

John Great  Britain 

Naiitaaket ..-. " 


1807  continued. 

Gov.  Clinton France 

Eagle Rhode  Island 

Port  Mary Great  Britaia 

Eliza Charleston 

Mary. ^ Rhode  Islaed 

Eagle 

Actor. Ireland 

Hannah  Bartlet Rhode  Island 

Mary " 

Edward  and  Edmund " 

Charleston .Great  Britain 

Experience. Rhode  Island 

Rambler .^  .. .  " 

Eliza. 

Cleopatra Great  Britaia 

Hope Rhode  Island 

Charlotte " 

Albert S.  Carolina 

Commerce Rliode  Island 

Hope . . . .  ^ Massachusetts 

Wealthy  Ann Rhode  Island 

Columbia... - " 

Angenora " 

Mercury. . . . . , Ireland 

Venus .-,.,...  Rhode  Island 

Agent. -  .  France 

Gen.  Clairborne " 

James.. Rhode  Island 

Resolution Great  Britaia 

William  and  Mary "" 

Caroline ....France 

Polly.. Charleston. 

Jupiter.. Great  Britaia 

Heart  of  Oak Rhode  Island 

Horizon " 

Mary  Ann " 

Mary  Ann ^  " 

Rio, Charleston 

Sally... 

EKCAPITULATION 

Of  tfae  African  trade,  and  by  what  nationa 
supported,  from  Jst  January,  1804,  to  31&t 
of  Decembei-,  1807. 

Vescels  belonging  lo 

Charleston . 61 

Rhode  Island. 59 

Baltimore i 

Boston 1 

Norfolk._ 3 

Connecticut 1 

Sweden 1 

Britain TO 

France 8 

Total.... 202 

Coneigneea. 

Natives  of  Charleston 13 

Rhode  Island 88 

"  Britain 91 

«         France 10 

Total 202 


342 


NEGRO    CIVILIZATION    AND    THE    DOinNICAX   REPTTBLIC. 


Whole  number  of  slaves  imported,  and  the  i  the   decree  of  the  Constituent  Assembly  of 

'    "     ■      ' "  '  "      '"'      '  ""—  '""Vdeclaring 

lx)ni 
of  free  persons,  should  be  admissible  to  the 
colonial  assemblies.     This  admission  of  free 


Whole  number  01  slaves  imporiea,  anu  inei  me  uecree  oi  lue  \juur>niucni  xisacmuij 
particular  number  imported  by  each  foreign  1  France,  of  the  15th  of  May,  1791,  declari 
nation,  and  each  of  the  United  States  (into  [  that  mon  of  mixed  blood  of  all  shades,  h 
ni,avioatr,n  ^  of  frce  Dcrsons,  should  be  admissible  to  1 


Charleston.) 


British *19,649 

FrencL *1.0"8 


21.,027 


IM  AMEEIC.\N  VESSELS, 


CJjarleston,  South  Carolina,  belonging  to 
foreigners 5,1  OY 

Imported  by  merchants  and  planters  of 
Charleston  and  vicinity. 2,006 

7,123 

Bristol 8,914) 

Newport... 3,488  (^^  j^j^^^ 238 

Providence.    556  j 

Warren 280  J 

Baltimore 750 

Savannali 800 

Norfolk 387 

Hartford 250 

Boston 200 

Philadelphia 200 

New-Orleans 100 


18,048 


Total 39,076 

NOTE   BY   THE    COMPILER. 

It  would  appear,  from  the  foregoing,  that 
of  these  importations  of  slaves  into  Charles- 
ton, there  were  imported  by  natives  ol  coun- 
tries and  places  now  repudiating  slavery, 

Foreigners 2:1,027 

Citizens  of  United  states 14,605 


By  citizens  of  slavebolding  states.. 


35,632 
.   3,443 


Total 39,075 

NEGRO  CIVILIZATION  AND  THE 
DOMINICAN  REPUBLIC— A  writer  in  the 
New- York  Journal  of  Commerce  famishes  the 
following  interesting  and  important  informa- 
tion in  relation  to  the  Repubhc  of  St.  Domin- 
go, in  the  island  of  Hayti: 

"  The  i.sland  of  St.  Domingo  formerly  be- 
longed, the  eastern  part  to  Spain,  the  western 
part  to  France.  Under  a  luw  system  of  mo- 
rality, a  considerable  populatiou  of  free  people 
of  color  had  sprung  up  in  the  Fi-ench  part  of 
the  i.slaiul  when  the  French  r(!volution  began. 
One  of  the  early  results  of  that  revolution  was 


*  There  is  a  typographical  error  of  300  iu  one  of 
these  two  amouut»  in  the  original  pamphlot,  which 
we  hav«  not  foil  uulliorizeJ  to  alter,  n.s  it  was  doubt- 
^V  M-  which  amouiK  to  luako  tht>  alteration. 


people  of  color  to  a  political  equality  with 
them-selves  was  resisted  by  the  white  iahabit- 
ants,  who,  rather  than  submit  thereto,  made 
proposals  to  Sir  Adam  Williamson,  then  Gov- 
ernor of  Jamaica,  to  place  the  island,  op 
rather  the  French  part  of  it,  under  British. pro- 
tection. Their  propositions  were  accepted, 
and  a  Briti.sh  force  sent  to  occupy  the  posts  of 
Jeremi  and  St.  Niolas  Mole.  Siinthonax,  the 
French  commissioner,  alarmed  at  the  prospect 
of  the  colony  falling  mto  the  hands  of  Great 
Britaini  proclaimed  the  general  emancipation 
of  all  the  slaves.  This  was  followed  by  a 
coalition  of  the  free  people  of  color  with  the 
blacks,  to  murder  and  drive  out  the  whites. 
The  atrocities  conunitted  on  tottering  age, 
helpless  infancy,  and  feeble  womanhood,  have- 
given  to  the  island  a  terrible  interest. 

The  people  of  color,  who  united  with  and 
encouraged  the  blacks  in  these  atrocities,  have 
since  met  witli  their  merited  punishment  in 
the  oppression,  banishment,  anil  massacre  of 
which  they  have  in  turn  become  the  victims. 

It  is  a  great  error  into  which  many  have 
fallen,  to  suppose  that  the  inhabitants  of  the 
eastern  or  Spanish  part  of  the  island  had  any 
part  in  th^se  scenes  of  vice  and  crime,  and- 
which  have  rendered  infamous  the  very  name 
of  that  beautiful  island  Those  excesses  were 
confined  entirely  to  the  French  part.  The 
Spanish  part  of  the  ishuid  remained  undis- 
turbed, and,  until  1821,  in  quiet  submission  to. 
Spain,  of  whose  colonies  it  was,  in.  climate,. 
soil,  and  mineral  productions,  perhaps  the 
most  valuable,  though  most  neglected.  Over- 
looked and  neglected  by  the  cabinet  at  Ma- 
drid, and  their  only  source  of  prosperity,  their 
commerce  with  the  other  Spanish  American, 
colonies,  being  cut  off  by  the  revolt  of  those 
colonies,  in  December,  1821,  the  Dominicans 
declared  their  independence  of  Spain,  and, 
hoistirig  the  Colombian  flag,  sent  commission- 
ers to  ask  admission  as  one  of  the  states  of  the 
Colombian  Republic.  That  Republic  was  at 
that  time  too  much  engaged  in  the  organiza- 
tion of  its  own  government  and  affairs  at 
home,  to  attend  to  the  application  of  the  Do- 
minican;?. Spain,  engaged  with  her  other 
colonies,  left  the  Dominican  revolutionists  to 
themselves.  Boyer,  then  President  of  Hayti 
under  pretense  of  marcJiing  to  their  assist- 
ance, took  possession  of  the  country.  The  Do- 
minicans, few  in  number  and  unprepared  for. 
resistance,  were  compelled  to  submit,  and 
found  that  they  exchanged  the  neglect  and 
the  restrictive  commercial  policy  of  Spain^ 
for  the  far  more  oppressive  tyranny  of  tlie 
blacks.  Under  thisyoke  they  suffered  till  1843. 
In  that  year,  driven  by  desperation,  a  few 
persons,  not  over  a  hundred,  rose  in  the  nigjit 


NEGROES    OF    ANCIENT    TIMES. 


343 


and  took  possession  of  the  principal  gates  of' 
tlie  city  of  St.  Domingo.  By  tho  influence  of 
eome  of  tbe  foreign  residents,  \viu>-u  sympa- 
thies were  with  them,  and  who  went  between 
them  and  the  Haytien  garrison  in  the  citadel, 
exaggerating  their  numbers  and  strength,  tlie 
garrison  was  iniluced  to  surrender  before 
morning  came  to  disclose  the  weakness  of  the 
movement.  As  fast  as  the  unexpected  news 
spread  tlirough  the  country,  the  Dominicans 
flocked  to  the  standard  of  independence,  drove 
out  the  Haytiens,  and  established  a  republi 
can  form  of  government. 

The  Dominican  Republic  contains  from 
150,u00  to  200,000  souls.  Tiie  Haytiens  num- 
ber from  800,000  to  1,000,000.  The  latter 
admit  no  white  person  to  hold  any  real  estate, 
oi"  enjoy  any  of  the  privileges  of  a  citizen.  The 
former  is  essentially  a  white  government, 
with  aUmt  the  same  intermixture  of  otlier 
blood  as  in  the  Spanish  Main  and  Brazil  The 
govermnent  always  has  been,  and  still  is,  in 
the  hands  of  the  whites.  Tiie  immigration  of 
blacks  is  prohibited,  and  white  colonists  are 
invited  by  grants  of  lands,  the  government 
paying  their  expenses  and  subsistence  till  es- 
tablished in  their  new  homes. 

The   Dominicans  have  made  repeated  ap- 
plications to  the  United  States  to  interfere,  to 
put  .an  end  to  the  invasions  of  the   blacks. 
Learning  that   such  an  a])plicati<in  had  been 
made,  the  English,  to  anticipate  the  tartly  ac- 
tion of  our  slower-moving  government,  prof- 
fered   their    mediation.       The    Dominicans,  I 
suspicious   of    the    negrophily    of    England, 
hesitated  to  accept  tbe  offer,  lest  their  doing  ; 
BO  might  afford  a  pretext  for  Englisli  influence  i 
to  compel  them  to  submit  to  the   black  Em- 1 
peror    Soulouque.     The   offer  was    therefore ' 
accepted  only  on  the  condition  that  the  United 
States  and  France  should  join  in  the  medi- 
ation. 

The  celebrated  society  of  the  "  Amis  des 
Noirs"  was  established  about  the  commence- 
ment of  the  French  revolution,  for  the  purpose 
of  ameliorating  the  condition  of  the  black 
population  in  the  West  Indies.  Its  leading 
members  were  Brissot,  Betion,  Mirabeau,  Cla- 
viere,  Condorcet,  and  most  distinguished  of 
all,  the  Abbe  Grei^oire.  To  their  misdirected 
zeal  may  be  attributeil  all  the  crimes  and 
horrors  which  have  desolated  the  island  of  San 
Domingo,  reduced  its  inhabitants  to  a  condi- 
tion of  slavery  far  worse  than  that  which  it 
■was  proposed  to  improve,  and  plunged  them 
again  into  barbarism  and  idolatry.* 

This  society  still  exists  in  Paris,  largely  in- 
creased in  numbers  and  influence,  and  acts  in 
concert  with  the  abolition  societies  of  Great 
Britain  and  the  United  States.  Adopting 
their  views  of  humanity — that  it  is  much  bet- 
ter that  the  Haytiens  should  have  undisputed 

•  Many  of  the  blacks  of  Il.iyti  hnvo  lapsed  into 
idolatry,  worsliipping  serpenls^aud  other  Fetishes. 


possession  of  the  whole,  than  that  the  island 
should  be  divided  between  two  constantly 
conflicting  governments — England  ;in  1  France 
have  been  for  some  time  endeavoring  to  pro- 
cure the  submi-ssion  of  the  Dominicans  to 
Soulouque.  We  have  recently  been  informed 
that  this  view  of  the  subject  has  also  been 
adopted  by  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  and  that  a  special  agent  is  about  to 
sail  in  the  Saranac  to  unite  with  the  French 
and  English  agents  to  accomplish  this  object. 
If  these  rumors  be  true,  and  the  I>ominican 
Republic  should  thus  be  fused  down  into  a 
])rovince  of  the  Haytien  empire,  past  experi- 
ence plainly  points  out  what  will  be  the  un- 
happy fate  of  its  white  inhabitants." 

NEGROES  OF  ANCIENT  TIMES  — 
SiE  : — From  a  learned  work,  printed  a  short 
time  since,  entitled  "Anacalypsis,"  and  writ- 
ten by  the  late  Godfrey  Higgens,  I  have 
made  some  extracts  which  relate  to  a  portion 
of  the  early  history  of  our  race,  and,  as  I  con 
ceive,  bear  reference  to  a  part  of  the  inhabi 
tants  still  existing  on  our  globe. 

This  communication,  though  not  strictly  of 
a  medical  nature,  yet  may  be  deemed  replete 
with  interest,  as  connected  with  those  exten- 
sive views  which  our  science  naturally  em- 
braces. Truly  appertaining  to  the  natural 
history  of  man,  upon  which  subject  your 
columns  at  various  periods  are  pregnant  with 
information,  viewing  it  in  its  physical  and 
moral  aspects,  I  trust  it  will  be  thought  that 
this  article  has  not  intruded  into  a  quarter 
which  might  have  been  more  legitimately  and 
more  profitably  occupied.  May  I  therefore 
request  its  insertion  in  your  widely-diffused 
periodical,  in  the  hope  that  some  of  the  sci- 
entific readers  of  7he  Lancet,  whose  investi- 
gations have  been  directed  towards  such  mat- 
ters, may  be  enabled  to  adduce  some  argu- 
ments, or  disclose  some  facts,  tending  to 
elucidate  the  apparent  inconsistency,  or  alto- 
gether to  remove  the  presumed  resemblance  ? 

ExTR.\CTs. — 1.  It  was  the  opinion  of  Sir 
William  Jones,  that  a  great  nation  of  blackx 
formerly  possessed  the  dominion  of  Asia,  .ind 
held  the  seat  of  emjiire  at  Sidon.  These  nnist 
have  been  the  people  called  by  M.  Maurice 
"  Cushites,"  or  "  Cuthites,"  described  in  Gene- 
sis ;  and  the  opinion  that  they  were  blacks  is 
corroborated  by  the  translators  of  the  Penta- 
teuch, called  "  the  Seventy,"  constantly  ren- 
dering the  word  "  Gush"  by  "  Ethiopia." 

2.  '*  The  religion  of  Buddha,  of  India,  is  ' 
very  ancient,  as  well  known.  In  the  most 
ancient  temples  scattered  throughout  Asia, 
where  his  worship  is  yet  continued,  he  is 
found  black  as  jd,  with  the  flat  face,  thick 
lips,  and  curly  hair  of  the  negro.  Several 
statues  of  him  may  be  met  with  in  the  muse- 
um of  the  East  India  Company.  There  are 
two  exemplars,  brooding  on  the  face  of  the 
deep  upon  a  coiled  serpent.  To  what  time  are 


344 


NEGROES    OF    ANCIENT   TIMES. 


•we  to  allot  this  negro  ?  He  will  be  proved  to 
have  been  prior  to  the  god  called  '  Cristna ' 
He  must  have  been  prior  to,  or  contempo- 
raneous -with,  the  blacl<  empire,  supposed  by 
Sir  W.  Jones  to  have  flourislied  at  Sidon. 
The  religion  of  this  negro  god  is  found,  by  the 
ruins  of  bis  temples  and  other  circumstances, 
to  have  been  spread  over  ,an  immense  extent 
of  country,  even  to  the  remotest  part  of 
Britain 

3.  "  Eusebius  states  tliat  the  Ethiopians 
settled  in  Egypt  in  the  time  of  Amenophis  ; 
they  came  from  the  river  Indus,  and  planted 
themselves  south  of  Egypt. 

4.  "  Philostratus  says,  that  the  gymnoso- 
phists  of  Ethiopia,  wlio  settled  near  the 
sources  of  the  Nile,  descended  from  the  Brah- 
mins of  India,  having  been  driven  thence  for 
the  murder  of  their  king. 

5.  "  Eustasius  also  states,  that  the  Ethi- 
opians came  from  India. 

6.  "Tlie  superior  antiquity  of  India  is 
shown  by  Baily,  and  mauy  other  learned 
men. 

7..  "  riie  Ethiopians  are  stated  by  Herodo- 
tus to  have  come  from  the  Indus.  Memnon,  who 
was  sent  to  the  siege  of  Troy,  and  was  killed 
by  Achilles,  Virgil  describes  as  having  been 
a  black,  {yEneid,  lib.  i,)  as  does  also  Pindar, 
(Olyrnp.  Od.  ii. ;  vide  Diss,  of  Bisliop  Hewet, 
eh.  xiii.,  p.  185)  That  Pindar  and  Virgil 
were  right,  the  features  of  the  bust  of  Mem- 
non  in  the  British  Museum  prove,  for  they  are 
evidently  those  of  the  negro. 

8.  "Mr.  Wilsford,  in  his  treatise  on  Egypt 
and  the  Nile,  in  the  'Asiatic  Researches,'  in- 
forms us  that  nianii  very  ancient  statues  of 
the  god  Buddha,  in  India,  have  cris]7  ciirly  hair, 
with  flat  noses  and  t/iick  lips.  Nor  can  it 
reasonably  be  doubted  that  a  race  of  negroes 
formerly  had  power  and  pre-eminence  in 
India.  This  is  confirmed  by  M.  Maurice,  who 
says,  '  Tlie  figures  in  the  Hindoo  caverns  are 
of  a  very  different  character  from  the  present 
race  of  Hindoos:  their  countenances  are  broad 
a7idfuU,  the  nose  is  fat,  tmdthn  lips,  particu 
larly  the  under  lip,  are  remarkably  thick! 

9.  "  This  is  again  confirmed  by  Col.  Fitz- 
clarence  in  liia  journal ;  and  Maurice,  xw  the 
first  volume  of  his  Indian  Antitjuities,  states 
that  the  figures  in  the  caves  of  India  are  ab- 
solutely the  same  as  those  in  ligypt  described 
by  Bruce,  Niebuhr,  ttc. 

10.  "Justin  states  that  the  Phoenicians, 
being  obliged  to  leave  their  native  country  in 
the  east,  tliey  settled  first  near  the  Persian 
Gulf;  and  Maurice  says,  '  We  find  an  exten- 
sive district,  named  Pidestinc,  to  the  east  of 
the  Enplirates  and  Tigri.«.  The  word  Pales- 
tine seems  derivefl  from  Pallisthan,  the  seat  of 
the  Pallis.or  Sliepherds  ;'  Pali  in  India  means 
Shepherd.  This,  coupled  with  the  Shepherd 
Kings  of  Egypt,  confirms  Sir  W.  Jones's 
opinion  in  a  striking  manner,  respecting  a 
black  race  having  reigned  at  Sidon. 


11.  "  Sir  W.  Jones  says, '  The  mountaineers 
of  Bengal  and  Bahar  can  hardly  be  distin- 
guished in  sonic  of  their  features,  particularly 
in  their  lips  and  noses,  from  the  modern  Abys 
sinians,  whom  the  Arabs  call  the  children  of 
Cush.' 

12.  "In  my  essay  on  Celtic  Draids,  I  have 
observed  that  a  great  nation  called  '  Celtje,' 
of  whom  the  Druids  were  the  priests,  spread 
themselves  over  almost  the  whole  earth,  and 
are  to  be  traced  in  their  rude  gigantic  monu- 
ments from  India  to  the  extremity  of  Britain. 
What  these  can  have  been  but  the  early  indi- 
viduals of  the  black  nation,  of  whom  we  have 
been  treating,  I  know  not,  and  in  this  opinion 
I  am  not  singular.  The  learned  Maurice  says, 
'  Cuthites,  i.  e.,  Celts,  built  the  great  temples 
in  India  ATiA  Britain,  and  excavated  the  caves 
of  the  former.'  And  the  learned  mathema- 
tician, Reuben  Burrow,  has  no  hesitation  in 
pronouncing  Stonehenge  to  be  a  temple  of  the 
black  curly -headed  Buddha." — P.  52.  ' 

If  it  can  be  admitted,  with  the  learned  au- 
thor from  whom  I  have  quoted,  that  the  most 
•incient  race  of  which  we  have  any  record, 
either  in  the  pages  of  history,  or  in  the  gigan- 
tic cavern  sculptures  of  the  east,  or  in  the  tra- 
ditionary legends,  were  black,  and  in  physi- 
cal conformation  and  visible  aspect  similar 
to  the  race  of  negroes  which  at  present  exists, 
by  what  means  can  we  account  for  the  de- 
graded condition  of  the  latter  ?  How  recon- 
cile the  vast  intellectual  distinction  between 
tliem  ? 

I  think  it  will  be  readily  allowed  that  the 
negro  nation,  so  far  as  we  are  acquainted  with 
them,  are  fitted,  neither  by  physical  capabil- 
ities nor  by  moral  attributes,  to  become  the 
founders  or  rulers  of  great  kingdoms.  We 
perceive  that  year  after  year,  and  century 
after  century,  to  them  brings  no  change.  We 
observe  that  their  habits  and  their  customs 
remain  unaltered ;  that  in  no  respect  do  their 
intellectual  endowments  ap])ear  to  advance 
with  the  exjierience  of  years  ;  and  the  most 
that  can  be  stated  in  their  favor  is  this,  that 
they  have  remained  .stationary  from  the 
period  of  their  first  introduction  to  civilized 
man.  How,  then,  were  their  presumed  pre- 
decessors enabled  to  assume  so  commanding 
a  situation,  to  attain  so  proud  an  elevation 
among  the  empires  of  the  world  ?  By  what 
means  ilid  they  arrive  at  such  eminence  in 
scientific  knowledge  and  mechanical  ingenu- 
ity ?  In  what  manner  did  they  extend  their 
fame  and  influence  into  almost  every  region, 
however  remote  ? 

A  (picry  naturally  suggests  itself.  Can  the 
cxistmg  African  negroes  be  the  descendants 
of  this  widely-spread,  intelligent,  and  refined 
race  ?  Can  the  beings  so  low  in  tiie  scale  of  in- 
tellect as  the  negro  is  represented  to  us  to  be, 
he  ctmnected  by  consanguinity  with  this  eX' 
alted  people?  W  it  be  answered  in  the  neg- 
ative,  where — to   what    country — shall    wo 


OHIO — COMMERCE    AND    RESOURCES    OF. 


345 


look  for  tlieir  continuance  ?  Where  are  their 
descendants  in  skill,  knowledge,  and  refine- 
ments, possessing  the  same  external  physical 
conformation  ? 

If  the  query  which  I  have  above  suggested 
be  answered  m  the  affirmative,  to  what  chain 
of  causes  are  we  to  aflix  the  great  debase- 
ment of  the  present  existing  negro?  To 
•what  source  are  we  to  turn  for  satisfactory 
reasons  for  such  a  manifest  and  striking  differ- 
ence in  the  intellectual  endowments  and  saga- 
cious actions  of  the  same  people  of  two  dif- 
ferent periods  ? 

Without  presuming  to  offer  an  opinion,  but 
merely  to  afford  a  hint  for  investigation,  I 
would  ask,  whether  the  solution  of  the  difli- 
culty  can  be  advanced  by  the  following  at- 
tempt at  explanation  ?  A  succession  of  con- 
quests, with  other  political  and  social  causes 
combined,  forced  these  black  descendants  of 
the  Palli,  or  India-Egyptian  shepherd  kings, 
and  the  tribes  belonging  to  them,  to  emigrate 
progressively  further  into  the  interior  of  the 
vast  continent  of  Africa,  where  at  length  they 
find  a  secure  and  unmolested  haven  from  their 
toils  and  sufferings,  unworthy  of  the  ambition 
and  uninviting  to  the  cupidity  of  their  neigh- 
bors. The  intense  heat  of  the  climate,  the 
sterility  of  the  soil,  and  the  unimprovable 
appearance  of  the  whole  face  of  the  country, 
would  be  sufiicient  to  ward  off  all  intruders, 
■whether  hostile  or  commerciaL  Remaining 
for  centuries  in  this  isolated  condition,  they 
continued  a  distinct  and  unmixed  race.  Tlie 
powerful  stimuli  of  foreign  war,  of  commer- 
cial intercourse,  of  social  improvement,  being 
absent,  their  minds  became  contracted  and 
weak.  Succeeding  generations,  adding  to  the 
stolidity  of  their  progenitors,  became  still  more 
depressed  in  mental  energies,  aud  after  the 
lapse  of  many  ages,  they  reached  the  degraded 
and  melancholy  condition  which  they  now  ex- 
hibit. Finally,  having  little  or  no  intercourse 
with  the  rest  of  mankind,  and  a  very  limited 
range  for  tiie  exercise  of  their  intellectual  and 
moral  faculties,  the  gradual  disuse  of  those 
powers  which  were  originally  planted  in 
them,  may  have  created  that  result  on  their 
cranial  configuration  and  intellectual  manifes 
tations,  which,  under  somewhat  analogous 
circumstances,  phrenologists  have  frequently 
observed.  I  remain,  sir,  your  ever-instructed 
reader. 

OHIO — Commerce,  Resources,  &c.,  of — 
The  state  of  Ohio,  which  was  admitted  into  the 
American  Union  in  1802,  has  become  already, 
through  the  fertility  of  its  soil  and  the  energy 
and  thrift  of  its  people,  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant members  of  that  Union,  both  in  wealth 
and  in  population,  and  exercises  a  degree  of 
influence  on  our  federal  councils  second  only 
to  that  of  the  great  states  of  New- York  and 
Petmsylvania. 

The  admirable  message  of  Governor  Bart- 


ley,  delivered  8th  December  last,  affords  us  a 
vast  amount  of  information  in  reference  to  the 
internal  condition,  resources  and  prosperity  of 
the  state ;  and  feeling,  as  we  naturally  do  in 
Louisiana  and  in  New-Orleans,  the  liveliest  in- 
terest in  the  welfare  of  a  community  wilh 
whom  our  commercial  relations  are  so  inti- 
mate, it  is  impossible  that  a  few  pages  in  our 
Review  could  be  better  occupied  than  with  a 
few  of  the  facts  presented  by  the  governor, 
and  obtained  from  other  reliable  sources.  The 
design  of  the  Review  is  to  treat  from  month 
to  month  of  each  of  the  states  of  the  south 
and  west,  in  a  similar  manner,  aud  ultimately 
of  the  states  of  tlie  whole  Union,  tlius  fur- 
nishing a  body  of  information  of  incalculable 
value  for  present  use  and  future  reference. 
If  the  citizens  of  different  states,  who  have 
the  means  of  information  at  hand,  would  aid 
us  in  any  way  in  the  enterprise,  the  service 
we  cannot  doubt  would  be  universally  ap- 
preciated. 

The  first  permanent  settlement  in  Ohio  was 
made  in  1788,  at  Marietta.  French  settlers 
afterwards  were  located  at  Gallipolis  in  1791. 
Cleveland  was  settled  in  1701  by  emigrants 
from  New-England.  From  this  humble  be- 
ginning has  grown  up  in  half  a  century  a 
powerful  state ! 

In  the  construction  of  her  numerous  public 
works  the  state  of  Ohio  has  contracted  a  large 
public  debt,  the  interest  upon  which,  however, 
she  has  always  met  with  great  and  commend- 
able punctuality.  According  to  the  gover- 
nor's statement  the  debt  is: 

Total  Foreign, §16,964,292  50 

Total  Domestic, 765,136  12 

School  and  Trust  Fund, 1,482,682  68 


Total  debt, $19,212,111  30 

The  returns  of  property  valuations  in  the 
state  for  purposes  of  taxation  were,  in  1845, 

A'nluation. 

Acres  of  land, 23,216,286  ?85,916,169 

Town  property 22,269,575 

Number  of  horses,  387,200  a  $40    15,488,000 

cattle,  725,253  a      8       5,786,824 

Capital  in  trade  and  at  interest,     13,556,517 

Carriages  for  pleasure 1 ,055,742 

Stages  and  stage  stock, 87,762 


8144,160,469 
The  following  table  will  exhibit  the  increase 
in  population ; 
1802,       50,000 

1810,     230,760  Increase  in  8  years,  180,760 
1820,     581,434  "  10      "       350,674 

1830,     937,679  "  10      "       356,245 

1840,1,515,161  "  10      "       577,482 


Total  increase  in  38  years,  . .   1,465,165 

Average  increase  per  year,  ..        38,557 
Estimated  population  in  1845,  over  2,000,000. 


346 


OHIO — COMMERCE    AND    RESOUUCES    OF. 


The  agricultural  capacities  of  Ohio  are  un- 
limited. We  loarn  from  a  paper  prepared  by 
Joiin  Brou'^h,  Esq.,  that  the  valley's  of  the 
Scioto  and  Miami  are  extensively  cultivated 
in  corn,  oats,  and  as  meadow  lands.  Lar^e 
bodies  of  tliese  lauds  are  quite  level,  and  the 
soil  is  of  a  ricli,  deep,  and  durable  character. 
There  are  probably  no  better  corn  j^rounds  in 
the  Union.  In  many  instances,  fields  have 
been  cultivated  in  this  crop  for  forty  years  in 
6ucce?sii)n,  without  any  evidence  of  failure  in 
the  soil.  In  the  valley  of  the  Scioto,  and  tlie 
territory  lying  between  that  and  the  Miami, 
there  is  raised  and  fattened  a  great  number 
of  cattle,  most  of  wiiich  are  sent  to  the  eastern 
markets.  Both  these  valleys — the  Scioto  and 
the  Miami — are  famous  for  the  number  and 
the  quality  of  their  hogs. 

Total  Agricultural  Products  of  Ohio 
IN  184-4. 

Value. 
Bushels  of  wheat,   ..   15,909,000    §9,581,400 
"  barley,..,         191,000        114,600 

"        "oats, 20,393,000     3,058,950 

"        "rye, 840,000         504,000 

"        "  buckwheat,       792,000        475,020 

"        "corn 48,000,000     9,600,000 

"potatoes,..    4,847,000     1,211,750 

Tons     "hay, 1,876,000   11,256,000 

"       "  flax  <fe  hemp,  1,000  60,000 

Pounds  "  tobacco,...     6,888,000       275,520 

"       "  silk  cocoons,         31,500       126,000 

"      "  sugar, 4,380,000       306,600 


Making  a  total  of ?36,570,020 

This  statement  does  not  embrace  the  pork, 
beef-cattle,  horses,  over  and  above  the  usual 
Btock,  sheep,  wool,  butter,  cheese,  and  divers 
other  items,  which,  it  is  safe  to  say,  if  they 
could  be  in  any  wise  correctly  ascertained, 
would  swell  the  value  of  the  agricultural  pro- 
ducts of  Ohio  to  at  least  forty-five  or  fifty  mil- 
lions of  dollars  annually.  Governor  Thomas 
W.  Bartley,  in  his  Message  to  the  General 
Assembly,  in  December,  1844,  estimated  the 
whole  products  of  the  state  as  follows : 

Value. 

Agricultural, .$45,362,400 

Manufactures, 17,505,600 

Commerce, 9,660,379 

Mineral, 2,931,218 

Forest  and  lumber,    1,013,063 

Fisheries,    10,525 

Total, $76,483,188 

Manufactures  of  Ohio. — At  Steubenville 
—cotton,  woollen,  iron ;  coal  in  the  vicinity. 
At  Mount  rieasant — silk,  the  raw  material  of 
which  raised  in  the  state;  culture  encou- 
raged by  state  bounties.  Zanesville — iron 
works.  Dayton  c<jntains  many  cotton  and 
woollen  factories,  cotton,  paper  and  flouring 


mills,  tfec  Akron  and  Cincinnati  both  con- 
tain rising  and  growing  manufactories.  The 
state  has  great  facilities  lor  these  pur])oses. 

Minerals  of  Ouio. — Bituminous  coal  in 
large  quantities;  valued  in  Cincinnati  at  about 
twelve  cents  per  bushel.  Salt  is  obtained 
abundantly  from  water  yielded  by  boring,  and 
extensive  works  have  been  constructed.  Iron 
ore  exists  also  in  large  quantities. 

"  The  mineral  wealth  of  Ohio  is  not,  and  will 
not  be  for  many  years  to  come,  fully  devel- 
oped. The  remark  that  has  been  matle  in  re- 
gard to  our  manufacturing  advantages,  may 
be  applied  here  with  equal  force.  Tliere  is 
no  lack  of  enterprise  among  our  people ;  but 
they  do  not  possess  the  capital  necessary  to 
call  fm'th  into  active  exercise  and  usefulness 
these  mighty  treasures  of  the  earth.  Perhaps 
no  state  in  the  Union  offers  greater  iniluce- 
ments  to  the  investment  of  capital,  in  this 
particular,  than  the  state  of  Ohio.  Tiiere  is 
here  that  rare  combination  so  seldom  met 
with,  of  iron  ore,  coal,  and  water  power,  not 
only  in  the  same  districts,  but  in  the  imme- 
diate vicinity  of  each  other.  The  state,  in  her 
corporate  capacity,  has  done  all  that  justice 
requires,  or  her  means  will  justify.  In  all 
these  districts,  abounding  in  mineral  wealth, 
canals  and  other  public  works  have  been  cou- 
etructed,  and  are  now  in  successful  operation ; 
thus  adding  to  the  advantages  already  enu- 
merated the  facilities  of  transportation  to 
every  other  section  of  the  state,  and  an  out- 
let to  the  markets  of  the  world.  The  day 
cannot  certainly  be  far  tiistant,  when  these 
signal  advantages  will  attract  the  attentiou  of 
capitalists;  and  then  the  mineral  wealth  of 
Ohio,  in  its  development,  will  rank  the  state 
as  high  in  that  particular  as  she  now  stands 
in  the  vast  amount  and  value  of  her  agricul- 
tural productions." 

Public  Works. — The  Ohio  Canal  was  un- 
dertaken in  1825,  completed  1832,  connecting 
Lake  Erie  at  Cleveland  with  the  Ohio  at 
Portsmouth— 334  miles;  cost  !?4,694,934  19. 
The  Miami  Canal,  from  Cincinnati  to  Dayton, 
87  miles,  cost  SI  ,387,552  16.  Hocking  Canal, 
through  the  salt  and  coal  region.s,  cost  5!l,000,- 
000.  Walhording  Canal,  25  miles,  cost 
§610, 000.  All  of  these  communicate  with 
each  other.  The  Muskingum  iiii])roveinent 
of  the  river  of  that  uame  by  (Imuis  and  lucks 
from  Dresden  to  the  Ohio  at  Marietta.  The 
Wabash  antl  Erie  Canal,  first  commenced  in 
Indiana  and  continued  from  the  Ohio  line  to 
the  Maumee  Bay,  87  miles,  cost  about  $3,000,- 
000.  The  Miami  extension  is  connected  with 
this,  cost  ^3  600,000.  All  of  these  works  are 
of  a  state  character.  Tlie  state  also  holds 
stock  in  the  Peruisylvania  and  Ohio  Canal, 
and  in  the  Milan  Canal  Company,  the  White 
Water  and  Mad  jliver  C;mals,  besides  sev<'ial 
railroads  and  turnpikes.  The  whole  will 
I  appear  in  the  following  table  : 


OHIO COAL   TRADE. 


347 


Revenue  Expen 

Ci)3t.              in  1843.  Jiture. 

4,095.203  69   2ri2,l99  1'29.184 

1,237,552  16      74,320  36,041 

2,856,635  96     32,0U7  189.727 


3,02S,34O  05 
607,208  99 
97.5,129  57 

1,0-27,318  29 


73,9117 

28,461 

4,520 

1,184 


51,659 
19,055 
6,953 

2,748 


256,334  93       6,613       2,664 


Lcnsth. 

Ohio  CnnnI,  134 

Miami  Cnual,  85 

"  Exlunsion,  139 
Wiibasli  iinJ  Erie 

Cannl,  91 

Waltumilin?,  25 

HocUiiii;  Caual,  56 
Rluskiiigam  Imp.,  91 
Western     and 

Mauniee,  31 

Total,      852  15,283,783  64   473,211    441,131 

Cincinnati,  the  metropolis  of  Ohio,  is,  and 
has  been  for  some  time,  the  great  city  of  tlie 
northwest  Although  an  object  of  history  for 
a  much  earlier  porioti,  the  city  contained  in 
1795  but  500  inhabitants;  in  1805,  9G0;  in 
1810,  2,500.  It  was  chartered  as  a  city  in 
1815  ;  in  1840  estimated  as  high  as  80,000  in 
population,  and  by  its  rapid  increase  bewilder- 
ing our  conceptions  of  the  future. 

The  number  of  hogs  slaughtered  in  Cmcin- 
Dati  has  increased  from  85,000  in  1832,  to 
240,000  in  1843,  and  over  300,000  in  1S4G; 
number  bbls.  tlour  made  in  1846,  100,000; 
gallons  linseed  oil,  26,000,  cake  of  which  sent 
to  New-Orleans  and  Liverpool.  The  engine 
shops  are  extensive,  and  the  number  of  steam- 
boats fitted  out  very  great,  upwards  of  fifty 
annually.  Besides  this,  there  are  white  lead 
and  cotton  manufactories,  &c.,  &c.  The  city 
has  yet  attained  but  a  tithe  of  her  im- 
portance. 

"  The  rapid  growth  of  the  state,"  says  Mr. 
Brougli,  "and  her  increase  in  wealth  and  pros- 
perity, are  the  best  evidences  of  her  advan- 
tages, the  surest  indications  of  her  future 
greatness.  Located  in  the  very  heart  of  the 
Union,  with  a  soil  unsurpassed  in  fertility  by 
that  of  any  other  state,  with  living  streams 
flowing  through,  and  abundantly  watering 
every  section ;  rich  in  mineral  deposits ;  pos- 
sessed of  every  facility  for  manufacturing; 
ber  whole  southern  anil  southwestern  border 
■washed  by  the  navigable  waters  of  the  Ohio ; 
and  the  interior  traversed  in  every  direction 
by  turnpikes,  canals  and  railroads,  enhancing 
the  value  of  property,  and  affording  outlets  to 
the  markets  of  the  world ;  and  withal,  an 
enterprising,  industrious,  and  intelligent  popu- 
lation, tlie  future  is  to  Oliio  as  full  of  promise 
as  the  past  is  of  high  and  ennobling  pride  to 
her  own  citizens, — of  wonder  ami  admiration 
to  the  world.  In  view  of  all  the  advantages 
she  possesses,  of  what  has  been  done  in  the 
last  twenty  years,  and  of  what  the  next 
twenty  is  certain  to  accomplisli,  who  can  set 
bounds  to  the  future  wealth,  power  and  great- 
ness of  this  YOUNG  GIANT  OF  TUE  WEST  ?"     (See 

Cincinnati,  etc.) 

OHIO  —  Her  "Wealth  and  Resources — 
1850. — The  appendix  to  the  report  of  the 
Auditor  of  State  furnishes  the  following  offi- 
cial information : 


Acresofland, 23,768,835 

Value  of  lands $264,661,957 

Value  of  towns, 71,177,354 

Value  of  ])ersonal  property,  mo- 

nevs  and  credits 92,235,470 

Total  value  of  taxable  property,  430,839,885 

State  tax  on  property, 1,266,547 

County,  school,  and  township  tax,  1,462,721 

Road  tax, 232,152 

School-house   and  other  special 

taxes, 495,436 

Total  taxes  on  grand  list  of  1849,  $3,631,878 

Number  of  horses, 569,830 

Value, $18,162,269 

Number  of  mules,, 2,945 

Value,.. 8101,233 

Number  of  cattle, 1,058,933 

Value, $10,483,526 

Number  of  sheep, 3,911,836 

Value, $2,072,287 

Number  of  hogs, 1,947,672 

Value, $2,449,820 

Total  value  of  domestic  animals,  $33,269,135 

Number  of  pleasure  carriages,.. .  56,805 

Value, $2,523,400 

Number  of  watches, 62,516 

Value, $854,428 

Number  of  pianos, 2,117 

Value $275,203 

Value  of  unenumerated  articles,       4,412,163 

Merchants'  stock, 15,406,347 

Moneys  and  credits, 31,149,145 

Total  amount  personal  property,     92,235,476 

RA5LK0AD    STOCK   HELD   BY   THE   STATE. 

Mad  river  and  Lake  Erie,.. $395,050 

Mansfield  and  Sandusky, 23,333 

Little  Miami, 121,900 

Stock  dividends  on  above^ 7 1,300 

Total  amount  held  by  state $520,183 

CANAL    STOCKS    HELD    BT   THE   STATE. 

Cincinnati  and  White  Water, $150,000 

Pennsylvania  and  Ohio, 420,000 

Total,. $570,000 

The  total  amount  of  tarnpike,  railroad,  and 
canal  stocks,  held  by  the  state,  is  $3,011,858. 
DivideiHls  on  turnpike,  railroad,  and  canal 
stocks,  last  year,  $38,049. 

The  total  amount  of  capital  bank  stock  paid 
in,  in  all  the  banks,  is  $6,488,817,  and  the 
amount  of  tax  paid  by  them  to  the  state,  the 
past  year,  was  $52,862,05. 

OHIO. — Coal  Trade. — It  is  almost  im- 
passible to  estimate  the  amount  of  coal  in  the 
state  of  Ohio,  for,  rich  as  she  is  iii  her  arable 
lands  and  in  their  vast  pi'oduct  of  grain,  she 
is  not  more  so  in  that  than  in  her  mineral 
resources.  As  population  becomes  more  dense 
and  the  arts  and  manufactures  increase,  coal 


348 


OLIVES CULTIVATION    OF   AT   THE    SOUTH. 


will  constitute  one  of  the  most  valuable  sources 
of  her  wealth.  The  county  of  Tuscarawas, 
for  instance,  has  550  square  miles,  and  it  is 
stated  that  coal  can  be  found  on  every  mile 
of  it.  ;In  Professor  Mather's  Report  on  Geology 
it  is  estimated  that  Tuscarawas  county  has 
imbedded  iu  it  more  than  eighty  thousand 
millions  of  bushels  of  coal.  The  Cincinnati 
Atlas  says  that  in  1834  the  coal  trade  had 
scarcely  commenced  in  the  county  of  Meigs, 
and  tliis  last  year  (1848)  there  was  at  least 
2,500,000  bushels  got  out  in  that  county.  So 
also,  at  Nelsonville,  in  Athens  county,  no  coal 
was  exported  before  the  Hocking  canal  was 
made ;  but  in  the  curreut  year  (1848)  the  coal 
got  out  there  reached  near  a  million  of  bushels, 
which  goes  into  the  consumption  of  towns 
which  before  that  time  consumed  no  coal. 

Tiie  following  tabular  view  of  the  increased 
product  of  coal,  compiled  from  statistical  docu- 
ments, is  nearly  correct,  for  the  years  1840, 
1843,  1847,  and  1848: 

1840.  1843.  1847.  IMS. 

Counties.  Bushels.       Busheli.         Bushels.        Bushels. 

Athens 84,200  100,000  C57,663  715,104 

Belmont 188,200  'JOO.OOO  200,000  225,000 

Columbiana...  163,000  200,000  200,000  200,000 

Gallia 1.5,400  30,000  40,000  45,000 

Guernsey 5.5.858  60,000  60,000  60,000 

Harrison 189,500  200,000  200000  200,000 

Holmes 5,000  .^OOO  10,000  10,000 

Jackson 55.500  60,000  70,000  75,000 

Meigs 843,400  1,200,000  2,000,000  2,500,000 

Monroe 5,450  6,000  10,000  15,000 

Mor>?an 77,400  80,000  80,000  80,000 

Perry 34  190  35,000  40,000  40,000 

Scioto 41,100  40,000  45,000  45,000 

Stark 33,800  35,000  40,000  151,467 

Bummit 254.040  361,805  1,287,170  1,837,377 

Tuscarawas... 29-.',230  350,000  275,000  285,020 

Wayne 10,000  10,000  10,000  10,000 

Washington...  34,000  35,000  40,000  40,000 

Total 2,382,363    2,907,805  5,081,823  6,538,968 

In  those  counties  where  there  are  no  pub- 
lic works,  and  no  iron  manufactures,  the  pro- 
duct of  coal  is  estimated  to  remain  nearly  the 
same,  because  the  consumption  is  local  and 
domestic;  but  in  those  counties  where  the 
public  works  run,  the  increase  is  great,  and 
we  know  what  it  is  very  nearly.  So  of  the 
county  of  Meigs  (on  tlie  river)  we  know  very 
uearly  its  increase.  The  above  table  is  nearly 
correct,  but  it  is  unquestionably  something 
under  the  mark.  To  Summit  county,  we  have 
credited  the  entire  amount  of  coal  cleared 
from  tlie  port  of  Akron ;  but  it  is  probable 
that  some  portion  of  it  came  there  by  the  Ohio 
and  Pennsylvania  canal,  from  places  in  the 
line  uf  the  canal.  The  general  result  is,  how- 
ever, nearly  the  truth. 

The  comparison  of  aggregates  shows  that — 

From  1840  to  1843,  the  increase  was  24  per 
cent.  From  1843  to  1847,  the  increase  was 
65  per  cent.  From  1847  to  1848,  the  increase 
was  28  per  cent. 

In  the  first  three  years,  the  annual  increase 
was  8  per  cent.,  in  the  next  foui'  years  16  per 


cent,  and  in  the  last  year  28  per  cent. !  By 
the  year  1860 — eleven  years — the  coal  pro- 
duction of  Ohio  will  probably  exceed  twenty 
millions  of  bushels  per  annum,  or  three  times 
the  present  amount. 

The  consumption  of  coal  aa  an  article  of 
domestic  fuel  has  very  rapidly  increased  in 
the  interior  towns,  as  the  following  table  of 
the  receipts  for  consumption,  at  different 
points,  will  show : 


184.3. 

1847. 

1848. 

Bushels. 

Bushels. 

Busliels. 

Cleveland...  387,834 

1,212,887 

1,959,210 

Newark 10,000 

56,200 

50,200 

Columbus...  64,185 

155,302 

293,695 

Circleville...  22,532 

38,800 

6.5,209 

Chillicothe..  27,470 

131,151 

223.1.53 

Middletown..    8.334 

31,784 

45.815 

Dayton 27,800 

64,495 

89,273 

Piqua 1,420 

5,075 

6,083 

Aggregate 549,575  1,695,704  2,743,615 

This  is  the  consumption  only  of  interior 
towns— excluding  that  of  Cincinnati.  Colum- 
bus, for  example,  has  in  five  years  increased 
the  use  of  coal  more  than  four  fold.  Chilli- 
cothe has  in  the  same  time  increased  eight 
fold.  The  coal  used  at  Chilicothe  is  the  Nel- 
sonville  coal,  Athens  county,  atid  is  of  a  very 
good  quahty,  at  a  very  low  price.  (See  Rail- 
roads.) 

OLIVES. — Cultivation  of  the  Olive  in  the 
Southern  States. — The  Hon.  Mitchell  King 
delivered  lately  before  the  agriculturists  of 
South  Carolina  a  learned  and  elaborate  address 
on  this  interesting  subject,  with  which  he  has 
politely  favored  us.  Mr.  King  occupies  place 
among  the  first  citizens  of  that  commonwealth, 
as  a  jurist  and  scholar,  and  presided  for  some 
time  over  one  of  its  first  literary  institutions, 
from  considerations  of  high  public  spirit  and 
feelings  the  most  honorable  to  our  nature. 
We  are  glad  to  see  such  men  enlisted  in  behalf 
of  agriculture  and  its  elevated  prosecutioa 
among  us.     Mr.  King  remarks : 

"From  the  first  settlement  of  Carolina,  it 
has  been  considered  well  adapted  to  the  cul- 
ture of  the  olive.  In  one  of  the  earliest  ac- 
counts of  the  country,  by  Richard  Blome, 
published  in  1678,  it  is  said  that  the  olive 
trees  brought  from  Portugal  and  the  Bermudas 
increase  exceedingly,  and  will  produce  a  ijuan- 
tity  of  oiL  And  Samuel  Wilson,  who  had  been 
for  years  agent  of  tiie  Lords  Proprietors,  re- 
peats nearly  the  language  of  Blome,  and  adds, 
'  The  inhabitants  take  great  care  to  propagate, 
more  so,  that  in  all  probability,  it  will  be  an 
excellent  oily  country.'  When  the  charter  of 
C;u-olina  of  1663  was  granted,  the  other  pro- 
prietors left  the  chief  management  of  the  col- 
ony to  the  very  able  and  unscrupulous  Lord 
Shaftsbury.  It  is  well  known  that  at  his  re- 
quest, Mr.  Locke  drew  up  his  celebrated  Fun- 
damental Constitution  of  Carolina ;  but  it  is  not 
generally  known,  that  for  a  number  of  years 


OLIVES — CULTIVATION    OF   AT   TITE    SOUTH. 


349 


be  carried  on  an  active  correspondence  -nitli 
the  colony,  in  which  he  took  the  deepest  in- 
terest, and  it  is  liighly  probable  that  in  1670 
he  procured  Mr.  I^ocke  to  ■write  bis  judicious 
observations  on  wine,  olives,  fruits  and  silk, 
■with  a  special  view  to  South  Carolina.  The 
trouble?  in  which  Shaftsbury  was  soon  after 
Involved,  and  his  death,  in  January,  1683,  no 
doubt  prevented  these  observations  from  being 
published  until  a  long  time  after.  In  the  de- 
scription of  Carolina,  of  1684,  by  T.  A.  Gen- 
tleman, we  are  told  '  the  olive  trees  thrive 
there  very  well.'  Mr.  James  Colleton,  brother 
to  Sir  Peter,  one  of  the  honorable  proprietors, 
brought  an  olive  stick  from  Fayal,  cut  off  at 
both  ends,  to  Carolina,  which,  put  into  the 
ground,  grew  and  prospered  exceedingly.  '  If 
the  olive  be  well  improved,  there  may  be  ex- 
pected from  thence,  perhaps,  as  gcxxl  oil  as 
any  the  world  yields.'  Gov.  Glenn  tells  us, 
that  in  the  intense  frost  of  the  7th  of  January, 
1747,  probably  the  severest  ever  felt  in  Caro- 
lina, he  lost '  an  olive  tree  of  such  prodigious 
size  that  he  thought  it  proof  against  all  wea- 
thers. It  was  near  a  foot  and  a  half  diameter 
in  the  trunk,  and  bore  many  bushels  of  excel- 
•  lent  olivc-3  every  year.'  We  may  conclude, 
that  this  was  probably  one  of  the  first  olives 
planted  in  the  country,  and  could  scarcely  have 
oeen  less  than  sixty  or  seventy  years  old. 
Even  this  terrible  winter  would  seem  not  to 
have  killed  all  our  olive  trees,  for  Dr.  Milligan, 
in  Charleston,  in  1763,  says,  'We  have  plenty 
of  olives.'* 

Mr.  King  then  refers  to  an  admirable  letter 
which  he  had  received  from  J.  Hamilton  Cou- 
per,  Esq.,  of  Darien,  Geo.,  from  which  we 
extract  tlie  following : 

"  The  first  and  all-important  question  which 
presents  itself  is,  whether  our  climate  is 
adapt<»d  to  the  olive  tree  ;  and  to  what  por- 
tion of  our  territory  we  may  hope  to  extend 
its  cultivation.  The  facts  which  will  be  pre- 
sented are,  I  think,  decisive,  that  the  immediate 
seaboard  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  the 
whole  of  Florida  and  the  borders  of  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico  are  as  suitable  for  the  cultivation 
of  the  olive  as  the  south  of  France. 

"  First  as  to  climate, — Arthur  Young,  in  his 
tr.avels  through  France,  vol.  I.,  p.  311,  observes, 
'Several  other  plants  beside  the  olive  mark 
this  climate,  the  olive  climate.  Thus,  at  Men- 
teliniart,  in  Dauphine,  besides  that  tree  you 
meet  with,  for  the  first  time,  the  pomegranate, 
tlie  arbor  j'uda;,  the  paliurus,  figs,  and  the  ever- 
green oak.' 


*  In  a  letter  to  Chancellor  Johnston,  Mr.  King 
quotes  from  a  paper  by  the  Governor  of  South  Caro- 
lina, in  1717,  who  says,  "The  frost  has  destroyed 
alinos;,  all  tlia  orange  trees  in  the  country.  I  lost 
about  tlireo  hundred  bearin?  trees,  and  an  olive  tree 
of  such  prvilin-ioiis  size  that  I  thought  it  pronf  against 
all  wenther.  It  was  near  a  foot  and  a  half  in  diameter, 
tK  the  trauk.  and  bore  many  buehcU  of  czceltent  olives 
every  year.'' 


"  Tlie  orange  tree  is  found  to  be  more  tender 
than  the  olive,  in  France  and  Italy.  The  same 
writer  says, '  The  latter,  the  orange,  is  so  tender 
that  this,  Hieres,  is  supposed  to  be  the  only 
part  of  France  in  which  it  will  thrive  in  the 
open  air.  I  went  to  Hieres  to  view  them,  and 
it  was  with  pain  I  found  them,  without  excep- 
tion, so  damaged  by  the  frost  in  the  winter  of 
1788,  as  to  be  cut  down,  some  to  the  ground, 
and  others  to  the  main  stem.' " 

Simonde  mentions  in  his  work  on  "  Tuscan 
Agriculture"  that  the  olive  is  considered  in 
Italy  as  hardier  than  the  vine.  He  further 
observes  that  he  himself  had  olives  and  vines 
planted  together,  and  the  latter  suffered  most 
from  the  cold.  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  his  letter  of 
July,  1787,  to  the  Agricultural  Society  of 
South  Carolina,  remarks,  "  Wherever  the  or- 
ange will  stand  at  all,  experience  shows  that 
the  olive  will  stand  well,  being  a  hardier  tree." 

"  These  extracts,  which  are  from  writers  of 
the  highest  authority,  are  interesting,  as  they 
show  from  the  growth  of  the  fig,  the  pome- 
granate, and  the  orange,  that  the  chmate  of 
the  olive  region  of  France  is  no  milder  than 
the  maritime  districts  of  South  Carolina  and 
Georgia,  and  the  whole  of  Florida.  But  the 
actual  growth  of  the  olive  tree  itself,  proves 
this  most  conclusively,  as  far  as  the  limited 
period  which  has  elapsed  since  the  introduction 
of  that  plant  into  this  country  admits  of  a  com- 
parison. 

"  I  believe  that  you  bad  some  olive  trees 
gi-owing  in  Charleston  for  half  a  century,  be- 
fore the  fatal  spring  of  1835.  Ramsey  men- 
tions the  fruit  being  pickled  from  trees  im- 
ported by  Henry  Laurens. 

"At  Dungeness,  on  Cumberland  Island, 
Georgia,  a  number  of  trees  bore  abundantly 
for  many  years  before  that  season. 

"In  1825,  my  father  imported,  through  a 
French  house  in  Charleston,  two  hundred  trees 
from  Provence,  via  the  Languedoc  canal  and 
Bordeaux.  They  were  five  months  on  the 
way,  and  did  not  arrive  until  May,  notwith- 
standing which  a  very  few  only  failed  to  grow. 
These  trees  were  planted  at  Cannon's  Point, 
his  residence  on  St.  Simon's  Island,  latitude 
31"  20';  and  had  borne  several  small  crops  of 
olives,  when  the  severe  cold  of  February,  1835, 
(8°  of  Fahrenheit,)  injured  them  so  much  that 
it  was  necessary  to  cut  them  down  to  the 
ground.  They  all  threw  up  shoots  from  the 
old  stumps ;  and  many  of  them  have  now 
attained  to  a  diameter  of  nine  inches.  For  the 
last  two  years  they  have  produced  some  fruit ; 
and  this  year  about  one  half  of  the  trees  are 
bending  under  the  weight  of  an  abundant  crop. 
About  one  hundred  trees  raised  from  cuttiiigs 
are  also  beginning  to  bear.  It  is  now  twenty- 
one  years  since  the  importation  of  these  trees, 
and  with  the  exception  of  the  destructive  sea- 
son of  1835,  they  have  never  in  the  slightest 
degree  been  injured  by  the  cold.  The  last 
winter  was  one  of  unusual  severity,  the  ther- 


350 


POST-OFFICE niSTOUT    OF    THE    POST   SYSTEM. 


mometer  haTingsunk  to  19'^  Fahrenheit;  and 
although  the  sweet  oranges  on  the  same  plan- 
tation were  much  injured,  some  having  been 
cut  down  to  the  ground,  I  could  not  perceive 
that  a  single  leaf,  among  two  hundred  and 
fifty  olive  trees,  had  been  touched  by  the 
frost.  Tliis  experience  is  certaudy  very  satis- 
factory, the  more  particularly  as  it  is  certain 
that  the  season  of  1835  was  tlie  coldest  known 
on  this  coast,  for  at  least  one  hundred  years ; 
as  is  proved  by  the  destruction  of  orange  trees 
on  St.  Simon's  Island,  which  had  stood  since 
the  occupation  of  that  island  by  Gen.  Ogle- 
thorpe, and  of  others  at  St.  Augustine,  which 
dated  still  farther  back. 

"The  effect  of  one  such  disastrous  year 
should  not  discourage  the  introduction  of  so 
valuable  a  tree.  In  the  south  of  France  they 
have  persevered  in  its  cultivation,  although  in 
1709  and  178S  almost  every  tree  was  de- 
stroyed to  the  ground  ;  and  they  were  severely 
injured  in  1740,  1745,  1748,  1755,  and  1768. 

"  The  question  may  be  asked  by  those  who 
have  usually  regarded  olive  oil  as  merely  an 
article  of  household  economy,  of  very  limited 
use  in  North  America,  whether  a  ready  sale 
of  the  oil  can  be  depended  on  ?  They  may 
believe  with  the  late  Abb6  Gorrea,  that  our 
countrymen  have  '  bacon  stomachs,'  and  that 
it  will  be  very  difficult  so  far  to  conquer  the 
obstinacy  of  established  habit,  as  to  induce 
them  to  substitute  pure  oil  for  rancid  bacon. 
If  the  only  use  of  this  oil  were  for  food,  it 
would  undoubtedly  require  time  to  introduce 
it  into  general  consumption,  but  that  time  will 
effect  it  there  can  be  no  doubt,  from  the  in- 
trinsic value  of  the  article.  Until  then  an 
ample  demand  for  all  that  can  be  produced 
will  be  found  in  the  annually  increasing  con- 
sumption of  this  oil  in  machinery,  and  in 
various  manufactures,  particularly  of  wool  and 
soap.  Already  we  import  82,655  gallons, 
(see  ileport  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
for  1845,)  and  as  our  manufactures  are  com- 
paratively as  yet  but  in  their  infancy,  and 
our  jwpulation  increasing  with  undiminished 
rapidity,  there  is  no  danger  of  the  production 
overtaking  the  demaud.  What  the  demand 
may  become  is  shown  by  the  fact,  that  Eng- 
land imported  in  the  year  1830,  2,971,057 
gallons  of  olive  oil,  valued  then  at  $2,500,000 
— an  average  of  88  cents  per  gallon. — McCul- 
loch's  Commercial  Dictionary,  article  '  Olive 
Oil.'  And  that  France,  althougli  the  produc- 
tion of  that  kingdom  was,  as  early  as  1788, 
estimated  at  75,000,000  of  francs,  or  nearly 
815,000,000,  has  yet  imported  in  one  year 
olive  oil  to  the  value  of  near  80,000,000  francs, 
or  $6,000,000. 

"  Some  idea  may  be  formed  of  the  value  of 
the  olive  tree  as  a  source  of  national  wealth, 
from  the  above  statement  of  its  j)roduction  in 
France,  a  country  on  tlie  northern  verge  of 
the  olive  climate.  In  countries  more  favor- 
ably situated,  it  is  still  more  important.    The 


small  kingdom  of  Naples  exports  annually 
about  7,300,000  gallons  of  olive  oil,  valued 
there  at  88,400,000. 

But  as  olive  oil  enters  largely  into  do- 
mestic consumption,  particularly  among  the 
lower  classes,  forming  a  wholesome  and  nutri- 
tious article  of  food,  it  has  an  importance  far 
exceeding  its  merely  commercial  value.  The 
ample  home  production  of  the  necessaries  of 
life,  is  the  true  foundation  of  national  inde- 
pendence and  happinoss ;  and  whatever  adds 
to  the  unstinted  enjoyment  of  physical  com- 
fort, it  becomes  the  well-wisher  of  his  country 
to  value.  It  may  safely  be  asserted,  that  the 
United  States  owe  their  great  happiness  and 
prosperity  more  to  the  cheap  abnudanee  of 
Indian  corn,  and  the  consequent  full  sujiply  of 
animal  food,  than  to  all  of  the  staples  which 
figure  so  largely  on  the  list  of  foreign  exports. 

"  Mr.  Jefferson,  with  equal  beauty  and  pa- 
triotism, observes,  '  If  the  memory  of  those 
persons  is  held  in  great  respect  in  South  Caro- 
lina, who  introduced  there  the  culture  of  rice, 
a  plant  which  sows  life  and  death  uilh  equal 
hand,  what  obligations  would  be  due  to  him 
who  should  introduce  the  olive  tree,  and  set 
the  example  of  its  culture !  Were  the  owner* 
of  slaves  to  view  it  only  as  a  means  of  better- 
ing their  condition,  how, much  would  he  better 
that  by  planting  one  of  these  trees  for  every 
slave  he  possessed  !  Having  been  myself  an 
eye-witness  to  the  blessings  which  this  tree 
sheds  on  the  poor,  I  never  had  my  wishes  so 
kindled  for  the  introduction  of  any  article  of 
new  culture  into  our  own  country.' " 

POST-OFFICE.— History  of  xnE  Post 
System — The  Uxitf.d  St.ytes  Post-Office; 
ITS  History — The  Post-master-General — 
Bureaux  of  the  General  Post  Office — 
Postmasters;  their  Duties,  &c. — Trans- 
portation of  the  Mail — Distribution — 
Rates  of  Internal  Postage — Rates  of 
Foreign  Postage — Mailing  of  Newspapers, 
Collection  of  Postage,  and  Delivery 
of  Letters — Letter-Carriers  and  Mall 
Agents  ;  Postage  Stamps  and  Advertising — 
The  Franking  Privilege  and  Lost  Letters — 
Expenses  and  Receipts  of  the  Department, 
Ac,  &c.,  1851. — The  system  of  posts,  as  at 
present  in  operation,  is  an  invention  of 
modern  times.  It  has  contributed  much 
more  than  is  generally  supposed  to  the  ele- 
vation and  improvement  of  mankind.  In 
addition  to  the  material,  and  by  conse- 
quence more  tangible  benefits,  which  it 
has,  in  common  with  tlie  steam-engine  and 
other  similar  inventions,  conferred  upon  the 
more  civilized  portion  of  the  human  race, 
it  has  contributed  not  a  little  to  its  political 
and  social  advancement,  and  is  destined,  in 
the  future,  to  work  out  in  this  field  yetmore 
important  and  more  striking  results.  How 
much  our  own  country  is  indebted  for  its 
prosperity — a  prosperity  in  some  respects 


POST-OFFICE niSTORT   OF    THE    POST    SYSTEM. 


361 


unequalled,  perhaps,  in  the  world's  history — 
to  its  extensive  and  well-ordered  post-ottice 
Bystern,  will  appear  at  a  glance  to  any  one 
who  has  reflected  upon  the  intimate  con- 
nection which  subsists  between  the  various 
parts  of  the  wide-extended,  yet,  through  the 
medium  of  this  very  agency,  admirably  con- 
solidated confederacy.  J^or  are  we  alone 
the  recipients  of  its  blessings.  Its  advan- 
tages are  enjoyed  also  by  all  the  Christian 
nations  of  Europe,  and,  in  particular,  by 
those  which  are  most  celebrated  for  their 
continual  advances  in  commerce,  science, 
and  the  arts.  All  these,  and  ourselves 
among  them,  have  reaped,  not  only  as  in- 
tegral states,  but  as  individual  nations  form- 
ing component  parts  of  one  great  commu- 
nity, numerous  and  signal  advantages  from 
the  establishment  of  posts  within  their 
boundaries — benefits  which  we  can  hardly 
estimate  at  this  day,  and  for  which,  apart 
from  the  post  system,  we  might,  indeed,  as 
did  the  ancients,  have  sighed,  but  would,  as 
they,  have  sighed  in  vain. 

liisTOUY  OF  THE  PosT  SYSTEM. — The  word 
post  is  derived  from  the  Latin  ponere,  to 
place ;  the  post  being  so  called,  probably, 
because  horses  were  placed  {i.  e.  posted)  at 
fixed  distances,  for  the  transport  of  dis- 
patches. Posts  were  first  used,  as  far  as 
we  know  historically,  by  Darius  I.,  of  Persia, 
(500  B.  C.,)  who  employed  them  solely  for 
the  use  of  the  government.  The  dispatches 
were  transmitted  with  extraordinary  speed 
along  the  high  road  which  connected  the 
"western  part  of  his  empire  with  the  seat 
of  government,  by  couriers  trained  to  the 
business,  and  furnished  with  frequent  relays 
of  horses. 

The  most  complete  system  of  posts  known 
in  the  ancient  world,  was  established  by 
Augustus  in  the  Roman  Empire.  The  head 
of  the  department  was  the  commander  of 
the  I'rajtorian  guards.  Tiiese  posts  were 
employed  only  by  the  government,  ehietly 
for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  intelligence 
from  the  army.  By  their  means  messages 
were  sent  with  surprising  swiftness :  for 
Augustus,  on  several  occasions,  received  dis- 
patches in  four  days  from  Sclavonia ;  and 
at  a  later  period,  Tiberius  was  M'ont  to  re- 
ject as  valueless  dispatches  wliieh  had  con- 
sumed more  than  twenty  days  in  coming 
from  Asia,  fifteen  from  Europe,  ten  from 
Africa,  five  from  Sclavonia,  and  three  from 
any  part  of  Italy. 

Tliu  first  regular  establishment  of  posts  in 
modern  Europe  was  the  work  of  Louis  XI., 
of  France,  (July  19th,  1464,)  who  founded 
post  stations,  four  miles  apart,  on  the  chief 
roads  of  his  kingdom,  for  the  use  of  the  gov- 
ernment and  court.  Sub^ecjuently.  under 
Charles  VIII.,  (1560,)  private  individuals 
were  permitted  to  make  use  of  the  institu- 
tion for  forwarding  letters  and  dispatches ; 


the  money  charged  for  transmitiing  which, 
formed  thereafter  a  source  of  revenue  for  the 
government.  Under  Louis XIII.,  (l(i.'>0,)the 
system  received  a  form  more  regular  and 
complete  ;  and  a  comptroller-general  of  posts 
was  appointed.  Previously  to  the  time  of 
Louis  Xl.,  dispatches  were  sent  by  t-pecial 
messcng<!rs,  sometimes  mounted  and  some- 
times on  foot ;  the  nearest  approach  to  a 
rtgular  post  system  being  that  made  by  the 
university  of  Paris,  which  maintained,  as  early 
as  the  i;Uh  century,  pedestrian  messengers, 
who,  at  stated  times,  took  charge  of  letters 
and  money  for  the  young  men  wbo  had  come 
from  every  part  of  Europe  to  pursue  their 
studies  in  the  university.  For  more  than  one 
hundred  years,  the  French  post  was  farmed 
out  hj  the  government;  first  by  the  minister 
Louvois,  under  Louis  XIV.,  (1676,)  and,  for 
tbe  last  and  twenty-third  time,  under  Louis 
XVL,  (1786.)  At  the  expiration  of  this  last 
lease,  (1791,)  the  establishment  was  taken 
under  royal  management ;  from  which  time  it 
has  been  conducted  with  less  expense  and 
with  more  benefit  to  the  people.  When  the 
post  was  farmed  out  for  the  third  time,  (168S,) 
the  revenue  which  it  yielded  amounted  to 
1,400,000  francs;  in  1733,  to  3,000,000 ;  and, 
in  1791,  to  11,000,000  francs.  From  1814 
to  18"2"2,  the  average  annual  yield  of  the  let- 
ter posts  was  21,890,000  francs.  At  tlie  head 
of  the  entire  post-office  establishment  is 
placed  a  general  director;  in  each  depart- 
ment is  a  post-inspector,  and  in  each  post- 
office  a  director,  a  comptroller,  and  an  ade- 
quate number  of  assistants.  Until  the  revo- 
lution of  1789,  the  postmasters  possessed  civil 
immunities  of  various  kinds,  in  consideration 
of  which  they  transported  the  mail  for  a  small 
compensation  ;  but  these  privileges  were  ta- 
ken away  when  the  republic  was  proclaimed, 
and  a  salary  granted  instead  by  the  Na- 
tional Assembly.  In  1823,  the  postmasters 
received  for  carrying  the  mail,  and  for  dis- 
patching public  expresses,  thirty  sous  (or 
cents)  per  stage  for  each  horse,  and  twenty- 
five  sous  for  each  courier,  by  one  or  more 
of  whom  every  mail  must  be  accompanied. 
Their  contracts  for  transporting  the  mail  are 
made  with  the  director-general  of  the  posts. 
Postmasters  take  an  oath  to  preserve  the  in- 
violability of  letters  passing  through  their 
hands;  but.  until  of  late  years,  (since  1828,) 
the  government  has  claimed,  and  sometimes 
exercised,  the  right  of  ex.amining  their  con- 
tents. In  1847  there  were  in  France  3,682 
post-otfices ;  the  circulation  in  the  mails  fcT 
that  year  amounting  to  one  hundred  and 
fifteen  millions  of  letters,  against  sixty  mil- 
lions in  the  mails  of  the  United  States.  The 
rates  of  letter  postage  have  been,  for  some 
time,  twt)  sous  tor  the  first  twent\-five  Eng- 
lish miles,  and  a  corresponding  advance  for 
each  prescribed  distance.  The  late  change  in 
the  regulations  has  fixed  a  uniform   rate  of 


352 


POST-OFFICE HISTORV    OF    THE    POST    SYSTEM. 


four  sous  (about  four  cents)  for  any  distance 
within  the  republic. 

In  Germany,  the  first  post  was  established 
by  Roger  I.,  count  of  Thurn,  Taxis  and  Val- 
eassina,  in  Tyrol,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  15th 
century.  Subsequently  other  posts  were  es- 
tablislied  in  the  empire,  tlie  mo.st  important 
by  counts  of  the  same  family  ;  and,  in  lo4'>, 
Leonard  of  Taxis  was  appointed  postmaster- 
general  of  the  empire,  in  which  office  he  was 
afterwards  confirmed,  and  finally,  in  1G15,  his 
descendant,  Lamoral,  was  invested  with  the 
imperial  post  as  an  imperial  fief,  with  the 
right  of  transmission  to  his  posterity.  A  reg- 
ular post  went  at  ihat  time  every  week  from 
the  imperial  court,  and  also  from  Home,  Ven- 
ice, etc.,  to  Augsburg,  and  thence  to  Brussels 
and  back.  This  imperial  post  ceased  to  exist 
as  such  when  the  empire  was  dismembered, 
(1806.)  Since  that  period,  post  establish- 
ments of  different  kinds  have  existed  in  the 
various  states  of  Germany.  At  present, 
Austria,  Prussia,  Bavaria,  Hanover,  Saxony 
Baden,  Meckleuburg-Schwerin,  Ilolstein-Old- 
enburg,  Holstein-Lauenburg,  and  Luxem- 
burg, have  each  their  own  independent  posts; 
but  the  house  of  Thurn  and  Taxis  still  pos- 
sess, as  a  fief,  confirmed  finally  by  the  Con- 
gress of  Vienna,  the  posts  in  Wurtemburg, 
Hesse-Nassau,  the  states  of  the  Saxon-Ernes- 
tine line,  the  two  Schwarzenbergs,  Hohenzol- 
lern,  Waldeck,  Lippe-Detmold,  and  in  the 
territories  of  tlie  princes  of  Reuss.  In  other 
states,  the  Thurn  and  Taxis  post  exists,  not 
as  a  fief,  but  founded  on  a  regular  compact. 
The  whole  post  establishment  of  this  family 
is  suijerintended  by  a  postmaster-general  at 
Frankforton-tl)e-Main ;  and  it  extends  over 
an  area  of  25,000  miles,  containing  3,753,450 
inhabitants.  It  is,  in  fact,  a  private  mono- 
poly, managed  for  the  benefit  of  its  owner. 
Lichtenstein  has  no  post. 

In  Germany,  the  stage-coachea  (called /aA- 
rende  podoi)  are  usually  united  with  the  post- 
offices;  by  which  parcels  may  be  sent  as 
safely  as  letters  :  an  advantage  by  no  means 
compensating,  however,  for  the  accompanying 
loss  of  speed  in  the  transmission  of  letters 
and  ilispatches.  Mail  contracts  are  made  at 
fixed  prices :  an  allowance  per  mile  for  the 
ordinary  service,  and  a  share  of  the  profit  for 
extra  work.  The  scale  of  postages  in  the 
different  German  states  resembles  in  general 
that  of  Prussia,  "which,"  says  Mr.  Bowen, 
"commences  Avith  a  rate  for  the  first  two 
miles,  equal  to  about  9|  miles  English,  of  one 
silver  gro.-chen,  equal  to  2\  cents,  increasing 
by  a  groschen  for  each  interval  of  from  five 
to  ten  miles  German,  with  an  int<'rvening  lialf 
rate.  A  reform  in  postage  has  been  decreed 
by  a  recent  po.stal  congress  at  Dresdon,  fixing 
two  rates  in  substitution  of  tlie  foregoing: 
one  of  five  kreutzers,  (old  German  convention 
money,)  about  equal  to  five  cents,  for  any  dis- 
tance not  exceeding  ninety-five  miles  (Eng- 


lish ;)  and  the  other,  ten  kreutzers,  or  cents, 
for  any  distance  over. 

The  post  establishments  of  other  European 
continental  countries  are  modelled  after  those 
of  France  or  Germany.  In  the  kingdom  of 
the  Netherlands,  the  system  of  France,  intro- 
duced upon  the  incorporation  of  that  country 
with  the  French  emjiirc,  is  still  followed  with 
little  alteration.  To  the  house  of  Thurn  and 
Taxis  is  due  the  honor  of  having  first  intro- 
duced the  post  into  the  country.  In  Italy, 
since  1815,  the  post  system  in  the  Lombardo- 
Venetian  kingdom,  Tuscany,  Parma,  and  Mo- 
dena,  conforms  to  the  Austrian  model,  still 
preserving,  liowever,  the  French  basis  which 
was  given  it  on  the  union  of  those  states  with 
the  empire  of  France.  Throughout  all  Italy 
the  post-office  is  well  managed,  as  indeed  it 
has  been  ever  since  its  original  establishment 
in  that  country  by  the  German  emperor,  from 
whom,  it  would  seem,  the  postmasters  re- 
ceived, at  first,  their  remuneration.  In  Switz- 
erland, each  canton  regulates  its  own  post; 
but,  by  common  agreement,  something  like 
uniformity  has  been  reached  in  its  general 
management.  In  Spain  and  Portugal  the 
post-office  is  presided  over  by  a  correo  mayor, 
as  director-general,  but  its  operation  is  quite 
imperfect.  In  Turkey  there  is  no  post ;  but 
the  Grand  Seignior  maintains  mounted  Tar- 
tars, whose  business  it  is  to  forward  as  rapidly 
as  possible  his  own  and  the  dispatches  of  the 
public  authorities.  In  Russia,  whose  post 
system  is  founded  on  that  of  north  Germany, 
letters  are  forwarded  with  celerity  and  safety, 
at  rates  which  are  exceedingly  moderate.  A 
letter  of  an  ounce  weight  is  charged  two  ko- 
peks (two  fifths  of  a  cent)  for  every  one  hun- 
dred versts  (66  miles)  up  to  1,500  versts;  an 
additional  kopek  for  any  distance  between 
1,500  and  3,000  versts;  and  not  over  fifty  ko- 
peks (ten  cents)  for  any  distance  over  3,000 
versts.  Extra  posts  are  cheap  and  expedi- 
tious, a  post-horse  costing  not  more  than  two 
kopeks  the  verst;  and  a  journey  of  4,580 
versts,  which  consumes  eight  weeks  in  making 
it,  costing  only  about  8*220,  the  expenses  of 
living  included.  The  postal  revenue  of  Russia 
is  estimated  at  about  8800,000  per  annum. 

In  England,  the  post-office  was  not  estab- 
lished till  the  year  1649.  It  was  then  founded 
by  Mr.  Etlward  Prideaux,  attorney -general 
for  the  Commonwealth,  who  arrangeil  for  the 
weekly  conveyance  of  letters  to  and  from  all 
parts  of  the  kingdom.  Postmasters  were,  it 
is  true,  in  tlio  emj)]()y  of  the  government  be- 
fore this  period ;  and  Charles  I.  had  erect- 
ed (1635)  a  letter  office  for  England  and  Scot- 
land, extending,  however,  to  only  a  few  of 
the  principal  roads,  the  postmasters  on  which 
transported  letters  at  the  rate  of  2 Ad.  per 
mile  for  each  horse.  This  establishment  did 
not  succeed,  but  entailed  an  expense  on  the 
government,  which,  just  before  Mr.  Prideaux's 
plan  was   put  into  operation,  amounted  to 


POST-OFFICE HISTORY    OF    THE    POST    SYSTEM, 


353 


£7,000  a  year.  Under  the  new  order  of 
tilings,  the  post-office  yielded  the  attorney- 
general  such  handsome  profits,  that  it  could 
not  be  leased  fur  £10,000.  In  1057  the  post- 
oflSce  was  established  nearly  on  its  present 
footing,  and  rates  of  postage  were  fixed  which 
continued  to  the  time  of  Queen  Anne,  when 
(Act  9,  Anne)  modifications  were  introduced, 
"which  have  remained  in  force,  in  substance, 
Up  to  the  reign  of  the  present  sovereign,  un- 
der whom  (2  and  3  Vict.  chap.  62)  occurred 
the  reduction  of  postage  to  the  simple  and 
cheap  rates  which  now  prevail.  Previous  to 
this  reduction,  the  average  rate  of  po.stfige 
amounted  to  7d.  or  74d.  per  letter,  the  charge 
on  each  varying  with  the  distance.  These 
prices  yielded  the  government  a  net  revenue, 
m  1838,  of  £1,670,522,  or  about  ^S.OUO.OOO. 
The  new  rates  commenced  in  1840,  according 
to  which  all  inland  letters,  without  regard  to 
distance,  provided  that  they  be  paid  on  being 
posted  or  sent  oft*  are,  if  they  weigh  no  more 
than  i  an  ounce,  charged  Id. ;  1  oz.  2d. ;  2  oz. 
4d..  and  so  on,  2d.  being  added  for  every  ad- 
ditional ounce  up  to  IG  oz.,  beyond  which 
weight  no  packets,  with  certain  exceptions, 
whetlier  subject  to  postage  or  not,  can  be  re- 
ceived. Letters  not  pre-paid  are  charged 
double  these  rates.  The  franking  privilege  is 
abolished ;  but  addresses  to  the  Queen  are 
not  chargtsable  with  postage,  nor  petitions  for 
either  House  addressed  to  parliamentary 
members,  provided  they  are  sent  open  at  the 
sides,  and  do  not  weigh  more  than  32  ounces. 
Newspapers  published  in  the  kingdom  are  not 
charged  for  transportation,  as  the  government 
has  already  received  its  pay  in  the  shape  of  a 
ptamp  duty  of  one  penny  on  each  paper ;  for- 
eign newspapers  are  charged  at  rates  varying 
from  Id.  to  4d.  In  France,  newspapers  are 
charged  4  centimes  (four  fifths  of  a  cent)  post- 
age on  a  small  sheet,  which  must  be  pre-paid. 
In  Germany,  the  rate  is  one  quarter  that  of  let- 
ters, according  to  weight  For  the  year  ending 
January  5,  1839,  the  gross  revenue  of  the  Brit- 
ish post-oftice  was  £2,390,763 ;  the  expendi- 
ture, £756,909:  leaving  a  net  revenue  of 
£1,633,764.  In  1850,  ten  years  after  the  re- 
duction of  the  penny  rate,  the  gross  revenue 
•was  £2,105,349  ;  the  expenditure,  £1,324,562  : 
leaving  a  net  revenue  of  £840,787.  During 
1847  the  postage  paid  by  the  government 
amounted  to  £163,855. 

All  the  business  of  the  English  post-office 
is  done  in  the  name  of  the  postmaster-general, 
who  is  also  a  member  of  the  cabinet,  ami  has 
a  seat  in  the  House  of  Peers.  His  salary  is 
.£2,500  a  year.  His  chief  assistant  is  a  secre- 
tary, with  a  salary  of  £2,000.  There  are  sev- 
eral other  officers  who  rank  above  the  ordi- 
nary ])o5tmaster3;  the  most  important  of 
whom  is  the  solicitor  of  the  department,  whose 
pay  is  to  bo  .£1,500  per  annum.  The  highest 
salary  received  by  a  postmaster  in  England  is 
£1,000,  (?4,840,)  which  is  given  in  Liverpool; 
YOL.  II. 


the  lowest  is  £30,  (§145.20,)  a  year.  The  pay 
of  the  clerks  ranges  from  £80  to  £50tJ  per 
ann  um. 

Every  provision  is  made  in  England  for  the 
safe  and  speedy  transmission  of  the  mails. 
The  railway  companies  are  bound  to  take 
them  at  such  hours  and  such  speed  aa  the  post- 
master-general may  require.  The  prices  paid 
to  the  railway  companies  for  this  service  vary 
from  Id.  to  2s.  9d.  the  mile;  one  penny  the 
mile,  according  to  the  mode  of  reckoning 
adopted,  being  equal  to  4514.72  a  mile  per  an- 
num, daily  service;  and  2s.  9d.,  being  equal 
to  $451.93  a  mile,  daily  service.  The  latter 
enormous  price  is  paid  in  cases  where  the  mail 
forms  almost  the  only  article  of  transjiort,  on 
account  of  the  time  at  which  the  train  is 
made  to  perform  its  journey.  The  expenses 
of  the  mails  conveyed  on  coaches  are  included 
in  two  items:  the  first,  the  price  of  building 
and  keeping  coaches  in  repair,  which,  at  the 
maximum,  is  $17.84  per  mile,  a  year,  daily 
service,  at  the  minimum,  §9,89  per  mile;  the 
second,  the  price  for  horsing  and  conveying 
the  mails,  which  varies  from  Od.  to  fid.  per 
single  mile.  Any  driver,  horse,  or  coach,  can 
be  dismissed  from  the  service  by  the  postmas- 
ter-general. The  annual  cost  of  mail  trans- 
port in  England  averages  thuteen  cents  a 
mile,  daily  service. 

Special  provision  is  made  for  the  payment 
of  small  sums  of  money,  not  exceeding  £5, 
through  the  agency  of  the  post-office.  The 
money  being  deposited  at  one  office,  an  order 
for  the  amount,  deducting  the  discount,  will 
be  given  on  any  other  office  in  the  kingdom. 
The  charge  is  3d.  for  orders  of  £3  and  less ; 
6d.  for  sums  over  that  amount  within  the  spe- 
cified limits.  In  1847,  the  transactions  of  this 
character  amounted  to  £14,115,153;  and  at 
present  300  clerks  are  employed  in  attending 
to  the  business  in  the  principal  office  in  Lon- 
don ;  a  branch  of  which  exists  in  every  im- 
portant post-office  in  Great  Britain.  On  the 
continent  of  Europe,  money  is  insured  in 
transitu  in  the  mails,  at  rates  stipulated  by 
each  government. 

The  transport  of  letters  from  one  part  of 
the  city  to  another,  forms  in  London,  as  in 
Paris,  no  inconsiderable  business.  In  the 
former  city,  there  are  employed  1,367  letter- 
carriers,  who  receive  pay  varying  from  15s. 
to  30s.  a  week.  In  1847,  more  than  thirty- 
three  millions  of  letters,  it  is  estimated,  exclu- 
sive of  those  (  f  the  general  po.st,  were  deliv- 
ered in  London,  on  each  of  which  the  same 
postage  was  paid  as  is  charged  on  a  letter 
traversing  the  kingdom  from  one  end  to  the 
other.  These  city  letters  are  delivered  ten 
times  a  day ;  in  Paris  seven  times  a  day. 

The  dead-letter  office  of  England  is  an  ob- 
ject of  no  little  interest.  In  1850,  about  two 
millions  of  letters  were  returned  as  dead,  no 
1  owners  having  been  discovered :  in  these 
I  there  was  found,  when  opened,  property  to 
23 


354 


POST-OFFICE UNITED    STATES. 


tbe  amount  of  nearly  82,500,000.  some  of 
them  having  actually  been  posted  without 
any  direction.  A  single  letter,  on  being  o}3ened 
in  this  way,  not  long  since,  was  found  to  con- 
tain bank  notes  to  the  value  of  §7,500.  The 
dead  letters,  after  examination,  are  sold,  Mr. 
Bowen  thinks,  for  waste  paper;  instead  of 
being  burned,  as  is  done  in  the  office  at 
Wasliington.* 

Certain  features  common  to  the  post  system 
of  Great  Britain  and  the  continent,  but  not  to 
this  country,  deserve  here  a  brief  enumeration. 
They  are:  (a.)  the  appointment  of  a  fiscal 
officer,  not  subordinate  to  the  head  of  the  de- 
partment, to  keep  a  check  on  his  accounts ; 
{h.)  the  accompaniment  of  the  mails  by  armed 
guards ;  (c.)  the  registration  of  letters  for  their 
safe  transmission,  on  the  payment  of  a  fixed 
fee ;  (d.)  the  delivery  of  letters  by  the  car- 
riers, and  a  prompt  return,  if  letters  are  not 
inquired  for,  to  the  dead-letter  office,  unless 
marked  ''jwsta  restantc"  or  to  that  effect; 
(e.)  the  limitation  of  letters  by  weight,  in 
France  and  Germany,  not  exceeding  ^  an  oz ; 
(f )  the  conveyance  of  money  by  mail,  under 
special  regulations ;  and  other  peculiarities 
not  important  to  mention. 

In  America,  the  history  of  the  post-office 
dates  as  far  back  as  1677,  at  which  time  an 
office  was  established  in  Boston,  under  John 
Howard,  by  the  colonial  court.  In  1C83, 
another  was  created  in  Philadelphia,  by  the 
order  of  William  Penn.  A  scheme  for  estab- 
lishing a  post-office  for  the  whole  country  was 
carried,  in  1700,  into  successful  operation,  by 
•  Col.  John  Hamilton,  of  Xew-Jersey  ;  but  this 
was  suj)erseded,  in  1710,  by  the  act  of  parlia- 
ment "for  establishing  a  general  post-office 
for  all  her  Majesty's  dominiou.s."  Chief  letter- 
offices  were  to  be  kept  in  JSTew-York,  and 
other  convenient  places  in  each  colony.  The 
name  of  Franklin  is  intimately  associated  with 

*  Some  very  curious  articles  are  discovered  inclosed 
within  the  letters  opened  at  this  dead-letter  office. 
Mr.  Bowea,  United  States  Post-Offlce(;iiide,  relates 
the  following  :  "  Packages,  not  exceeding  in  weight 
sixteen  ounces,  are  permitted  to  be  sent  by  the  Brit- 
ish mail ;  and  many  curious  packages  in  conse^iuence 
pass  through  the  London  post-office.  Game  of  va- 
rious kinds,  plura-pudding,  bits  of  wedding  cake, 
lobsters,  and,  strangest  of  all,  live  mieo  and  pet  ca- 
nary birds,  have  thus  been  forwarded,  and  safely  de- 
livered. In  one  case,  a  lot  of  leeches  were  sent  in 
bladders,  several  of  which  burst,  and  the  water  hav- 
ing wet  the  letters,  many  of  the  poor  creatures  were 
found  crawling  over  the  correspondence  of  tho  nation. 
In  another  instance,  a  jar  of  strawberries  was  dis- 
patched through  tho  mail,  but  being  smashed  in  the 
bag,  completely  destroyed  a  packet  full  of  valuable 
lace  belonging  to  the  late  Queen  Adelaide.  A  mer- 
cantile agent  going  his  round  through  the  country, 
soliciting  orders,  found  he  had  forgot  his  pistol.  He 
WTote  to  his  wife  for  it,  and  she  sent  it  by  return  of 
mail,  labelled  and  loaded  to  the  mouth  with  powder, 
ball  and  slugs.  A  roast  dnek,  a  box  of  S])iders,  and 
a  live  snake,  were  also  among  the  things  forwarded 
in  tliis  way.  Most  curious  of  all,  however,  was  a 
bank-note  for  jC50,  without  an  envelope,  the  two  ends 
being  merely  watered  together,  and  the  address  writ- 
ten ou  the  back." 


the  early  history  of  the  American  post-office. 
He  was  chosen  postmaster  in  1737,  and,  in 
1753,  was  appointed  one  of  the  two  deputy 
postmasters-general  of  North  America.  At 
the  latter  date,  the  length  of  the  post-roads 
in  the  thirteen  colonies  was  1,532  miles,  North 
Carolina  having  the  most,  and  New-Hampshire 
the  least.  In  1774,  Franklin  was  dismissed 
from  his  office,  only  to  be  elected  next  year 
postmaster-general  by  the  Continental  Con- 
gress. In  1790,  after  the  post-office  had  fallen, 
by  the  express  terms  of  the  constitution,  under 
the  exclusive  control  of  the  general  govern- 
ment, there  existed  in  the  Union  only  75  post- 
offices,  and  only  1,875  miles  length  of  post 
routes.  To  perform  "  a  complete  tour"  be- 
tween Philadelphia  to  Pittsburg  occupied 
twenty  days ;  and  the  annual  cost  of  the  wliolc 
service  was  f  22,702,  There  are  now  in  tho 
United  States  nearly  20,000  post-offices,  196,- 
200  miles  ef  post  roads,  and  53,272,252  miles 
of  annual  inland  mail  transportation.  Great 
Britain  had,  in  18-17, 4,785  post-offices  ;  France, 
3,582.  The  number  of  letters  circulated  in 
our  mail  during  the  year  was  60  millions ; 
while  France  had  115,  and  Great  Britain  the 
still  higher  number  of  300  millions. 

The  U.nited  States  Post-Office. — At  the 
head  of  the  post-office  department  stands  the 
Postmaster- General,  who  is  at  present  N.  K. 
Hall,  of  New-York.  He  has  three  principal 
assistants,  each  of  whom  presides  over  a  par- 
ticular division,  or  bureau,  of  the  general 
post-office.  These  divisions  are  the  contract 
oflice,  the  appointment  office,  and  the  finance 
and  dead-letter  office;  to  which  are  to  be 
added  the  inspection  office,  presided  over  by 
the  chief  clerk  of  the  post-office  departinent, 
and  the  auditor's  office,  presided  over  by  the 
auditor.  Under  each  of  these  presiding  offi- 
cers are  a  nutnber  of  clerks,  amoimting  in  all 
to  about  one  hundred  antl  fifty. 

The  general  post-office  building,  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  edifices  in  Washington,  occu- 
pies a  whole  square,  reaches  three  stories  in 
height,  and  contains  about  one  hundred  apart- 
ments. Completed  under  Amos  Kendrdl,  it 
was  first  occupied  in  1836.  The  ground-floor 
of  the  building  is  occupied  mainly  by  the  au- 
ditor's clerks,  the  topograj)hers,  and  tlie  dead- 
letter  oflice ;  the  second  floor  by  the  officers 
and  clerks  of  tho  post-office  proper.  The 
apartments  of  the  I'ostmaster-tJencM-al,  who 
is  also  a  cabinet  minister,  are  situated  in  the 
main  building,  and  are  elegantly  furnished. 
Here  he  receives  visits  of  business  and  of 
ceremony.  The  rooms  of  his  assistants,  and 
those  of  the  chief  clerk  and  of  the  auditor, 
are  contiguous  to  those  of  the  Postmaster- 
General.  The  wings  of  the  second  story  are 
occupied  by  the  clerks  of  the  contract,  inspec- 
tion, and  appointment  offices,  among  whom 
are  found  a  few  belonging  to  the  auditor's 
office.  The  third  story  is  appropriated  to 
clerks  of  the  last-mentioned  office,  to  whom 


POST-OFFICE — UNITED   STATES. 


855 


tirs  nclded  a  few  of  the  contract  office ;  and 
contains,  besides,  the  book-keeper's  office,  -with 
its  twenty-five,  or  more,  clerks. 

The  Pontmnstcr-General. — The  Postmaster- 
General  is  appointed  by  the  President,  and 
has  the  general  superintendence  and  manage- 
ment of  the  entire  post-office  department  of 
the  United  States.  Tlirough  him  the  establish- 
ment is  controlled  and  regulated  by  Congress; 
and  by  him  all  postmasters  are  appointed 
whose  income  is  not  above  $1,000  per  annum. 
So  varied  and  numerous  are  the  duties  of 
this  officer,  that  only  a  small  portion  of  them 
can  be,  and  are  in  fact,  performed  by  him  in 
person :  by  far  the  greater  part  of  them  are, 
of  course,  attended  to  by  his  assistants  and 
their  clerks;  among  whom,  especially  since 
1836,  the  strictest  order  and  discipline  pre- 
vail. AH  business  is  prepared  by  the  clerks, 
and  is  then  submitted  by  them  to  the  Post- 
niaster-G  eneral  himself,  or  one  of  his  assist- 
antst,  who  thereupon  enters  his  order ;  after 
■which  the  papers  which  have  been  prepared 
in  accordance  with  such  order,  receive  his  sig- 
nature. It  is  the  duty  of  this  officer  to  sub- 
mit yearly  to  Congress  an  estimate  of  the 
amount  of  money  which  will  be  required  for 
the  department  during  the  ensuing  fiscal  year, 
(commencing  with  July,)  and  also  to  present 
an  account  of  the  expenditures  which  have 
actually  been  made  for  the  deimrtment  from 
the  time  of  the  last  annual  estimate.  His 
most  important  and  difficult  duty  is  the  regu- 
lation and  supervision  of  the  expenses  of  the 
department,  and  the  general  management  of 
its  monetary  affairs.  It  is  his  business,  too, 
to  pay  over,  or  to  have  paid,  all  the  revenue 
of  tho  deparment  into  the  treasury  of  the 
United  States,  on  the  books  of  which  it  is 
entered  to  the  credit  of  the  post-office,  as  an 
offset  to  the  dcb'tt  created  by  the  annual  ap- 
propriation. Besides  performing  these  du- 
ties, the  Postmaster-General  must  decide 
npon  the  official  fonns  of  all  the  papers  to 
be  prepared  by  his  more  than  ?)0,000  subor- 
dinates; must  direct  in  what  manner  accounts 
are  to  be  kept  and  rendered ;  and,  in  short, 
must  exercise  a  general  supervision  over  all 
the  business,  often  complicated  and  involved, 
of  the  entire  post-office  department. 

Bureaux  of  the  General  Post-Officc. — The 
bureaux  or  offices  into  which  the  general  post- 
office  is  divided  for  the  sake  of  facilitating  its 
business  have  already  been  mentioned.  Of 
these,  the  first  named,  or  contract  office,  has  as- 
signed to  it,  as  its  proper  duty,  the  arrangement 
of  the  mail  service,  the  making  of  mail  con- 
tracts, the  location  of  distributing  offices,  the 
supervision  of  the  post  roads,  kc.  The  appoint- 
ment office  has  exclusive  direction  of  matters 
relating  to  the  establishment  and  discontin- 
uance of  post-offices,  changes  of  sites  and 
names,  appointments  and  removals  of  post- 
masters, and  the  giving  of  instructions  to 
these  last  named  functionaries.     The  miscel- 


laneous affairs  of  the  department,  also,  are 
projierly  under  the  management  of  this  bu- 
reau. The /jjawcc  office  has  the  supervision 
and  management  of  all  the  financial  business 
which  is  not  attended  to  by  the  auditor.  Its 
Iiead,  the  third  assistant  postmaster-general, 
has  charge  also  of  the  dead-letter  office,  of  the 
issuing  of  stamps  for  the  prepayment  of  post- 
ages, and  of  the  accounts  connected  with 
their  issue.  The  inspcctio7i  office  examines 
the  registers  rendered  by  postmasters  of  the 
time  of  the  arrival  and  departure  of  the 
mails ;  inquires  into  all  delinquencies  of  mail 
contractors,  postmasters,  <fec.,  and  all  depreda- 
tions committed  upon  the  mail.  The  auditor's 
office  was  established  in  1836.  The  duties  of 
the  superintending  officer  are  multifarious. 
He  is  "  a  comptroller,  a  commissioner  of  rev- 
enue, an  auditor-general,  a  registrar,  and  a 
solicitor;  nay,  every  thing  in  relation  to  the 
fiscal  affairs  of  the  department,  except  what 
appertains  to  the  Postmaster-General,  and  his 
assistants,  and  the  treasurer.  In  short,  his 
office  is  an  'imperium  in  imperio,'  and  though 
comparatively  simple  in  its  organization,  ia 
multitudinous  in  its  details."  Besides  the  au- 
ditor, there  is  connected  with  the  general  post- 
office  a  treasurer,  an  officer  created  in  1836, 
who  receives  and  has  charge  of  all  moneys 
collected  by  the  Postmaster-Gaueral.  The 
dead-letter  office,  a  branch  of  the  inspection 
office,  though  not  under  the  control  of  its 
head,  occupies  four  rooms,  and  has  thirteen 
clerks  in  its  service.  Every  letter  which 
comes  to  this  office  is,  after  a  stated  interval, 
opened  by  its  clerks  ;  and  those  that  contain 
money  or  valuable  property  are  read,  and 
every  effort  made  to  discover  the  owners. 
All  the  other  dead  letters  are  cast  into  a  heap, 
without  any  examination  of  their  contents, 
and  consumed  by  fire.  Letters  containing 
money  are  not  found  so  frequently  as  in  the 
dead-letter  office  of  England.  The  whole 
amount  received  in  this  way  in  1850  was 
•^2,000.  The  chief  cause  of  the  accumulation 
of  these  dead  letters  is  misdirection.  The 
number  which  is  emptied  annually  into  the 
vaults  of  the  post-office  at  Washington  is  im- 
mense. It  amounts,  on  an  average,  to  24,000 
bushels,  or  about  20,000,000  of  letters  per 
annum.  The  postages  on  most  of  these  are 
unpaid;  it  is  estimated,  however,  that  the 
proportion  of  unpaid  will  hereafter  be  much 
less,  under  the  operation  of  the  new  postage 
law,  which  went  into  effect  last  July. 

Postynasters,  their  Duties,  etc. — Every  post- 
master must  be  an  actual  resident  of  the 
place  in  which  the  office  he  superintends  is 
established  ;  and  he  must  be  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States.  He  cannot  enter  upon  his 
duties  until  he  has  taken  oath  and  given  satis- 
factory sureties  for  the  proper  performance  of 
his  official  functions.  His  duties  must  be  at- 
tended to  by  himself  ;)i?rso?ia//y,  or  b}-^  the  aid 
of  a  sworn  assistant  or  assistants,  if  necessary 


356 


POST-OFFICE UNITED    STATES. 


No  other  person  but  himself  aurl  his  qualified 
assistants  can  have  access  to  the  letters  and 
papers  of  tlie  office,  or  interfere  in  any  way 
•with  the   mail.     The   mail   may,  indeed,  be 
opened  within  view  of  other  persons,  but  not 
within  their  reach.      The  postmaster  is  re- 
quired to  keep  his  office  open  daily  during 
the  usual  business  hours  of  the  place ;  but  on 
Sunday  he  need  keep  it  open  only  an  hour, ; 
but  more  if  it  be  his  pleasure;  and,  further- 
more, he  cannot  resign  bis  office  and  leave  off 
the  performance  of  his  duties  at  his  option ; ! 
but  must,  even  after  resignation,  superintend  j 
the  office   affairs  until    a  properly  qualified 
successor  relieves  him  of  his  charge.     Post- 1 
masters  are  required   to  make  quarterhj  re-  j 
turtia  of  the  details  of  the  business  of  their  re-  j 
Bpective  offices,  and  forward  them  to  the  de- 
partment.    These  returns   are  examined  by  j 
the  auditor,  and  their  errors,  if  containing  any,  1 
are  carefully  corrected.     A  failure  to  send 
their  returns  within  the  specified  time  is  fol- 
lowed by  a  fine.     Besides  making  up  and  for- 
warding the   quarterly  returns   in   question, 
every  postmaster  must  keep  in  his  office  a 
general  account  for  the  service  of  the  depart- 
ment, subject  to  the  inspection  of  the  Post- 
inaster-General,  or  any  agent  of  the  depart- 
ment, a  copy  of  which  is  to  be  furnished  to 
the  auditor  whenever  he  may  require  one. 
This  general   account   affords   the  means  of 
comparison  and  adjustment,  if  a   difference 
arises  between  the  accounts  of  any  postmaster 
and  those  of  the  auditor. 

The  payment  of  the  services  of  postmas 
ters  is  fixed  by  law.  On  any  amount  of  letter 
postage  (which,  in  this  case,  includes  all  pre- 
paid postage  upon  transient  papers,  etc.)  re- 
ceiveu  by  them,  not  exceeding  $100  in  any 
one  year,  they  are  allowed  40  per  cent.  ;  on 
any  sum  between  $100  and  $400,  33^  per 
cent. ;  any  between  $400  and  $2,400,  30  per 
cent.;  any  over  $2,400,  12i  per  cent,  lie- 
sides  this,  they  are  entitled  to  7  per  cent,  on 
the  amount  of  letters  and  packets  received 
for  distribution,  but  this  only  holds  good  of 
offices  specified  by  the  Postmaster-General ; 
two  cents  on  every  free  letter  not  addressed 
to  postmasters,  (unless  other  commissions 
amount  to  $500  in  the  same  quarter,)  and  50 
per  cent,  on  all  sums  arising  from  postage  ou 
newspapers,  magazines,  etc.  Charges  for  in- 
cidental expenses,  moreover,  are,  in  certain 
cases,  allowed  to  be  made  against  the  depart- 
ment. For  any  deficiency  arising  in  any  post- 
office,  after  these  commissions  and  allowances 
are  made,  the  postmaster  has  no  claim  against 
the  United  States.  If  any  balance  is  left, 
these  deductions  being  made,  it  is  to  be  ac- 
knowledg(Hl  by  him  in  his  (piartcrly  return. 
The  payment  of  such  balance,  when  called 
for,  by  draft  or  otherwise,  must  be  made  in 
specie  bearing  the  stamp  of  the  United 
States ;  any  deficiency  in  the  weight  of  which, 
as  also  any  loss  of  post-office  money  or  prop- 


erty by  fire,  i-obberj'  or  theft,  must  be  mad^ 
up  by  the  postmaster.  A  refusal  to  pay  over" 
balances  to  any  officer  of  the  department,  is' 
considered  prima  facie  evidence  of  embezzle- 
ment on  the  part  of  a  postmaster ;  whicb 
crime,  if  proved,  as  also  any  unlawful  detain- 
ing of  a  letter  or  packet  in  his  office,  renders 
him  subject  to  heavy  legal  penalties.  Accord- 
ing to  the  recent  report  of  the  Postmaster- 
General,  there  were  appointed  during  the  fis- 
cal year  ending  the  30th  June,  1851,  5,339 
postmasters,  of  whom  1,G9S  were  appointed 
on  the  establishment  of  new  post-offices  The 
entire  number  of  post-offices  now  in  operation 
is  19,796;  nearly  1,700  having  been  estab- 
lished, and  256  having  been  discontinued,  dm*- 
ing  the  year.  In  the  same  report  is  expressed 
tlie  conviction  that  the  commissions  allowed 
to  postmasters  will  be  found  too  moderate  for 
the  labor  required  by  the  new  postage  law. 
Of  the  post-offices  now  existing,  668  are  in 
Maine  ;  in  New-Hampshire,  355  ;  Vermont, 
382  ;  Massachusetts,  585  ;  Rhode-Island,  74  ; 
Connecticut,  339  ;  New-York,  2,319  ;  Dela- 
ware, 60;  New-Jersey,  394;  Pennsylvania, 
1,790;  Maryland  and  District  of  Columbia, 
337;  Virginia,  1,296;  North  Carolina,  785  ; 
South  Carolina,  484 ;  Georgia,  658 ;  Florida, 
105;  Alabama,  580;  Mississippi,  553  ;  Louis- 
iana, 218  ;  Arkansas,  328;  Texas,  310;  Ten- 
nessee, 760;  Kentucky,  669;  Ohio,  1,640; 
Michigan,  544;  Indiana,  896;  Illinois,  1,026; 
Missouri,  592  ;  AVisconsin,  477  ;  Iowa,  294  ; 
California,  34  ;  Utah,  1 ;  New-Mexico.  2  ;  Ne- 
braska, 2;  Minnesota,  16;  Oregon,  31.  Of 
the  postmasters  superintending  these,  36  re- 
ceive a  salary  of  $2,000  ;  174  from  $1,000  to 
$2,000;  347  from  $500  to  $1,000 ;  208  from 
$400  to  $500;  381  from  $300  to  $-100;  697 
from  $200  to  $300;  2,022  from  $100  to  $200; 
3,279  from  $50  to  $100;  4,086  from  $25  to 
$50;  and  8,369  a  salary  under  $25  per  annum. 
Transportation  of  the  Hail. — The  United 
States  is  divided  into  five  contract  sections, 
and  the  contract  year  commences  on  the  first 
of  July,  and  includes  fuur  civil  or  solar  years. 
These  contracts  for  trans|X)rting  th«  mail  are 
let,  according  to  the  act  of  1845,  "  to  the  low- 
est bidder  tendering  sufficient  gu.arantees  for 
faithful  performance,  without  other  reference 
to  the  mode  of  .such  transportation  than  may 
be  necessary  to  provide  for  the  due  celerity, 
certainty,  and  security  of  such  transportation." 
Some  of  the  leading,  and  to  the  general  ob- 
server, most  interesting  features  of  the  mail 
contract  are  the  following :  (a.)  Only  seven 
minutes  at  the  most  are  allowed  for  openiug 
and  closing  the  mails;  (6.)  the  mail  is  to  be 
conveyed  in  preference  to  passengers,  even, 
if  necessary,  to  their  exclusion  ;  (c.)  post-office 
blanks,  mail-bags,  and  special  agents  are  to  be 
conveyed  without  extra  charge;  {d.)  mail 
agents  are  to  be  conveyed  without  cliarge  on 
railroad  and  sfeamboat  lines,  when  the  size  of 
the  mail  or  other  reasons  require  it;  (e.)  for- 


POST-OPFICE UNITED    STATES. 


357 


felhires  of  pay,  wholly  or  partial,  according 
to  a  fixed  scale,  are  to  take  place  when  trips 
are  not  performed,  and  fines  are  imposed  for 
arrivals  behind  the  time.  For  every  faihire 
to  arrive  within  tlie  contract  time  a  specified 
excuse  mu>t  be  given,  and  a  register  of  sucli 
failures  and  tlie  alleged  excuses  must  be  kept 
by  the  postmaster  at  Whose  office  they  occur. 
A  contractor  is  bound  to  supply  all  offices 
within  eighty  rods  of  his  route,  even  though 
they  be  established  after  the  date  of  his  coti- 
tract,  without  additional  pay ;  and  he  is  re- 
quired in  all  cases  to  carry  the  entire  mail, 
any  leaving  behind  of  the  mail  bags  subjecting 
him  to  a  line,  to  be  deducted,  as  are  atl  the 
fines  he  may  incur,  from  his  contract  pay. 
Contractors  on  special  routes,  if  their  route 
yield  the  sum  specified,  receive  that  sum,  if 
not,  they  must  bear  the  loss;  if  it  yield  more, 
they  only  receive  the  stipulated  compensation. 
Other  rules  relative  to  the  transport  of  the 
mail,  not  specially  relating  to  contractors, 
worthy  of  particular  mention,  are  the  follow- 
ing :  (a.)  The  mail  cannot  be  bome  upon  a  road 
■which  has  not  been  declared  a  post  road,  ex- 
cept in  certain  well  understood  cases  ;  {0.)  a 
member  of  Congress  can  have  no  interest  in 
any  mail  contract ;  (c.)  the  mail  can  be  can-ied 
only  by  free  white  persons,  a  fine  of  S20  being 
imposed  on  the  contractor  for  every  violation 
of  the  regulation;  (</.)  the  master  of  every 
ship  amviag  from  any  post  in  the  United 
States  at  another  where  there  is  a  post-office, 
must  deliver  to  the  postmaster  all  letters  in 
his  charge,  before  he  is  allowed  to  bfeak  bulk 
or  make  entry;  (e)  no  letters  or  packets  can  be 
carried  over  any  post  route  outside  of  the  mail, 
excepting  private  messengers,  and  by  those 
who  receive  no  compensation ;  (/.)  no  post- 
master, or  his  assistant  or  clerk,  can  be  a  con- 
tractor, or  be  interested  in  a  contract  for  carry- 
ing the  mails;  {g.)  the  Postmaster-General  is 
empowered  to  make  special  arrangements 
■with  the  owners  of  steamboats  and  railroads 
for  transporting  the  mails,  without  reference 
■to  the  ordinary  mode  of  making  the  mail  con. 
tracts  ;  and,  for  extraordinnry  expenses  when 
jequired,  he  may  grant  the  mo.'-t  liberal  terms ; 
(h.)  a  mail  carrier  losing,  destroying,  or  de- 
Berting  his  mail,  is  liable  to  heavy  penalties; 
and  any  person  robbing  him  is  punishable,  for 
the  first  offense,  with  five  years'  imprisonment, 
and  for  the  second  with  death,  which  latter 
penalty  is  also  inflicted  for  the  first  offense  if 
the  carrier  be  wounded  or  killed ;  li)  {)ost- 
ma.sters,  drivers  of  mail-coaches,  and  mail  car- 
riers, are  exempt  from  militia  and  jury  duty. 
The  subjoined  information  respecting  the 
extent  and  expense  of  the  mail  contracts  for 
the  year  ending  with  the  close  of  June,  taken 
.from  the  njportof  the  Postmaster-General,  as 
it  appeared  in  the  National  Intelligencer  of 
December  3d,  IS.jl,  will  no  doubt  Ijc  very  ac- 
ceptable in  the  present  connection.  Six 
.thousand  one  hundred  and  seventy  mixil  routes 


were  in  operation  in  the  United  States,  form- 
ing an  aggregate  length  of  1G9,290  miles,  and 
involving  an  annual  cost  for  the  transportation 
of  mails  of  §3.421,754.  The  total  annual 
transportation  amounts  to  53,212,2.52  miles, 
of  which  8,508,707  are  performed  upon  rail- 
roads, at  an  average  cost  of  about  eleven 
cents  five  mills  per  mile ;  5,454,982  miles  in 
steamb/jats,  at  a  cost  of  about  eight  cents 
three  mills  per  mile ;  19,720,588  miles  in 
coaches,  at  about  five  cents  three  mills  per 
mile  ;  and  19,521,975  miles  in  modes  not 
specified,  at  about  four  cents  eight  mills  per 
mile.  As  compared  with  the  previous  year, 
this  statement  exhibits  an  increase  of  13,354 
miles  in  the  length  of  inland  mail  routes,  and 
of  .$547,110  in  the  annual  cost  of  transporta- 
tion ;  but  the  comparison  is  irrespective  of  the 
routes  in  California  and  Oregon.  In  the  for- 
mer state  the  annual  transportation  amounts 
to  537,476  miles,  and  the  annual  cost  to 
?130,270  ;  in  the  latter  to  66,960  miles,  at  an 
annual  cost  of  §40,441.  There  are  six  foreign 
mail  routes,  three  of  which  are  under  contract 
with  the  post  office  department,  at  a  cost  of 
about  §2. 09  9-10  per  mile;  and  three  uuder 
contract  with  the  Navy  Department,  at  a  cost 
of  about  $2.42  6-10  per  mile. 

Distribution. — In  order  to  insure  certainty, 
regularity,  and  dispatch,  in  sending  packets 
from  one  remote  point  to  another,  offices  have 
been  established,  which,  besides  the  usual 
tluties,  perform  the  work  of  distribution.  Much 
attention  has  been  bestowed  upon  this  subject. 
from  time  to  time,  by  the  difi"erent  officials 
connected  with  the  department.  Systematic 
distribution  was  first  attempted  by  the  elder 
Granger,  (1810;)  each  postmaster,  previous 
to  his  time,  being  left  to  exercise  his  own 
judgment  as  to  the  best  and  most  expeditious 
route  for  forwarding  the  matter  of  his  mails. 
Modifications  were  subsequently  made,  at 
different  times,  in  this  scheme,  which  resulted 
finally  in  the  arrangement  now  existing.  It 
is  unnecessary  to  give  here  the  details  of  the 
plan  of  distribution.  It  is  sufficient  to  say 
that,  with  all  its  modifications,  it  is  yet  quite 
imperfect,  aud  frequently  halts  in  its  opera- 
tion. Notwithstaniling  all  the  care  taken  to 
prevent  mistakes,  they  are  constantly  occur- 
ring. Three  hundred  letters,  for  example, 
are  received  daily  at  the  New-York  office 
which  are  improperly  sent  there  for  dis- 
tribution ;  thus  causing,  as  in  many  other 
places,  a  double  distribution,  each  of  which 
would  cost  the  general  post-office  a  commission 
of  7  per  cent,  if  provision  were  not  made  to 
prevent  it  in  New- York.  The  commissions  on 
letters  erroneously  sent  for  distribution  to  the 
New- York  office  woukl,  if  charged,  amount  in 
one  year  to  §85,328  ;  as  it  is,  they  are  only 
saved  by  the  employment  of  extra  clerks,  with 
much  confusion  and  delay,  and  with  much  ex- 
pense for  clerk  hire,  to  the  department.  Mr. 
Bowen  comput-es  the  amount  of  money  jjaid  at 


368 


rOST-OFFICE — CXITED    STATES. 


? resent  by  the  department  for  double  distri-j  no  postal  treaty,  the  rates  are  ten  cents  for  any 
ution ;    at  §300,000  per  annum ;  which,  he   distance  under  '2,500  miles,  and  twenty  cents 
Bays,  is  less  than  one  half  -what  was  formerly   for  any  additional  distance.     A  letter  weigh- 


paid  on  the  same  account.  A  more  simple 
scheme  tlian  that  now  in  operation,  and  one 
that  will  save  all  these  extra  expenses,  is  that  of 
single  distribution,  as  proposed  by  this  gentle- 
man. It  is  not  important  that  his  plan  should 
be  exhibited  here  at  full  length;  it  is  enough 
to  say,  that  it  is  based  on  the  present  distribu- 
tion scheme,  that  it  is  easily  understood,  and 
not  difficult  to  bo  put  into  execution.  It  is  hoped 
that  tlie  department  will  give  the  plan  a  fair 
consideration ;  for  to  such  it  is  fully  entitled, 
as  having  been  matured  by  one  whose  expe- 
rience in  the  practical  working  of  the  post- 
office  system  of  this  country  gives  weight  to 
his  opinions,  and  who  deserves  our  thanks  for 
the  labor  and  expense  which  he  has  undergone 
in  the  preparation  and  complete  explanation 
of  the  arrangement  he  proposes. 


ing  over  half  an  ounce,  no  matter  how  little,  is 
charged  double  postage ;  and  so  every  addi- 
tional half  ounce,  or  fraction  thereof,  is  charged 
three  cents,  or  five  cents  additional,  according 
as  the  letter  is  or  is  not  prejxiid.  Drop-letters 
or  letters  put  in  the  post-office  for  delivery  in 
the  same  place,  are  charged  one  cent  each, 
whether  prepaid  or  not  In  all  cases,  the  dis- 
tance which  a  letter  is  conveyed  is  estimated 
by  that  of  the  post-road  along  which  it  is 
transmitted.  Ship,  steamboat,  and  way  let- 
ters appear  to  be  chargeable  as  before  the  pas- 
sage of  the  law — six  cents  each,  if  delivered 
at  the  office  of  original  reception,  and  tieo  cents 
additional  if  forwarded  to  another  office  for 
delivery. 

The  postage  on  newspapers,  pamphlets,  etc.^ 
is  determined  by  a  complicated  calculation. 


Kates  of  IrderHol  Postage. — The  new  post- 1  Its  manner  of  adjustment  is  very  unsatisfac- 
age  law  went  into  operation  on  the  1st  of  July,  ^  tory  to  the  public,  and  in  many  cases  the  rate 
1851.  According  to  this  law,  the  postage  on  itself  is  decidedly  higher  (sometimes  twice  as 
a  letter  not  weighing  over  half  an  oiince,  sent  high)  than  under  the  former  regulations.  It  is 
any  distance  in  the  United  States^  not  exceed- ,  not  likely  that  these  rates  will  continue  long  in 
ing  3,000  miles,  is  three  cents,  if  paid  in  ad- .  force.  They  are  best  exhibited  in  the  tabular 
Tance  ;  and  five  cents,  not  prepaid.  For  any  |  form  in  which  they  were  originally  published 
distance  over  3,000  miles  the  rates  arc  doubled.  \  on  the  14th  of  June  last,  by  the  Postmaster 
If  sent  wholly  or  in  part  by  sea,  o?  to  or  from  j  General, 
a  country  with  which  the  United  States  has ' 

Rates,  per  quarter,  when  sent  from  the  office  of  ptMication  to  bona  fide  Subscribers. 


From  and  after  the  30th  of  June,  1851,  for  each  newspapernot] 

>. 

>^ 

exceeding  three  ounces  in  weight,  the  annexed  rates  per  quarteri 

t 

g 

are  to  he  paid  quarterly  in  advance.  These  rates  only  apply  where. 

S 

i 

E 

.= 

the  paper  is  sent  from  the  office  of  publication  to  actual  and  bona      := 

^ 

■| 

S 

e 

c 

fide  ^subscribers. 

fi 

H 

n 

IS 

£ 

S 

Cents. 

Cents. 

Cents. 

Cents. 

Cents. 

Cents. 

25 

15 

10 

5 

21 

11 

50 

30 

20 

10 

5 

2i 

»      300                "                     1,000     "■     

75 

45 

30 

15 

71 

3? 

»  l.OUO               "                   2,000     «     

100 

60 

40 

20 

lo" 

5 

"  2  000               "                    4,000     "     

125 

75 

50 

25 

12^ 

^T 

«  4  (100 '  150 

90 

60 

30 

15 

71 

rlRKCTJONS. 

1st.  Weekly  Papers,  only  when  sent  as  above  stated,  are  to  be  delivered  free  in  the  county  where  they  axe 
published,  and  this  although  conveyed  in  the  mail  over  25  miles. 

2d.  Newspapers  cont.iining  not  over  300  square  inches,  are  to  be  charged  one  quarter  the  above  rates. 

3d.  Publishers  of  newsjiapers  are  allowed  exchange  free  of  postage,  one  copy  of  each  number  only;  and 
this  privilege  extends  to  newspapers  published  in  Canada. 

4th.  The  weight  of  newspapers  must  be  taken  or  determined  when  they  are  in  a  dry  state. 

5lh.  Postmasters  are  not  entitled  to  receive  newspapers  free  of  postage  under  their  franking  privilege. 

6th.  Payment  in  advance  does  not  entitle  the  party  paying  to  any  deduction  from  the  above  rates. 


Mates  on  Transient  Newspapers  and  other 

Mailable  Printed  Mattel 

Note.— For  each  additional  ounce  or  fractional  part  of 
an  ounce,  beyond  the  ten  ounces  embraced  iu  this  taWe,  an 
additional  rate  must  be  charged. 

g 

^ 

|c4 

6 

s 

o 

If 

rt  > 

> 
O 

S; 
6 

6 

> 
O 

B 

c  oo' 
>-  > 

o 

"2   • 

O 

Rate 

Cts. 

9. 

18 

27 

g 

Is 

> 

o 

Katf 

Cts. 
1 

2 
3 
4 
5 

Rate 

Ct8. 

2 
4 
6 
8 
10 

Rat? 
Cts. 

3 
C 
9 

12 
15 

Rate 

Ct«. 
4 
8 
12 
16 
20 

Rat' 

eta. 

5 
10 
15 

20 
25 

Kate 
Cts. 

a 

12 

18 
24 
30 

Rate 

Cts. 
7 
14 
21 
28 
35 

Rnti- 

Cia. 

8 

16 

24 

Rate 

Cta. 
](k 

20 

"    ],.5O0           "           2..')0n     "    

30 

'■   2,500           "           3,500      "    

32     36  1 

40 

"   3..500 

40 

45  1 

50 

POST-OFFICE UNITED    STATES. 


359 


DIRECTIONS. 

1st.  On  every  transient  newspaper,  unsealed  circular,  handbill,  cngraviiii;,  pamphlet,  periodical,  magazine, 
book,  and  every  other  descripliou  of  printed  matter,  the  above  rates  must  in  all  cases  be  pre-paid  according 
to  the  weij^ht. 

fT'id.  Whenever  any  printed  matter  on  which  the  postage  is  required  to  be  prw-paid,  shall,  through  the  inat- 
tention of  postmasters  or  otherwise,  bo  sent  without  pre-pajraent,  the  same  shall  be  charged  with  double 
the  above  rates. 

3d.  Bound  books  and  parcels  of  printed  matter  not  weighing  over  32  ounces,  shall  be  deemed  mailable 
mutlcr. 

Periodicals  published  at  intervals  not  exceeding  three  months,  and  sent  from  the  oflice  of  publication,  to 
actual  iona/i/e  subscribers,  are  to  be  charged  with  one  half  the  rates  mentioned  in  the  last  of  the  above 
tables,  and  pro-payment  of  a  quarter  postage;  thereon  tnust  in  all  ca3<;s  bo  required.  Periodicals  published 
at  ijUervals  of  more  than  three  months  are  charged  with  the  full  rate,  which  must  be  pre-paid. 

In  case  there  is  ou  or  in  any  newspaper,  periodical,  pamphlet,  or  other  printed  matter,  or  paper  connected 
therewith,  any  manuscript  of  any  kind  by  whicli  information  shall  be  iisked  for,  or  communicated  in  writing. 
or  by  marks  or  signs,  the  said  newspaper,  periodical,  pamphlet,  or  other  printed  matter,  becomes  subject  to 
letter  postage  ;  and  it  is  the  duty  of  the  postm.aster  to  remove  the  wrappers  and  envelopes  from  all  printed 
matter  and  pamphlets  not  charged  with  letter  postage,  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  whether  there  is  upon 
or  connected  with  it  any  such  printed  matter,  or  in  such  package  any  matter  or  thing  which  would  authorize 
or  require  the  charge  of  a  higher  rate  of  postage  thereon. 


Jiates  of  Foreign  Postage. — The  rates  of 
postage  between  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain  are  determined  by  the  postal  treaty 
of  May,  1849.  Previous  to  this  treaty,  the 
British  government  enjoyed  a  monopoly  of 
the  sea-postage  between  this  country  and 
Europe.  Even  letters  conveyed  across  the 
sea  in  our  own  vessels  could  not  be  delivered 
or  posted  in  Great  Britain,  without  the  pre- 
payment to  that  countr}^  of  the  entire  sea- 
postage.  The  postal  treaty  has  totally  changed 
this  objectionable  state  of  affairs;  and  the  rev- 
enue derived  from  sea-letters,  amounting  an- 
nually to  about  §1,000,000,  instead  of  going 
wholly  to  one,  is  now  divided  between  the  two 
governments.  The  rates  of  postage,  as  estab- 
lished by  the  treat}-,  are  as  follows : 

The  entire  postage  between  any  office  in  the 
United  States,  (California  and  Oregon  except- 
ed,) and  any  other  in  Great  Britain  or  Ireland, 
is  twenty-four  cents,  for  a  letter  not  weighing 
more  than  half  an  ounce  ;  forty-eight  for  one 
exceeding  that  weight ;  ninety-six,  if  the 
•weight  exceed  an  ounce,  but  not  two  ounces ; 
the  rate  being  doubled  after  the  first  ounce. 
The  postage  may  be  left  unpaid ;  if  paid,  all 
that  is  due  must  be  given  at  once,  as  fractional 


out  of  Europe,  which  have  to  pass  in  their 
transit  through  Great  Britain,  must,  if  they  are 
to  be  transported  in  an  English  steamer,  have 
the  Unite<l  States  postage,  and  that  only,  pre- 
paid ;  if  sent  by  an  American  vessel,  they  must 
have  both  the  inland  and  ocean  postage  pre- 
paid. Letters  sent  from  the  United  States  by 
one  of  our  steamers,  to  any  point  on  the  con- 
tinent of  Em-ope  where  they  t'luch,  must  be 
prepaid,  at  the  rate  of  twenty  cents  the  half 
ounce.  Newspapers,  under  the  same  circum- 
stances, will  pay  two  cents.  The  postage  to 
Havana,  in  Cuba,  recently  twelve  and  a  half 
cents  per  half  ounce,  is  now  ten  cents  prepaid, 
if  the  letter  be  sent  not  over  a  distance  of 
2,000  miles;  over  2,000  miles,  the  postage  is 
ten  cents  the  half  ounce.  The  postage  on  let- 
ters sent  to  the  British  West  Indies,  which 
must  be  paid  in  advance,  is  the  same  as  that 
charged  upon  letters  forwarded  to  Cuba.  The 
charge  on  newspapers  is^  two  cents.  Letters 
sent  to  such  of  the  West  India  Islands  as  are 
not  British,  are  charged  thirty-five  cents  the 
half  ounce,  for  distances  not  over  2,500  miles, 
and  forty-five  cents  for  any  distance  over,  to  be 
prepaid  ;  as  also  letters  coming  thence.  News- 
papers are  charged  four  cents.     The  postage 


payments  will  be  disregarded.  Letters  from  '  on  letters  sent  to  South  America  is,  in  general, 
or  to  Oregon  or  California  are  charged  Jive  cents  fifty  cents  per  half  ounce,  prepaid  ;  on  news- 
mor»  than  the  above  mentioned  rates.  Of  this  !  papers,  «fcc.,  eight  cents  per  ounce.  Letters  sent 
postage  on  foreign  letters,  the  British  govern-  i  intoCanada  from  any  office  in  the  United  States , 
ment,  if  it  conveys  the  letter  in  its  own  packet,  not  over  3,000  miles  from  the  Canada  line,  by 
retains  all  but  Jive  cents.  If  a  letter  be  car-  the  route  travelled,  are  charged  ten  cents  for 
ried  over  the  ocean  in  an  American  steamer, '  the  first  half  ounce,  increasing  proportionally 
that  giivernment  retains,  on  collecting  the  post-  for  every  fraction  of  a  half  ounce ;  over  3,000 
age,  only  three  cents  out  of  the  whole,  the  rest '  miles  fifteen  cents ;  prepayment  being  optional, 
being  credited,  and  ultimately  paid,  to  the!  Mailing  of  Nevispapcrs. — Eveiy  facility  for 
United  States.  mailing  and  transmitting  their  newspapers,  is 

Newspapers  for  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  granted  by  law  and  by  usage  to  editors  and 
are  charged  two  cents  postage,  which  must  be  publishers.  If  their  mail  is  large,  they  are 
prepaid  in  America ;  but  newspapers  coming  ^  furnished  with  bags  and  allowed  to  make  it 
thence  are  paid  for,  at  the  same  rate,  when ;  up  themselves,  and  transmit  it  without  fm- 
delivered.  On  pamphlets,  books,  and  periodi- '  ther  examination ;  and  yet,  in  case  of  mis- 
cals,  the  postage  is  two  cents  etich,  when  weigh- 1  carriage  of  papers,  postmasters  are  held  re- 
ing  not  more  than  two  ounces;  and  one  ee/i<  sponsible,  unless  they  can  show  that  the  fault 
for  every  additional  ounce,  prepaidfif  sent  from!  lies  with  the  publisiier  or  the  mail  contract- 
iiere,  but  not  otherwise.  |  ors.      Packets  of  newspapers   addressed    to 

Letters  sent  to  other  foreign  couutries  in  or  one  office  cannot  be  opened  at  another ;  and 


360 


POST-OFFICE — UNITED    STATES. 


if,  by  acciJent,  a  packet  should  lose  its  wrap- 
per, the  postmaster  discovering  it  is  bound 
either  to  re-direct  it,  or  to  return  it  to  the  pub- 
lisher. And  no  postmaster  is  allowed  to  lend 
or  to  sufTi'r  to  be  read,  in  liis  office,  any  news- 
paper directed  to  another  person ;  but  to 
sjuard  airainst  fraud,  he  is  not  only  permitted 
but  required  to  take  the  wrappers  off  from 
papers  which  come  to  his  office  in  envelopes 
— these  wrappers  not  being  counted  part  of  the 
newspapers,  and  not  being  subject  to  jwstage. 

Collection  of  Postage  and  Delivery  of  Let- 
ters.— Nothing  but  specie  can  be  taken  for  post- 
ages ;  and  postmasteis  are  not  authorized,  in 
any  case,  to  give  credit.  Postage  on  news- 
papers regularly  subscribed  for  is  to  be  paid 
quarleily  in  advance.  Letters  may  be  deliv- 
ered only  to  the  person  addi'essed,  or  to  one 
authorized  to  receive  them,  by  order,  which 
order,  liowever,  is  sometimes  implied.  Letters 
delivered  to  the  wrong  person,  and  opened  by 
him  through  mistake,  must  receive  his  endorse- 
ment to  that  effect,  and  be  returned  therewith 
to  the  post-office. 

Letter  Carriers  and  Mail  Agents. — Post- 
masters may  employ  letter-carriers,  who  are 
qualified  for  their  office,  by  giving  to  the 
United  States  approved  bonds.  Their  com- 
ponsatiiin  in  large  cities  is  onecent  per  letter; 
m  small  cities,  two  cents,  as  formerly  ;  on  each 
paper  they  are  entitled  to  i  cent.  It  is  the 
duty  of  tl)e  mail  carrier  to  receive  and  convey 
all  letters  to  the  post-office  which  are  handed 
to  him  more  than  a  mile  from  the  office.  Be- 
side these  carriers,  there  are  employed  (by  the 
Postmaster-General)  on  certain  railroad  and 
steamboat  routes,  mail  agents  and  mail  mes- 
sengers, who  are  qualified  by  taking  the  re- 
quired <wths,  and  who,  like  mail  carriers,  are 
exempt  from  militia  and  jury  duty. 

I^oslagc  Stamps  and  Adcertising  Letters. — 
Postage  stamps,  of  the  denomination  of  one, 
three,  and  twelve  cents,  may  be  purchased  to 
any  amount,  at  important  offices;  and  these 
answer  all  the  purposes  of  money,  and  are,  in 
some  respects,  more  convenient  for  the  pre- 
payment of  postage.  Sucli  a  stamj)  is  can- 
celled by  the  postmaster  in  whose  office  the 
letter  bearing  it  may  have  been  deposited. 
Letters  remaining  uncalled  for  in  any  office  are 
to  be  advertised  every  week, or  less  frequently, 
according  to  a  fixed  rule,  in  the  paper  of  the 
place  in  whicli  the  office  is  situated  wliich  has 
the  largest  circulatit>n,  at  the  rate  of  one  cent 
per  letter.  If  there  be  no  paper  in  the  town, 
or  if  the  list,  be  refused,  tlie  postmaster  must 
post  up,  in  a  conspicuous  |)lace,  a  manuscript 
list  of  the  letters  in  question. 

Ihe  Franking  Privilege. — Certain  citizens 
and  offiqers  of  government  are  entitled  to  free- 
dom of  postage  on  their  letters  and  ])ackets: 
among  tlu-se  are  Mrs.  Harrison,  Mrs.  Taylor, 
any  person  Avho  has  been  President  of  the 
United  states,  the  Vice-President,  members  of 
Congcofis,  and  delegates  from  territories,  tlie 


governors  of  states,  the  three  assistant  post- 
masters-general, and  certain  postmasters,  each, 
however,  under  given  resti'ictions.  Besides 
these,  publishers  of  newspapers,  periodicals, 
etc.,  not  exceeding  Ifi  oz.  in  weight,  may  ex- 
change with  each  other,  po.stage  free.  The 
franking  privilege  is  purely  personal :  it  travels 
with  its  possessor,  and  can  be  exercised  only  in 
one  place  at  the  same  time.  Franks  cannot 
be  left  behind  on  envelopes  for  letters  to  be 
written  by  another  person ;  yet  this  rule  is 
perpetually  violated,  without  reflection,  by 
members  of  Congress.  Postmasters,  whose 
yearly  receipts  do  not  exceed  $200,  can  frank 
letters  to  publishers  of  newspapers,  as  tlieir 
agent,  for  the  agency  being  taken  for  granted 
by  the  appearance  of  the  frank.  The  free 
matter  sent  to  and  from  Washington,  during 
the  last  two  years,  would  have  realized  $1,7^<5,- 
920,  at  the  present  rates,  and  $4,240,820  at  the 
rates  in  force  a  year  ago;  and  this  not  counting 
newspapers,  etc.  This  abuse  of  the  privilege 
requires  legislative  action. 

Lost  Letters,  d'c. — Money  or  any  valuable 
property  transmitted  by  the  mail,  is  at  the 
risk  of  the  owner.  If  a  letter  is  lost,  the  de- 
partment will  make  every  effort  to  recover  it, 
and  to  punish  any  one  who  has  been  the  cause 
of  the  loss.  To  assist  it  in  its  efforts  to  do  so, 
the  loser  should  forward  to  Washington  all  the 
particulars  which  he  can  collect  respecting  th# 
mailing  of  the  letter,  etc.  Shouhl  not  the  let- 
ter or  money  be  recovered  after  all,  there  is 
no  remedy ;  the  courts  have  frequently  decided 
in  favor  of  the  department,  and  there  is  only 
in  certain  cases  a  remedy  against  the  post- 
master. The  postmaster  is  liable  for  the  loss, 
if  it  can  be  proved  that  it  was  sustained  in 
consequence  of  his  negligence. 

Lxpcnses  and  Receipts  of  the  Department.—' 
The  entire  expenditure  of  the  last  year,  as  given 
in  the  Postmaster-General's  late  report,  (Dec^ 
1851,)  amounted  to  $6,278,401;  but  this  in- 
cludes a  payment  made  to  Great  Britain,  and 
a  payment  under  an  award.  The  ordinary  ex- 
penditure was  .$6,024,560.  Tlie  receipts  dur- 
ing the  same  period  amounted  to  $6,78t'i,40;? ; 
of  which  $5,;>6!),242  were  derived  from  letter 
(including  foreign)  postage  and  stamps  sold, 
and  $1,085,130  from  postage  on  newspapers, 
periodicals,  etc.  Allowance  must  be  made 
here  for  tlie  sum  payable  to  Britain,  and  for 
that  for  additional  appropriations.  Tliese  al- 
lowances made,  the  ordinary  revenues  are 
$0,551,077,  being  an  increase  of  $<t90,ni)0  over 
tliose  of  the  preceding  year,  and  a  Imlance  of 
$527,411  over  the  proper  expenditures  of  the 
present  year.  Tlie  estimated  expenses  for  the 
current  year  are  $7,123,448.  The  reduced 
rates  on  printed  matter,  and  the  extension  of 
the  exchange  privilege  to  publishers,  will 
alone,  it  is  th(»ught,  reduce  the  revenue  for  tho 
current  yoaT  $500,vi00.  If  all  the  free  matter 
cariied  in  tlie  mail  were  charged  witii  j^ostage, 
it  would,  at  the  present  rates,  add  to  the  rev- 


POST-OFFICE UXTTED    STATES. 


361 


enue  between  $1,000,000  and  $2,000,000  per 
annum. 

In  his  late  report,  Mr.  Hall  recommends  that 
the  rates  on  letters  remain  as  they  now  are, 
but  that  not  more  than  two,  or  at  most  three, 
rates  of  inhmd  postage  sliould  be  fixed  on 
newspapers  sent  to  subscribers,  and  tiiat  the 
postage  on  transient  newspapers  and  other 
printed  matter  should  be  more  nearly  assimi- 
lated to  the  ordinary  newspaper  rates.  "  It  is 
difficult,"  he  says,  and  the  remark  is  worthy  of 
serious  consideration,  "to  as.sign  a  sufficient 
reason  for  charging  upon  such  periodicals  as 

Appendix  I. — Statement  of  the  number  of  Post-offices,  the  length  of  Mail  Routes,  and 
extent  of  Mail  Transportation  in  the  United  States,  and  of  the  Amount  of  Receipts  and 
Expenditures  of  the  Post-office  Department,  under  appropriate  heads,  in  each  year,  from 
1840  to  1851,  inclusive. 


the  reviews,  the  numerous  magazines,  and 
theological,  medical,  and  law  periodicals,  more 
than  tliree  times  the  amount  of  postage  charged 
for  tbe  same  distance  upon  an  equal Meiglit of 
newsjiapcrs.  Such  jieriodicals  are  less  epliem- 
eral  tliaii  the  ordinary  newspapers,  and  cer- 
tainly not  less  beneficial  in  tlieir  influence."  It 
is  hoj)od  that  Congress  will  take  this  matter 
in  hand  during  the  present  session,  and  reduce 
to  somethinglikc  regularity  and  fairness  our 
present  anomalous  system  of  newspaper  and 
periodical  postage. 


1840 
1841 
1842 
1843 
1844 
1845 
1846 
1847 
1848 
1849 
1850 
1851, 


S5 


13,4()8 
13,778 
13,733 
13,814 
14,103 
14,183 
14,(i01 
15,146 
16,1.59 
16,747 
18,417 
19,796 


■BZ 


155. 
155, 
149, 
142. 
144 
143, 
149, 
153 
163 
167, 
178 
192, 


739 
,026 
732 
295 
087 
940 
079 
,818 
,908 
,703 
672 
,026 


MILES  TRANSPORTATION. 


,889,053 
,940,450 
,424,262 
,692,402 
,747,355 
,484.592 
,781,828 
,084,922 
,713,200 
945,153 
634.574 
855,209 


32,481. 
31,<i50, 
30,411, 
29.5130, 
29,662, 
29,149, 
29,610. 
30,802. 
32,299. 
33,598. 
35,906. 
38,849. 


,723 
,075 
,729 
,4113 
.209 
(577 
670 
,977 
379 
910 
,849 
,069 


RKCEIPTS. 


4.003. 

3,812. 

3.953, 

3738. 

3,676. 

3.660. 
n2.88l, 
i3,198. 

3,340. 
(•3,882. 
rf4,ft75. 
f5,369,' 


776  07 
738  61 
315  20 
307  54 
161  53 
231  38 
697  74 
957  43 
304  10 
762  62 
,663  86 
242  76 


5.35.2J9  61 

5«).245  46 

572.225  25 

5=13  277  39 

549.743  83 

608.765  22 

/6V2.142  49 

^i643,100  59 

767,3.54  85 

819,016  20 

919,485  94 

1,035.130  89 


Appendix  I.  continued. 


RECEIPT.'?. 

EXPENDITURES. 

TEARS 

< 

i 

o 
H 

ig 
It 

c  £ 

Is 

gS 

All    other   ex- 

c 

c 

«-    3 

— -5 

1840 

1841 

1842 

1843 

1844 

1845 

1846 

1847 

1848 

1849 

1850 

1851 

4,516  24 

28,742  20 

/i503,906  20 

14.640  .50 

11,382  47 

1170,845  20 

J645.249  74 

A 17 1,329  12 

53,438  90 

3.397  46 

4,835  06 

6,236  68 

4,.543.521  92 
4,407,726  27 
5,029,506  65 
4,296,225  43 
4,237,287  83 
4,439,841  80 
4,089,089  97 
4,013,447  14 
4,161,0-7  85 
4,705,176  28 
5,499,9^4  86 
6,410,604  33 

3,213,042  61 
3,034.813  91 
4,192.196  00 
2,982.512  47 
2,912,946  78 
2,898,630  48 
2,597,454  66 
2,476,4.55  08 
2,545,232  12 
2,577.407  71 
2,965,786  36 
3,533,063  54 

1,029,477  90 
1,021,379  22 
1,041 '535  15 
995,009  57 
988,230  20 
1033,112  06 
1,042,079  74 
1,060,  28  19 
1,'254,345  05 
1.320.921  34 
1.549,376  19 
1,781,686  34 

475.745  13 

443.334  48 
441,020  55 
397.231  07 

395.335  72 
388,989  45 
444,798  02 
434,591  25 
527.272  50 
580,720  08 
697,791)  88 
958,651  30 

4,718,235  64 
4,499.727  61 
5,674,751  76 
4,374,7.=  3  71 
4.-i96.512  70 
4  320,73 1  99 
4,1184.332  43 
3.971. '275  12 
4,326,8.50  27 
4,479,(t49  13 
6,2 12.9.53  43 
/6,'278,4ai  08 

REFERENCES  TO  AFPENDI.X  I. 

(n)  Including  $210,205  28  received  for  letter  postages  of  tbe  Government  (V)  Do.  $163,505  48  received 
for  do.  do.  (c)  Including  $35,611  '22  of  British  postases.  (,d)  Including  $147,063  82  of  British  postages,  (e) 
Including  $;)8,626  44  of  liritish  postages.  (/)  Including  .$22,089  81  received  for  newspaper  and  piunpldet 
postages  of  the  Government,  (.g)  Including  1820,942  59  received  for  ditto.  (A)  Including  £482  657  drawn 
from  the  Treasury  under  tho  act  approved  9th  September,  1841.  (j)  Including  SI 'lO  0  iii,  drawn  fiom  the 
Treasury  under  the  21st  section  of  tho  act  of  3(1  March,  1845.  (/)  Includinir  ^OO'i.OOO,  drawn  from  the 
Treasury  under  section 21  of  the  act  of  .March  3d,  1845.  (k)  Including  .Sl-'5.()iio.  drawn  from  tho  Treasury 
under  the  2d  section  of  the  act  of  tbe  19th  June,  1846.    (/)  Including  §233,235  40  paid  for  British  postages. 

J.  Marron,  Third  Assistant  Postmaster-Ocneral. 

Post-office  Department,  J^Tovembcr  28, 1851. 


S62 


POST-OFFICE UNITED    STATES. 


Appendix  II. — The  foUovjing  table  shows  very  nearly  the  nurnher  of  Post-offices  in  each  State 
and  Territory  on  the  oOth  day  of  June  last,  classified  according/  to  the  compensatio7i  allowed 


to  each  Postmaster,  for  the  fiscal  year  1850- 

51. 

-:              STATES 

s 

t 

«» 

S 
i 

§ 
e 

8 
2 

S 

1 

g 

1  I 

S       2 
S      g 

! 

C 

3 

H 

1 

6 

1 
5 
1 
1 
3 
3 
2 

1 

1 
1 

1 

2 

1 
1 

5 

36 

6 
5 
3 

14 
4 
6 

31 

5 
13 
4 
8 
3 

8 
1 
3 
5 

1 
1 
2 
6 
16 
3 
8 
7 
1 
4 
4 
4 

1 
179 

13 
5 
10 
30 
3 
11 
56 

7 
30 
2 
9 
5 
9 
7 
4 

10 

6 

8 

1 

4 

1] 

12 

31 

14 

10 

15 

9 

9 

3 

1 
2 

347 

5 
1 
5 

23 
1 
8 

34 
1 
4 

19 
4 

12 

2 
6 
2 
7 
4 
2 
4 
2 

4 
6 

17 
3 
6 
7 
5 
2 
3 
1 
1 

208 

21 
12 

44 

21 

64 
4 
6 

24 
4 

13 
6 
5 

13 
1 
8 
9 
8 
3 

5 

8 
23 
11 
12 
21 

6 
10 

3 

2 

381 

>?. 

27 
60 

2 
39 
118 

3 
12 
66 
15 
28 
15 
13 
17 

5 

7 
17 

I 

5 
16 
16 
49 
13 
28 
45 
17 
18 

1 
1 

697 

62'  146    171 

55 1     95     72 
77i  104     87 
137    137     93 

2341 
94 
62 
41 

66S 

355 

Vermont 

382 

Massachusetts 

585 

Khode  Island 

17     15     22 

10 

74 

Connt'cticut 

65     69'     74     45 

3.39 

3671  527 

8       9 

35     79 

163   303 

537 
12 
95 

418 

58" 
22 
150 
751 
103 
658 
560 
285 
308 
53 
271 
302 
97 

2,319 
60 

Delaware 

394 

1,790 

Maryland  and  District  of  Columbia 

.37 

72 

93 

337 

Virifinia 

92 
28 
18 
57 
8 
49 
46 
25 
12 
33 
43 
58 
218 
48 
58 
84 
54 
32 
24 
7 

1 

2 
2 

171 
65 
31 
88 
9 

101 
74 
35 
37 

303 
96 

118 

153 
22 

123 
90 
36 

1.296 

North  Carolina 

'785 

South  Carolina 

484 

658 

Florida 

105 

Alabama 

580 

Mississippi 

553 

Louisiana 

218 

.53!  211 

328 

Texas 

331     47    178 
82|  127:  469 
85,  116   363 
3.V3   360   565 
69    112   272 
135   200   439 
145|  203   498 
82     97i  320 

310 

760 

669 

Michigan 

1,610 
544 

896 

Illinois 

1,026 

592 

87 

31 

5 

1 

4 

84   231 

477 

59 
J 

1 

2 

160 
6 

1 

2 
10 
19 

294 

34 

1 

0 

o 

16 

31 

2022 

3279 

4086 

8369 

19,796 

Appendix  III.— State^nent  of  the  number  of  Post-offices  and  length  of  Post-roads  in  the 
United  States,  the  annual  amount  paid  for  Mail  Transportation,  and  of  Receipts  and 
Expenditures  of  the  Post-office  Department  at  periods  of  five  years,  from  1*790  to  1835, 
inclusive. 


TEARS 

'o  S 

S5 

t 

a. 

a 

1790 

75 
453 
903 
1,558 
2,300 
3,000 
4,.500 
5,{)77 
8,450 
10.770 

1,875 
13,207 
20  817 
31,076 
36,406 
43,748 
7-2,492 
94,0.52 
115,176 
142,774 

22,081  00 
7.5,359  00 
128,644  00 
239,635  00 
327,966  00 
487,779  00 
782,425  00 
785,016  00 
1,272,156  00 
1,533,222  00 

37,9.35  00 

160.020  00 

280.804  Oil 

42i;373  00 

551,684  00 

1.043,0(1,-1  00 

1,111  9-J7  00 

1,316,5'.'-)  00 

l,91'.l,300  on 

3.152,376  00 

32140  00 

1795 

ISIKJ 

117.893  00 
213.994  00 

180.) 

.377,31  i7  00 

ISilO 

49.1.969  00 

181.5 

748,121  00 

1821 

1,Ilill,9-20  00 

1825 

1,2:9,043  00 

1830 

1,9.59.109  00 

1835 

2.585,108  00 

J.  Marron,  Third  Assistant  Postmaster-General, 


Post-office  Department,  Nov.  28,  1851. 


POST    SYSTEM ANCIENT. 


363 


POST  SYSTEM— ANctENT.— One  of  the 
most  important  steps  taken  by  Cyrus,  -when 
he  had  subjugated  the  kingdom  of  Rabylon, 
was  to  create  an  establishment  similar  to  cur 
modern  posts,  by  whieh  the  most  speetiy  in- 
telligence was  conveyed  throughout  the  whole 
extent  of  his  vast  empire.  Between  Sardis, 
the  capital  of  Lydia,  and  Lusa,  the  residence 
of  the  I'ersian  king,  there  are  computed  to 
have  been  one  liundred  and  eleven  houses. 
The  distance  of  the  road  has  been  estimated 
at  l.'?,400  Greek  stadia,  nearly  equal  to  1,;M(j 
geographical  miles.  From  the  errors  of  tran- 
scribers, however,  as  appears  from  a  note  to 
Macpherson,  there  is  some  apparent  disagree- 
ment upon  this  point,  and  commentators  have 
consequently  been  much  puzzled  in  reconciling 
the  remote  distances  by  which  the  houses  were 
separated.  We  may  regard  the  inference 
which  has  resulted,  that  some  of  the  stages  are 
evidently  omitted,  as  a  legitimate  one,  though 
we  may  not  conceive  fully  the  advantages  re- 
sulting from  the  fact  as  conducive  to  any  very 
important  end. 

Italy  appears  to  have  been  the  cradle  of 
the  system  of  posts.  Constituted  principally 
with  the  view  of  obtaining  intelligence  from 
the  army,  under  the  Emperor  Augustus,  it 
was  in  the  most  flourishing  condition,  and  the 
couriers  employed  were  remarkable  for  their 
extraordinary  swiftness.  Dispatches  from 
Sclavonia  were  received  by  Augustus  in  four 
days,  and  Tiberius  is  said  to  have  indignantly 
thrown  away  all  dispatches  that  were  more 
than  twenty  days  from  Asia,  fifteen  from  Eu- 
rope, ten  from  Africa,  five  from  Sclavonia,  and 
three  from  any  part  of  Italy.  Such  was  the 
expedition  to  which  the  ancients  were  accus- 
tomed. The  privacy  of  letters  was  so  much 
respected,  that  the  breaking  of  a  seal  was,  by 
the  criminal  code  of  Milan,  punished  with 
death. 

During  the  ninth  century,  messengers  who 
travelled  on  horseback  existed  in  Germany, 
France,  and  Italy,  devoted  exclusively  to  the 
government  service.  The  establishment, 
however,  seems  to  have  been  of  but  short 
duration. 

In  the  East  carrier  pigeons  are  used.  They 
became  known  in  Eurojie  through  the  Crusa- 
ders, but  seem  never  to  have  been  introduced 
to  any  extent  in  more  recent  years.  The  carrier 
pigeon  is  a  native  of  the  East.  An  actual 
post  system,  says  Leiber,  was  established  by 
the  Sultan  Mouredden  Mahrnood,  who  died  in 
llTl,  in  which  pigeons  were  the  messengers. 
It  was  extended  and  improved  by  the  Caliph 
Ahmed  Abraser-Lidiv- Allah  of  Bagdad,  who 
died  in  1225.  When  that  city  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  Mongols  in  1258,  this  flying  post 
was  destroyed  by  them.  The  manner  of  using 
them  is  by  placing  a  particular  kind  of  silk 
paper,  called  bird  paper,  lengthwise  under  one 
•wing,  and  fastened  with  a  pin  to  a  feather, 
the  point  of  the  pia  being  turned  from   the 


body.  They  have  been  known  to  accomplish 
a  distance  of  upwards  of  one  thousand  p.ira- 
sangs,  more  than  2,70n  English  miles,  in  a  day. 
According  to  the  elder  Pliny,  Decius  Brutus 
sent  dispatches  from  Modena  by  pigeons. 
They  were  in  much  later  times  employed  by 
the  merchants  of  Paris  and  Amsterdam  to 
convey  the  course  of  exchange  and  the  prices 
of  stocks  from  one  city  to  the  other.  And  in 
our  day,  the  velocity  of  their  movements  has 
much  anticipated  those  of  the  steam  engine. 

Part  of  the  post  system  of  the  Great  Mogul 
is  conducted  by  means  of  pigeons.  They  are 
kept  in  several  places  for  the  conveyance  of 
letters  on  extraordinary  occasions,  and  they 
carry  them  from  one  end  of  that  immense  em- 
pire to  another.  The  Dutch  within  Seizes 
h.ave  resorted  to  the  same  vehicles.  The  Con- 
sul at  Alexandretta  is  said  by  Tavernier  to 
have  been  accustomed  to  send  news  daily  to 
Aleppo  in  five  hours'  time  by  means  of  pi- 
geons, though  these  two  places  are  three  days' 
journey  apart  on  horseback. 

Pedestrian  messengers  were  maintained  by 
the  University  of  Paris  in  the  beginning  of 
the  thirteenth  century,  who,  at  certain  times, 
took  charge  of  money  and  letters  for  the  stu- 
dents, collected  in  that  city  from  almost  all 
parts  of  Europe. 

Posts,  upon  the  authority  of  Lewis  Hornick, 
were  first  settled  in  Germany  by  the  Count 
de  Taxis,  at  his  own  expense,  in  acknowledg- 
ment of  which  the  Emperor  Mathias  in  1G16 
gave  him  in  fief  the  charge  of  postmaster  un- 
der him  and  his  successors.  This  point,  how- 
ever, is  not  very  clearly  established. 

In  1295,  throughout  Cambula,  in  the  prov- 
ince of  Cathay,  two  days'  journey  from  the 
ocean,  inns  were  established  at  proper  dis- 
tances, where  horses,  provisions,  and  lodgings 
were  kept  for  the  khan's  ambassadors  and 
messengers,  and  ferry  boats  were  stationed 
also  at  the  rivers  and  lakes.  By  these  means 
letters  were  conveyed  at  the  rate  of  from  200 
to  250  miles  in  a  day. 

On  the  road  from  Cuzco  to  Quito  messen- 
gers were  found  placed  at  short  distances  from 
each  other,  when  the  Spaniards  discovered 
Peru  in  1527.  The  orders  of  the  Inca  were 
transmitted  by  them  with  remarkable  speed. 

About  1740  the  Turks  commenced  the  es- 
tablishment of  posts  after  the  manner  of 
Christendom,  throughout  their  entire  domin- 
ions. It  was  generally  expected  that  they 
would  operate  very  advantageously  to  their 
commerce,  independent  of  the  large  addition 
which  would  be  made  to  the  sultan's  revenue, 
which,  in  consequence  of  the  late  wars  with 
Russia,  had  become  greatly  impaired.  We 
see  very  clearly,  therefore,  that  in  an  age 
far  removed  from  the  one  in  which  we  live, 
the  benefits  to  be  derived  from  this  system 
judiciously  administered  had  forcibly  impress- 
ed themselves  upon  the  minds  of  all  people  of 
all  nations.    Indeed,  it  is  difficult  to  conceive 


364 


POST    SYSTEM ANCIENT. 


a  state  of  society  in  wliich  an  approach  to : 
civilization  and  refinement  will  not  originate  I 
an  establisiinu-nt  like  this.  Mr.  Ellis,  in  his 
"  Polynesian  Researches,"  says,  that  though 
the  natives  of  the  Sandwich  Islands  have  not 
so  far  advanced  in  civilization  as  to  have  a  i 
regular  post,  a  native  seldom  makes  a  journey  | 
across  the  island,  and  scarcely  a  canoe  passes 
from  oi]e  island  to  another,  without  conveying 
a  number  of  letters. 

The  system  of  posts  in  England  has  attained  j 
to  a  very  great  perfection,  and  it  is  remark-  j 
able  to  observe   the  many  changes  through ; 
which  it  has  passed  from  its  infancy,  so  far  as  ] 
we  have  been  instructed,  to  the  present  time,  i 
King  Edwaid  introduced  an  establishment  of  | 
riders  with  post  horses,  to  be  changed  every 
twenty  miles,  during  the  war  with  Scotland  in 
1480.     By  handing  letters  and  packets  from  ^ 
one   to   another,  they  were    forwarded   200 
miles  in  the  course  of  two  days,  apparently  : 
the  farthest  extent  of  the  establishment.  This 
mode  of  conveyance   was  taken    from    one 
France  had  adopted  a  short  time  previously,  j 
neither  of  which  tended  to  the  public  accom-  ] 
modation,  or  bad  any  connection  with  com- 1 
merce.     We  can  only  regard  them,  therefore, 
as  the  rudiments  of  an  establishment,  consti- 
tuting, as  it  has  well  been  said,  the  most  essen- 
tial accommodation  ever  given  to  commerce 
and  friendly  intercourse. 

It  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  many  of  our 
readers  to  trace  the  gradual  growth  and  ex- 
tension of  this  branch  of  the  public  service  in 
a  country  like  England,  where,  as  is  clearly 
evident,  it  has  been  carried  to  as  high  a  state 
of  perfection  as  in  any  other  country  on  the 
face  of  the  globe.  Considerations  of  econo- 
my have  always  failed  to  exercise  the  same 
influence  with  the  English  nation,  when  op- 
posed to  great  national  objects,  to  which,  in 
our  country,  it  seems  the  bent  and  policy  of 
the  people  to  give  them.  Republican  sim- 
plicity is  not  at  variance  with  grand  designs, 
conceived  for  the  general  benefit,  and  tending 
to  the  establishment  of  a  great  national  end. 

In  1631,  William  Frizell  and  others  obtained 
a  grant  of  the  office  of  Postmaster  for  foreign 
parts  in  reversion.  King  James,  it  would  ap- 
pear, had  previously  erected  this  office,  but 
previous  to  this  appointment  private  under- 
takers only  conveyed  letters  to  and  from  for- 
eign parts.  Subsequently,  however,  it  was 
strictly  enjoined  that  none  but  the  foreign 
postmasters  would  presume  to  exercise  any 
part  of  that  office. 

A  running  post  was  established  by  King 
Charles,  in  l();j.5,  between  Loudon  and  Edin- 
burgh, to  go  and  come  in  six  days,  and  to  take 
all  such  letters  as  should  be  directed  to  any 
post-town  in  or  near  the  road.  By-posts 
were  also  required  to  be  placed  at  different 

Eoints,  to  bring  in  and  carry  out  letters  from 
incoln,  Hull,  and  other  phices.     The  postage 
was  fixed  at  2d.  the  single  letter,  if  under  80 


miles ;  4(Z.  between  80  and  140  miles ;  Qd.  if 
above  140  miles,  and  upon  the  borders  of 
Scotland,  and  in  Scotland,  Sd.,  and  proportion- 
ally for  double  letters  and  packets.  Unless 
to  such  places  as  the  king's  post  did  not  go, 
messengers  were  not  permitted  to  cairy  let- 
ters, except  such  as  were  common  known  car- 
riers with  a  letter  to  a  friend. 

Notwithstanding  King'_^Charles's  proclama- 
tion, letter  carriers  appear  to  have  been  still  in 
use  in  1G37,  between  England  and  France.  An 
agreement  was  formed  between  the  heads  of 
these  two  nations,  by  which  the  route  was 
made  from  Dover  to  Calais,  and  thence  to 
Paris  by  Bologne,  Abbeville,  and  Amiens. 
All  private  posts  were  prohibited,  and  a  re- 
newal made  of  the  former  declaration  of  the 
several  rates  of  postage  as  exhibited  under 
the  year  1635. 

The  postage  of  England,  Ireland  and  Scot- 
land was  farmed  by  the  Council  of  State  to 
John  Manley,  Esq.,  in  1652,  for  £10,000  year- 
ly. Under  this  settlement  the  rate  of  postage 
varied  but  slightly  from  that  of  1635. 

A  new  general  post-office  for  the  Common- 
wealth of  the  three  kingdoms  was  erected 
by  the  Protector  and  his  Parliament  in  1656. 
The  regulations  by  which  it  was  governed 
were  confirmed  at  the  restoration  of  Charles 
the  Second. 

By  act  of  Parliament,  in  1660,  the  rates  of 
postage  for  England  and  Ireland  were  slightly 
modified.  The  revenue  for  the  year  amount- 
ed to  £21,500. 

In  1676,  Sir  William  Petty,  considered  to 
have  been  well  versed  in  the  theory  of  com- 
merce, is  said  to  have  written  his  political 
arithmetic.  In  his  remarks  upon  the  system 
of  posts,  he  computes  the  postage  of  letters 
from  the  year  1636  to  1676  as  having  in- 
creased from  one  to  twenty.  "The  very  post- 
age of  letters  costs  the  people,"  he  says, 
"  £50,000  per  annum,  farmed  at  much  less." 

The  penny  post  was  established  in  London 
and  its  suburbs  about  1583,  by  a  man  whom 
history  has  handed  down  to  us  as  an  uphol- 
sterer by  trade,  named  Murray,  who  after- 
wards assigned  it  to  one  Dockwra,  who  car- 
ried it  on  successfully  for  a  number  of  years, 
till  a  claim  was  laid  to  it  by  the  goveriunent 
as  interfering  with  the  general  post-office, 
which  was  part  of  the  crown  revenue.  Dock- 
wra, in  consequence,  had  a  yearly  pension  of 
£200  settled  on  him  for  life.* 

In  1685,  the  revenue  of  the  general  post- 
office,  estimated  at  .£65,000  per  annum,  was 
settled  by  the  Parliament  upon  James  the 
Second,  to  be  his  private  estate,  and  never  to 


♦  A  writer  in  Rees'  Cyclopaedia,  vol.  20,  Art. 
"Post,"  says, "The  penny  post  was  first  si't  up  in 
London  in  or  about  the  year  1683  by  a  private  un- 
dertaker, to  whoso  assif^ns  government  allowed  a 
yearly  pension  of  £im  u  year  for  lile,  in  lieu  of  the 
revenue  arising  from  it." 


PENNSYLVANIA — IT9   EARLY   HISTORY   AND   PROGRESS. 


365 


be  accounted  for  by  him,  as  is  the  case  with 
all  public  revenues. 

We  have  noticed  thus  for  the  regular  in- 
crease of  the  revenue  derived  from  this  source, 
and  the  fartiier  we  advance  the  more  rapid 
■will  its  L^rowth  and  development  be  made  to 
appear.  In  a  printed  letter  to  a  member  of 
rarliamenl  concerning  the  debts  of  the  na- 
tion, published  in  1701,  the  net  revenue  of 
the  postofBce  for  the  year  1699  is  said  to 
Iiave  been  £90,504  10s.  Qd.  It  was  still  at 
this  time  a  part  of  the  king's  private  rev- 
enue. 

The  correspondence  of  Scotland  was  found 
unable  at  tliis  time  to  support  itself,  and  King 
William,  in  consequence,  made  a  grant  of  the 
whole  revenue  to  Sir  William  Sinclair,  with 
a  pension  of  .£300  a  year.  Finding  it  to  oper- 
ate disadvantageously  to  his  interest.  Sir  Wil- 
liam gave  up  the  grant.  The  revenue  arising 
to  the  government  became  soon  after,  how- 
ever, ver}-  considerable. 

One  general  post-office,  as  well  as  one  gen- 
eral postiuaster,  was  appointed  for  the  United 
Kingdom  in  1711,  and  all  former  laws  re- 
pealed. The  chief  letter  offices  were  located 
at  Dubliu,  Edinburgh,  New- York,  and  the 
West  Indies.  The  postage  on  letters  was  in- 
creased, and  the  revenue,  including  the  penny 
post,  amounted  to  £111,461  lls.lOd. 

Eleven  years  after  this,  from  an  abstract  of 
the  public  debts  by  Archibald  Hutcheson, 
Esq.,  it  appears  that 

The  gross  amount  of  the  P  0. 

annual  revenue  was £201,804     1  8 

To  be  deducted 
for  frank  cov- 
ers to  letters  £3-3,397  12  3 

Expense  of  man- 
agement      70,396     1  5 

£103,793  13  8 


Net  produce  for  1722 £98,010  8  0 

Up  to  this  time  members  of  Parliament  and 
other  privileged  persons  were  accustomed  to 
frank  letters  by  signing  their  names  on  the 
corners  of  blank  covers.  To  this  manner  of 
ranking  there  seems  to  have  been  many  ob- 
jection.-, apart  from  its  being  subject  to  forg- 
ery. Of  one  fact  there  appeal's  to  be  no 
doubt,  that  the  revenues  of  the  office  were 
greatly  injured  from  its  operation.  It  was 
discovered,  among  other  things,  that  the  ser- 
vants of  members  would  solicit  and  receive 
from  their  masters  large  quantities  of  these 
franks,  and  would  then  dispose  of  them  to 
persons  who  made  a  business  of  openly  sell- 
ing them  in  the  streets.  It  was  therefore 
enacted,  that  after  the  1st  of  May,  1764,  "  no 
letters  should  be  exempted  from  postage  but 
such  a^  nut  exceeded  2  oz.  in  weight,  sent  to 
any  part  of  Great  Britain  or  Ireland  during 
the  ses.i!-iii  of  Parliament,  or  within  forty 
days  before, or  forty  days  after,  any  summons 


or  prorogation  of  the  same,  the  vhole  of  the 
superscription  being  in  the  handwriting  of  a 
member  of  the  House  of  Lords  or  Commons." 
The  forgery  of  franks  was,  by  the  same  act, 
rendered  punishable  by  transportation  for 
seven  years. 

The  postage  of  franked  letters,  on  an  aver- 
age of  several  years,  was  equal  to  £170,000  a 
year,  as  appeared  from  an  examination  pre- 
vious to  the  passage  of  this  act  Under  the 
new  regulation  a  great  portion  of  this  large 
amount  was  added  to  the  revenue.  The  gross 
revenue  of  the  post-office  this  year  amounted 
to  £281, .535.  As  we  have  seen,  it  was  farmed 
in  the  year  16G4  for  £21,500;  and  twenty 
years  earher  it  was  estimated  at  only  .£5,000. 
The  increase  of  commerce,  and  the  increased 
facility  and  dispatch  in  the  conveyance  of  let- 
ters, necessarily  promoted  the  increase  of  cor- 
respondence. 

The  rates  of  postage  were  increased  in  1765, 
and  ships  bringing  letters  were  obliged  to  de- 
liver them  at  the  post-office.  The  postmaster- 
general  was  empowered  to  establish  penny 
posts  in  any  part  of  the  kingdom  he  thought 
proper,  and  it  was  made  felony  to  be  found 
guilty  of  the  embezzlement  of  letters,  or  of 
committing  a  robbery  upon  the  mail. 

PENNSYLVANIA.— Its  Early  Histoet, 
.\XD  Progress  m  PorULAXiox,  Commerce, 
Trade,  Manufactures,  Agriculture,  Edu- 
c.vTiox,  etc. — Pennsylvania  is  the  only  state  in 
the  Union  which  bears,  and  transmits  to  future 
ages,  the  name  of  a  private  individual.  It  is 
known  that  the  natural  modesty  of  William 
Penn  earnestly  declined  the  honor  of  having 
his  name  latinized  into  that  of  a  great  Ameri 
can  province ;  but  Charles  II.  of  England  in- 
sisted upon  Pennsylvania,  as  being  the  most 
beautiful  and  appropriate  name  that  could 
then  be  devised.  It  must  be  admitted,  how- 
ever, that  the  territory  in  question  has  now 
lost  much  of  the  sylvan  character  that  it  must 
have  possessed  in  the  days  of  Charles  II. 
However  great  Penn's  obligations  may  have 
been  to  the  "  merry  monarch"  for  the  honor 
conveyed  in  the  name  Pennsylvania,  it  is 
quite  certain  that  the  .soil  of  the  territory 
ceded  to  Penn,  by  Charles  II.,  was  far  from 
being  a  gift 

William  Penn  inherited  from  his  father, 
Admiral  Penn,  who  acquired  some  distinction 
as  commander  of  the  English  fleet  at  the 
conquest  of  Jamaica,  and  in  the  subsequent 
war  with  the  Dutch,  a  large  fortune,  to  •which 
he  added  remarkable  abilities,  both  natural 
and  acquired.  His  education,  however,  was 
somewhat  irregular,  owing  to  circumstances 
resulting  from  his  stubborn  inflexibility  of 
purpose  in  all  things,  and  particularly  in  re- 
gard to  his  religious  principles.  While  a  .stu- 
dent at  Oxford  he  imbibed  the  principles  of  the 
Quakers,  and  he  is  said  to  have  been  expelled 
from  the  University  "  because  he  would  per- 


366 


PENNSYLVANIA — ITS   EARLT   HISTORY   AND   PROGRESS. 


sist  in  pulling  from  the  backs  of  his  feliow- 
students  those  popish  and  unnecessary  badges, 
their  gowns." 

Among  other  things  which  Penn  inherited 
from  his  fiitlier — and  this  was,  in  the  end,  his 
greatest  inheritance — was  a  claim  against  the 
government,  of  £16,000,  of  which  the  Admiral 
had  been  plundered  at  the  shutting  up  of  the 
Exchequer.     This  claim,  for  which  there  was  | 
little  hope   of  ever  getting   any    thing,    (as  j 
Charles  11.  Avas  notoriously  extravagant,  pro- 
fligate, always  in  want  of  money,  and,  like  all 
such   men    and   monarch?,    slow   iu    paying 
debts,)  was  the  real  cause  of  Penn's  coming 
to  America,  though  the   reiterated   persecu- 
tions and  imprisonments  to  which  his  pecu- 
liar religious  notions  exposed  him  may  have  i 
had  some  influence.     Penn,  as  a  last  chance  of  j 
getting  any  thing  for  his  claim,  proposed  to  i 
accept  a  grant  of  American  territory,  which 
was  at  that  time  very  abundant,  and  not  par- 1 
ticularly  valuable.     To  obtain,  however,  even  ' 
such  a  liquidation  of  the  claim  as  this,  re- 
quired some  tact  and  exertion. 

Penn  was  fortunate  in  having  the  support 
of  the  Duke  of  York,  who  had  always  been 
the  particular  friend  of  the  late  Admiral,  his  [ 
father,  and  who  was  always  an  admirer  of 
the  principles  of  non-resistance,  though  not  the 
Quakerism,  of  the  son.  William  Penn  him- 
self, though  mild,  gentle,  and  anti-bellicose, 
was  far  from  unskilful,  as  his  biographers  tell 
us,  in  the  arts  of  a  courtier,  which  he  prac- 
tised, in  the  present  case,  with  double  energy 
and  effect  in  his  guise  of  drab-colored  Quaker 

{)lainness.  After  the  usual  vexations  and  de- 
ays  of  all  suitors  for  governmont  favor  or  jus- 
tice, he  finally  succeeded,  and  on  the  4th  of 
March,  IGSl,  in  the  thirty-seventh  year  of 
his  age,  was  constituted,  by  a  royal  charter, 
"  sovereign  of  a  great  American  province 
called  Pennsylvania  "  The  charter  created 
him  "  true  and  absolute  lord"  of  Pennsylvania, 
with  property  in  the  soil,  and  ample  powers 
of  government,  with  the  exception,  that  "  the 
advice  and  consent  of  the   freemen  of  the 

f)rovince"  were  necessary  to  the  enactment  of 
aws.  There  were  also  some  other  exceptions 
which  were  common  to  all,  or  to  the  most  of 
the  other  provinces. 

At  the  time  of  Penn's  receiving  his  charter 
there  were  already  within  the  limits  of  Penn- 
sylvania quite  a  number  of  pettlernents.  At 
the  mouth  of  the  Schuylkill  dwelt  a  large 
number  of  Swedes  and  Dutch,  and  the  English 
had  settled  along  the  west  bank  of  the  Dela- 
ware, under  grants  from  the  governors  of 
Kew-York. 

Pennsylvania  was  colonized  by  the  Swedes 
nearly  forty  years  before  William  Penn  re- 
ceived his  grant  of  the  territory  from  Charles 
II.  As  early  as  1043,  the  Swedes  had  erect- 
ed a  fort  on  the  island  of  Tinlcum,  in  the  Del- 
aware river,  a  few  miles  below  Philadelpliia ; 
and  this  island  also  was  chosen  by  their  gov- 


ernor, John  Priutz,  as  the  place  of  his  resi- 
dence. The  first  Swedish  settlement  in 
America  was  that  formed  by  the  colony  sent 
out  by  Gustavus  Adolphus,  King  of  Sweden, 
in  1638,  on  Christiana  Creek,  near  Wilming- 
ton. From  this  place,  in  order  to  preserve 
their  ascendency  over  the  Dutch,  wlio  were 
jealous  of  them,  and  looked  upon  them  as  in- 
truders, they  had  extended  their  settlements 
in  various  directions,  until  finally  the  whole 
territory  occupied  by  them  extended  from 
Cape  Henlopen  to  the  falls  of  the  Delaware, 
opposite  Trenton,  and  to  this  tract  of  country 
they  gave  the  name  of  Xew-Sweden. 

The  first  work  of  Penn  was  to  conciliate  the 
Swedes.  Accordingly  he  commenced  by  send- 
ing among  them  the  royal  proclamation,  an- 
nouncing the  recent  grant  to  him,  along  with 
a  proclamation  of  his  own,  in  which  he  assured 
his  new  subjects  that  they  should  "  live  free 
under  laws  of  their  own  making."  Penn's  ob- 
ject in  coming  to  America  was  not  gain  or 
power  altogether,  for  his  ambition  did  not 
stop  at  such  objects.  He  had  a  higher  and 
nobler  aim — that  of  opening  an  asylum  in  the 
New  World,  where  those  deprived  of  civil 
and  religious  liberty  in  the  Old  might  find  a 
peaceful  home. 

To  induce  emigration,  he  published  a  flat- 
tering account  of  the  province,  and  offered  to 
sell  lauds  to  settlers  at  the  rate  of  one  hun- 
dred acres  for  $10.*  Three  ships  filled  with 
emigrants,  mostly  Quakers,  left  England  for 
America  the  sanie  year  in  which  the  charter 
was  granted,  1681.  The  first  vessel  took  out 
William  Markham,  as  agent,  proprietor,  and 
deputy-governor.  Only  one  of  these  vessels 
arrived  safe,  one  having  been  blown  off  to  the 
West  Indies,  and  another  was  frozen  up  in 
the  Delaware.  Markham  carried  out  with 
himself  three  commissioners,  together  with  a 
plan  of  a  city  which  Penn  proposed  to  build, 
and  a  letter  of  friendship  from  Penn  to  the 
Indians,  whom  he  addressed  as  "  brethren." 

In  the  following  year,  1682,  Penn  drew  up 
what  he  called  a  '-Frame  of  Government"  and 
a  code  of  laws,  which  were  to  be  submitted 
to  the  colonists  for  their  approval.  His  "  Frame 
of  Government"  Penn  pronounced  "extraor- 
dinary," because  of  the  "  matter  of  liberty  and 
privilege"  which  it  contained ;  and  because, 
he  further  states,  of  its  leaving  to  himself  and 
his  successors  "  no  power  of  doing  mischief — 
that  the  will  of  one  man  may  not  liinder  the 
good  of  the  whole  country."  By  this  "  frame" 
or  constitution  of  Penn,  the  executive  author- 
ity and  the  proposal  of  all  laws  were  to  be 
vested  iu  a  council  of  72  jiersons,  elected  by 
freemen  for  three  years,  and  one  third  of  them 
to  go  out  of  office  aniuially.    The  proprietary 


•  The  lands  were,  however,  subject  to  a'perpetual 
qait-rontof  about  25  mills  on  each  acre;  and  the 
purchasers  were  also  to  hold  lots  in  a  city  to  be  laid 
out. 


PENN'SYLVAXIA ITS   EAKLY   HISTORY    AND    PROGRESS. 


367 


or  his  fleputy  ■\^as  to  preside  over  this  council, 
and  have  a  triple  vote.  All  laws  passed  b}- 
this  council  were  to  be  submitted  to  an  as- 
sembly of  fiom  200  to  500  members,  chosen 
by  the  people.  At  first  the  entire  body  of 
freemen  composed  this  assembly. 

Penu  also  obtained  from  the  Duke  of  York, 
"who  claimed  some  territories  on  the  west  bank 
of  tiie  Di'laware,  a  quit-claim  to  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  a  grant  of  a  circle  of  territory  of 
twelve  miles  around  Newcastle,  together  with 
all  the  territory  now  embraced  in  the  state  of 
Delaware.  Having  made  these  aiiangements, 
he  set  sail  from  England  in  September,  1682, 
with  one  hundred  emigrants.  Twenty-three 
other  ships  followed  him  in  the  same  year,  and 
all  arrived  safely.  Penn  landed  at  Newcastle 
with  only  seventy  of  his  emigrants,  thu'ty 
having  died  of  small-pox  on  the  passage.  The 
number  of  people  then  in  Pennsylvania  was 
between  two  and  three  thousand — all,  as 
Penn  says,  "  a  plain,  stout,  industrious  peo 
pie,"  and  the  land  abounding  in  all  that  "  an 
Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob  would  be^  well 
contented  with."  The  first  business  of  Penn 
after  his  arrrival  was  to  call  together  the 
members  of  the  first  Assembly  of  the  prov- 
ince. Instead  of  an  attendance  of  the  entire 
body  of  the  freemen  of  the  different  counties, 
asPenn's  "Frame  of  Government"  proposed, 
there  came  only  seventy-two  delegates  from 
the  people  of  the  entire  province,  bearing  a 
petition  to  Penn  that  they  might  be  considered 
as  constituting  both  council  and  assembly.  The 
reasons  assigned  for  this  entire  disregard  of  the 
"Frame  of  Government"  were  "  the  fewness  of 
the  people,  their  inability  in  estate,  and  unskil- 
fulness  in  matters  of  government."  Penn,  there- 
fore, to  meet  these  difficulties,  remodelled  his 
"  Frame  of  Government,"  so  that  the  assem- 
bly was  to  consist  of  thirty-six  members  only ; 
and  the  council,  of  three  members  from  each 
county  ;  also  he  himself,  or  his  deputy,  when 
presitling,  was  no  longer  restricted  to  a  triple 
vote,  as  before. 

Several  enactments  were  made.  One  natu- 
ralized the  Dutch  and  Swedish  settlers;  an- 
other made  every  freeholder  and  tax-payer  a 
freeman,  with  therightof  voting  and  holding 
office:  "faith  in  Christ,"  though,  was  an  indis- 
pensable qualification.  Toleration  was  ex- 
tended to  all  who  believed  in  the  existence  of 
God,  whom  they  were  allowed  to  worship 
after  their  own  manner,  except  that  none  were 
allowed  to  labor  on  the  Sab'iath.  Tliis  prom- 
ised toleration,  however,  was  not  extended 
to  the  Roman  Catholics,  at  least  in  the  early 
days  of  the  colony.* 

The  offenses  expressly  prohibited  and  se- 
verely punished  were,  "  drinking  healths, 
prizes,  stage-plays,  cards,  dice,  May-game-^, 
masques,  revels."  The  criminal  code  was 
mild,  murder  being  the  only  crime  punishable 


*  See  Ilildrcih's  Hist,  of  U.  S.,  p.  jG. 


with  death.  County  courts  were  established 
for  the  administration  of  justice,  with  trial  by 
jury.  Tiie  right  of  primogeniture  was  only 
partially  abriigated,  the  oldest  son  being  al- 
lowed, as  in  New-England,  a  double  share  of 
all  his  father's  lands. 

All  the  laws  regarding  property,  crimes, 
and  the  rights  of  citizens,  comprised  a  code, 
called  the  "  Great  Law ;"  and  there  was  a 
sjiecial  provision,  that  the  substance  of  all  the 
laws  should  be  taught  in  all  the  schools — an 
idea  that  it  would  be  well  to  adopt  at  the 
present  day.  A  knowledge  of  the  laws  of 
our  own  country  is  indispensable,  and  in  all 
of  our  schools  a  correct  idea  of  the  substance 
of  them  might,  and  ought  to  be  imparted  to 
the  pupils.  The  idea  that  a  pupil  cannot  leara 
any  thing  about  laws  except  in  a  law-school, 
is  only  ridiculous.  Pupils  are  often  inquisitive 
regarding  the  law  on  various  subjects,  and 
they  are  generally  put  off,  by  being  told  that 
when  they  are  a  little  older  they  can  study 
law.  William  Penn's  idea  of  this  matter,  in 
1682,  wiis  the  correct  one,  and  we  would  like 
to  see  it  adopted  at  the  present  day.  It  would 
be  a  most  salutary  reform  in  our  schools  if 
William  Penn's  idea  could  be  adopted. 

After  thus  establishing  the  government  and 
laws  of  the  province,  Penn  hastened  to  New- 
castle to  confer  with  Lord  Baltimore  regard- 
ing the  southern  boundary  of  Pennsylvania. 
Baltimore's  charter  extended  to  the  40th  de- 
gree of  north  latitude,  while  that  of  Penn 
fixed,  as  the  southern  boundary  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, a  line  running  due  west  from  a  point 
on  the  Delaware,  12  miles  above  Newcastle, 
which  point  was  supposed  to  be  about  the 
40th  parallel.  Astronomical  observations 
taken  by  the  two  parties  proved  that  the  40th 
parallel  crossed  the  Delaware  above  the 
junction  of  the  Schuylkill,  thus  rendering  the 
two  charters  irreconcilable.  The  dispute  be- 
tween Penn  and  Baltimore  resulted  in  a  down- 
right quarrel,  which  was  not  settled  during 
the  lift-time  of  either  party.  Penn's  great 
desire  was  to  acquire  for  Pennsylvania  a  por- 
tion of  Chesapeake  bay. 

Soon  after  his  visit  to  Lord  Baltimore,  at 
Newcastle,  Penn  held  his  famous  interview 
wirh  the  Indians,  under  the  great  elm  of 
Shakamaxon,  commemorated  by  the  pencil  of 
West.  The  spot  is  now  the  site  of  Kensing- 
ton, one  of  the  suburbs  of  Philadelphia.  Here 
the  chiefs  of  the  Delawares,  with  their  armed 
warriors,  met  Peun  and  his  unarmed  asso- 
ciates, the  latter  all  clad  in  the  simple  Quaker 
garb,  which  the  simple  Indians  regarded  as 
the  habiliments  of  peace.  Penn  gave  them 
the  stipulated  price  for  their  lands,  and  estab- 
lished with  them  peace  and  friendship. 

A  few  months  after,  in  1683,  Penn  pur- 
chased of  the  Swedes  a  tract  of  land  at  the 
confluence  of  the  Delaware  and  Schuylkill, 
disvegarding  entirely  the  pretensions  of  Lord 
Baltimore,  and  immediately  proceeded  to  lay 


368 


PENNSYLVANIA ITS    EARLY    HISTORY    AND    PROGRESS. 


out  the  city  of  riiilaJelphia.  New  settlers 
from  England  soon  arrived,  and  at  the  end  of 
the  year  82  houses  were  erected.  Many  of 
the  first  settlers  at  Philadelphia  dwelt  in 
caves  dug  in  the  banks  of  the  Delaware,  until 
bouses  could  be  built. 

During  the  year  1683,  Penn  convoked  the 
Assembly  of  the  province  at  Philadelphia. 
It  provided  for  a  revenue  of  £2,000,  for  the 
expenses  of  the  government  in  part,  to  be 
raised  Vjy  a  tax  on  spirits.  It  also  establislied 
an  orpljan's  court,  and  appointed  three  officers 
in  each  county,  called  "peacemakers,"  to  set- 
tle disputes  and  prevent  law-suits.  He  caused 
a  large  mansion-house  to  be  erected  for  his 
residence,  on  the  banks  of  the  Delaware,  op- 
posite Burlington,  some  20  miles  above  Phila- 
delphia. 

In  August,  1684,  Penn  left  for  England, 
appointing  five  commissioners  of  the  provin- 
cial council  as  a  provincial  court,  with  Nicholas 
Moore  for  chief  justice.  This  was  the  su 
preme  court  of  law.  The  executive  adminis- 
tration was  committed  to  the  council,  of  which 
Thomas  Lloyd  was  appointed  president.  At 
Penn's  departure,  the  province  contained  20 
settled  townships,  and  7,000  inhabitants,  of 
■which  2,000  were  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia. 
English  Quaker  emigrants,  and  also  some 
Dutch  and  German  Quakers,  converts  made 
by  Penn  and  Barclay  on  the  continent,  con 
tinned  to  arrive.  It  was  by  a  party  of  Ger- 
man Quakers  that  Germantown  was  settled. 

During  Penn's  absence  in  England,  violent 
dissensions  arose  between  the  council  and  the 
assembly ;  the  latter,  contrary  to  the  "  Frame 
of  Government,"  assumed  the  right  of  sug- ' 
gesting  laws,  a  right  expressly  given  to  the 
governor  and  council  alone.  The  assembly 
strove  fonstantly  to  enlarge  its  powers,  and 
resorted  to  the  most  violent  measures.  j\Ioore,  | 
the  chief  justice,  and  also  a  member  of  the 
assembly,  was  expelled  from  it  for  opposing  | 
its  usurpations,  and  impeached  for  arbitrary 
conduct  in  office ;  and  his  secretary  also  was 
imprisoned  lor  refusing  to  give  up  the  records. 
To  put  an  end  to  these  difficulties,  Penn 
intrusted  the  executive  authority  to  five 
commissioners,  of  whom  Moore  and  Lloyd 
were  two,  the  latter  being  the  president. 
Lloyd,  it  seems,  sowed  dissensions  among  the 
colonists,  and  got  them  to  belii-ve  that  Penn 
had  enriched  liimself  at  their  expense.  Penn 
denied  tiie  charge,  and  comphiin<3d  of  the 
conduct  of  the  assembl}'^  and  of  Lloyd,  who 
finally  resigned  his  office.  Penn  tlu;n  ap- 
pointed John  Bl:ickwell  as  lieutenant-governor 
of  the  province,  with  all  the  executive  autho- 
rity. Blackwell  was  very  unpopular,  and  a 
year  of  violent  discords  followed.  To  restore 
peace,  Perm  placed  the  executive  autliority  in 
the  hands  of  the  council  again.     (Feb.  1690.) 

In  1687,  a  printing  press,  tlie  lliird  in 
America,  was  set  up  at  Pliiladelphia.  In 
1G89,  Penn  established  a  public  high-school, 


with  a  charter.  In  the  same  year,  James  II,, 
Penn's  great  patron  and  firm  friend,  was 
driven  from  his  throne  ;  and  Penn  was  twice 
arrested,  in  England,  on  a  charge  of  treason- 
able correspondence  with  the  fugitive  king, 
but  was  discharged  for  want  of  proof.  He 
now  again  began  to  think  of  returning  to 
America,  and  of  building  a  new  city  on  the 
banks  of  the  Susquehanna. 

In  1601,  Penn  was  again  accused,  and  com- 
pelled to  keep  himself  concealed.  In  1692 
his  provincial  government  was  taken  from 
him,  and  transferred  to  Governor  Fletcher,  of 
New-York,  who,  in  1693,  united  Pennsylvania 
and  Delaware,  and  extended  his  authority 
over  both.  In  1691,  the  suspicions  against 
Penn  being  removed,  Pennsylvania  was  re- 
stored to  him,  with  all  his  rights.  The  chief 
instigator  of  the  movements  against  Penn, 
which  led  to  the  depriving  him  of  his  provin- 
cial government,  was  one  George  Keith,  a 
Scotch  Quaker,  who  renounced  his  Quakerism, 
embraced  the  Church  of  England,  and  com- 
menced a  violent  opposition  against  his  former 
Quaker  friends.  Besides  declaring  Quakerism 
inconsistent  with  the  exercise  of  political  au- 
thority, he  also  preached  abolition  doctrines 
in  the  streets  of  Philadelphia,  declaring  that 
negro  slavery''  was  inconsistent  with  the  prin- 
ciples of  good  government.  Bradford,  the 
only  printer  then  in  Pennsylvania,  was  called 
to  an  account  for  giving  countenance  to  the 
movements  of  Keith ;  and  to  escape  further 
difficulties,  after  obtaining  his  discharge,  he 
removed  his  press  and  types  to  New- York 
city — the  first  printing  press  there  erected. 
Keith  went  to  England  soon  after,  (1692,)  and 
b}'  his  representations  induced  the  Privy  Coun- 
cil to  deprive  Penn  of  his  government. 

Penn  arrived  a  second  time  in  America  on 
the  loth  of  December,  1699,  and  found  the 
colony  in  a  state  of  d'sorder.  The  people 
were  dissatisfied,  and  demanded  further  priv- 
ileges. Philadelphia  was  then  suffering  greatly 
from  the  ravages  of  yellow  fever.  The  prov- 
ince he  found,  however,  greatly  improved. 
Penn  granted  a  new  "  Frame  of  Government" 
to  the  people,  conferring  on  them  greater 
powers.  The  council  was  abolij^hed,  and  the 
power  of  legisliition  vested  in  the  governor, 
and  an  assembly  chosen  annually.  Voters 
were  required  to  have  a  freehold  of  fifty  acres 
of  land,  or  A166  worth  of  personal  property. 

Nothing,  however,  would  satisfy  the  people 
of  the  lower  counties,  now  Delaware,  but 
secession,  or  separation  from  Pennsylvania, 
which  took  place  in  1T03.  The  same  gov- 
ernor, however,  continued  to  preside  over  both, 
Delaware  being  separate  only  in  legislation. 

Penn,  immediately  after  granting  this  last 
charter,  returned  (l7nl)  to  England,  where  a 
project  had  been  started  by  the  English  minis- 
ters to  suppress  all  the  proprietary  govern- 
ments in  America.  It  would  be  interesting 
to  pursue  the  career  of  Penn  in  England ;  but 


PENNSYLVANIA — ITS   EAUtV   HISTORY   AND   rROQRESS. 


3G9 


Tre  must  be  brief.  Pcnn  died  in  England  in 
17]  8,  leaving  hia  interests  in  Pennsylvania 
and  Delaware  to  his  sons,  John,  Thomas,  and 
Richard  Penn,  who  managed  the  provinces, 
principally  by  deputies,  down  to  the  lime  of 
the  American  Revolution,  at  which  time  the 
commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania  purchased  all 
their  claims  in  the  province  for  about  half  a 
million  of  dollars. 

At  the  time  of  tlie  death  of  Penn,  the  pop- 
ulation of  Pennsylvania  was  increasing,  from 
emigration,  at  the  rate  of  five  or  six  thousand 
annually.  Tlie  principal  product  of  tlie  prov- 
ince was  wheat,  which  was  exported  in  con 
siderable  quantities  to  Spain,  Portugal,  and 
the  West  Indies.  Lands  tiien  sold  at  ft  1.3  per 
hudred. acres,  the  proprietors  always  reserving 
for  themselves,  out  of  every  purcliase,  a  tenth 
part  of  the  best  lands,  under  the  name  of 
manors,  as  their  private  propi'rty.  In  1741, 
Philadelphia  contained  12,000  inhabitants. 

Of  tlie  early  commerce  of  Pen  isylvania  we 
know  but  little.  The  first  trade  was  that 
carried  on  with  the  Indians  in  skins  and  furs, 
and  the  first  product  of  the  soil  was  tobacco, 
of  which  the  province  exported,  in  l(')8S-9, 
fourteen  cargoes ;  but  the  competition  of 
Maryland  and  Virginia  caused  the  Pennsyl- 
vanians  to  abandon  the  cultivation  of  tobacco 
for  that  of  wheat.  The  trade  of  the  province 
was  greatly  injured  by  the  war  between  Eng- 
land and  Franco,  continuing  from  1688  to 
1697.  It  caused  much  distress  and  poverty 
in  the  colony,  in  which  money  was  so  scarce, 
that  in  Philadelphia,  it  is  said,  "  even  pieces 
of  tin  and  lead  were  current  for  small  change." 

From  1697  to  1776,  the  trade  of  Pennsyl- 
vania appears  to  have  increased  slowly.  There 
■was,  however,  in  almost  every  year  during 
this  long  period  of  seventy-nine  years,  a  vast 
excess  of  imports  over  exports.  During  the 
■wars  between  England,  France,  and  Spain,  the 
depredations  of  privateers  almo-t  entirely  in- 
ten'upted  the  foreign  trade  of  the  province ; 
besides,  when  these  depredations  were  absent, 
the  trade  suffered  from  heavy  exactions  made 
on  all  vessels  entering  the  Delaware.  The 
exports  in  1697  amounted  to  £3,347.  We 
compile  the  following  table,  to  give  some  idea 
of  the  progress  of  the  trade  of  Pennsylvania 
from  1697  to  1774: 


,.    -~%  Average  Exports  of     Average  Imports  of 

Pennsjlvania  Penmylvania 

£           £  £              £ 

1697  to  1707 1,477  to    5,-220  2  997  to    IS.-IM 

1707  to  1717 38  10    5,19.1  5.SS1  to    a^.oo:. 

17I7t.>  17-27 4,0.-)7  to  l-2,8-23  15  9  :V2  lo     IJ^'i'".) 

1727to  17.37 7,434to21.9  9  '29,799  to    G1,.5I3 

17:i7tol747 7,446  to  17,158  11.91ri  to    91.010 

1747  to  17)7 3,S32  to  38,527  75.3:3i»  lo  245,044 

1757  10  1  67 14,190  to  39, '70  168  426  lo  7(17,998 

1767  to  1774 20,111  to  69,011  134,831  to  728,744 

During  the  period  of  79  years,  embraced 
in  the  above  table,  there  were  29  years  of 
■war  between   England,   France,  and  Spain, 
VOL.    II. 


together  with  an  almost  constant  warfare  car- 
ried on  with  the  Indians  of  the  western  fron- 
tiers, which  also  embarrassed  trade.  From 
1776  to  1783,  Pennsylvania  had  but  little  or 
no  foreign  trade.  It  was  then,  however,  not 
idle.  Its  citizens  were  among  the  foremost 
in  the  glorious  struggle  for  independence,  aid- 
ing it  by  their  example,  their  money,  and 
their  personal  services. 

The  first  bank  established  in  the  United 
States  was  the  Bank  of  Pennsylvania,  open- 
ed at  Philadelphia  on  the  17th  of  July, 
1780,  with  a  capital  of  £300,000— its  special 
object  being  to  supply  the  American  army 
with  provisions.  This  bank  continued  un- 
til the  Bank  of  North  America  went  into 
operation  in  1782,  which  latter  continued 
until  the  United  States  Bank  commenced 
operations  in  1791.  Paper  money,  how- 
ever, was  first  manufactured  in  Pennsylva- 
nia, in  the  year  1722,  under  Governor  Keith. 
A  "  paper  money  loan  system  "  was  invent- 
ed by  him,  and  loan  offices  were  established 
in  every  count}".  Bills  to  the  amount  of 
•$1.50,000  were  issued  in  1723.  In  1730, 
the  money  was  found  to  be  so  much  depre- 
ciated, that  further  issues  were  suspended. 

At  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War, 
in  1783,  the  trade  of  the  colonies  revived. 
Commercial  relations  ■n'ere  entered  into 
with  most  of  the  European  nations,  and  the 
resources  of  the  country  began  a  rapid 
development.  The  wars  commenced  by 
France,  in  1792,  with  the  other  European 
powers,  and  which  were  continued  till  the 
abdication  of  x^apoleon,  in  1814,  affected 
our  commerce  considerably.  Our  foreign 
trade  flourished  beyond  all  precedent,  and 
large  fortunes  were  made  by  hundreds  of 
our  citizens,  in  consequence.  Peunsylv'ania 
shared  largely  in  this  prosperity.  Large 
importations  were  made  from  China  and 
India  into  Philadelphia  for  re-exportation 
to  European  markets.  Our  ships  enjoyed 
the  carr^'ing  trade  of  the  world.  The  pop- 
ulation of  Philadelphia  in  1790  was  42,000. 

The  following  table  shows  the  progress 
of  the  foreign  trade  of  Pennsylvania,  from 
1791  to  1850:— 

i^.  Exports.  Imports. 

1791.... T ?3,436,093    

1792 3,820,662    

1793 6,958,836    

1794 6,643,092    

1795 11,518,260    

1796 17,513,866    

1797 11,446,291    

1798 8.915,463    

1799 12,431,967    

1800 11,949,679    

1801 17,438,1 93    

1802 12,677,475    

1803 7,525,710    

1804 11,030.157    

1805 13,762,252    

24 


370 


PENNSYLVANIA ITS    EARLT   HISTORY    AND    PROGRESS. 


Exports.  Imports. 

1806 17,514,712  

1807 10,864,7-14  

1808 4,013,330  

1809 9,049,241  

1810 10,993,398  

1811 9,56(»,117  

1812 5,973,750  

1813 3,577,117  

1814 • 

1815 4,593,919  

1810 7,196,246  

1817 8,735,592  

1818 8,759,402  

1819 6,293,788  

1820 5,743,549  

1821 7,391,767  8,158,922 

1822 9,047,802  11,874,170 

1823 9,617,192  13,096,770 

1824 9,364,893  11,865,531 

1825 11,269,981  15,041,797 

1826 8,331,722  13,551,779 

1827 7,575,833  11,212,935 

1828 6,051,480  12,884,408 

1829 4,089,935  10,100,152 

1830 4,291,793  8,702,122 

1831 5,513,713  12,124,083 

1832 3,516,006  10,678,358 

1833 4,078,951  10,451,250 

1834 8,989,746  10,479,2GS~ 

1835 3,739,275  12,389,937 

1836 3,971,555  15,068,233 

1837 3.841,599  11,680,111 

1838 3,477,151  9,300,371 

1839 5,299,415  15,050,715 

1840 6,820,145  8,464,882 

1841 6,152,501  10,346,698 

1842 3,776,727  7,385,858 

1843 2,071,945  2,760,630 

1844 3,535,256  7,219,267 

1845 3,574,363  8,159,227 

1850 4,501,606  12,006,154 

1851 [Not  yet  published.] 

We  shall  continue  this  paper  under  tlie 
heads  of  population,  mineral  resources,  manu- 
factures, commerce,  internal  improvements, 
banks,  finances,  judiciary,  scliools  and  col- 
leges, die,  bringing  each  down  to  the  present 
time. 

Popvlation. — The  following  table  will 
show  the  progressive  movenifiit  of  the  popu- 
lation of  Pennsylvauia,  from  1790  to  1850: 


Date  of 
Census. 

Total 
Population 

Decennial  Incroaso. 

1790... 

..    434.373 

1800... 

..    602,365 

167,992 

38.6  percent. 

1810... 

..    810,091 

207,720 

34.4 

1820... 

..1,049,458 

239,367 

29.5 

1830... 

..1,348,233 

298,775 

28.4 

1840... 

..1,724,033 

375,800 

27.8 

1850... 

-.2,314,897 

690,804 

84.2 

The  following  is  the  population  of  the  prin- 
cipal cities  of  Pennsylvania  for  1850: 

Philadelphia 408,815 

Reading 15,748 

Lancaster 12,369 

Pittsburg 50,519 

Alleghany 21,262 

"We  omit  all  places  whose  population  is  less 
than  10,000.  The  area  of  Pennsylvania,  in 
square  miles,  is  46,000,  giving  a  population  of 
50.25  to  the  square  mile. 

Mineral  Resources. — The  mineral  wealth 
of  Pennsylvania  is  very  great,  consisting  of  an 
inexhaustible  supply  of  coal,  iron  and  salt. 
Its  immense  coal  regions  form  its  most  inter- 
esting and  important  mineral  feature.  Bitu- 
minous coal,  of  an  excellent  quality,  is  found 
almost  every  where  in  the  state,  west  of  the 
Alleghany  mountains,  and  in  the  south  part  of 
the  state,  east  of  the  mountains.  The  anthra- 
ciie  coal  region,  with  some  few  exceptions,  is 
bounded  on  the  northwest  by  the  north 
branch  of  the  Susquehanna,  extending  in  a 
northeast  direction  over  00  miles,  and  divided 
into  the  southern,  middle  and  northern  coal- 
fields. Tlie  great  deposits  of  anthracite  coal, 
in  Pennsylvauia,  have  an  area  of  about  975 
square  miles,  or  024,000  acres.  The  deposits 
in  some  places  are  from  50  to  60  feet  thick. 
The  southern  anthracite  coal  basin  of  Penn- 
sylvania is  sixty  miles  long  by  two  broad, 
with  an  aggregate  thickness  of  100  feet.  In- 
deed, 30  out  of  the  54  counties  of  the  state 
are,  in  whole  or  in  part,  based  upon  coal.  The 
tiiiekest  coal  deposits  in  England  are  only  30 
feet  thick.*  The  bituminous  coal  region  of 
Pennsylvania  has  an  area  of  21,000  squai-e 
miles,  or  1 3,440,000  acres. 

The  coal  mines  of  Pennsylvania  area  source 
of  inexhaustible  wealth.  They  are  more  valu- 
able than  the  gold  mines  of  California;  and  if 
Pennsylvania  had  nothing  else,  her  coal  mines 
alone  would  make  her  rich.  The  working  of 
these  mines  may  be  dated  from  1820.  The 
quantity  dug  and  sent  to  market  since  that 
tune  amounts  to  28,998,280  tons.  The  pro- 
gress made  in  the  working  of  these  mines  is 
sliown  by  the  following  statement:  There 
were  dug, 

In  1820 365  tons. 

"  1825 34.896  " 

"  1830 174,734  « 

'•  1835 675,103  " 

"  1840 867,045  " 

"  1845 2,002,877  " 

"  1850 3,371,255  " 

The  business  may  be  considered  as  still  in 
its  infancy.  What  will  be  the  demand  for 
coal  from  those  mines,  in  20  years  from  this 

*  llitchcock's  Geology,  p.  62. 


PENNSYLVANIA ITS    EARLY    HISTORY    AND    PROGRESS. 


371 


time,  when  it  is  probable  that  there  will  be 
at  least  20  steam  vessels  consuming  coal  to 
one  now?  Last  year,  the  coal  taken  from 
the  mines  of  Pennsylvania  was  sold  for  ^IG,- 
000.000. 

]\'ext  to  coal  stands  iron  among  the  min- 
eral products  of  Pennsylvania.  Pennsyl- 
vania now  produces  as  much  iron  as  did  the 
whole  of  (Jreat  Britain  in  1820,  and  during 
the  last  ten  years  the  quantity  of  Pennysl- 
vania  iron  has  doubled.  I'ennsylvania  now 
produces  as  much  iron  as  France ;  more 
than  Russia  and  Sweden  iniited,  and  more 
than  all  Germany.*  To  have  some  idea  of 
the  abundance  of  iron  in  Pennsylvania  wo 
have  onljf^  to  consider  the  fact  ihat,  of  the 
02  counties  of  that  state,  45  contain  iron 
works,  and  the  remaining  17  abound  in 
iron  and  coal.  It  is  estimated  that  Pennsyl- 
vania makes  one  half  of  all  the  iron  j)ro- 
ducedin  the  United  States.  The  total  num- 
ber of  iron  works  of  all  kinds  in  the  state  is 
604 ;  the  capital  invested  in  lands.,  buildings 
and  machinery,  is  ^20,502,070 ;  the  num- 
ber of  men  employed,  30,103,  and  the  num- 
bej  of  horses,  13,502.  The  fuel  used  by  all 
these  works  cost,  in  1847,  $4,879,884.  One 
and  a  half  millions  of  cords  of  wood  are  con- 
sumed annually  by  these  works,  thus  clear- 
ing of  timber,  37,000  acres  yearly,  or  48 
square  miles.  It  is  estimated  that  this  does 
not  exceed  one  fourth  the  ability  of  the  state 
to  furnish  wood  annually  for  ever. 

As  the  subject  of  iron  manufactures  in 
Pennsylvania  is  at  this  present  time  a  matter 
of  much  interest,  the  iron  manufacturers  of 
that  state  making  complaint  of  a  want  of 
adequate  protection  from  the  general  gov- 
ernment, and  ascribing  all  their  failures  to 
this  cause  alone,  we  give  the  following  table, 
showing  the  number  of  iron  works  that  have 
been  built  in  the  state  since  1840,  and  the 
number  that  have  failed  since  that  date.  It 
will  show  the  progress  of  the  iron  manu- 
facturing business  in  Pennsylvania  during 
the  last  10  years: 

Built.  Failed. 

1840 135 0 

1841 0 2 

1842 20 20 

1843 7 7 

1844 21 11 

1845 30 3 

1846 53 4 

1847 25 24 

1848 17 37 

1849 10 41 

1850 7 22 

1851 — — 

The  amount  of  iron  manufactured  in  Penn- 
sylvania since  1847,  is  as  follows: 


*  See  Memorial  of  Pennsylvania  Iron  Manufac- 
turers to  Congress,  1849. 


1847 389,350  tons. 

1849 253,370     " 

1850 198,813     " 

1851 I50,0U0     " 

From  this,  it  appears  that -the  manufacture 
has  diminished  more  than  50  percent,  dur- 
ing the  last  three  years. 

I3eside3  iron,  there  is  in  Pennsylvania  an 
extensive  copper  and  /eml  foi-mation,  recently 
discovered  near  the  Scliuylkill  river,  about 
twenty  miles  from  Phihnlolpliia.  These  mines 
have  been  successfully  worked  during  the 
past  year.  The  copper  ore  yields  20  per 
cent,  of  pure  copper,  and  the  lead  ore,  75 
per  cent,  of  pure  lead.  With  the  lead  ore, 
there  is  also  found  silver  ore,  yielding  sil- 
ver about  .s35  to  the  ton.  These  mines  of 
copper,  silver  and  lead,  are  very  promising. 

Manufactures. — As  tlie  returns  of  the  last 
U.  S.  census  are  not  yet  published  in  full,  we 
cannot  give  a  complete  account  of  the  man- 
ufactures of  Pennsylvania.  Mr.  Kennedy, 
superintendent  of  the  census,  at  Washing- 
ton, has  furnished  only  a  general  report  of 
the  facts  relating  to  a  few  of  the  most  im- 
portant manufactures,  from  which  we  com- 
pile the  following  table,  showing  the  present 
state  of  some  of  the  more  important  manu- 
factures of  Pennsylvania : 

MA.NUFACTURES    OF   TEXXSYLVANIA,  1850. 

Capital  invested.       V-»'"e  ofprod.  Handi*  employed. 

Cotton  goods  .54,528,92.5. .  .$5,.?2).262 7.663 

Woollen  goods  3,00-),064  ....  5.321,866 5,726 

Pig  iron ^,570,425.. . .  7,071,513 9.294 

Iron  castiDgs. .  3,422,924 5,354,881 4,783 

The  principal  manufacturing  places  of 
Pennsylvania  are  Pittsburg  and  Philadel- 
phia. Of  the  first  of  these  cities,  we  can 
give  the  state  of  manufactures  at  the  present 
time  with  sufficient  accuracy.  There  are  in 
Pittsburg  13  rolling  mills,  employing  2,500 
hands,  and  a  capital  of  -$5,000,000.  These 
mills  consume  00,000  tons  cf  i)ig  metal,  and 
jiroduee  bar  iron  and  nails  to  the  amount  of 
$4,000,000  annually.  There  are  also  thirty 
large  foundries,  and  several  smaller  ones,  em- 
ploying 2,500  hands,  and  a  capital  of  .s2,000- 
UOO.  They  consume  20,000  tons  of  pig  metal, 
and  yield  articles  amounting  to  -$2,'  OO.OUO 
annually.  There  are  two  establishments  for 
manufacturing  locks,  latches,  cotree-mills, 
scales,  and  other  articles  of  iron,  employing 
500  hands,  and  a  capital  of  .$250,000.  These 
two  establishments  consume  aimually  1,200 
tons  of  metal,  converting  it  into  goods  worth 
.s3,000,000.  Pittsburg  also  has  five  large 
cotton  factories  and  several  smaller  ones, 
emidoying  1,500  hands — capital  .$1,500,000, 
and  producing  jn-oduet.'^,  out  of  15,000  bales 
of  cotton  annually  consumed,  worth  $1,5lO,- 
000. 

There  are  also  eight  flint-glass  manufac- 
tories in  Pittsburg,  employing  five  hundred 


372 


PENNSYLVANIA ITS    EARLY    HISTORY    AND    PROGRESS. 


hands,  a  capital  of  SSOO.OOO,  and  producing, ' 
out  of  150  tons  of  load,  and  2o()  tons  of, 
pearl-ashes,  various  articles  of  glassware, 
worth  annually  s-100,000.  There  are  also' 
seven  ])hial  furnaces,  and  12  window-glass 
manufactories,  employing  600  hands,  a  cap- 
ital of  ?25O,000,  and  yielding  products  to 
the  amount  of  8600,000  annually.  One 
soda-ash  manufactory  employs  75  men,  and 
produces  annually  1,500  tons.  One  copper- 
smelting  establishment  produces  annually 
600  tons  of  refined  copper,  worth  $250,000. 
One  copper-rolling  mill  yields  copper  sheath- 
ing worth  $150,000  annually.  Five  white 
lead  factories  produce,  annually,  with  a  cap- 
ital of  $150,000,  150,000  kegs  of  lead,  worth 
§200,000.  There  are  also  many  factories  of 
the  smaller  sizes  of  iron,  and  several  estab- 
lishments for  the  manufacture  of  axes, 
hatchets,  spring  steel,  steel  springs,  axles, 
anvils,  vises,  saws  of  all  kinds,  gun  barrels, 
shovels,  spades,  forks,  hoes,  tacks,  brads, 
&c.  etc. 

It  is  estimated  that  the  full  value  of  all  the 
manufactures  of  Pittsburg  does  not  fall  short 
of  $50,000,000. 

Commerce. — The  exports  to  foreign  coun- 
tries from  Pennsylvania  amounted,  in  1850,  to 
$4,501,006,  and  the  imports  to  $12,066,154. 
In  1841,  the  exports  amounted  to  $5,152,501, 
and  the  imports  to  $10,346,698.  The  amount 
of  domestic  produce  exported  in  1850  was 
^4,049,464. 

Internal  Improvements. — Pennsylvania  has 
28  railroads,  varying  from  4  to  174  miles  in  I 
length,  and  making  in  all  a  line  of  918  miles.! 
This  does  not  include  some  that  are  yet  incom- 
plete. The  entire  cost  of  these  roads  was 
$35,401, OSn. 

The  principal  canal  of  Pennsylvania  is  the 
Pennsylvania  Canal,  the  eastern  branch  of 
Avhich  extends  from  Columbia,  on  the  Susque- 
hanna, to  Hollidaysburg,  at  the  foot  of  the 
AUeghauies,  a  distance  of  172  miles.  This 
branch  is  connected  by  a  railroad  passing  over 
the  mountains  with  the  western  branch  of  the 
canal,  extending  from  Johnstown  to  Pittsburg, 
104  miles,  making  the  whole  length  of  the 
canal  276  miles.  A  canal  exonds  from  the 
Pennsylvania  Canal,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Ju- 
niata, to  Cumberland,  39  miles,  where  it  con- 
nects with  the  North  and  West  Branch  canals. 
The  West  Branch  Canal  extends  from  North- 
umberland, along  the  west  of  the  Susqu''- 
hanna  river,  75  nnles,  to  Farrandsville,  near 
the  bituminous  coal  region.  The  Norih  HiMnch 
division  extends  from  NorthunilKrland,  73 
miles,  to  a  little  above  Wilkesbarre.  The 
Delaware  division  of  tlie  Pennsylvania  Canal 
extends  from  tide-water  at  Bristol,  twenty 
miles  above  Philadelphia,  to  Kaston,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Lehigh,  where  it  joins  lln!  navi- 
gation of  the  Lehigh  company,  extending  to 
the  coal  region,  25  miles.  The  Schuylidll 
navigation  commences  at  the  Fairmount  Dam, 


near  Pliiladelphia,  and  extends  to  Port  Car- 
bon, the  licart  of  the  coal  region.  There  is 
also  the  L^nion  Canal,  which  extends  from  the 
Schuylkill,  near  Reading,  to  iliddletown,  on 
the  Susquehanna,  82  miles.  It  has  a  branch 
23  miles  long  on  Swatara  Creek,  which  leads 
to  the  coal  region.  The  Susquehanna,  or 
Tide-water  Canal,  extends  from  Wrightsville, 
opposite  Columbia,  to  Havrede-Grace,  in 
Jlaryland,  a  distance  of  45  miles,  connecting 
the  Pennsylvania  Canal  with  the  tide-water 
of  Chesapeake  Bay. 

Hanks. — The  first  experiment  of  paper 
currency  made  in  Pennsylvania  was  in  1722, 
when  the  ])rovince  issued  bills  to  the  anmunt 
of  £15,u00.  No  loans  were  made  but  on  laud 
security,  or  plate  deposited  in  the  loan  oftlce. 
Borrowers  were  obliged  to  pay  five  per  cent.; 
and  the  bills  of  the  province  were  made  a 
legal  tender  in  all  payments,  on  pain  of  co7i- 
flscativr/ the  debt,  or  forfeiting  the  commodity. 
Penalties  were  also  imposed  on  all  persons 
1  who  presumed  lo  make  any  bargain  or  sale 
,  on  chiaper  terms,  in  case  of  being  paid  in 
1  gold  or  silver.  One  eighth  of  the  public  debts 
■■  thus  created  was  to  be  annually  paid.  AVe 
I  do  not  propose  to  give  the  history  of  banking 
in  Pennsylvania,  but  merely  to  state  the  pre- 
sent condition  in  general  terms  of  the  banks 
of  the  state.  Banking,  like  everything  else, 
has  progressed  rapidly  in  Pennsylvania.  It 
had  in  November,  1850,  no  less  than  54  bank- 
ing institutions,  or  one  for  each  county  in  the 
state.  These  54  banks  iiave  a  capital  of 
$19,125,477.  and  a  circulation  of  $12,072,88S. 
The  tax  paid  on  dividends  in  1850  amounted 
to  $153,877,  and  the  tax  on  corporation  stocks 
to  $70,008.  Banking  operations  in  Pennsyl- 
vania have  not  fluctuated  much  since  1842, 
in  which  year  also  the  banking  capital  was 
$19,127,677.  Last  year,  a])plications  were 
made  to  the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania  for 
an  increase  of  capital  to  the  amount  of  $4,- 
900,000,  which  includes  some  new  banks. 


BANKS     IN    PENNSYLV 

R.anks. 
Philadelphia,..  . . 

Bristol, 

Brownsville 

Carlisle, 

Chambersburg,.. 

Cliester, 

Columliia 

Danville, 

Doylestown,.  .  .  . 

Easton, 

Erie 

Germantown,. . . 
Gettysburg,  .... 

Hanover, 

Ilarrisburg, 

llonesdale 

Lancaster, 


ANIA   IN    JANUARY,    1852. 
Capital. 

15 $10,518,600 

1 92,220 

1 175,000 

1 22,500 

1 205,470 

1 155,640 

1 307,300 

1 105,770 

1 60,000 

2 550,000 

1 101,890 

] 152,000 

1 123,873 

1 30,000 

2 350,000 

1 100,000 

4 955,000 


PENNSYLVANIA ITS    EARLY    HISTORY    AND    PROGRESS. 


373 


Banks. 

LeV>annn, 1 

Mi(kllctown, 1 

NoiTistown 1 

Northumberland, ...  1 

PittsbiirjT 4 

Pottsville 1 

Reailii)j>: 1 

Schuylkill  Haven,...  1 

Washin'^ton 1 

Wa}  nesburg, 1 

Westchester 1 

Wilkesbarre 1 

Williamport 1 

York, 2 


Capital. 

80,320 
100,00(1 
38-1,000 
160,000 
2,618,543 
199,120 
300,000 
100,000 
120,tiOO 
100,01)0 
225,000 

85,330 

100,000 

320,000 


Total,  54  banks,  with  $18,966,351  capital. 
New-York,  with  less  than  one  third  more  of 
population,  has  218  bank?,  with  $58,497,345 
capital ;  Mas.iachusett?,  with  half  the  popnla- 
tion,  137  banks,  and  843,350,000  capital.  We 
are  indebted  to  the  Bankers'  Magazine  for 
the  figures. 

■  Financea. — According  to  a  report  made  to 
the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania,  by  the  Au- 
ditor-General, in  January,  1851,  the  total  pub- 
lic debt  of  the  state  was 'then  840,677,214  68. 
Of  this  debt,  all  of  which  is  funded  but 
§912,570,  there  are  $200,000  bearing  4j  per 
cent,  interest;  ?38.009,817bearing  5  per  cent. ; 
and  $2,387,396  bearing  6  per  cent,  interest. 

The  productive  property  owned  by  the 
state  is  as  follows : 

Stock  in  incorporated  companies,.  $1,907,948 
Pennsylvania  railroads  and  canals,  29,204,787 


Total  productive  property,.  .$31,112,735 

The  total  amount  of  interest  paid  by  the 
state  annually  on  its  liabilities,  is  about  ?2,- 
201,700. 

The  total  receipts  of  the  sta'e,  from  all 
sources  and  available  means,  in  1850,  were 
$5,634,338;  and  tlie  total  exjienditures  for 
the  same  year,  $4,569,053. 

Some  of  the  principal  items  of  expendi- 
ture of  the  state  in  1850  were  as  follows: 
public  improvements,  $1,488,799;  expenses 
of  government,  $272,899  ;  common  school.s, 
$213,728;  interest,  $2,004,700;  charitable  in- 
stitutions, $62,267  ;  pensions  and  gratuitie.s, 
$17,277  ;  military  expenses,  $16,282;  com- 
missioners of  sinking  fund,  $318,864;  peni- 
tentiaries, §19,283  ;  damages  on  public  works, 
§28,068. 

Some  of  the  chief  sources  of  income  were : 
Tax  on  real  and  personal  estate,  $1,317,821  ; 
canal  and  railroad  tolls,  $1,713,848;  tax  on 
bank  dividends  and  corporation  stocks,  §300,- 
000;  retailer,^'  licenses,  §171,062;  tavern  li- 
censes, $107,427;  auction  duties,  §44,898; 
tax  on  writs,  wills,  deeds,  ttc,  §45,409; 
auction  commissions,  $18,673  ;  tax  on  certain 
offices,  §14,047  ;  military  fines,  §12,952;  bro- 


kers'licenses,  §10,228  ;  other  licenses,  §21.323 
collateral  inherent  tax,  §102,295;  loans,  §270 
000. 

Judiciary. — By  the  amended  constitution 
now  in  force,  all  judges  in  Pennsylvania  are 
elected  by  the  people.  The  juclges  of  the 
Supreme  Court  are  chosen  at  large  for  a  term 
of  fifteen  years;  and  the  judges  of  the  sev- 
eral courts  of  Common  Pleas  and  other  courts 
of  record,  and  ail  other  judges,  are  elected  by 
the  electors  of  the  districts  over  which  they 
preside,  for  a  term  of  ten  years.  The  asso- 
ciate ju.stices  of  the  Common  Pleas  hold  office 
five  years.  All  judges  are  liable  to  re 
moval  for  lack  of  good  behavior;  and  the 
governor,  with  two  thirds  of  each  branch  of 
the  legislature,  can  remove  a  judge  for  reason- 
al^le  cause,  short  of  sufficient  grounds  for  im- 
peachment. 

The  salary  of  a  judge  of  the  Supreme 
Court  is  $1,600;  that  of  a  judge  of  the  Dis- 
trict Courts,  §2,000 ;  and  of  the  Courts  of 
Common  Pleas,  from  $1,600  to  §2,600. 

There  are  four  District  Courts,  invested 
with  the  civil  jurisdiction  of  the  Common 
Pleas  in  all  cases  exceeding  a  certain  amount. 

Sc/iools  and  Colleger. — The  common  school 
system  in  Penn.sylvania  is  complete.  The  fol- 
lowing are  the  statistics  for  1850: 

Whole    number   of    common 

schools  in  the  state, 8,844 

Average  number  of  months 

of  teaching, 5.1 

Number  of  teachers,  male  and 

female, 11,241 

Average  wages,  per  month,  of 

male  teachers, §l7  20 

Average  wages,  per  month,  of 

female  teachers, §10  15 

Number  of  male  scholars,. .  .242,621 

Number  of  female  scholars,..  189, 181 

Number  learning  German,. . .   11,041 

Cost  of  teaching  each  scholar, 

per  month §1  44 

Amount  of  school  tax  levied,  §795,401 

State  appropriation, $159,367 

Entire  expense  of  schools,  in- 
cluding instruction,  school- 
houses,  repairs,  fuel,  and 
contingencies, §926,44Y 

Regular  animal  state  appro- 
priation,   §200,000 

Colleges,  high-schools,  and  academies,  in 
Pennsylvania,  are  numerous.  The  University 
of  Pennsylvania  was  founded  in  Pliiladelphia, 
in  1755.  Its  foundatii'n  may  be  said  to  have 
been  laid  by  Dr.  Franklin,  in  1742,  who  about 
that  time  projected  an  -academy  and  free 
school,  which  became  presently  a  college,  and 
finally  the  University  of  Penn.sylvania,  which 
at  present  has  7  professors,  but  only  88  stu- 
dents. Its  president  is  John  Ludlow,  D.D. 
Dickinson  College,  at  Carlisle,  was  founded  in 


374 


PniLADELPIIIA COMMERCE. 


1783:  it  has  8  professors  and  119  students; 
president,  Jesse  T.  Peck,  D.D.  Jefferson  Col- 
lege, at  C.inonsburg,  was  founded  in  1802  :  it 
has  8  professors  and  lOV  students;  president, 
A.  B.  Brown  D.D.  Washington  College,  at 
Washington,  in  the  western  part  of  the  state, 
■was  founded  in  180G:  it  has  8  profe.ssors  and 
189  students;  president,  James  Clark,  D.D. 
Alleghany  College  is  at  Meadville :  it  was 
established  in  1817,  and  has  7  professors  and 
100  students  ;  president,  J.  Barker,  D.D.  Penn- 
sylvania College  is  at  Gettysburg,  and  has  7 
professors  and  64  students;  founded  in  18.32  ; 
presitlent,  H.  L.  Baugher.  Lafayette  College, 
at  Eastou,  was  established  in  1832,  and  has 
7  professors  and  82  students;  president,  Geo. 
Junkin,  D.D.  Marshall  College,  at  Mercers- 
burg,  was  founded  in  1835,  and  has  6  ^jrofes-' 
sors  and  58  students  ;  president,  J.  W.  Nevin, 
D.D. 

Pennsylvania  has,  we  believe,  but  one  law- 
school,  that  of  Dickinson  College.  It  has 
seven  theological  seminaries,  of  different  Pro- 
testant denominations.  It  has  four  medical 
schools,  all  in  Philadelphia.  The  oldest  of 
these  is  the  Medical  Department  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Pennsylvania,  the  oldest  medical 
school  in  America.  It  was  founded  by  the 
efforts  of  Drs.  Shippen  and  Morgan,  two  emi- 
nent physicians  in  Philadelphia,  before  the 
Revolution.  It  has  7  professors  and  450  stu- 
dents. It  graduated,  since  its  commencement, 
5,316  students.  Jefferson  Medical  College, 
founded  in  1824,  has  7  professors,  514  stu- 
dents, and  has  2,036  graduates.  The  Medical 
Department  of  Pennsylvania  College  was 
founded  in  1838.  It  has  7  professors,  176  stu- 
dents, and  73  graduates.  The  Philadelphia 
College  of  Medicine  has  7  professors,  75  stu- 
dents, and  250  graduates. 

We  regret  that  we  have  not  more  ample 
statistics  to  offer  on  the  subject  of  education 
in  Pennsylvania,  and  on  other  subjects.  The 
comjilete  returns  of  the  last  United  States 
census  are  yet  unpublished.  In  1840,  there 
■were,  in  a  population  of  1,724,033  persons, 
33,940  white  persons,  over  20  years  of  age, 
who  could  neither  read  nor  write.  'J'he  figures 
of  the  census  of  1850  will  probably  show  a 
more  favorable  result. 

A(jricuUnral  Produda. — Penusy  1  vania  ranks 
fourth  in  the  Union  in  respect  to  the  extent  of 
her  improved  land  ;  New-York  having  12,285,- 
077  acres  of  improved  land  ;  Virginia,  10,150,- 
106;  Ohio,  9,730,650;  and  Pennsylvania, 
8,619,631  acres.  Georgia  ranks  next.  The 
large 'extent  of  mountain  lands  in  Pennsylva- 
nia restricts  very  much  her  agricultural  area. 
Some  portions  of  the  state,  particvilarly  the 
northern  and  western,  are  very  thinly  inhab- 
ited, although  the  lantls  are  good.  Pennsyl- 
vania, however,  occupies  no  mean  position 
in  respect  to  agriculture,  'when  comparing 
the  value  of  her  farming  implements  and 
machinery  ■with  those  of  other  states.     Those 


of  New-York  are  estimated  at  $22,217,563 ; 
Pennsylvania,  $14,931,093;  Ohio,  ?12,716,- 
153;  Louisiana,  811,326,310;  Virginia,  $7,- 
021,658.  The  value  of  the  hve  stock  of  Penn- 
sylvania is  842,146,711;  the  state  in  this 
respect  being  in  advance  of  all  others,  except 
New-York  and  Ohio.  Wheat — Pennsylvania 
produces  more  wheat  than  any  other  state  of 
the  Union;  its  yield,  in  J 850,  being  15,482,- 
191  bushels.  Oiiio  produced  14,967,056;  Vir- 
ginia, 14,516,950;  and  New-York,  13,073,357 
bushels.  Indian  Corn — Pennsylvania  pro- 
duced, in  1850,  more  than  New-York,  by 
about  2,000,000  bushels ;  but  not  more  than 
one  third  as  much  as  Ohio,  Kentucky,  Illinois, 
Indiana,Tennessee,  and  Missouri,  the  six  great- 
est Indian  corn-growing  states.  The  amount  for 
Pennsylvania  is  19,707,702  bushels.  Tobacco. 
— Pennsylvania  produced,  in  1850,  857,619 
lbs.  IFoo/— 4,784,367  lbs.  Wine — 23,839 
gallons.  i^M^cr— 40,554,741  lbs.  Cheese — 
2,395,279  lbs.  //a^— 1,826,265  tons.  Flax- 
seed—i?.fi'l1  bushels.  Maple  Sugar— 2,118,- 
044  lbs.  These  figures  are  derived  from  the 
census  of  1850. 

PHILADELPHIA.— ComiERCE.— The  fol- 
lowing statement  shows  the  value  of  the  im- 
ports annually  into  the  port  of  Philadelphia, 
and  the  duties  accruing  to  the  United  States, 
from  1830  to  1851,  inclusive.  They  have  been 
carefully  prepared  from  official  documents : 

"i'ears.              Value  of  Imports.  Duties. 

1830 .$9,525,893  $3,537,516  10 

1831 11,673,755  4,372,525  98 

1832 10,048,195  3,500,292  50 

1833. 11,153,757  2,985,095  50 

1834. 10,686,078  2,110,477  32 

1835 11,868,529  2,501,621  43 

1836 16,116,625  3,146,458  43 

1837. 10,130,838  1,820,993  21 

1838. 10,417,815  2,109,955  30 

1839. 11,753,589  2,884,984  16 

1840 8,624,484  1,517,206  70 

1841. 9,948,598  1,983,681   64 

1842. 6,201,177  1,812.8-12  82 

1843. 4,916,635  1,437,837  84 

1844 8,310,865  2,981.573  15 

1845 7,491,497  2,370,515  71 

1846 8,308,015  2,608,068  16 

1847 12,153,937  2.904,748  9*7 

1848 10,700,865  2,767,459  13 

1849 10,160,479  2,694.245  34 

1850 13,381,759  3,412,239  68 

1851 12,795,440  3,673,123  80 

The  foUo^wing  is  an  official  statement  of  the 
amount  and  value  of  the  exports  from  Phila- 
delphia to  foreign  iiort.s  during  the  year  end- 
ing the  30th  September  last: 

Flour,  barrels 30-1,812   $1,393.58'? 

Rye  Flour,  barrels 13,-341  45,292 

Corn  Meal,  barrels 71,883        210,004 


PITTSBURG. 


3l5 


Bread,  barrels 10,1'79 

".     kegs 11,983 

Wheat,  bushels 842,221 

Corn,  bushels 609,176 

Other  Grain,  bushels. . .  

Bark,  hhds 5,591 

Cotton,  bales 2,072 

Coal,  tons 13,827 

Dried  Fish,  cwt 3.257 

Pickled  Fisli,  barrels.. ,,  1,243 

Sperm  Oil,  gallons 12,989 

Whale  Oil,  gallons 132  802 

Sperm  Cantlle.s,  lbs 45,076 

Manufactures  of  Wool. 

Tar  and  Pitcl),  barrels.  1,612  ) 

r.osin,  barrels 14,040  \ 

Beef,  barrels 7,442  [ 

Tallow,  lbs 587,002  J 

Pork,  barrels 6,887  ' 

Hams,  lbs 677,6.50 

Lard,  lbs 3,268,090 

Butter,  lbs 5,770,973  | 

Cheese,  lbs 168,04^) 

Potatoes,  bushels 3,834 

Apples,  barrels 250 

Rice,  tierces 3,374 

Tobacco,  leaf,  hhds 621 

Beer,  gallons 10.431) 

Porter  and  Cider,  doz..  3,373  ) 

Candles,  lbs 788,021  [ 

Soap,  lbs 883,992) 

Iron  Manufactures 

Drugs 

Domestic,  pkgs 4,539 

Books 

Paper 

Paints 

Vinegar,  gallons 35,460 

Furniture 1 

Tobacco,  manufac,  lbs.  218,166 

Gunpowder,  lbs.. .' 97.300 

Nails,  lbs 413,624 


68,174 

369,326 

392,490 

36,246 

129.907 

113,963 

65,802 

8,678 

5,588 

16,486 

69,732 

15,423 

162,036 

25,271 
136,061 

436,611 

76,794 

2,723 

736 

72,098 

73,152 

8,250 

138,548 

216,750 

49,778 

247,113 

4,107 

12,119 

2,641 

3,676 

20,042 

38,142 

13,021 

13,742 


11834 23,795 

183."> 21.0.38 

1K30 27,429 

1837 17,276 

1838 14,211 

1839 24527 

1S4I) 36,471 

18U 26,866 


1845 17,098 

1840 l'.l.730 

1847 2(1,407 

1848 15.537 

1H49 26,536 

18.50 25,054 

1851 10,505 


Corn  Meal. 


1831 brls.  45,432 

18.32 50,328 

1833 51.903 

18.34 50,018 

1835 50.869 

1836 42.798 

1837 63,8i'3 

1838 64,002 

1839 73,800 

1840 89.486 

1841 108,822 


1842 brls.    97,884 

1843 106,484 

1844 101.356 

1845 11.5.101 

1846 144,857 

1847 300,531 

1843 140,014 

1S49 91,319 

1850 94.334 

1851 65,385 


Mlieat. 


1831 bush.  61,282, 

1832 2,258 

1835 2.903 

1839 37,831 

1840 280,047 

1841 56,.'i71 

1842 87,953 

1843 32,235 


1844 bush.  23,375 

1845 86,C89 

1846 24.5,136 

1H47         .52.3.538 

1848 207,092 

1849 177,312 

1850 205,670 

1851 225,201 


Corn. 


1831 bush.  43.293 

1832 48,8.59 

1833 66.708 

1834 31,626 

1835 25,457 

1836 19,117 

1837 21,486 

18.38 17,087 

1839 17.117 

1840 76,749 

1841 80,266 


1842 bush.    83,772 

1843 74,613 

1844 110,068 

1845 1292-^6 

1846     279,820 

1847 1,11)2,210 

1848 817.150 

1849 906,823 

1850 602,680 

1851 554,545 


EXPORTS     BRE.VDSTUFFS     FROM     PHILADELPHIA, 
FROM    1831    TO    1852. 

We  have  prepared  the  following  t.able, 
showing  the  exports  of  wheat  and  rye  flour, 
corn  meal,  wheat  and  corn,  from  this  port 
annually,  for  the  last  twenty  years : 

Wheat  Flour. 


1831 brls.  2.59,785 

1832 151,917 

1833 132,022 

1834 87.905 

1835 96.098 

1836 67,113 

1837 33.680 

1838 69,622 

1839 191,380 

1840 284,774 

18-11 195,555 


1842 brls.  161,866 

1843 128,517 

)814 106,433 

1845 20).9.-)6 

1846 306,610 

1847 4-20.684 

1848 170,507 

1819 220,786 

1850 83,024 

1851 299,466 


Rye  Flour. 


11831 brls.      8,433 

1832 13,040 

1833 27,939 


1842 brls.    22.530 

1843 22,303 

1844 21.904 


ANNUAL  ARRIVALS    AT   PHILADELPHIA. 

The  following  table  shows  the  number  of 
vessels  which  arrived  at  this  port  annually 
from  1835  to  1851,  inclusive.  It  will  be 
that  the  increase  has  been  very  rapid  of  late 
years ; 
Years.  Foreign. 

1835 429 

1S36 421 

1837 409 

1838 464 

1839 521 

1840 4.56  ■ 

1841 504 

1842 454 

1843 372 

1844 472 

184.5 387 

1846 459 

1847 ('57 

1848, 542 

1849 585 

1850 518 

1851 576 

PITTSBURG. — With  its  dependencies  of 


Coastwise. 

Total 

3,573 

4,002 

3,764 

4,185 

7,476 

8,185 

10,860 

11,344 

11,188 

11,709 

9,706 

10,162 

9,246 

9,750 

7,973 

8,427 

7,659 

8,031 

7,717 

8,189 

8,029 

8,416 

6,018 

6,477 

18,069 

18,726 

23,921 

24,463 

24,594 

2.5.169 

27,035 

27,553 

26,484 

27,060 

B16 


PITTSBURG   INDUSTRY. 


Birmingliam,  Sligo,  Allegbany  City,  and  the 
like,  wliicli  lie  across  the  Moiiongaliehi  and 
Alleghany  rivers,  the  population  of  Pittsburg 
is  said  to  range  between  60,000  and  80,000. 
The  iron  works  are  more  extensive,  perhaps, 
than  those  of  any  other  city  in  the  Union. 
There  are  eleven  rolling  mills  in  and  about 
Pittsburg,  of  which  eight  are  capable  of  pro- 
ducing 4,000  tons  each  of  manufactured  iron, 
annually,  and  employ  about  150  hands  to  the 
mill.  This  iron  is  of  a  superior  quality,  and 
is  used  for  boilers,  axles,  wire,  sheets,  and  the 
like.  The  pig  metal  is  supplied  principally 
from  the  charcoal  furnaces  along  the  river. 
Something  like  75,000  tons  of  pig  metal  is 
consumed  a  year,  between  the  mills  and 
foundries.  The  manufacture  of  glass  is  car- 
ried on  extensively.  Besides  fourteen  estab- 
lishments, the  work  of  which  is  known  as 
country  glass,  there  are  seven  flint  glass  fac- 
tories in  the  vicinity,  six  for  window  glass, 
five  for  green  glass,  and  one  for  black  glass. 
These  employ  twenty -five  or  thirty  men  each, 
and  more  than  a  million  of  dollars  is  invested. 
Kail  factories  are  also  numerous,  and  upon  a 
large  scale.  One  has  a  capacity  of  2,000 
kegs  per  week,  and  others  are  nearly  equal 
to  it.  The  demand  is  greater  than  the  sup- 
pi}',  and  the  orders  extend  from  Buffalo  to 
New-Orleans.  It  is  estimated  that  sixty 
steamers  will  be  built  at  Pitttburg  the  pre- 
sent year. 

The  trade  with  the  lakes  has  doubled  itself 
every  year  since  1844,  owing  to  the  facilities 
of  communicating  through  the  two  great  ave- 
nues to  Erie  and  to  Cleveland. 

Table  of  some  of  the  principal  articles  of 
exports  and  imports,  via  canal,  in  1846  and 
1847. 

EXPORTS. 

1847.  184C. 

Cotton,  lbs 1,056,138  1,000,971 

Hemp 3,311,618  1,287,886 

Tobacco,  leaf. 14,777,059  24,696,742 

Groceries 1,978,822  1,571,889 

Hardware,  cutlery..      246,887  239,353 

^T'P'^T- o-oSi-     2,675,341 

"     castmgs 2o0,910  )        '       ' 

"     blooms 13,836  333,702 

"     cast  steel 549,416  319,736 

Lead 188,078  325,085 

Nails  and  spikes 51,760  82,732 

Bacon 12,713,427  21,661,236 

Beef,  pork 41,225  19,620 

Butter 747,645  800,265 

Flour,  barrels 297,940  156.412 

Lard,  lard  oil,  lbs.  - .   5,319,378  2,929,286 

Tallow 62,946  291,313 

IMPORTS. 

Ar/riciiUural.  1847.                    184G. 

Not  specified,  lbs...  1,257,620  871,500 

Oats,  bushels 21,360               19,080 

Leather,  lbs 312,239  386,225 


Coffee,  lbs 9,927,005 

Dry  goods,  lbs 23,201,074 

Groceries 7,833,925 

""Clbs."."."!:!  14.501,693 

Coffee,  lbs 384,966 

Iron,  pig,  lbs 21,979,353 

"     castings 124,662 

"    blooms 14,942,390 

"     barand  sheet..  4,397,268 

Nails  and  spikes 15,886,711 

Fish,  lbs 5,977,891 


'k. 


10,920,993 

12,651,818 

6,923,856 

10,522,463 

429,139 

i    15,410,661 

13,890,707 

2,833,879 

575,402 

bris.      19,600 


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In  addition  to  her  numerous  establishments, 
Pittsburg  has  some  twenty  to  twenty-five 
foundries  in  successful  operation,  in  the  man- 
ufactare  of  cannon,  cotton  presses,  sugar  mills, 
ploughs,  and  the  like. 

PITTSBURG  INDUSTRY.— Thirteen  roll- 
ing  mills.  Capital  .?5,000,000— 2,500  hands. 
Consume  60,000  tons  of  pig  metal,  and  pro- 
duce bar  iron  and  nails  amounting  to  ?4,000,- 
000  annunlly. 

Thirty  large  foundries,  with  several  smaller 
ones.  Capital  in  all  ?2,000,000— 2,500  hands. 
Consimie  20,000  tons  pig  metal,  and  yield  an- 
nual articles  amounting  to  §52,000,000. 

Two     establishments    for    manufacturing 


PLANK-ROADS. 


B11 


large    cotton    factories  and   several 
ones.      Capital    81,500,000—1,500 


locks,  laicbes,  coffee  mills,  scales,  and  other  I 
iron  castings.  Capital  ^250,000 — employing! 
500  liantls.  Consume  1,'200  tons  metal,  pro- 
ducing goods  amounting  to  ^300,000  aunu- 
ally. 

Pive 
smaller 

Lauds.  Consume  15,000  bales  of  cotton,  and 
return  yarns,  sheeting,  batting,  ifcc,  to  upwards 
of  81,500,000. 

Eight  flint  glass  manufactories.  Capital 
§300,000 — 500  bands.  Consuming  150  tons 
of  lead  and  200  tons  pearlash ;  and  producing 
various  articles  of  glassware,  amounting  to 
$400,000  annually. 

Seven  vial  furnaces  and  eleven  window 
glass  manufoctories.  Capital  $250,000,  em- 
ploying COO  hands,  and  producing  .$600,000 
annually. 

One  soda  ash  manufactory,  producing  1,500 
tons  annually — '75  hands 

One  copper  smelting  establishment,  produ- 
cing 600  tons  refined  copper  annually,  valued 
at  8380  per  ton,  and  amounting  to  S250,000. 

One  copper  rolling  mill  in  operation,  pro- 
ducing oOO  tons  sheeting  and  brazier's  copper, 
amounting  to  ?150,000  annually. 

Five  white  lead  factories.  Capital  §150,000. 
Produce  150,000  kegs  annually,  worth 
$200,000— employing  60  hands. 

There  are  also  a  number  of  mnnufactories 
of  the  smaller  sizes  of  iron,  several  extensive 
manufactories  of  axes,  hatchets,  ttc,  and  spring 
steel,  steel  springs,  axes,  anvils,  vises,  mill, 
cross-cut,  and  other  saws,  gun  barrels,  shovels, 
ejjades,  forks,  hoes,  cut  tacks,  brads,  <i:c.  After 
careful  investigation,  the  full  value  does  not 
fall  short  of  $.'^0,000,000  annually.  There  is 
also  consumed  about  12,000,000  bushels  of 
coal  per  year,  worth  8600,000,  and  an  equal 
number  of  bushels  exported  to  markets  near 
the  city,  giving  employment  constantly  to 
4,000  hands. 

Pittsburg,  with  iron  ore  and  coal  at  her  door 
in  inexhaustible  quantitie.=5,  a  poj)ulation  of 
nearly  10u,OuO,  and  with  the  Ohio  —  now 
yielding  her  over  500,000  tons  per  annum — 
commencing  at  her  feet,  and  navigable  for 
1000  miles,  (where  she  empties  into  the 
'  father  of  waters,"  which  then  runs  on  till  it 
ceases  in  the  gulf  of  Mexico,)  what  is  to  pre- 
vent her  from  becoming  a  powerful,  populous, 
and  wealthy  city  ? 

The  number  of  steamboats  constructed  at 
Pittsburg  has  been,  on  an  average,  about  one 
in  each  week,  for  a  series  of  years.  These  are 
floating  palaces,  the  admiration  of  every  one. 
Thirty  or  forty  of  them  may  be  seen  at  the 
vharf  at  any  one  time,  destined  for  various 
ports  on  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  or  Missouri 
rivers.  If  to  this  be  added  her  manufacturing 
power  and  interest,  as  above,  all  mustcencede 
the  importance  of  her  trade  and  that  of  the 
valleys  of  the  Ohio  and  the  MssissippL 


PLANK-ROADS.-By  Wm.  Gregg,  S.  C. 

— A  charter  of  incorporation  fur  a  company  to 
build  a  j)lank-road  from  Charleston  to  the 
Mountains  was  obtained  from  the  Legislature 
of  South  Carolina  at  its  last  session,  by  a  com- 
pany of  gentlemen  of  Edgefield,  together  with 
a  few  individuals  of  this  city.  Tlie  plan  is  to 
commence  at  Cl)arleston,  and  proceed  to  the 
vicinity  of  Abbeville  Court-IIouse,  taking  the 
direction  of  the  South  Carolina  I'aihoad,  and 
crossing  the  Edisto  between  Branchviile  and 
Orangeburgh ;  there  striking  the  dividing 
ridge  between  the  two  Edistos,  which  leads 
without  crossing  water  to  the  ridge  which  di- 
vides the  waters  of  the  Savannah  and  Saluda. 
There  is  probably  no  location  in  the  United 
Stales  which  will  afford  easier  average  grades. 
They  may  certainly  be  reduced  to  one  foot  in 
fifty  both  ways  as  far  as  Abbeville,  and  be- 
yond that  to  Pendleton,  one  in  thirty. 

In  the  list  of  great  improvements  which 
characterize  the  present  age  of  progress,  and 
which  have  aided  so  materially  in  widely  dif- 
fusing the  comforts  of  human  life,  the  plank- 
road  is  destined  to  occupy  a  prominent  place. 
Good  common  roads  tend  to  change  the  condi- 
tion of  the  planter  or  farmer,  wherever  they 
are  extended. 

The  plank-road  gives  him  a  thoroughfare 
infinitely  superior  to  any  other,  not  excepting 
raih'oads.  The  superiority  consists  in  its  pe- 
culiar adaptation  to  the  wrnts  of  a  people, 
who  necessaiily  maintain  a  large  number  of 
mules  and  horses,  which  are  fed  and  kept  in 
idleness,  at  a  season  of  the  year  when  crops 
are  sent  to  market;  a  motive  power  which 
would  carry  a  crop  to  market  on  a  plank  road 
without  cost,  except  for  tolls.  The  travelhng 
community,  too,  will,  by  the  same  means, 
move  without  being  subjected  to  the  rules  and 
regulations  of  others,  as  to  time,  speed,  or 
equipage,  in  which  they  desire  to  travel.  The 
cheapness  and  facility  with  which  plank-mads 
may  be  constructed  in  our  state,  need  only  to 
be  made  known  to  produce  a  clnuige  which 
will,  in  after  years,  annihilate  one  of  tlie  great- 
est evils  known  to  our  country — the  niutl  and 
mire  through  which  our  bulky  and  valuable 
products  are  yearly  dragged  to  market.  In 
many  parts  of  our  country  this  is  a  source  of 
involuntary  hermitage,  for  a  day's  journey  is 
not  attainable,  except  through  roads  which 
seem  to  have  concentrated  all  the  evils  that 
could  embarrass  a  traveller.  Plank-roads,  by 
penetrating  our  forests,  will  finil  material  for 
their  construction,  and  afterwards  afford  the 
means  of  carrying  them  into  portions  of  our 
state  where  the  timber  has  been  exiiausted. 
They  will  be  the  means  of  rctleemiiig  and 
settling  lands  hitherto  considered  useless. 
When  introduced,  they  will  so  expedite  travel, 
as  to  bring  a  large  range  of  our  surrounding 
country  so  near  to  us  as  to  be,  as  it  were,  the 
envii-ou3  of  our  city.    The  plank-road  is  the 


378 


PLANK-ROADS. 


road  of  the  people,  open  to  all,  affording  relief  f  market,  tliey  are  frequently  almost  impas- 
to  the  beast  of  burden,  multiplying  and  cheap-    sable,  even  for  empty  wagons, 
ening  the  means  of  carrying  produce  to  mar-        In  looking  back  into  the  history  of  the  last 
ket,  and  aftonling  a  delightful  means  of  travel,  i  thirty  years  in  South  Carolina,  we  find  that, 
"We  can  trace  back  their  origin  to  Russia,  but  notwithstanding  this    unpardonable  state  of 


are  unable  to  fix  a  date.  Tiiey  were  intro- 
duced into  Canada  in  1834,  in  our  northern 
states  in  1846,  recently  in  Georgia,  and  other 


things,  the  public  mind  has  occasionally  been 
excited,  and  I  may  say  convulsed,  on  this  sub- 
ject.    Tiie  mania  for  internal  improvements, 


soutiiern  and  western  states.  They  have  |  which  prevailed  in  1820  in  this  state,  can  be 
superseded  Macadamized  roads,  and  in  some  characterized  by  no  more  appropriate  term 
instances  have  held  successful  competition  side  than  convulsion,  for  in  a  state  of  feverish  ex- 
by  side  with  railroads.  Even  in  countries  ;  citement,  she  expended  millions  of  dollars  in 
where  stone  is  abundant,  and  wood  compa-  works  for  which  the  country  was  not  pre- 
ratively  scarce,  they  are  one  half  cheaper  i  pared,  and  which  proved  to  be  a  waste  of 
tean  Macadamized  roads,  and  one  fourth  of  money.  The  amount  of  capital  expended  in 
the  cost  of  raih-oads ;  and  when  constantly  1  those  useless  canals  would  have  constructed 
used  Vjy  heavy  burthen  wagons  so  as  to  wear  Macadamized  roads  to  every  important  section 
them  out  before  they  rot,  they  are  more  dur-  of  our  state,  serving,  at  that  period,  to  cheapen 
able  than  Macadamized  roads,  including  the  the  transit  of  produce  to  market,  and  at  this 
cutlaj' necessary  to  relay  the  plank-road  once  '  time  as  a  basis  for  the  plankroad,  so  admira- 


m  seven  years.  A  horse  or  mule  will  draw 
twice  the  weight  on  a  plank-road  that  he  could 
on  a  Macadamized  one,  travel  with  greater 
speed,  more  ease  to  himself,  and  less  wear  to 
the  vehicle  which  he  draws.  The  state  of 
New- York,  the  first  to  introduce  them,  in  the 
course  of  five  years,  has  extended  this  species 


bly  adapted  to  our  country,  and  which,  in  my 
opinion,  is  destined  to  supersede  all  other 
modes  of  transit. 

Railroads  are  expensive  in  their  first  outlay, 
and  extremely  complicated,  and  expensive  to 
keep  up.  They  seldom  improve  the  country 
through  which  they  pass,  and  are  beneficial 


of  improvement  to  over   a  thousand   miles, ;  to  cities  only,  by  reaching  sections  of  country 
which  she  has  now  akeady  completed,  and  in    which  have  no  natural  outlets,  and  which  are 

beyond  the  reach  of  a  wagon  trade,  over  good 


daily  use 

In  the  whole  history  of  internal  improve 
ments,  there  is  scarcely  any  thing  to  surpass 


common  roads.     They  are  profitable  to  stock- 
holders only  when  located  on  great  thoi^ough- 


the  rapidity  with  which  this  system  has  de-  j  fares  for  travel,  and  where  they  can  be  used 
Teloped  itself.  Plank-roads  by  the  side  of  to  extend  the  commerce  of  a  city.  Out  of 
railroads  are  in  use  in  New- York, and  paying!  the    9,000    miles   of    railroad    now    in    use 


10  to  15  per  cent.,  carrying  passengers  at  two 
cents  per  mile. 

While  we  see  other  states  progressing  in 
this  practical  way,  we,  in  South  Carolina,  are 
in  the  midst  of  a  railroad  mania.  We  seem  to 
have  passed  by,  unnoticed,  the  fact  that,  not- 
withstanding eighteen  years  have  elapsed 
since  the  South  Carolina  Railroad  to  Ham- 
burg was  put  in  operation,  the  country 
through  which  it  passes  remains  a  compara- 
tive wilderness,  with  its  hundreds  and  thou- 
sands of  acres  of  heavy  timber  untouched, 
except  the  small  portion  uscii  by  the  railroad 
for  its  construction  and  repairs.  A  plank- 
road would  have  long  since cairied  this  tmiber 
to  market,  and  converted  the  present  wild 
lands  into  cultivaled  fields. 

It  is  the  received  opinion  all  over  the  world, 
that  the  improved  condition  of  the  common 
roads  and  bridges  of  a  country  are  evident 
signs  of  the  progress  of  civilization.  But  our 
planting  states  seem  to  be  an  exception  to  the 
rule;  for,  with  all  our  wealth  and  icfiiiement, 
our  market-roads,  over  which  millions  of 
dollars  worth  of  agricultural  products  annually 
pass,  have  had  but  little  more  labor  bestowed 
upon  them  than  to  clear  away  the  forest 
timber,  and  erect  the  rudest  temporary 
bridges.     In   the  winter    season,   when   our 


in  the  United  States,  it  is  surprising  to 
learn  how  few  of  them  yield  a  profit  commen- 
surate to  the  capital  which  has  been  invested 
in  their  construction.  It  certainly  ought  to 
admonish  us  against  injudicious  si'loctions  of 
the  moile  of  improving  the  highways  of  the 
state,  and  of  the  fatal  consequences  of  ex- 
hausting the  energy  and  capital  of  a  country 
to  construct  works,  which,  however  gigantic 
in  their  conception,  will  not  prove  sufliiciently 
useful  to  pay  for  keeping  tliem  up.  I  allude 
to  the  present  state  of  public  sentiment  from 
no  unkind  feeling  towards  the  r.iilroads  now 
being  projected  and  in  progress  in  our  state, 
but  from  a  settled  conviction  that  public  opin- 
ion, in  this  particular,  is  entirely  in  error. 

Railroads  are  necessarily  costly  works,  and 
ought  not  to  be  attempted  excejjt  by  capital- 
ists for  bona  fide  investment.  When  there  is 
not  a  sure  prospt-ct  of  ])rofifable  returns, 
capitalists  will  not  lend  tluir  aid,  and  the 
work  has  to  be  commenced  by  exciting  ap- 
jieals  to  patriotism,  and  jilausibic  arguments 
as  to  the  advantages  which  will  accrue  to 
every  individual  through  whose  neighb<'rhood 
it  may  pass  The  work  is  often  commenced 
after  receiving  promises  for  but  half  the  capital 
necessarj'  to  ctmiplt'te  it,  depending  on  loans 
for  the  balance ;  and  when  completed,  is  found 


great  staple,  cotton,  ought  to  be  carried  to  J  to  have  cost  more  than  the  estimates,  thus 


PLANK-ROADS. 


31^ 


starting  iindor  the  (llsa(lvant<af!;e  of  a  heavy 
debt-  Then  comes  the  great  diftiL-ulty,  which 
is  the  pitii  of  the  argument  in  favor  of  otlier 
modes  of  iinproving  the  higliways  of  South 
Carolina, — I  mean  the  hxrge  outlays  necessary 
for  the  purchase;  of  complicated  machinery, 
the  erection  of  workshops  to  keep  it  in  repair, 
the  necessity  fir  higli-salaried  officers — such 
as  a  president,  treasurer,  auditor,  agent  of 
transp()rtation,  civil  engineer,  and  foreman  of 
"workshops;  also  skilful  workers  in  irou  and 
wood  —  painters,  upholsterers,  receivers  and 
deliverers  of  freight  —  laborers  to  load  and 
unload  —  a  regiment  of  clerks  and  book- 
keepers, working  engineers,  conductors,  fire- 
men, tfec.  To  all  of  tliese  ramifications  of  ex- 
pense, the  extent  of  which  is  scarcely  con- 
ceivable by  the  best  informed  in  such  matters, 
must  be  added  the  wear  of  iron  and  decay 
of  timber,  slow  but  sure,  in  their  eventual 
destruction  of  property,  and  which  cannot  be 
neglected  even  for  a  day.  Much  diversity  of 
opinion  exists  among  railroad  managers  as  to 
the  extent  which  railroad  companies  should 
engage  in  the  manufacture  and  repair  of 
machinerj';  in  my  opinion,  large  sums  of 
money  have  been  wasted  in  this  way,  and  the 
extent  of  such  establishments  ought  to  be 
decided  by  the  fixcilities  immediately  at  hand 
to  have  the  work  done  by  private  contract. 
All  interior  roads  would  be  under  the  actual 
necessity  of  doing  such  work  for  themselves, 
however  costly  it  might  prove  to  be.  The 
workshops  now  being  erected  by  the  South 
Carolina  Railroad  Company  in  this  place  are 
on  an  extensive  scale.  Without  pretending  to 
enter  into  any  argument  as  to  the  policy,  I  do 
not  hesitate  to  express  the  opinion,  that  when 
this  establishment  is  fully  equipped  with  men 
and  machinery,  that,  in  the  absence  of  the 
most  consummate  skill  in  managing,  it  will 
sink,  in  the  wear  and  tear  of  machinery,  waste 
of  material,  and  injudicious  application  of 
mechanical  labor,  a  larger  sum  per  annum 
than  would  be  necessary  to  pay  a  good 
dividend  on  the  investment  necessary  to  build 
a  plank-road  one  hundred  and  sixty  miles 
long.  The  mere  working  of  the  South  Caro- 
lina Railroad  costs,  in  round  numbers,  over 
$1,200  per  day  for  every  working  day  in  the 
year.  As  I  have  before  observed,  railroads 
are  exceedingly  complicated  works,  costly  in 
their  construction  and  outfit,  and  in  their 
management ;  and  we  think  that  the  least  re- 
flecti(jn  ought  to  convince  us  that  they  are 
only  fitted  for  locations  where  they  can  obtain 
the  patronage  of  an  extensive  mercantile  or 
manufacturing  population. 

How  striking  the  contrast  between  rail  and 
plank-roads  in  every  point  of  view.  The  per- 
manent cost  of  a  plank-road  ceases  with  the 
construction  of  the  highway.  With  the  same 
original  expenditure,  it  accommodates  a  thou- 
sand or  a  million  tons  of  transportation ;  while 
the  railroad   requires  large   investments  in 


machinery  for  any  additional  influx  of  trade, 
whether  pevmanent  or  temporary.  The  plank- 
road  is  capable  of  meeting  all  the  wants  of  our 
country,  and  superior  to  the  railroad  in  every 
particular,  but  that  of  indulging  our  fancy  in 
rapidly  passing  from  one  point  to  another;  it 
is  so  simple  and  cheap  in  its  construction  and 
management,  that  there  is  scarcely  a  village 
or  an  agricultural  section  of  our  country  that 
cannot  afford  to  build  and  maintain  one. 

After  the  construction  is  completed,  the 
commonest  labor  of  our  country  can  be  used 
in  keeping  them  in  repair.  The  whole  ex- 
]>ense  of  conducting  the  affairs  of  a  plank  road 
from  this  city  to  the  mountains  woul  1  be  em- 
braced in  the  salary  of  a  treasurer  or  general 
supervisor,  the  gate-keepers,  overseers  and  la- 
borers requisite  to  keep  the  road  in  order.  The 
most  striking  feature  of  the  plank-road  system, 
that  distinguishes  it  from  the  railroad,  is,  that 
the  first  avails  itself  of  the  independent,  pre- 
existing animal  power  for  the  purpose  of  trans- 
portation, while  the  last  substitutes  mechanical 
agency  for  the  same  end. 

Now,  if  the  question  were  raised  in  manu- 
facturing countries,  like  Great  Britain  and  the 
eastern  states,  (where  the  construction  and 
management  of  machinery  is  the  business  of  a 
large  class  of  the  population,  and  where  horse 
power  is  used  only  to  a  limited  extent,)  as  to 
the  advantages  of  the  two  modes  of  transpor- 
tation, the  decision  would  undoubtedly  be  in 
favor  of  the  machine ;  but  in  South  Carolina 
we  are  seeking  the  best  modes  of  transporta- 
tion for  our  great  agricultural  staple,  and  it  is 
a  question  of  some  importance  how  far  the 
public  interest  will  be  promoted  bysubstituting 
machinery ,when  it  would  not  lessen  the  amount 
of  animal  power  required  for  the  purposes  of 
production.  From  the  great  amount  of  plough- 
ing necessary  to  the  growth  of  a  cotton  crop, 
there  is  no  country  in  the  world  which  em- 
ploys so  much  of  animal  power,  in  proportion 
to  the  weight  of  the  staple  product,  as  in  oiu: 
cotton  growing  states.  In  the  growth  of  cot- 
ton, ploughing  is  continually  needed  from 
January  and  February,  when  the  land  is  broken 
up,  to  August,  when  tlie  crop  is  laid  by,  and 
the  fruit  begins  to  open ;  on  an  average,  a 
horse  or  mule  is  employed  for  every  eight 
bales  of  cotton,  or  ton  and  a  half  of  product 
In  grain  and  grass  growing  countries,  a  farmer 
puts  in  thirty  acres  of  wheat  with  one  horse, 
wiiich  yields  from  fifteen  to  twenty  bushels 
to  the  acre,  or  .Se.OOO  lbs.,  about  fifteen  tons 
of  product  to  the  horse.  The  article  of  hay 
will  greatly  exceed  this,  and  probably  reach 
forty  tons  of  product  to  the  horse. 

In  hilly  countries,  plank- roads  are  more 
necessary  and  advantageous  than  in  flat  ones 
and  it  is  not  at  all  necessary  to  procure  so  low 
a  grade  as  one  in  fifty ;  one  in  sixteen  is  in 
very  common  use,  and  one  in  ten  may  be  used 
to  great  advantage.  If  the  hill  sides  only  of 
the  upper  districts  were  planked,  it  would  ef- 


380 


PLANK-ROADS. 


feet  a  saving,  afford  great  relief,  and  prove  j 
more  economical  in  the  end,  than  the  usual 
repairs  bestowed  upon  tliem.  Many  persons 
suppose,  that  in  our  sandy  country  a  double 
track  will  be  required.  In  a  few  instances, 
where  the  sand  is  very  light,  it  may  be,  but 
this  is  a  rare  occurrence.  King  and  Meeting 
streets  were  beds  of  loose  sand  previous  to 
planking  the  sides  of  these  thorougii fares,  but 
now,  since  the  lieavy  -wagons  are  confined  to 
the  plank-road,  the  middle  portions  of  the 
streets  have  become  so  solid  as  to  make  a  good 
surface  for  fast  driving,  and  to  admit  of  a 
heavily  loaded  wagon  passing  off  and  on  the 
plauk-road,  with  little  or  no  inconvenience. 

For  the  various  as  well  as  most  approved 
modes  of  building  plank-roads,reference  should 
be  made  to  Gislispie's  Manual  of  the  princi- 
ples and  practice  of  road  building.  He  gives 
eight  feet  as  the  most  approved  width,  and 
requires  160,000  feet  of  lumber  to  a  mile.  The 
cost  is  variously  estimated  at  from  §1,000  to 
§2,400  a  mile.  The  grading  in  iiilly  countries 
constitutes  a  heavy  item.  A  road  from  Charles- 
ton to  Abbeville  would  be  about  160  miles 
long.  The  grading  would  necessarily  be  light, 
and  with  lumber  at  ?6,  it  could  be  completed, 
with  a  track  nine  feet  wide,  for  -Sl.VOO,  at  the 
outside  .$1,800,  a  mile,  which  cost  will  include 
engineering,  gate,  houses,  <&c.  From  my  ex- 
perience in  such  matters,  I  am  satisfied  that, 
by  the  aid  of  steam  saw  mills,  a  contractor 
could  lay  down  his  timber  on  the  line,  for  the 
first  1,50  miles,  at  $4  50  per  1,000  feet. 

With  persons  who  have  not  reflected  on  the 
subject,  the  first  objection  which  seems  to  urge 
itself  against  plank-roads,  compared  with  rail- 
roads, is  tlie  immense  amount  of  lumber  re- 
quired in  their  construction.  Tliis  objection  is 
easily  met  by  the  fact,  that  they  do  not  re- 
quire more  timber  than  is  used  in  the  construc- 
tion of  a  railroad,  while  the  durability  of  the 
timber  for  use  is  twice  as  great  in  a  plank  as 
in  a  railroad.  The  material  for  the  former 
will  remain  and  do  service  as  long  as  a  wag- 
on wheel  will  pass  smoothly  over  it,  wliile,  on 
the  latter,  tlie  safety  of  rapidly  moving  and 
heavy  machinery  requires  that  the  timber 
should  be  removed  on  the  first  symptom  of 
decay.  Tiie  average  durability  of  plankroads 
is  from  nine  to  ten  years  ;  and  if  the  air  is  ex- 
cluded from  the  sills,  tliey  will  last  from  fifteen 
to  twenty  years. 

Others,  again,  may  urge  that  plank-roads 
could  not  thrive  or  be  supported  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  the  railroad.  We  refer  such  persons  to 
the  fact,  that  there  are  now  upwards  of  5,000 
wagons  per  ammm,  that  pass  the  Six-Mile 
House, coming  to  Charleston;  tliat  cotton  and 
other  produce  is  hauled  sixty  miles  to  town 
in  wagons,  and  sometimes  from  Blackville, 
ninety  miles.  On  a  good  plank-road,  a  single 
iiiule  will  haul  a  cord  of  wood  thirty  miles  in 
a  day ;  and  a  team  of  four  mules  will  bring  to 
town  4,000  feet  of  lumber,  from  sixty  miles 


up  the  country,  in  two  days.  This  will  make 
it  a  profitable  business  to  cut  lumber  and  fire- 
wood, and  bring  it  to  town  from  a  large  range 
of  country. 

How  much  the  present  wagon  trade  will 
he  increased  by  plank-roads,  is  a  fruitful  and 
interesting  theme  for  speculation.  I  am  fully 
persuaded  that  the  first  twenty  miles  will  pay 
from  the  present  traffic;  and  that,  by  its  own 
influence,  it  will  create  other  branches  of  trade, 
which  will  daily  increase  its  income.  It  will 
draw  trade  from  the  private  avenues  ou  both 
sides  of  it,  and  every  mile  added  to  its  length 
will  increase  the  ratio  of  its  profit.  "Wood, 
turpentin<^,  and  lumber  will  furnish  the  busi- 
ness of  the  first  fifty  miles,  after  which  will 
come  the  trade  from  the  vicinity  of  Orange- 
burg. When  the  road  shall  have  reached  the 
rich  agricultural  districts  of  Edgefield,  New- 
bury, and  Abbeville,  its  capacity  for  business 
will  be  tested  with  the  products  of  a  populous 
and  wealthy  portion  of  our  state.  The  fiicili- 
ties  for  economical  transportation  will  be  so 
apparent,  that  there  are  few  who  will  not 
avail  themselves  of  them.  The  advantages 
above  set  forth  are  so  apparent,  that,  we  think, 
they  ought  to  convince  the  most  skeptical  that 
there  will  be  a  travel  ou  it  equivalent  to  at 
least  12,000  wagons,  150  miles  each  in  a  year, 
which,  at  four  cents  a  mile,  will  amount  to 
§76,800  tolls,  without  taking  into  considera- 
tion the  carriages,  buggies,  and  horsemen  that 
will  use  it. 

The  effect  on  Charleston  would  be,  to  bring 
back,  with  a  tenfold  increase,  that  important 
wagon  trade  which  once  gave  value  to  King 
street;  and  to  all  the  other  property  in  the 
northern  part  of  our  city,  an  impulse  might  be 
expected  which  would,  in  a  short  period,  ex- 
tend the  buildings  of  King  and  Meeting  streets 
to,  and  even  beyond,  the  new  limits  of  our 
city. 

All  doubts,  if  any  exist,  as  to  the  benefit  the 
community  at  large  would  derive,  or  as  to  the 
profit  wliich  capital  would  yield,  if  invested  in 
such  works  in  our  state,  I  think,  will  be  re- 
moved by  a  knowledge  of  what  the  state  of 
New- York  is  doing.  There  the  whole  country 
is  traversed  by  canals  and  railroads ;  yet 
we  see  Macadamized  roads  being  converted 
into  plank-roads,  and  plank-roads  by  the  side 
of  railroads  are  paying  ten  per  cent,  after  lay- 
ing by  eight  per  cent,  for  the  renewal  of  plank- 
ing. We  could  quote  many  instances  where 
plank-roads  are  regularly  paying  twenty  to 
twenty-five  per  cent,  on  the  capital  invested. 
One  of  these  companies  in  New-York,  in  its 
report  to  the  legislature,  states  that  83,000 
wagons  passed  over  the  road  in  one  year. 
Allowing  that  each  team  carried  an  equivalent 
to  fifteen  bales  of  cotton,  they  would  all  have 
carried  1,245,000  bales,  which  is  more  than  all 
the  machinery  of  the  South  Carolina  railroad 
could  carry  in  two  years.  So  great  is  the  ex- 
pansive power  of  these  roads,  that  the  whole 


PLANK-ROADS. 


381 


business  of  the  year  might  be  crowded  into  one  \  Maeadnmizing  is  but  a  temporary  ■work ;  for, 


month,  and  not  affect  its  operation  in  the  slight- 
est degree. 

It  is  certain  that  the  animal  power  necessary 
to  the  prncUiction  of  a  cotton  crop  is  fully  ade- 
quate to  its  transportation  to  market,  over  a 
plank-road,  a  distance  of  200  or  250  miles.  In 


unless  the  operation  of  relating  with  broken 
stone  id  kept  up,  the  carriage  wheels  will  soon 
cut  througii  in  the  mud.  That  street,  in  the 
widened  portion,  is  thirtyfeet  between  the  curb- 
stones, and  twenty-four  feet  in  the  old  narrow 
part.     A  phmk-road,  eigliteen  feet  wide,  laid 


one  trip,  every  horse  or  mule  could  carry  the  i  in  the  centre  and  properly  arched,  with 
result  ofhis  own  labor  to  market,which  method,  Macadamized  edges  next  to  the  curbstone, 
in  two  or  three  weeks,  would  dispose  of  the  j  would  be  more  durable,  cost  much  less,  and 
crop.  In  no  well-managed  plantation  would  answer  quite  as  well,  if  not  better,  than  the 
this  seriously  interfere  with  the  economy  of  ju-  present  method.  Its  noiseless  operations  ren- 
dicious  agriculture.      But  let  us  suppose,  in  '  der  it  far  preferable  to  stone  paving,  for  a 


order  to  compensate  for  any  loss  of  time,  that 
the  planter  puts  his  owu  provender  on  the 
wagon  for  the  trip,  and  gets-  his  thirty-two 
bales  of  cotton  to  market  with  no  outlay  but 
for  tolls,  (say  ?8,)  for  200  miles ;  suppose,  fur 


business  street. 

It  is  l^ped  that  the  time  is  not  far  distant 
when  South  Carolina  will  get  tired  of  keeping 
up  the  state  road,  and  be  willing  to  give  it  to 
a  company  who  will  construct  plank  surface 


ther,  that  to  meet  his  expenses,  he  takes  a  re  upon  it,  and  render  it  one  of  the  useful  improve 
turn  load  of  12,500  pounds,  at  30  cents  a  hun-  j  ments  of  the  age. 

dred.  This  would  pay  his  tolls  both  ways,  A  half  million  of  dollars  expended  by  our 
and  leave  him  §21  50  clear  profit.  The  same  city  in  thus  extending  her  business  to  remote 
•would  cost  him  on  200  miles  of  railroad,  in  parts  of  the  state,  would  truly  be  sowing  seeds 
freight  on  his  cotton,  at  least  $1  25  per  bale,  of  prosperity,  which  would  yield  rich  harvests 
or  S-tO ;  this,  added  to  the  $21  50  earned  by  j  for  all  time  to  come. 

the  return  trip,  over  and  above  tolls,  and  we  ■  I  am  indebted  for  a  large  share  of  the  in- 
have  a  saving  of  §01  50  by  three  weeks'  use  of  i  formation  contained  in  this  essay,  to  the  report 
a  team,  which  would  have  to  be  fed  at  home, ;  of  A.  A.  Dexter,  Esq.,  civil  engineer,  of  Mont- 
if  not  employed  upon  the  road.     The  return  i  gomery,  Alabama,  -nhich  I  would  commend  to 

every  individual  who  feels  an  interest  in  the 
subject.  1  have  used  both  his  figures  and 
language,  where  I  have  found  them  to  answer 
my  purpose.* 


*  The  positions  taken  by  Mr.  Gregg  in  favor  of 
plank-roads,  as  against  railroads,  have  been  contro- 
verted by  a  writer  in  the  Charleston  Courier,  who 
says  :  "  It  is  difficult  to  find  an  instance  in  which  the 
construction  of  a  railroad  has  not  benofitcd  tlie  agri- 


Icads  of  sugar,  coffee,  molasses,  salt,  iron,  and 

other  sorts  of  merchandise,  would  not  always 

Bupply  a  full  back  load,  but  it  is  presumed  that 

such  facilities  for  transportation  would  lead  to 

the  improvement  of  land,  by  the  use  of  lime, 

gypsum,  and  other  stimulants  of  the  soil.   Oys- 
ter shells,  five  and  a  half  tons  to  the  load,  would 

be  a  good  retmn  load  for  a  back  country 

planter. 

To   make   the   work   complete,    such   roads    cultural  interests  of  the  country  within  wagoning  dis- 

1      ,.       o  ,,  ,         1111  111    tance  of  its  line,  as  well  as  the  towns  at  its  termini. 

leadmg  from  the  country  should  be  extended    ^j^  q^^.„,^  tells  u^  that  railroads  add,  comparatively, 

to  the  wharves ;  for  a  team  could  not  haul  more   but  little  value  to  the  agricultural  districts  through 

which  they  pass.     Let  that  gentleman  inquire  of  the 

farmers  and  planters  hving  along  the  ra;lroads  of  the 

.  !■  •        ii       -     1  IT       United  fc>tates,  if  they  do  not  consider  their  lands  to 

m   better  Conthtion   tjian    tbey  are   generally  ,  j^ave  been  enhanced  in  value  by  those  works,  and  we 

promise  him  that  their  answers  will  bring  him  to  doubt 
somewhat  the  soundness  ofhis  doctrines.  AVc  are  to 
learn,  for  the  first  time,  from  this  lecture,  that  rail- 
roads are  only  profitable  to  stockholders, wli  in  located 
on  great  thoroughfares  for  travel.  An  examination 
of  the  business  done  on  nineteen  twentieths  of  the 


than  a  half  load  over  a  stone-paved  street,  and 
not  even  that,  unless  the  pavements  were  kept 


found  to  be,  after  a  few  years'  wear.     I  have 
nothing  to  say  against  paving  our  streets  with  : 
stone,  for  I  believe  it  to  be  the  only  sure  mode 
of  finally  exterminating  the  yellow  fever  from 
our  city.     But  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  a 

good  plank-road  leading  from  our  railroad  to  !  ^'^"•''f^.j"';'?"]^;/'^^^]  t^J^^^--^^^^^  """^'""t  of  the 
o  '  1111  i-  c  It       -L      I  trade  IS  for  short  journeys,  and  m  some  instances  the 

the  wharves  and  wholesale  portion  of  the  city,  I  ^ame  may  be  said  of  the  freighting  business,  showinu, 
would  reduce  the  cost  of  dray  age  on  heavy  j  conclusively,  that  the  great  dies  at  the  extreme  ends 
articles  at  least  one  half  Those  who  are  well '  "f  ^^^  •'"•'s  furnish  but  a  certain  portion  <d  the  busi- 
•   e  1         .^1  1  •     1       ..•       i    .1       1  ;  ness.     Mr.  Gregg  says, '<  Jut  ot  9,(100  miles  of  railroad 

informed  on  the  subject,  estimate  the  drayage  I  „„^  ;„  y^^.  j,,  the  United  States,  it  is  surprising  to 
to  and  from  the  railroad  in  Charleston  to  cost ;  icurn  how  few  yield  a  profit  commensurate  to  the 
fully  $50,000  per  annum.      The  railroad  com-  <  capital.'  If  it  be  considered  how  much  Ihey  have  beca 

Dailies  which  have  been  receivino-  and  trans- 1  •"'^"^"''''^  ""'^"^"'^'''"'"'^ '"^"™'^' "''*°''""-''"""""'y' 
panics  wmcn  nave   oecn  receivin     anu  ir.inb   i  ,jrin'.;ing  them  into  competition  withea-h  other,  the 

porting  iron  over  the  South  Carolina  railroad    wonder  will  be  that  so  many  of  them  make  their  six 

for    the    last  three  years,  would    have    saved  i  per  cent.     The  railroads  otMassachusetls,  taken  as  a 


money 
the' 


ney  by  the  construction  of  a  plank-road  at  I  "ho'e,  pay  six  per  rent. ;  those  of  New-York  p.iy  tho 
.    ■'      -^         i.  .     .1       !•      •  «     i     nf         1     same,  while  there  are  several  paying  larger  dividends, 

ir  owu  cost  to  the  shipping.  As  to  Macad- [  ^,,^^,.0^50  of  railroads  in  Pennsvlvania  is  something 
amized  roads,  experience  has  proved  them  not  above  six  per  cent,  stock.  Indeed,  whoncrvcr  railroads 
to  be  half  as  durable  as  planking;  and  every  have  been  constructed  through  a  country  under  toler- 
one  who  wilks  Kino- St  rpHt  must  =ee  from  the  I '''"'-'  cultivation,  and  without  competing  linos,  in- 
onewuo  walks  is.ing  street  must  see,  iiom  uie  stances  of  their  being  unprofitable  are  rarlely  heard 
mud  which  13  constantly  accumulating,  that  !  of." 


382 


PLAKK-ROADS. 


Advantages  of  Px-ank-Roads  over  Rail- 
EOADS. — 1.  Plank  roads  are  more  easily  and 
cheaply  constructed  than  railroads. 

2.  They  arc  more  easily  kept  in  repair,  and 
yield  a  larger  and  more  certain  return  to  the 
etockhoklers, 

3.  Produce  can  be  carried  over  them  at 
least  twenty-five  per  cent  cheaper  than  on 
railroads. 

4.  They  are  particularly  adapted  to  the 
southern  states,  because  of  the  abundance  of 
timber  here  and  the  character  of  the  power 
used. 

5.  They  accommodate  a  larger  number  of 
people,  because  they  can  be  carried  almost  to 
every  man's  door,  while  railroads  cannot.  _ 

6.  They  tend  to  sustain  a  local  population, 
and  build  up  a  home  market  in  every  neigh- 
borhood which  they  penetrate. 

To  these  I  may  add  that  plank-roads  are 
better  adapted  to  an  agricultural  country,  be- 
cause they  can  be  constructed  and  kept  in 
repair  by  the  planters  themselves ;  and  be- 
cause the  planters  can  ovm  them  and  manage 
them  so  as  to  make  the  transient  travel  pay 
the  expense  of  carrying  their  own  cotton  to 
market,  and  also  return  a  handsome  interest 
besides. 

I  know,  Messrs.  Editors,  that  many  of  your 
country  readers  particularly  look  upon  every 
man  who  advocates  the  construction  of  plank- 
roads  as  a  brainless  visionary.    They  contend, 

1.  That  the  timber  will  decay  so  soon  in 
this  climate,  that  the  road  will  be  rendered 
worthless  in  a  few  years  at  most. 

2.  Tliat  the  roads  will  be  so  narrow  as  to 
be  perfectly  useless  for  all  practical  purposes, 
especially  where  we  have  negro  drivers. 

3.  That  the  planters  will  not  travel  upon 
them  in  consequence  of  the  tolls  charged ;  but 
give  preference  to  the  common  roatls. 

4.  That  the  country  is  not  sufficiently  dense- 
ly po])ulated  to  furnish  either  trade  or  travel 
enough  to  sustain  them. 

I  will  answer  these  objections  in  order. 

1.  It  will  take  no  more  timber  to  build  a 
plank-road  than  to  lay  the  superstructure  of 
a  railroad,  and  it  will  last  at  least  one  third 
longer  upon  the  former  than  upon  the  latter. 
The  objection  in  regard  to  the  decay  of  timber, 
therefore,  is  much  stronger  against  tlie  railroad 
than  against  plank-roads.  The  weight  is  so 
immense,  that  to  render  the  former  safe  for 
heavily  laden  cars,  timbers  have  often  to  be 
thrown  away  before  they  are  half  decayed. 
This  would  not  be  the  case  with  plank-roads. 
In  the  northern  states  the  planks  used  are  of 
hemlock — a  soft,  sappy  wood — and  yet  they 
last  some  ten  or  twelve  years.  It  is  but  fair 
to  conclude  that  yellow  pine  will  last  as  long 
at  the  south  as  the  hemlock  will  at  the  north. 
If  this  be  conceded,  the  question  is  settled, 
because,  even  in  the  least  densely  settled  sec- 
tions of  I  New- York,  these  roads  are  paying 
from  25  to  40  per  cent,  uj^on  the  cost  of  their 


construction,  after  laying  up  a  reserved  fund 
sufficient  to  rebuild  them  every  ten  years. 

2.  If  eight  feet  be  found  to  be  too  narrow  for 
these  roads  at  the  south,  it  will  be  an  easy 
matter,  in  consequence  of  the  abundance  of 
timber  and  the  levelness  of  the  country,  to  in- 
crease the  width  to  twelve,  or  even  sixteen 
feet,  and  still  to  restrict  their  cost  within  the 
sum  paid  for  their  construction  at  the  north. 
Eight  fett  at  the  north,  where  the  population 
is  much  more  dense,  is  found  to  be  quite 
ample.  The  road  is  so  well  graded,  so  well 
drained,  and  kept  in  such  thorough  order,  that 
wagons  can  turn  out  at  any  point  with  perfect 
convenience. 

3.  That  planters  will  not  pay  the  tolls  to 
enjoy  the  benefits  of  these  roads,  no  sane  man 
can  believe.  Let  us  suppose  a  road  construct- 
ed from  Macon  to  Talbotton,  say  sixty-five 
miles  in  length.-  It  now  requires  a  six-horse 
team  nearly  four  days  to  haul  eight  bales  of 
cotton  from  Talbotton  to  Macon.  At  .S,5  per 
day,  the  cost  of  delivering  these  eight  bales 
would  be  .^20.  By  a  plank-road  the  same 
team  would  deliver  twenty  bales  in  two  days, 
or  at  a  cost  of  $10.  In  one  case  the  hauling 
costs  ^2.50  per  bale;  in  the  other  only  fifty 
cents  per  bale.  It  is  plain  that  the  planter  or 
wagoner  could  afford  to  pay  §!1  per  bale  toll, 
and  then  save  $1  per  bale,  in  addition  to  the 
saving  in  wear  and  tear  of  wagons  and  horses. 
Nothing  is  plainer  than  that  men  pursue  their 
interest,  and  planters  are  just  as  quick  to  dis- 
cover their  interest  as  any  other  class  of  men, 
A  road  to  Talbotton  would  concentrate  at  that 
point  20,000  bales  of  cotton,  and  a  branch 
from  it  to  the  Waymanville  factory  would 
concentrate  there  12,(iOO  to  15,000  bales  more. 
Can  any  man  doubt  that  the  planters  would 
not  gladly  pay  the  tolls  and  use  the  road  in 
preference  to  the  common  roads  of  the  coun- 
try ?     I  think  not. 

4.  The  idea  that  the  country  is  not  densely 
enough  populated  to  sustain  such  a  road  is 
equally  incorrect.  The  roads  themselves  will 
soon  su|>ply  the  necessary  density  of  popula- 
tion. This  has  been  pre-eminently  the  case 
with  railroads  and  canals.  The  increased 
value  of  property  along  the  Eiie  canal  was 
more  than  sufficient  to  pay  for  its  construction, 
and  this  increase  was  occasioned  by  the  de- 
mand brought  about  by  the  influx  of  popula- 
tion. 

PLA^NK-ROADS.— The  following,  taken 
from  a  recent  repoit  of  0.  G.  Gates,  Secretary 
of  the  Kentucky  Board  of  Improvements,  con- 
tains valuable  and  interesting  information  to 
those  interested  in  road  im|irovements: 

1.  The  system  of  plank-roads,  which  origin- 
ated in  Russia,  has  since  been  adopted  iu 
Canada,  and  iu  many  of  our  northern  states 
entirely  superseded  tlie  Macadam  and  Telford 
rock  or  gravel  roads.  The  great  success  and 
value  of  the  plank-road  consists  in  the  cheap- 


PAPER  MANUFACTURE   IN   THE   UNITED    STATES. 


883 


ness,  in  ease  of  draft,  in  speed,  and  in  comfort 
to  passengers. 

2.  The  approved  mode  of  construction 
thereof  is  as  follows :  For  a  single  track  the 
planks  (of  pine,  hemlock,  oak,  red  elm,  black 
walnut,  or  sweet  gum)  should  be  eight  feet 
long,  and  from  three  to  four  inches  thick ;  they 
should  be  laid  across  the  road  at  right  angles 


soon  penetrates  the  grain  of  the  plank,  until, 
with  the  woody  fibres  and  the  deposit  on  the 
road,  a  tough  elastic  covering  is  formed,  where- 
by the  plank  is  saved  from  the  further  wear. 
Experience  teaches  that  one  half  the  wear 
and  tear  of  seven  years  occurs  in  the  first 
year.  Therefore,  it  is  a  matter  of  great  im- 
portance on  these  roads  to  have  small  toUage, 


to  its  line.     These  planks  are  to  rest  on  two  i  in  order  to  invite  such  an  amount  of  travel  as 


longitudinal  sills  or  sleepers,  each  four  inches 
square,  bedded  in  the  earth  to  their  full  thick- 
ness. The  earth  should  be  fully  kept  up  to 
the  planks  at  every  point,  in  order  to  prevent 
confined  air  resting  in  any  vacant  space  be- 
neath the  planks.  No  pin  or  spike  is  needed 
to  confine  the  plank  to  the  sleepers,  their 
weight  being  sufficient  to  keep  them  firm. 
There  should  be  placed  on  the  upper  surface  a 
coating  of  sand  an  inch  thick.  There  should  be 
provided  for  a  single  track  turn-out  places — 
and  to  effect  this,  an  earthern  road  must  be 
bauked  up  ten  or  twelve  feet  wide  on  one 
side,  and  two  or  three  on  the  other ;  each  em- 
bankment should  be  made  flush  with  the  ends 
of  the  plank,  and  thence  sloping  outward  so 
as  to  carry  off  the  water,  as  perfect  drainage 
is  the  great  secret  in  the  construction  of  any 
kind  of  road.  The  plank  should  be  laid  even, 
with  part  thereof  projecting  two  or  three 
inches  beyond  the  general  line  of  the  road, 
in  order  to  prevent  ruts  made  by  wheels  at 
the  junction  of  the  plank  and  each  turn-out. 
And  if  the  bed  on  which  the  planks  are  to  be 
laid  is  a  new  one,  it  would  be  better  to  be 
travelled  one  season  before  they  are  laid 
down.  One  track,  with  the  supplementary 
earth  road  thus  formed,  will  be  sufficient  for 
all  ordinary  travel.  And,  if  the  tonnage  trans- 
ported on  the  road  be  chiefly  in  one  direction, 
the  track  should  be  laid  on  that  side  of  the 
road  which  will  enable  the  loaded  teams  to 
keep  it,  and  thereby  force  the  unloaded  ones 
to  do  all  the  turning  out. 

3.  To  make  a  double  track,  all  that  is  need- 
ed will  be  to  make  two  tracks  each  eight  feet 
wide,  or  one  sixteen  feet  wide.  The  former  is 
preferred.  For  the  sixteen  feet  track,  three  or 
five  longitudinal  sills  are  required,  each  to  be 
four  by  six  inches,  and  laid  edgewise  and  im- 
bedded in  trenches  six  inches  deep.  These 
timbers  should  be  from  fifteen  to  twenty  feet 
long.  Great  advantage  is  obtained  in  the  con- 
struction of  the  double  track  with  long  plank, 
by  giving  the  road  bed  a  slight  convexity  of 
two  or  three  inches  in  the  centre,  and  spring- 
ing the  plank  down  to  the  outside  sills,  and 
attaching  them  thereto  by  half  inch  spikes  or 
nails  three  inches  long. 

4.  The  duration  of  plank-roads  is  from  eight 
to   twelve  years;  this  matter,  however,  de- 

Eends  entirely  upon  decay  from  rot,  and  not 
y  the  surface  wear  of  the  plank.  The  sand 
which  is  spread  upon  the  track  when  finished, 
protects  the  wood  from  the  shoe  soles  of  the 
horses,  (which  causj  most  of  the  wear,)  and 


will  promote  their  wearing  out  instead  of 
rotting. 

5.  The  cost  of  the  plank-road  greatly  de- 
pends on  its  locality.  13ut  it  will  be  found  the 
following  estimate  will  approximate  to  an  ave- 
rage valuation,  to  wit ; 

For  one  mile  of  road  with  a  single  track, 
(made  with  plank  eight  feet  wide  and  three 
inches  thick,)  will  require  1 26,7 20  feet  board 
measure  of  jilank,  and  of  sills  4  by  4,  14,080, 
making  in  all  of  lumber  140,800  feet,  and  cost- 
ing say  five  dollars  per  thousand,  would  equal 
the  sum  of  seven  hundred  and  four  dollars. 
The  laying  and  grading  will  cost  from  thirty 
cents  to  a  dollar  per  rod,  or  from  ninety-six 
dollars  to  three  hundred  and  twenty  dollars 
per  mile.  The  earth- work,  sluices,  bridges, 
and  contingencies,  admit  of  no  average  esti- 
mate. Therefore,  without  them,  and  one  hun- 
dred dollars  per  mile  for  engineering  superin- 
tendence, and  one  hundred  dollara  for  gate 
houses,  we  have  the  total  cost  per  mile  from 
one  thousand  to  one  thousand  two  hundred 
and  twenty-four  dollars. 

PAPER  MANUFACTURE  IN  THE  UNI- 
TED STATES.— We  have,  on  a  previous 
occasion,  adverted  to  the  importance  of  this 
branch  of  our  industry,  so  rapidly  being  car- 
ried to  perfection  in  our  country.  In  1846, 
the  capital  employed  in  the  manufacture  was 
estimated  at  $18,000,00  0.  There  were  700 
mills,  producing  annually  $1'7,000,000  in  pa- 
per, and  employing  100,000  persons  of  all 
ages.  Cost  of  stock  used,  viz.,  rags,  old  rope, 
waste  cotton,  etc.,  $8,000,000,  without  refer- 
ence to  the  quantity  of  soda,  pearl  and  pot- 
ash, coloring  matter,  coal,  iron,  wood,  oil, 
sizing,  etc.,  valued  at  $2,000,000  more.  Wa- 
ges of  workmen  in  the  business,  |6  to  $9  per 
week. 

In  reference  to  writing  paper,  Mr.  Cist,  of 
Cincinnati,  publishes  some  curious  particu- 
lars : 

Cap,  as  applied  to  paper,  is  of  modern  use 
entirely,  at  least  in  certain  parts  of  the  Uni- 
ted States.  Not  more  than  thirty  years  since 
I  was  familiar  with  the  phrase  foolscap,  and 
I  distinctly  recollect  how  "cap,"  its  abbrevia- 
tion, grated  on  my  ear,  upon  first  hearing  it, 
as  much  so  as  "  pike,"  for  turnpike,  does  yet. 

The  question  is  thus  shifted  to  what  is  the 
origin  Of  the  phrase  foolscap,  as  applied  to 
writing  paper,  which  has  borne  this  name  so 
long,  that  its  origin  is  lost  to  most  persons. 

The  kings  of  England,  from  Edward  I.,  if 


884 


PAPER   MAXUFACTURE    IX   THE    TXITED    STATES. 


not  e.irlier,  granted  various  monopolies,  either 
for  the  Piipport  of  the  government,  or  to  en- 
rich f:\vorites.  One  of  these  -was  the  exclu- 
sive right  to  manufacture  paper  granted  by 
the  first  Charles.  On  the  finer  kinds,  as  a 
species  of  notice  of  the  monopoly,  the  royal 
arms  of  England  formed  the  water-mark. 
Vast  sums  were  of  course  made  upon  this  ex- 
clusive privilege  to  make  and  vend  an  article 
in  such  general  use. 

All  these  monopolies  were  swept  away  by 
the  parliament  which  brought  Charles  to  the 
scaffold  •,  and  in  this  particular  case,  by  way 
of  showing  their  contempt  for  the  monarch, 
they  directed  the  royal  arms  to  be  taken  from 
the  paper,  as  they  had  already  been  from 
sign-posts,  public  halls,  &c.,  substitutmg  a  fool, 
with  his  cap  and  bells,  as  the  effigy.  This 
was  done  in  1G49. 

Most  of  the  manuscripts  written  between 
that  period  and  1660  bear,  accordingly,  as  a 
water-mark,  a  fool  wearing  the  dress  described 
as  his  costume  in  the  court  of  the  British  mon- 
archs,  Cromwell,  when  made  Lord  Protect- 
or, changed  the  water-mark  by  substituting  a 
dragon.  gra«ping  in  his  claws  arrows  of  fire, 
and  afterward  put'ing  his  coat  of  arms  in  its 
place.     This  still  occasionally  appears. 

Charles  11.,  at  the  Restoration,  replaced 
the  royal  arms,  and  enlarged  the  size  of  the 
sheet,  which  was  much  smaller  than  we  see 
in  modern  days. 

In  England,  paper  of  the  size  which  the 
Rump  Piirliameiit  ordered  for  their  journals, 
bearing  the  foolscap  efligy,  is  still  in  exist- 
ence ;  and  the  title,  as  in  many  other  things, 
is  still  retained  for  ordinary  writing- paper, 
centuries  after  the  reason  for  it  has  ceased, 
and  now  .serves,  as  it  will  serve  for  ages,  to 
desiicnate  all  writing  paper  in  ordinary  use, 
as  distinguished  from  paper  designed  to  be 
fuldcil  in  the  form  of  letters. 

This  la<t  class  of  writing  paper  has  been 
reduced  greatly  in  length,  and  widened  some- 
what to  adapt  it  for  a  convenient  shape  in 
folding,  and  still  bears  its  original  name  of 
post  paper,  applied  to  it  from  the  mail  or  post 
by  which  letters  were  conveyed  to  their-  ad- 
dress. 

So  recently  has  the  United  States  made  its 
own  paper,  that  most  of  our  early  letters 
written  in  the  west,  even  as  late  as  1800, 
bear  tlie  impress  of  the  royal  arms.  St. 
Clair,  Harmar,  Wilkinson,  and  Wayne's  let- 
ters are  all  of  this  descriDtion. 

POULTRY  BUSINESS,  itc— Tlie  fol- 
lowing table,  compiled  from  the  census  of 
1840,  exhibits  the  value  of  the  poultry  at 
that  time  in  the  several  states : 

Maine $123,1'71 

New-Hampshire, 97,862 

Vermont, 176,437 

Massachusetts, 540,295 


Rhode-Island, "^  61,402 

Connecticut, 176,659 

Few- York 2,373,029 

New- Jersey, 41 2,487 

Pennsj'lvania, 1,033,172 

Delaware, 47,465 

Maryland, 219,159 

Virginia, 752,467 

North  Carolina, 544,125 

South  Carolina, 590,594 

Georgia, 473,158 

Ohio, 734,931 

Kentucky, 536,439 

Tennessee, 581,531 

Louisiana, 273,314 

Mississippi, 309,481 

Alabama, 829,220 

Missouri, 230,283 

Indiana, -393,228 

Illinois 330,968 

Michigan 82,730 

Arkansas 93.549 

Florida, 61,007 

Wisconsin, 16,167 

Iowa, 17,101 

Dist.  of  Columbia, 3,092 


$12,176,170 


The  above  table  shows,  that  raising  hens 
and  cliickeus  in  the  United  States  is  no  tri- 
fling business.  The  people  are  waiting  im- 
patiently for  the  census  returns  for  1851. 
When  they  come,  they  will  probably  show 
that  the  value  of  the  poultry  stock  of  the 
United  States  is  more  than  ?20,000,000  an- 
nually. 

From  the  foregoing  table  it  ajjpears  that 
the  value  of  poultry  in  the  single  state  of 
New- York  is  more  than  ^2,373,000;  while, 
according  to  the  United  States  census,  the 
value  of  all  the  sheep  of  that  state  is  less 
than  that  sum.  The  value  of  the  poultry  of 
New- York  is  greater  even  than  that  of  its 
cattle,  and  five  times  greater  than  that  of  all 
its  horses  and  mules. 

The  amoimt  of  poultry  sold  at  a  single 
market,  in  Boston  alone,  in  1848,  was  $674,- 
423;  and  for  the  whole  city,  during  that 
year,  it  exceeded  -^1,000,000.  "\Ve  liave  no 
accurate  statistics  for  our  other  large  cities, 
but  it  is  highly  probable  that  the  poultry 
trade,  in  such  cities  as  New  York,  Philadel- 
phia, Baltimore  and  New-Orleans,  must  be 
counted  by  millions  for  each. 

The  statistics  of  the  egg  trade  are  equally 
curious.  The  city  of  New  York  expends  an- 
nually for  eggs.  ^1,500,000.  It  consumes 
half  a  million  of  eggs  monthly'.  The  Astor 
House  alone  is  said  to  require  a  supply  of 
1,000  eggs  a  day,  for  five  days  in  the  week, 
and  on  Saturdays  2,500. 

At  a  single  marki't  in  Boston  there  were 
sold  in  1848,  1,129,735  dozens,  which,  at  the 
average  price   for   the   year,   amounted   to 


POLITICAL  ECONOMY,   GOVERNMENT,   ETC. 


S8S 


$203,362.    For  the  whole  city,  during  that  j 
year,  the  sales  aniouiited  to  about  5^1,000,000, 
The  state  of  Maine  shipped  to  Boston  in  1848, 
eggs  to  the  amount  of  S350,000;  and  a  sin] 
gle  house  in  Cincinnati  is  said  to  have  dealt 
in  them  to  the  extent  of  §100,000. 

We  arc  indebted  for  Uiese  statistics  to  a 
work  on  poultry,  by  Mr.  J.  C.  Bennett,  of 
Boston.  We  might  extend  tl'.em  much  far- 
ther, but  the  foregoing  are  sufficient  to  show 
the  importance  of  the  trade  of  tke  United 
States  in  poultry. 

Tlie  egg  and  poultry  trade  of  France  ex- 
ceeds §67,000,000  annually.  England  has 
invested  in  the  poultry  trade  ^50,000,000 ; 
France,  §73,000,000;  and  the  United  States, 
§15,000,000. 

The  business  of  raising  poultry,  in  this 
country,  is  left  almost  entirely  to  chance. 
Tliere  can  be  no  doubt  that  if  the  same  at- 
tention was  paid  to  it  that  is  bestowed  upon 
the  raising  of  slieep,  hogs,  and  cattle,  the 
trade  would  be  increased  tenfold. 

We  are  glad  to  see  tliat  efforts  are  begin- 
ning to  be  made  in  the  south  to  improve  this 
branch  of  rural  economy.  The  efforts  of  Mr. 
Lawrence  and  others,  to  introduce  the  finest 
species,  are  praiseworthj-,  and  ought  to  be 
encouraged.  Mr.  L.  has  obtained  the  follow- 
ing rare  varieties :  Red  and  Buff  Shanghaes, 
very  pure ;  White  Shanghaes,  a  very  scarce 
variety ;  Cochin-Chiuas ;  large  Eagle  Fowls,  or 
Imperial  Chinese ;  Poland  Fowls,  and  Chitta- 
gongs. 

For  the  information  of  those  who  would 
wish  to  know  something  of  the  natural  history 
of  these  species,  we  add  the  following  brief 
description  of  each : 

The  Shanglme  Fowls  are  of  two  varieties, 
the  red  and  buff,  or  yellow,  and  the  white. 
Tiiey  were  originally  laiported  from  the  city 
of  Slianghae,  China,  whence  their  name.  The 
plumage  of  the  Yellow  Shanghaes  is  usually 
of  a  bright  yellow  or  gold  color,  variegated 
with  dark  brown  and  red.  Their  legs  are 
uniformly  large,  and  usually  a  bright  red  and 
yellow  or  white  mixture,  sometimes  flesh- 
colored,  and  very  heavily  feathered.  The 
tail  is  short,  body  well  formed,  wings  small, 
and  high  on  the  sides ;  comb  single,  straight, 
and  serrated.  The  feathers  are  rather  fine 
and  downy.  These  fowls  grow  to  a  large 
size,  and  when  full  grown,  weigh  about  nine 
pounds.  The  male  Shanghae,  when  full 
grown,  and  standing  erect,  carries  his  head 
about  on  a  line  with  the  height  of  a  common 
flour  barrel. 

Tiiey  are  very  prolific.  They  commence 
laying  when  from  five  to  seven  montlis  old, 
and  a  single  fowl  has  been  known  to  lay  120 
eggs  in  1 25  days.     Their  eggs  are  yellow. 

The  White  Shanghaes  possess  all  the  char- 
acteristics of  the  yellow,  with  the  e.vception 
of  color.     The  Shanghae  fowls  command  a 
VOL,  II. 


high  price;  tliey  bring  from  $15  to  $25  a 
pair. 

The  Cochin  China  Fowl  has  been  only  very 
recently  introduced  in  Great  Britain,  by  Queen 
Victoria,  who  is  styled  by  Mr.  Kichardson, 
"  that  royal  patroness  of  poultry  fanciers." 
These  fowls  so  far  exceed  in  size  our  ordinary 
domestic  fowls,  that  persons  not  conversant 
with  zoology  have  referred  theiti  to  the  Bus- 
tard family.  They  are,  however,  genuine 
poultry.  Some  of  the  males  have  been  known 
to  weigh  from  thirteen  to  fourteen  pounds. 
The  average  weight  is  from  seventeen  to 
twenty  pounds  the  pair. 

Their  general  color  is  rich  glossy  brown,  a 
deep  bay.  On  the  breast  there  is  "  a  mark- 
ing of  a  blackish  color,  and  of  the  shape  of 
a  horse-shoe."  The  comb  is  of  moderate  size, 
serrated,  and  the  wattles  are  double.  The 
wing  is  strikingly  peculiar;  it  is  jointed,  '•  so 
that  the  posterior  half  can,  at  pleasure,  be 
doubled  up,  and  brought  forward  between 
the  anterior  half  and  the  body.  The  bird 
can  do  this  at  pleasure,  and  the  appearance 
the  manoeuvre  imparts  to  their  form  has  pro- 
cured for  tliem  the  title  of  Ostrich  fowl." 

The  Cochin  China  fowl  is  very  prolific,  fre- 
quently laying  two,  and  occasionally  three, 
eggs  on  the  same  day.  The  eggs  are  large, 
of  a  chocolate  color,  and  possess  a  very  deli- 
cate flavor. 

The  Polish  fowls  are  very  beautiful ;  they 
wear  tufted  crests.  There  are  three  varieties 
— the  Spa»gled  Polish,  a  bird  of  rare  beauty, 
its  plumage  presenting  a  symmetrical  and 
regular  combination  of  bright  orange,  a  clear 
white,  a  brilliant  green,  and  a  jetty  black, 
softened  down  with  a  rich  and  pure  brown, 
and  every  feather  being  tipped  with  white, 
whence  the  term  spanylcd ;  the  Black  Polish, 
of  a  jet  black  throughout,  except  the  crest, 
which  is  a  while  tuft ;  and  the  While  Polish, 
of  a  Ijrilliant  white  throughout,  except  the 
crest,  which  is  a  jet  black  tuft.  The  Polish 
fowls  produce  large  and  finely-flavored  eggs. 

Lastly,  the  Chiltagovgs.  These  are  the 
most  remarkable,  for  size  and  beauty,  of  all 
the  varieties.  The  Chittagong  is  the  true 
Gallns  Giganlicus  of  the  zoologists,  and  ex- 
cites astonishment  and  admiration  in  all  wlio 
behold  it.  It  is  a  native  of  Sumatra.  The 
male  is  frequently  so  tall  as  to  be  able  to 
pick  crumbs  without  difliculty  from  an  ordi- 
nary dinner  table,  and  weigh  from  ten  to  four- 
teen pounds.  The  average  weight  of  a  pair 
is  about  twenty-two  pounds.  Tiiey  are  the 
largest  domestic  fowls  in  the  world,  of  vari- 
ous colors,  and  produce  large  rich  eggs. 

POLITICAL  ECONOMY,  GOVERN- 
MENT, Etc.* — Of  the  two  sciences,  political 


Lecture  by  the  Editor  in  University  of  Louisi- 
'  25 


3g6 


POLITICAL   ECOXOMT,    GOVER^ME^-T,    ETC. 


economy  and 'government,  (if,  in  their  still 
crutie  and  imperfect  state,  the  term  science 
be  strictly  applicable  to  either,)  it  may  be 
said  generally,  the  aim  of  the  one  is  to  direct 
the  action  and  control  the  excesses  of  the 
otlier,  in  all  those  points  in  which  the  jmblic 
wealth  is  involved.  This,  tliough  it  be  far 
from  the  whole  mission  of  political  economy, 
is  yet  the  most  important  part  of  that  mis 
sioii.    ' 

The  public  wealth  is  an  essential  element 
of  that  public  welfare,  witli  whicli  all  govern- 
ments are  charged.  It  comprises  every  thing 
which  relates  to  tlie  physical  well  being  of  a 
people;  and  as  this  pliysical  well-being  is  at 
the  bottom  of  all  social  and  moral  progress — 
all  advances  in  letters,  arts,  sciences  and  civil- 
ization— the  promotion  of  j^ublic  wealth  may, 
iudeetl,  in  a  liberal  and  enlarged  sense,  be 
considered  the  wliole  duty  of  government. 
Political  economy  comes,  then,  to  be  considered 
coextensive  with  legislation,  and  sound  law 
is  necessarily  based  upon  its  principles. 

If  pohticid  economy,  like  some  of  the  exact 
sciences,  had  attained  perfection,  which  is  far 
from  being  tlie  case  in  its  present  stage  of 
infancy,  and  all  its  rules  and  principles  were 
Buscepiible  of  demonstration,  we  should  liave 
no  more  of  that  multiplicity  of  legislation, 
which  results  from  the  continued  enaction  and 
re])eal  of  laws,  unles?,  as  is  too  apt  to  be  the 
case,  governments  should  be  administered  by 
the  ignorant,  and  statesmen,  miscalled,  prefer 
to  pander  to  popular  prejudices  or  court  its 
acclamations,  than  carry  out  tlie  great  prin- 
cij)les  which  are  founded  in  truth  and  reason. 

That  this  last  supposition  is  not  improbable, 
may  be  inferred  from  wlii^t  is  every  day  seen, 
even  in  the  most  enlightened  govermneuts : 
for  it  will  not  surely  be  denied,  that  there  are 
eome,  and  wc  believe  a  great  many,  settled 
priticiplus  in  political  economy,  as  demon- 
strable as  any  moral  trntlis  can  be,  of  whicli 
ignorance  is  frequently  betrayed  in  high  quar- 
ters, and  whicli  are  openly  violated  under  one 
pretext  or  another,  or  with  seeming  uucou- 
Bciousness. 

That  the  law-givers,  or  law-makers  of  the 
world,  whether  by  the  divine  right  which 
made  kings  and  despots,  or  tlie  diviner  right 
of  reiiieseiitatives  of  the  people,  liave  in  real- 
ity, and  in  most  instances,  acted  from  tlie  best 
knowledge  within  their  reach,  with  sincerity 
and  with  honest  intentions  toward  those  whom 
they  were  called  upon  to  govern,  need  not  for 
our  purposes  be  denied.  No  sufficient  reason 
for  an  ojiposite  course  can  be  allegetl.  Even 
the  most  base  and  heartless  tyrant  couUl  not 
but  perceive,  unless  blinded  by  the  worst  mad- 
ness, that  his  own  state  and  splendor  is  in 
6ome  degree  dependent  upon  the  extent  and 
prosperity  of  his  realm  and  his  subjects.  A  | 
systematic  warfare  against  all  industry,  enter-  j 
prise  and   progress,  was  never,  peihajis,  the 


object  of  the  most  crushing  tyranny  the  world 
ever  knew. 

History  is  not,  indeed,  without  instances,  in 
all  ages,  where  such  systematic  warfare  ap- 
pears to  have  been  waged  against  industry 
and  enterprise,  by  even  the  best  class  of  gov- 
ernments. Al  careful  examination  of  the  exist- 
ing powers  of  the  world  would,  perhaps,  pre- 
sent us  many  such  instances  of  warfare,  more 
or  less  considerable,  notwithstanding  all  the 
progress  which  has  been  made  in  civil  liberty, 
science  and  civilization.  Radical  differences 
in  the  principles  and  forms  of  government  will 
not  explain  these  phencimena  :  they  are  whol- 
ly independent  of  them.  To  conceive  a  repub- 
lic more  unfavorable  to  enterprise  even  than 
a  despotism  is  not  difficult,  since,  if  forms  of 
government  be  much,  they  are  not  every  thing. 
Though  we  may  not  admit  the  best  adminis- 
tered government  is  best,  merely  theoretic 
perfection  should  have  no  favor. 

To  a  misapprehension  of  the  true  purposes 
of  government,  and  of  the  mode  of  promoting 
the  real  welfare  of  the  state,  may  be  traced 
the  greater  portion  of  the  evils  which  society 
has  suffered.  Men  have  not  known  the  truth 
or  the  whole  truth.  They  have  legislated 
without  light,  blundering  on  from  age  to  age — 
the  precedent  of  the  sires  being  sufficient  for 
the  sons.  Nothing  so  absurd  as  not  to  have 
had  an  advocate.  The  more  conscientious,  the 
more  dangerous  and  inveterate  the  error ! 

The  most  difficult  and  perplexing  of  all 
sciences  is,  without  doubt,  that  of  govern- 
ment. It  requires  almost  prescience,  in  many 
cases,  to  see  the  bearing  and  results  of  po- 
litical measures;  in  all  cases  it  requires  more 
than  ordinary  apprehension.  We  are  told 
that  the  Roman-*  had  laws  teaching  how  to 
make  laws ;  but  this  could  not  have  ajiplied 
to  other  than  the  mere  forms.  The  actjuaiut- 
aiice  and  study  of  facts  and  results,  as  they 
are  worked  out  in  the  movements  and  ma- 
chinery of  society,  from  the  masses  up;  un- 
der all  circumstances,  most  propitious  or  ad- 
verse ;  in  all  times,  in  all  countries,  are 
more  indisT)eusable  conditions  of  the  states- 
man, tli;in  all  the  logic  and  metaphysics  of 
the  schools,  all  the  pliilo.-ophy  of  the  ck)set. 

Experience,  which  is  so  excellent  a  teach- 
er in  regard  to  almost  every  thing  in  which 
we  are  interested,  gives  not  so  clear  and  un- 
mistiikable  a  light  in  this  particular.  There 
are  so  many  counteracting  influences  and 
causes  at  work,  so  many  uudeliued  opera- 
tions in  society,  that  it  is  not  singular  the 
real  sources  of  evil  are  so  often  overlooked 
and  the  wrong  ones  imputed.  The  results 
sometimes  are  very  distant.  The  hand 
which  strikes  the  blow,  the  blow  itself,  may 
be  secret,  and  yet  the  mischief  be  as  sure 
and  as  irreparable.  Tliis  is  akin  to  what 
Bishop  Butler  remarks  ot  the  moral  govern- 
ment of  the  world :    the  punishment  of  an 


POLITICAL   ECONOMV,    GOVERNMENT,    ETC. 


387 


invasion  of  a  law  of  nature  follows  not  al- 
ways so  immediate  as  to  be  traced  to  that 
invasion.* 

The  study  of  the  true  sources  of  national 
prosperity  is  almost  altogetlier  of  modern 
date.  It  is  later  even  by  far  than  the  phi- 
losophical and  metaphysical  rei^^eueration  ef- 
fected by  Bacon  and  Locke.  A  century  has 
not  passed  since  the  first  impulse  was  given 
to  these  investigations,  by  the  publication  of 
a  work  which  has  deservedly  immortalized 
the  name  of  Adam  Smith. 

Without  defining  what  is  called  ]iolitical 
economy,  or  entering  into  any  disquisitions 
upon  it,  this  may  be  said  without  controver- 
sy: that,  in  addressing  its  teachings  to  the 
rulers  and  legislators  of  the  world,  what 
tliey  ought  not  to  do  is  a  far  more  important 
lesson,  than  wliat  they  ouglit.  The  "  mas- 
terly inactivity,"  jiroclaimed  by  one  of  our 
statesmen,  is  a  safer  general  rule  than  con- 
stant intervention.  There  is  never  any  dan- 
ger that  legislators  will  not  do  enougli  in  the 
enactment  of  every  character  of  laws,  and 
concerning  every  cliaracter  of  subject.  Their 
vanity  of  place,  the  importance  which  they 
fancy  belongs  to  a  law-giver,  whatever  the 
length  of  his  ears,  are  motives  strong  enough 
for  this.  Perhaps,  in  the  very  worst  govern- 
ed society  upon  earth,  there  are  goed  laws 
enough  in  force  to  insure  the  highest  degree  of 
liberty  and  prosperity,  were  they  not  clog- 
ged by  others  that  are  absurd  and  inimical ! 
A  repeal  of  all  these  worst  laws,  however 
numerous,  would  not  necessarily  call  for  the 
enactment  of  better  ones  in  their  place. 
Enouijh  of  such  laws  may  already  exist. 

"  Thou  shah  not,"  then,  is  a  far  more  fre- 
quent and  useful  injunction,  in  the  decalogue 
of  political  science,  than  "  t/iou  slialt  ;'^  and 
in  teaching  the  people,  the  governed,  (if  they 
can  be  supposed  to  require  instruction  in 
what  is  for  their  best  interests  and  perma- 
nent welfare,  in  all  their  various  avocations 
of  life,  as  they  certainly  may  be.)  a  field  is 
opened  which  exhausts  the  whole  subject  of 
political  economy. 

That  that  is  "  the  best  government  which 
governs    least,"  and  they  the  happiest  peo- 
ple who  have  delegated  the  fewest  powers 
to  be  exercised  by  others,   may  in  general  j 
terms  be  affirmed.     To  say  that  the  world  | 
has  been  too  nmch  governed,  is  to  say  that  ; 
it  has  been  badly  governed — since  each  ad- 
ditional restraint,  beyond  what  is  absolutely 
necessary,    constitutes  an  additional  link  in 
the  chain   of    oppression.      Simplicity    and 
precision    are    the    perfection  of    all    laws. 
Call  it  democracy  or  despotism,  that  govern- 
ment is  a  tyranny  which  delights  in  weaving 
the  legislative  web  to  entangle  its  subjects. 
The  mo.st  powerful,  as  the  Greek  j)hilosopher 


♦  See  the  "  Analogy." 


held,  are  sure  to  break  the  web — the  weaker 
only  struggle  in  its  folds. 

In  the  promotion  of  public  wealth  or  the 
public  welfare,  all  that  in  reality  is  rcipiired 
from  government,  is  such  a  system  of  k'gis- 
lation  as  will  eli'ectuuUy  protect  the  citizens 
from  wrongs  and  outrages  upon  their  pur.-ons 
or  property,  abroad  or  at  home.*  The  con- 
servation of  life,  liberty  and  property  is  ev- 
ery thing.  We  say  co7ixervation,  which  sup- 
poses the  citizen  first  to  be  in  possession. 
Govermnent  has  nothing  to  give.  Every  act 
of  giving,  on  its  part,  is  a  mere  act  of  trans- 
fer from  one  to  another,  leading  often  to  par- 
tiality, always  to  injustice.  The  subjects  of 
a  government  are  all  upon  an  equal  footing, 
a  condition  at  war  with  the  idea  that  special 
benefits  may  be  conferxed  upon  any.  If 
government  cannot  give,  it  cannot  take  away, 
excej^t  for  offenses  which  are  previously  de- 
termined. 

Ignorant,  indolent  or  bad  men,  will  always 
be  clamorous  for  support  from  the  public 
crib,  since  it  is  congenial  to  them  that  others 
should  be  taxed  for  their  support.  There 
are  more  paupers  in  every  country  than  can 
be  found  upon  the  poor  list  or  in  the  work- 
houses. Were  the  truth  known,  the  latter 
class  might  be  f  lund  far  less  detrimental  to 
public  prosperity,  though  both  equally  prey 
upon  their  fellows.  These  reap  where  they 
have  not  sown.  Like  Ishmael  of  old,  their 
hands  are  turned  against  all  men — and  would 
to  God  the  hands  of  all  men  Avere  turned 
against  them  ! 

Were  not  Hercules's  stout  shoulders  near 
at  hand,  it  would  be  seen  how  well  at  a  pinch 
the  wagoner  could  help  himself.  Men  never 
mistake,  in  private  affairs,  very  widely,  or  for 
any  time,  their  true  interests,  if  left  to  them- 
selves. They  may  safely  be  intrusted  with 
their  own  affairs.  In  the  conflict  of  various 
and  opposing  interests,  they  become  acute 
enough.  A  perfect  immunity  to  act  as  it  best 
pleases  them  in  all  matters,  so  that  wrong  be 
not  done  to  others  or  to  the  community,  is 
the  golden  rule  of  liberty  as  of  economy  ! 

But  then,  as  in  physic,  from  igmirauce  of 
the  nature  of  the  malady  which  afflicts  him, 
the  i)atient  will  never  think  himself  likely  to 
do  well,  unless  learned  prescriptions  are  ad- 
ministered. The  doctor  finds  it  to  his  jjolicy 
to  gratify  the  caprice  by  applications  which 
are  innocent  of  all  effect.  In  this,  he  is  more 
likely  to  succeed  than  the  ])olitical  charlatan 
in  the  same  circumstances,  who  has  not  at 
hand  so  many  innocent  appliances  ;  yet,  some- 
thing he  must  do,  and  that  speedily.  In  the 
revolutions  of  fortune's  wheel,  thousands  and 
thousands   are   at  the   bottom.      Thoy  have 


*  Mr.  IIuiiiP  ?.iys,  "  Tho  whole  parajihernalia  of 
conimoiif!.  Idrils,  army,  navy,  judges,  Iciiia:.  is  for 
the  just  eiul  of  bringing  twelve  honest  men  into 
the  jury  box." 


388 


POLITICAL   ECONOMY,    GOVERNMENT,    ETC. 


been  left  there  by  their  indolence,  by  their 
profligacy,  by  their  vices,  or,  it  may  be,  by 
jncxiilicable  fate;  no  matter,  they  are  tliere. 
The  more  successful  come  soon  to  be  regarded 
with  envy  and  with  hatred.  Even  virtuous 
success  gives  no  pleasure,  and  is  a  standing 
reproach  to  adversity.  Shall  we  wonder  that 
these  tens  of  thousands  raise  the  cry  of  op- 
pression, that  they  have  hearers  ever  ready 
to  make  capital  in  their  advocacy,  and  that 
wise  and  prudent  men  find  it  necessary  to 
make  some  show  of  assistance,  when  they 
often  know  such  ass'Ptauce,  in  reality,  to  be 
out  of  tiieir  power?  Whosoever, says  an  old 
philosopher,  goeth  about  to  persuade  men 
they  are  not  so  well  governed  as  they  might 
be,  will  not  want  for  ready  and  attentive 
listeners.  It  is  easier  to  attribute  the  misery 
which  is  suffered  to  the  government  than  to 
the  fault  of  the  sufterers,  though  government, 
in  trutli,  have  nothing  to  do  with  it.  It  is 
much  more  convenient  to  look  for  relief  from 
this  quarter  than  from  the  man's  own  exer- 
tions. Hence  is  it,  there  must  be  a  law  of 
soine  sort  or  another — and  a  new  law  is  there- 
upon made.  Most  of  the  agrarianism  and 
socialism  and  Fourierism  of  the  world  has  its 
origin  in  this  discontent  with  the  natural  state 
of  fhinr/s.  It  is  more  complimentary  to  our 
pride  to  be  governed  by  our  own  laws  and 
systems,  than  by  those  which  are  merely  of 
nature. 

It  is  natural,  and,  if  natural,  proper — 
though  we  may  not  see  the  reason — that 
poverty,  and  want,  and  disease,  and  misery 
should  be  the  next-door  neighbor  of  wealth 
and  unbounded  prosperity.  The  towers  of 
the  palace  cast  their  shadows  down  upon  the 
roofless  hovel,  as  naturally  as  the  mountains 
do  upon  the  neighboring  hills.  Yet  that 
nobleman  has  not  oppressed  that  beggar.  He 
may,  indeed,  be  liberal,  and  generous,  and 
just,  and  mourn  over  the  misery  all  the 
wealtli  in  the  world  could  not  relievo.  Nor  is 
the  beggar  a  victim  of  society  and  its  laws. 
Without  that  society,  or  those  laws,  he  had 
not  existed — he  could  not  exist  witli  the  same 
security — his  fathers  before  him  had  not  pros- 
pered, (for  generations  of  misery  in  the  same 
household  is  scarcely  a  supposaV)le  case,)  and 
his  children  would  have  no  hope.  Exclaim 
against  Nature,  that  siie  has  sent  you  in  the 
world  half  finished,  maimed,  diseased,  imbe- 
cile, an  idiot — that  you  were  born  under  the 
frozen  serpent  of  the  Nortli,  and  must  struggle 
against  tumbling  icebergs,  or  in  the  death- 
dealing  breath  of  torrid  suns :  but  limit  not 
your  complaints  to  these.  In  evincing  lier 
partiality  in  tliese  respects,  lias  she  proclaimed 
an  imi).\rtiality  in  every  other?  Is  it  not 
equally  an  outrage  upon  your  rights,  your 
equality,  that  your  neighbor  is  taller,  or 
stouter,  better  favored,  more  intellectual — or 
that  he  has  broader  acres,  greater  possessions 
and  more  comforts  ?     All  tlie  governments  in 


the  world  could  not  prevent  these  distinctions. 
The  worst  government  only  would  attempt 
it — for,  in  the  effort,  how  much  injustice  and 
wrong  must  be  done  to  those  who,  to  say  the 
least  of  it,  have  as  much  right  to  their  pos- 
sessions, however  earned,  as  yon  have  to  take 
them  away.  The  remedy  is  within  yourself. 
It  is  for  you  to  apply  it.  Be  industrious,  be 
frugal,  be  circumspect ;  if  these  remove  not 
the  evil,  you  have  a  claim  upon  the  benevo- 
lence, not  the  justice,  of  your  fellows.  Sue, 
but  not  demand.  If  this  benevolence  fail,  you 
are  simply  another  victim  of  that  inexplicable, 
yet,  as  we  ought  to  believe,  wise  Providence, 
which  strikes  down  without  reason  or  expla- 
nation, and  teaches  the  utter  nothingness  of 
man  by  her  frequent  indifference  to  his  fate.* 
Nor  let  us  be  charged  with  indifference  to 
the  miseries  of  poverty  and  destitution,  which 
in  all  countries  afflict  society,  though  in  dif- 
ferent degrees.  The  poor  must  be  fed,  the 
miserable  must  be  relieved,  or  humanity  ceases 
to  perform  her  noble  mission.  Send  them  not 
to  government — call  not  for  poor-laws  and 
pubhc  workhouses.  We  are  willing  to  leave 
man  in  the  hands  of  his  fellow-man.  The 
Samaritan  will  pass  by.  The  fallen  brother 
will  be  taken  to  the  bosom.  Oh,  we  have  faitb 
in  humanity :  it  is  a  gentle,  sylvan  stream, 
which  flows  undeviating  in  its  course,  refresh- 
ing the  thorniest  places.  It  has  a  universal 
language.  "  I  am  a  man,"  is  an  appeal  which 
is  heard  in  the  deserts  of  Africa,  in  the  wilds 
of  Siberia,  and  respected.  Man  ceases  to  be 
the  enemy  to  his  fellow-man,  when  that  fel- 
low has  fallen.  "  Noble  spirits  war  not  with 
the  dead."  Private  charity  can  relieve  all 
the  sufferings  that  public  charity  can,  and 
more.  Its  operations  are  more  eft'ectual,  for 
they  are  nearer  the  subject,  and,  wlien  properly 
organized,  are  more  discriminating — securing 
higher  comfort  at  the  same  cost,  with  enhanced 
satisfaction  to  the  donors,  and  less  of  that 
shame  winch  is  inseparable  from  a  sense  of 
dependence.  A  proud  spirit  might  die,  rather 
tlian  take  to  the  public  workhouse,  tliough 
well  administered  relief  from  friends  would 
not  be  refused.  A  base  spirit  could  not  so 
well  deceive  individuals  as  the  public,  in  re- 
gard to  alleged  wants  and  sufferings.  Leave 
tliese  things  to  society,  and  they  will  be 
attended.  We  shall  have  benevolent  associa- 
tions multiplying,  kindness  and  generosity 
promoted,  as  well  as  enterprise  and  industiy. 
In  regard  to  these  associations,  how  immensely 
superior  is  the  jircseut  to  any  subsequent 
period.  Scarcely  a  man  but  what  is  connected 
with  some  of  them,  and  contributes  to  tlieir 
support.  Under  whatever  name  they  appear, 
they  are  all  noble,  and  j)roclaiii  the  great  law 
of  sympathy  which  pervades  the  universe. 
When  government  comes  to  be  a  benefactor. 


*  See  the  adinirnMe  satire  in  Juvenal,  upon  man's 
complaints  about  fortune — llie  Bixth,  we  belicTe. 


POLITICAL    ECONOMV,    GOVERNMENT,    ETC. 


889 


it  is  too  ofton  a  robber — dispensiug  in  cliarity, 
and  for  the  relief  of  conscience,  its  ill-gotten 
gains. 

Having  thus  taken  the  extreme  case,  in 
whicii,  if  any,  government  might  belield  bound 
to  legislate  for  the  benefit  of  particular  classes, 
and  proved,  that  not  only  does  no  such  power 
exist,  but  that  its  exorcise,  if  existing,  vrould 
be  impolitic,  less  effectual,  more  costly,  than 
individuals  and  society  left  to  themselves 
would  find  it,  little  difficulty  can  be  found  in 
all  those  other  cases,  and  thoy  are  innu- 
merable, where  men  are  clamorous  to  have 
their  peculiar  conditions  benefited  by  special 
laws,  their  wealth  increased,  or  their  plans 
and  enterprises  promoted. 

And,  to  s.ay  the  truth,  these  latter  calls, 
time  immemorial,  have  been  more  frequent 
than  the  former,  and,  from  their  nature  and 
the  character  of  the  persons  making  them, 
more  likely  to  be  heard.  The  agriculturist, 
the  manufacturer,  the  merchant,  have  left 
their  farms,  their  workshops  and  their  count- 
ing houses,  and  essayed  the  far  readier  mode 
of  acquiring  wealth  to  be  had  from  West- 
minster Hall  or  on  the  floors  of  Congress. 
"We  shall  take  occasion  to  enumerate  some  of 
their  labors  and  the  results,  in  a  general  sketch 
of  the  interference  of  governments  with  in- 
dustry, in  all  countries,  from  the  earliest  times 
to  the  present.  From  these,  more  instruction 
can  be  derived  than  from  any  philosophical 
disquisition.  We  shall  then  see  the  true 
secret  of  national  wealth  and  prosperity,  and 
in  what  it  consists. 

Agriculture   being  prior,    in  time,  to  the 
other  arts  and  pursuits,  and,  as  it  were,  the 
mother  of  them  all,  we  naturally  begin  with 
it.     Always  held  in  honor,  it  has  been  self- 
sustaining,  and,  with  unimportant  exceptions, 
self  reliant.     The  tillers   of  the   earth   have 
been  content  with  the   bread    it   yielded   to 
honest  toil.     Monsieur  Quesnai,  in   the  reign 
of  Louis  XIV.,  did,  indeed,  attempt  to  teach 
them  that  they ,of  all  men,  deserved  the  special 
favor  of  goverrnnent,  in  that  they  were  the 
only  real  producers  of  wealth.     An  exemp- 
tion from  taxation  was  naturally  one  of  these 
favors ;  and,  with  such  a  theory,  it  was  not 
bard  to  make  the  farmers  the  pet  children  of 
legislation.     The  splendid  fallacy  of  this  great 
Frenchman  exercised  for  some  time  a  high 
and  controlling  influence,  as  may  be  marked 
in  many  of  the  events  which  folhjwed,  and 
which  has  not  yet,  perhaps,  been  entirely  dis-  I 
eipated.     The  famous  corn-law  controversies,  ] 
which  agitated   Great   Britain   for   the    last : 
century,  is  a  result  of  the  favor  claimed  for  j 
the   agriculturist.      To  multiply   bread,   the , 
nation  ha.s,  at  one  time,  forbidden  its  expor- 1 
tation,  and  at  another,  its  importation — un- 
domg  in  one  reign  or  parliament  the  work  of 
another,  and   vacillating   between    both   ex-  \ 
tremes.    They  have  not  legislated  the  nation,  [ 
however,  out  of  famines,  or  the  chance  of ! 


[  famines ;  and  nothing  more  clearly  demon- 
[  strates  the  inutility  of  such  legislation,  to  say 
the  least  of  it,  than  this,  that  the  very  op/iosile 
'  courses  have  been  adopted  or  advocated,  at 
1  different  times,  to  secure  the  same  ends.  It 
has  been  even  thought,  that  the  protiuct  of 
i  bread  might  be  stimulated  by  bounties,  as 
though  the  appetite  and  natural  wants  of  man 
were  not  sufficient  stimulus  for  every  pur- 
pose. An  artificial  or  legal  bounty  presup- 
poseo  that  there  is  no  natural  one,  and, 
consequently,  no  existing  want.  A  natural 
bounty  is  tliat  reward  which  a  producer 
receives  fur  the  labor  expended  upon  a  com- 
modity in  demand.  If  no  such  sufficient 
bount}-  be  afforded,  there  is,  really,  no  suffi- 
cient demand ;  and  in  this  case  the  commodity 
ought  not  to  be  produced.  The  farmers,  too, 
are  frequently  admonished  of  the  value  and 
importance  of  the  home  market  for  their 
grains,  as  if  there  were,  in  reality,  any  other 
market.  Every  bushel  of  wheat  or  potatoes, 
everjT  blade  of  corn,  rye  or  rice,  made  in 
America,  or  in  any  other  country,  excepting, 
perhaps,  Ireland,  is  consumed  in  it.  Xot  in 
bread  and  puddings,  altogether,  yet  certainly 
for  the  most  part — but  in  cottons,  broadcloths, 
silks  or  wines,  or  whatever  else  it  is  converted 
into.  Though  a  peck  of  corn  satisfy  my 
natural  wants  for  a  week,  yet,  in  one  sense,  I 
consume  a  bushel  or  more  daily.  It  appears 
in  my  coat,  my  hat  and  my  boots,  for  which  it 
has  been  exchanged.  Or,  if  it  be  said,  our 
pregnant  grain  crops  are  not  consumed  at 
home — pray,  tell  us  where  they  are  consumed  ? 
Do  we  toil  that  others  may  reap  the  harvest, 
and  become  the  hewers  of  wood'and  drawers 
of  water  for  the  world  at  large  i  Far  other- 
wise the  Yankee  character.  What  our  fields 
produce,  we  enjoy — and  sometimes  a  little 
more,  by  running  in  debt  to  foreigners. 

But,  to  do  the  agriculturists  justice,  they 
have  not  been  very  noisy  applicants  for 
government  patronage,  in  comparison  with 
others ;  since,  as  Adam  Smith  remarks,  farm- 
ers and  country  gentlemen,  dispersed  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  country,  cannot  so  easily 
combine  as  merchants  and  manufacturers,  who, 
being  collected  in  towns,  and  accustomed  to 
that  exclusive  corporation  spirit  which  pre- 
vails in  tliem,  naturalU^  endeavor  to  obtain, 
against  all  their  countrymen,  the  same  exclu- 
sive privilege  wliich  they  generally  possess 
against  the  inhabitants  of  their  respective 
towns.* 

The  question  of  manufactures,  as  another 
great  branch  of  industry  in  flourishing  nations, 
presents  itself  next.  Capitalists  have,  in  almost 


•  The  Louisiana  planters  have  received  email 
share  of  government  favor.  The  cotton  lords  and 
iron  lords  of  the  north  have  no  objection  to  any 
amount  of  aid ;  but  then,  when  you  come  to  sugar, 
why,  they  tell  you,  "that  is  one  of  the  necessaries 
of  life— you  must  not  tas  that ;  no,  nor  tea  either, 
nor  coffee." 


390 


POLITICAL    ECONOMY,    GOVERXMEXT,   ETC. 


every  country,  conceived  the  chances  of  sue- 1 
cess  but  sliin  and  proVilematical,  in  this  field,! 
witliout  the  arm  of  government  for  a  shiehi.j 
If  a  nation  must  be  fed,  it  must  be  clotlied ;  1 
and  in  the  elements  of  heat  and  cold  there  [ 
are  no  sufficient  stimulants  for  the  production  j 
of  this  clothing  !  The  exportation  of  the  raw, 
unwrous^ht  material  was  made,  by  the  statutes  j 
of  England,  felony,  and  its  importation,  from  j 
every  quarter,  encouraged,  even  by  bounties,  j 
It  would  not  be  difficult  to  enumerate  the 
various  measures  which  have  been  adopted 
in  favor  of  the  manufacturers,  in  enabling 
them  to  compete,  as  it  is  claimed,  successfully 
■with  foreign  competitors.  But  we  have  not 
the  time  now. 

The  merchants  have  been  the  last  import- 
ant order  to  grow  up  in  the  world.  Igno- 
rance of  navigation,  and  the  barbarous  sys- 
tems of  international  law  which  converted 
foreigners  mto  slaves,  stifled  the  commercial 
spirit  of  antiquity.  Trade  was  held  in  disre- 
pute both  in  Athens  and  at  Rome.  The 
Romans  prohibited  it  with  barbarians.  After 
the  fall  of  the  Roman  empire,  and  on  the 
growth  of  the  feudal  system,  all  industry 
naturally  declined,  and  commerce  was  out  of 
the  question.  The  discovery  of  the  western 
"world  began  a  new  era.  The  colonial  sys- 
tems had  tlieir  origin  now,  and  came  soon  to 
be  curiously  elaborated.  The  object  of  these 
was  to  build  up  the  commerce  of  each  state 
at  any  and  every  expense.  The  merchants 
of  each  community  were  supposed  to  be  nat- 
urally at  war  with  those  of  every  other. 
Their  jealousies  and  rivalries  were  extreme. 
Reciprocity  was  impossible.  All  of  them 
appealed  to  their  respective  governments  for 
aid  and  protection  against  each  other,  and  it 
became  universally  popular  to  grant  such 
aid. 

1 1  would  take  a  volume  to  enumerate  all 
the  laws  that  have  been  passed  in  support  of 
the  merchant  interests  of  the  world.  The 
course  of  Britain  and  her  colonies  would  come 
under  particular  and  minute  examination. 
For  the  encouragement  of  a  particular  in- 
terest, measures  the  most  preposterous  have 
been  adopted  by  her,  and  injurious,  in  the 
last  degree,  to  the  nation  at  large.  "  The 
tariff,  or  customs  of  England,"  remarked  Mr. 
Montesquieu,  "  are  very  unsettled ;  with  re- 
spect to  other  nations,  tlu^y  are  changed,  in 
some  measure,  with  every  parliament,  either 
by  taking  off  particular  duties  or  by  imposing 
new  ones.  They  endeavor,  by  this  means, 
still  to  preserve  their  independence.  Su- 
premely jealous  with  respect  to  trade,  they 
bind  tliemselves  but  little  by  treaties,  and 
depend  only  upon  their  own  laws.  Otlier 
nations  iiave  made  the  interests  of  commerce 
yield  to  that  of  politics;  the  English,  on  the 
contrary,  have  always  made  their  political 
interests  give  way  to  those  of  commerce. 
They  know  ^better   than  any   other   people 


upon  earth  how  to  value,  at  the  same  time, 
these  three  great  advantages — religion,  com- 
merce, and  libi-rty." 

In  regard  to  France  and  Spain,  and  the 
other  great  commercial  powers  of  the  old 
world,  the  measure  of  injustice  has  been 
heaped  up  to  overflowing.  Mr.  Burke,  indeed, 
spoke  of  the  colonial  system  of  France  as  the 
perfection  of  administrative  wisdom-,  though 
it  is  thought  he  was  more  dazzled  by  the 
results,  which,  in  such  productive  regions, 
were  brilliant  ??i  spite  of  every  evil  influence. 
The  system  was  held  up  by  enormous  tax- 
ation at  home,  and  very  light  taxation  in  the 
colonies.  That  the  cofonial  policy  of  France 
was  the  Inost  injudicious  and  expensive  that 
could  have  been  conceived,  with  regard  to 
the  people  of  France,  and  almost  the  worst 
that  could  have  been  planned  for  the  reten- 
tion of  the  colonies,  is  amply  proved  by 
f\icts.* 

Old  Spain  seemed  to  have  determined  to 
make  the  most  of  the  new  world,  of  which 
she  had  by  far  the  most  prolific  and  exten- 
sive portion.  The  perfection  of  restrictions, 
established  by  her  for  the  benefit  of  particular 
classes,  has  long  ago  met  with  its  apj-nopriate 
reward,  in  the  ruin  of  every  class.  She  built 
up  exclusive  commercial  companies  in  Cadiz 
and  at  Seville,  the  most  magnificent  of  the 
age,  and  these  merchant  princes,  in  their  un- 
paralleled profits,  sapped  the  very  life-blood 
of  the  nation. 

"  Spain,"  we  quote  again  from  McGreggor, 
"  witli  absurd  regulations  which  embarrassed 
and  ruined  her  colonial  commerce,  was  un- 
able to  export  or  manufacture  the  raw  pro- 
ducts of  her  vast  colonies,  and  would  neither 
permit  them  to  be  exported  or  manufactured 
by  the  colonists,  nor  suffer  foreigners  to  ex- 
port them  and  give  in  exchange  to  the  col- 
onists those  articles  that  they  most  wanted. 
A  contraband  trade  necessarily  arose,  and 
this  illicit  trade  reduced  the  price  of  the  pro- 
ducts of  those  colonies  to  a  wretched  rate,  as 
their  sale  tiepended  upon  an  uncertain  arrival 
of  a  greater  or  less  number  of  smuggling  ves- 
sels, itc.  Spanish  colonial  commerce  and 
agriculture  constantly  languished ;  yet  some 
colossal  fortunes  were  acquired  in  two  or 
three  years  by  generals,  intendants  and  com- 
missioners of  cu-^toms."! 

In  the  United  Stales,  the  merchants  have 
frequently  complained  tliat,  in  the  adminstra- 
tion  of  government  favors,  they  have  been 
overlooked.  Certain  it  is,  they  have  not  been 
conceived  in  need  of  the  same  kind  of  coun- 
tenance that  other  interests  were  thought  to 
demand.  There  are  few  instances  that  can  be 
pointed  to,  where  we  have  made  any  special 
efforts  to  build  up  particular  classes  of  cora- 


*  McGrcggor's  Progress  of  America,  book  viU,, 
chap.  1. 
t  Ibid.,  book  vii.,  clinp,  1.  ' 


POLITICAL    ECONOMT,    GOVERNMENT,    ETC. 


391 


merce,  unlosg  the  c^eneral  theoretical  favor 
ehowu  to  the  home  trade  be  an  excjiliou. 
No  particular  beiielits  liave  been  intendea  or 
conferred,  and  the  aids  extended  liave  rather 
been  the  lej^itiniate  ones  of  treaty  regidations 
and  cons^uhir  niissions.  Though  a  great  com- 
mercial nation,  we  seem  to  have  been  more 
solicitous  to  build  up  manufactures.  It  is  not 
80  clear,  however,  if  we  have  not  specially 
benefited,  tiiat  we  have  not  sometimes  spe- 
cially injured,  commerce  by  our  legislation. 

Under  the  three  great  heads  of  agriculture, 
commerce  and  manufactures,  all  the  direct 
interferences  with  the  industry  of  a  people, 
on  the  part  of  their  rulers,  might  strictly  be 
classed.  We  have  aimed  at  a  mere  general 
enumeration,  without  regarding  those  im- 
portant interferences  of  "  tiades  unions,''  and 
apprentice  associations,  and  strict  corpora- 
tions, which,  after  the  downfall  of  the  feudal 
system,  began  to  grow  up  in  the  then  forming 
towns  of  Europe.  They  have  not  yet  ceased 
to  exist,  anti  our  most  respectable  mechanics 
•will,  oven  now,  admonish  us  of  (he  importance 
of  close  corporations  of  particular  tradesmen, 
for  the  purpose  of  securing  ade<|uate  or  high 
wages,  and  for  putting  down  the  oppression 
of  crushing  capitalists  and  unlicensed  compe- 
tition. All  such  measures  belong  to  the  one 
great,  but  erroneous  .system,  which  supposes 
industry  and  enterprise  impotent  in  defending 
themselves,  and  incapable  of  marching  onward 
to  prosperity  when  left  in  the  most  perfect 
freedom.   , 

Government,  we  should  take  it  as  an  axiom, 
was  never  a  creator  of  wealth  since  the  world 
was  known.  It  can  never  produce  two 
blades  of  grass  where  but  one  grew  before. 
It  may  take,  and  does  take — often  rightfully 
but  more  frequently  unrighteously — money 
out  of  the  pockets  of  the  people,  rather  than 
put  any  in.  It  is  but  the  creature  of  men — 
supported  by  their  contributions,  guaranteed 
by  their  necessities,  and  ceases  to  exist  at 
whatever  moment  they  will.  it.  Men  have 
formed  themselves  into  political  unions  for 
protection  and  defense.  They  have  required 
a  shit-ld,  and  not  a  sword.  They  have  feen 
the  importance  of  submitting  to  some  priva- 
tions of  national  liberty  for  the  sake  of  greater 
benefits.  These  benefits  are  called  regulated 
freedom;  and  all  imnecessary  legislation  must 
be  repealed — since,  if  it  can  be  pr<ived  a  law 
does  no  good,  it  necessarily  does  harm ! 
"Would  that  an  enlightened  political  economy 
could  teach  the  rulers  of  the  worhl  to  have 
an  unlimited  cotifid'>nce  in  the  elasticity,  in 
the  potency,  of  in  lustry — unfett^'red,  uncon- 
trolled, free — in  the  production  of  national 
wealth  and  prosperity,  and  an  unlimited  dis- 
trust of  their  own  powers  of  directing,  estab- 
lishing or  promoting  this  industry  !* 


When  it  is  asked.  Which  have  been  (he 
most  prospei'ous  countries  in  the  world  ?  it 
must  be  answered  (other  tilings  being  (qual, 
or,  even  often,  very  far  from  equal) — the  freent. 
In  a  despotic  country,  men  will  not  aim  to 
accumulate,  but  rather  to  hoard  what  they 
have.  There  can  be  no  enterprise,  if  an  arbi- 
trary government  may  interfere  in  its  results 
and  appropriate  them  to  itself,  either  by  e.x- 
traordinary  taxation,  or — as  in  Turkey  and 
Russia,  and  many  eastern  countries — by  cun- 
ningly devised  laws,  or  even  by  open  violence. 
Remove  the  securities  and  bulwarks  of  prop- 
erty, and  it  ceases  to  be  valuable.  The 
interest  of  the  slave,  the  serf  or  the  villein,  is 
to  squander  what  he  has  ratlicr  than  to  add 
to  it.  Hence,  the  low  state  of  industry  where 
men  find  themselves  in  this  condition. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  determine  the  true 
sources  of  national  prosperity,  though  the 
most  egregious  errors  have  been  made  ia 
doing  it.  Why  has  one  nation  advanced  for- 
ward to  wealth  and  power,  while  another — 
and  a  neighbor — jias  remained  stationary  or 
declined?  How  can  the  extraordinary  pro- 
gress of  the  United  States,  within  the  short 
period  of  its  history,  unparalleled  in  the 
annals  of  man,  be  accounted  for  upon  satis- 
factory jirinciples  ? 

We  answer,  without  qualification,  the  in- 
dustry of  this  country — though  the  exceptions 
are  not  few  or  unimporrant — has,  in  every 
period,  been  free.  Without  this,  it  were  in 
vain  that  an  empire  of  wealth  lay  buried  in 
the  bosom  of  the  continent  awaiting  the  hand 
to  develop  it  There  would  be  no  such  hand, 
as  Spanish  America  has  shown. 

We  say,  her  industry  has  been  free,  which 
supposes  a  legitimate,  sound  and  liberal  gov- 
ernment, multiplying,  in  no  instance,  restraints, 
without  an  honest  conviction  they  are  for  the 
public  weal.  The  error  of  policy,  once  clear- 
ly pointed  out,  has  almost  always  been  fol- 
lowed immediately  by  its  removal,  if  not  in 
whole,  yet  in  part.  One  may  hope  for  such 
a  country  an  ultimate  perfection,  from  the 
constant  application  of  the  principles  of  a 
sound  political  system. 

But  this  will  not  be  to  say  every  thing, 
though  it  be  much,  that  oiu-  country  is  free. 
The  people  themselves,  who  are  to  prosper 
from  freedom,  must  be  an  industrious  and  an 
enterprising  people.  The  African,  when  re- 
leased from  the  dominion  of  a  master,  becomes 
the  double  slave  of  intloleuce  and  want.  As 
much  depends  upon  rrtcr.s  as  upon  political  in- 
stitutions. The  United  States  have  been  peo- 
pled by  the  Anglo-Saxon,  whose  indomitable 
spirit,  is  broken  by  no  toil  nor  labor,  and 
whose  enterprise  and  activity  are  baffled  by 
no  combination  of  dilHculties,  dangers  and  ob- 
structions.    This  has  been  the  ruling  element 


•  If  we  seem  trencliiiig  upon  party  trroiind,  the    lished,  severnl  months  ngo,  a  very  stronsr  article  in 
reader  will  give  us  credit  for  fairness  in  having  pub-  1  our  pages,  advocating  the  protective  system. 


392 


RTCE HISTORY    AND    STATISTICS    OF. 


of  our  population,  and  the  other  elements 
have  grailually  assimilated  themselves  to  it. 
The  Sjiaiiiards  inhabited  a  garden  spot  at 
home,  and  tliey  sought  a  paradise  in  America. 
At  a  time  tlieir  northern  neiglibors  were  strug- 
gling witli  ieebergs,  a  prolific  soil  yielded  them 
wealth,  with  only  the  labor  of  taking  it  away. 
Yet,  where  is  the  empire  which  this  people 
have  established  upon  the  American  contment  ? 

There  must  be  a  free  government  and  an 
enterprising  people,  but  there  must,  also,  be 
a  soil,  climate  and  country,  favorable  enough 
and  extensive  enough  to  operate  upon.  In 
these,  the  United  States  have  been  signally 
blessed.  Our  climate  is  adapted  to  every 
branch  of  industry  and  enterprise.  We  in- 
clude the  ice  cutters  of  New-England,  the  fur 
catchers  of  Oregon,  the  sugar  and  cotton  grow- 
ers of  Florida  and  Texas.  Without  so  various, 
and  yet  so  advantageous,  a  distribution  of  cli- 
mate, a  nation  could  not  thus  advance.  In 
the  I'egions  of  Siberia,  or  upon  the  equatoiial 
line,  the  Anglo-Saxon,  with  all  his  free  laws, 
could  do  but  little.  Though  the  climate,  too, 
be  as  favorable  as  Italy  and  as  genial  as  Switz- 
erland, and  the  soil  rocky,  sterile  or  exhausted, 
the  results  must  again  be  diflerent.  Our  soil 
is  virgin,  prolific  almost  in  spontaneous  pro- 
ducts. And  yet,  because  of  such  a  soil,  and 
■without  our  other  advantages,  Ireland  has 
been  hopelessly  beggared !  Finally,  the  coun- 
try must  be  capacious  and  susceptible  of  in- 
definite extension :  and  what  country  like 
ours  in  this  respect  ?  Fancy  the  original  thir- 
teen states  to  contain  all  the  territory  over 
■which  our  population  could  ever  have  spread. 
Yet  Russia  has  a  territory  as  unlimited  as. 
ours,  and  Brazil  one  very  nearly  so. 

All  of  these  conditions  must  be  combined 
to  make  a  great  and  a  flourishing  people.  No 
one  of  them,  singly,  can  do  it. 

It  is  not  that  emigrants  have  been  pouring 
in  upon  us  from  all  the  world  ;  that  we  have 
been  prolific  and  augmenting,  in  an  uncom- 
mon ratio,  by  natural  means — that  any  claim 
is  now  set  up.  Mere  population  is,  in  itself, 
no  element  of  pro.sperity  and  wealth.  A  de- 
clining country  may  contiiuially  grow  more 
populous,  and  a  ruined  one — as  we  have  seen  a 
notable  instance  of,  in  Ireland — may  stock  the 
world  with  its  swarms  of  emigrants,  and  yet 
augment,  each  year,  its  home  population. 
Population  often  comes  when  it  is  not  wanted 
and  where  it  is  not  wanted.  It  never  ceasea 
to  cnme  wiiere  it  is  wanted.  Legislators  need 
never  stimulate  it.  In  all  old  countiies  its  in- 
crease should  be  restrained,  rather  than  en- 
couraged. In  now  countries  it  will  augment 
a8  fast — taking  long  periods  into  consideration 
— as  it  is  wanted,  and  in  obedience  to  its  own 
peculiar  laws. 

Though  the  United  States  had  double  its 
present  po[)ulation,  it  does  not  follow  there 
would  be  double  the  wealth  and  prosperity. 
Certainly,  a  tenfold  augmentation  of  popula- 


tion would  not  be  followed  by  a  tenfold  pros- 
perity. Numbers  and  population  are  but  an 
item,  and  the  least  imijortant  one,  in  estimat- 
ing a  nation's  position  and  power  in  the  world. 

The  best  j)opulation  may  not  exist  in  just 
proportion  to  tiie  means  of  support,  and  na- 
tional decline  ensues.  It  is  sufficient  here  to 
remark, with  Malthus,  "That  a  permanent  in- 
crease of  population  is  a  powerful  and  neces- 
sary element  of  increasing  demand,  will  be 
most  readily  allowed ;  but  that  the  increase 
of  population  alone,  or,  more  properly,  the 
pressure  of  the  population  hard  agamst  the 
limits  of  subsistence,  does  not  furnish  an  effect- 
ive stimulus  to  tlie  continued  increase  of 
wealth,  is  not  only  evident  in  theory,  but  is 
confirmed  by  universal  experience.  It  is  ob- 
vious, then,  in  theory,  that  an  increase  of  pop- 
ulation, when  an  additional  quantity  of  labor 
is  not  wanted,  will  soon  be  checked  by  want 
of  employment,  and  the  scanty  support  of 
those  employed  will  not  furnish  the  re- 
quired stimulus  to  an  increase  of  wealth,  pro- 
portioned to  the  power  of  production." 

Having  shown  the  intimate  relationship 
subsisting  between  political  economy  and  gov- 
ernment, and  how  the  doctrines  of  the  one 
should  influence  the  action  of  the  other,  and 
the  two  combined  the  industry  and  prosperity 
of  a  nation,  but  little  can  remain  to  be  said. 

Every  circumstance,  we  have  seen,  which 
can  give  intensity  to  the  laws  of  natural  pro- 
gress, has  been  constantly  in  operation  in  the 
United  States,  throughout  every  period  of  its 
history,  and  remains  still  in  undiminished 
force.  Let  us  be  content  with  the  results 
which  have  been  achieved,  and  which  as  clear- 
ly indicate  others,  yet  more  brilliant,  in  the 
future.  The  industry  of  our  people  needs  no 
monitors,  as  to  its  best  mode  of  application 
under  every  possible  circumstance — and,  least 
of  all,  monitors  made  out  of  stuff  such  as  our 
politicians  usually  are.  As  intelligence  is 
generally  diflused  throughout  the  masses,  they 
will  perceive  and  admit  this,  and  the  one  cry, 
every  where  heard,  shall  be,  "Let  its  alone  I" 
•  Diftiise,  then,  knowledge  throughout  the 
length  and  breadth  of  this  great  country — 
ftiultiply  the  means  of  information — send  the 
Schoolmaster  into  every  hovel — dot  every  hill 
jvith  the  school-house  and  the  college — let  the 
|)ress,  without  intermission,  night  and  day, 
bour  forth  its  steady  streams  of  light — foster 
ecience  and  the  arts — let  the  civilizing  and 
godlike  influences  of  machinery  uninterrupt- 
edly extend ;  then  will  the  future  of  our 
country  open,  boundless  and  great,  beyond  all 
loxample,  beyond  all  compare,  and  countless 
ages  bless  its  mission,  and  acknowledge  its 
glorious  dominion. 

RICE — History  and  Statistics  of. — The 
state  of  South  Carolina,  small  in  territory,  n 
population,  and  in  relative  weight  in  the  scale 
of  the  Union,  is  blest  with  a  most  delightful 


RICE HISTORY    AND    STATISTICS    OF. 


B9i 


climate,  regarding^  tosretlicr  all  the  seasons, 
aiui  in  the  po-sussion  of  the  elements  of  great 
and  lasting  wealth. 

In  the  pnuluctiou  of  her  two  great  staples, 
her  agriculture  exercises  an  important  influ- 
ence over  the  comfort  and  well-bting  of  man- 
kimi.  With  the  various  manufactures  of  cot- 
ton wool,  the  greater  portion  of  tlie  human 
race  are  clotlmd.  With  tlie  manufactured  or 
prepared  rice,  tlie  greater  j)ortion  of  the  hu- 
man race  are  fed — as  an  article  cither  of  oc- 
casional diet  or  of  daily  subsistence. 

Rice  was  known  and  cultivated  in  the  East 
from  time  immemorial.  Whenever  that  hith- 
erto sealed  book,  the  Ciiinese  empire,  shall 
be  opened  to  the  inspection  of  mankind,  we 
may  learn  something  more  of  its  early  history 
and  culture ;  at  present  we  only  know  from 
the  books  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  in- 
habitants of  that  ancient  dominioii  subsist 
upon  it,  and  we  arc  told  that  it  is  grown 
sometimes  by  transplanting  on  the  shores  of 
the  rivers,  sometimes  on  rafts  covered  with 
earth,  and  floating  on  lakes  and  rivers ;  that 
in  some  parts  of  China  two  crops  are  made 
fronj  the  same  ground  in  one  year,  one  ripen- 
ing in  Ma)',  the  other  in  October  or  Novem- 
ber ;  that  the  seeds  are  there  white  and  ob- 
long, but  vary  in  size  and  form ;  that  a  small 
spot  of  ground  is  inclosed  by  an  embankment 
lightly  ploughed  and  harrowed,  and  the  grain, 
previously  steeped  in  dung  diluted  with  ani- 
mal water,  is  then  sown  thickly  on  it ;  a  thin 
sheet  of  water  is  immediately  brought  over 
it,  either  by  a  stream  or  chain  pump.  When 
the  plants  are  six  or  seven  inclies  high,  they 
are  transplanted  in  furrows  made  by  the 
plough,  so  as  to  stand  about  a  foot  apart  every 
way.  Water  is  then  brought  over  them,  anil 
kept  on  till  the  crop  begins  to  ripen,  when  it 
is  withheld  ;  so  that  when  the  harvest  arrives, 
the  field  is  quite  dry.  In  Japan,  Ceylon;  and 
Java,  aquatic  rice  is  cultivated  nearly  in  the 
same  manner.  To  this  grain  the  Chinese  and 
Hindoos  owe  their  early  civilization.  An  im- 
mense population  io  those  and  the  surround- 
ing countries  is  now  dependent  on  the  rice 
crops ;  and  when  these  tail,  thousands  perish 
of  hunger.* 


BOTANICAL    DESCRIPTION. 

Class  Ilcxandra ;  ORDiiR  Dlgi/nla  ;  nat.  or- 
der Gramina. 

Oryza  Saliva — Native  of  Ethiopia — culti- 
vated in  tropical  countries  very  abundantly. 


•  The  Chinese,  who  pay  the  greatest  attention  to 
tho  cultivation  of  rice,  miinure  thoir  lands  with  all 
sorts  of  filth,  dung,  &c. 

In  order  to  make  the  rico  grow  the  bettor,  they  are 
careful,  in  certain  places  where  they  sow,  to  hury 
bolls  of  hoijg'  hair  or  any  other  sort  of  hair,  which, 
according  to  them,  gives  strength  and  vigor  to  the 
land,  and  makes  the  rice  better;  those  whose  busi- 
ness it  is  to  shave  the  head  are  very  careful  in  saving 
the  liSir  till  the  inhabitants  of  those  parts  come  to 
purchase  it  for  about  a  half-penny  per  pound,  carry- 
ing it  away  in  bags,  and  you  may  often  see  barks 
loaded  with  nothing  else. 

When  the  plant  begins  to  ear,  if  the  land  be  wa- 
tered with  .spring  water,  they  mix  quickliiiie  with  it, 
pretending  that  it  kills  worms  and  insects,  destroys 
■weeds,  and  gives  a  warmth  to  the  ground  very  much 
tending  to  make  it  fruitful,  (a) 

(a)  Du  Ualde's  History  of  China,  (17-11,)  p.  109. 


"Account,  geographical,  statistical  and  historical, 
of  Orissa  proper,  or  Cuttach,"  a  territory  in  India, 
lying  on  the  river  Hoogly  and  the  sea.  (A) 

Rice  is  the  great  article  of  produce,  and  conse- 
quently of  food,  throughout  Orissu  proper.    lu  the 
I'erguiinalis,  north  of  the  Byterini,  it  is  almost  the 
sole  object  of  agricultural  labor.  The  grain  is  in  geii- 
t  eral  large  and  nutritious,  but  coarse,  and  is  consid- 
i^red  interior  to  the  average  produce  of  Bengal  and 
liehar. 
1     The  crops  of  Cuttach  are  called  Sared  and  Beali. 
i  Of  these,  the  first  and  principal  one  is  sown  in  May 
and  .Tune,  and  reaped  in  from  the  middle  of  Novem- 
ber lo  January,  (a  second  crop  rare.)    The  second  in 
importance,  called  the  Beali,  is  sown  about  the  samo 
time  on  the  liighfr  lands,  and  reaped  from  end  of 
August  to  end  of  September. 

Also  an  inferior  description  of  rice,  winch  is  sown 
in  low,  marshy  spots,  at  the  opcmiug  of  the  cold  v/ea- 
;  Iher,  and  by  frequent  transplantation  and  irrigation 
is  rendered  tit  for  cutting  in  the  following  April.  The 
cultivation  of  the  latter  sort,  which  is  called  Dalo, 
takes  place  chiefly  in  the  Pergunnabs,  between 
Khunda,  the  Chilka  lake,  and  the  sea. 

"The  ^'oomla,  or  Himalaya  Paddy,  or  Mountain 
Rice,  received  from  Mr.  Hodgson,  re.sident  at  Nepal, 
appears  to  be  of  the  same  kind  as  a  sample  (compris- 
ing five  varieties)  sent  to  the  Society  of  Arts,  in  \i*i\, 
by  Dr.  Wallach.  (r) 

"  The  high  rice  is  nearly  of  the  same  quality  as  the 
latter  kind,"  (East  India  rice  inferior,)  being  dark- 
colored,  opaque,  smd  not  at  all  calculated  for  the 
English  market. 

After  being  cut  down,  the  Malsi  rice  is  stacked  on 
the  field  and  left  to  become  heated  and  to  ferment 
six  or  eight  days,  after  which  the  stacks  are  pulled  to 
pieees,  and  the  grain  separated  from  the  straw  by 
shaking  tlie  sheaf  and  beating  it  a  few  times  on  the 
ground,  is  winnowed  by  being  shaken  to  the  wind 
from  a  shallow  platter  made  of  mat  and  bamboo,  and 
dried  in  the  sun.  The  grain  thus  treated  is  called 
hukwa,  and  is  much  liked. 

Another  mode  is  to  beat  out  the  rice  with  a  long 
stick  as  it  lays  upon  the  ground.  All  the  gr.ain  in 
the  valley  is  separated  from  the  straw  on  the  field, 
and  carried  home,  after  being  winnowed,  in  bags  and 
baskets.     It  is  reajied  with  a  sickle. 

The  Chasa  is  made  thus  :  The  rice  in  husk  (dhan) 
being  steeped  in  water  for  a  day  and  night,  is  roasted 
for  a  short  time  on  a  stone  or  large  tile  heated  for 
tho  purpose;  when  thus  parboiled,  and  while  still 
soft,  it  is  thrown  into  the  wooden  mortar  and  bruised 
into  thin  fiat  cakes,  in  which  state,  having  been  sep- 
arated from  the  husks  and  dried,  it  is  sold  in  the 
shops  and  eaten  by  the  people.  A  native  of  Nepal, 
or  of  Hengal  and  liehar,  will  be  satisfied  to  live  on 
this  substance  alone  for  many  days  together  ;  a 
small  quantity  of  SiiJitir  (unimrified,  partially  crys- 
tallized sugar)  added,  gives  it  a  most  siateful  relish 
to  the  rarely  stimulated  palates  of  these  poor  and 
primitive  people. 

Kuti,  (JVeicori.)  the  machine  for  converting  the 
dhan  into  eatable  rice,  by  husking  it,  is  the  same  as 
that  for  making  Hurki  from  bricks,  hence  called  the 
Dhcnki.  (d) 

(A)  "Asiatic  Researches."  or  Transactions  of  the 
Asiatic  Society  in  Hernial,  pp.  15,  171. 

(c)  "  Report  of  the  London  Society  of  Arts  "  Jour- 
nal of  the  Asiatic  Society  for  183G,  vol.  v.,  pp.  3G6- 
3G8. 

(d)  "  Report  of  the  London  Society  of  Arts."  Jour- 
nal of  the  Asiatic  Society  for  1836,  vol.  v.  pp.  962, 
963. 


394 


KICE — HISTORY    AND    STATISTICS    OF. 


as  well  as  in  some  of  the  warmer  parts  of  Eu 
rope,  in  proumia  for  the  most  part  artificially 
inuiulatod.  Animal — flowers  in  midsummer. 
Root  fihrous  ;  Herb  f^rassy,  about  four  or  five 
feet  hiyh,  lii^ht  green,  smooth ;  leaves  linear, 
narrow,  tajier-pointed.  SUpula  long,  abrupt, 
jaffged,  crowning  the  very  long  striated 
sheath.  Panicle  terminal,  much  branched, 
many,  flowered,  nearly  erect,  .slightly  spread- 
ing ;  its  branches  angular,  rough.  Flowerx, 
when  closed,  obovate,  oblique,  or  most  gib- 
bous at  one  side ;  their  corolla  somewhat  hairy, 


Captain  Cbarles  AVilkes,  of  the  U.  S.  Navy,  the  in- 
telligent and  able  commander  of  the  recent  exploring 
expeditiim,  informs  me  that,  except  at  Manilla,  no 
specimens  of  rice  were  obtained  by  the  expedition, 
the  crops  not  being  in  a  state  to  furnish  specimens. 
He  has  obligingly  furnished  the  following  remarks  : 
*'  In  Br.izils  you  have  the  result  of  Mr.  Brackenridge's 
actual  observation;  he  was  horticuUurii-t  to  the  ex- 
pedition. I  may  add  that  the  rice  of  Brazil,  as  an 
article  of  commerce,  is  not  esteemed  in  comparison 
with  our  best  rice,  and  does  not  keep  well ;  this  is 
also  the  case  with  the  rices  of  the  Philippine  Islands. 
Of  the  latter  you  have  an  account  handed  me  for  you 
by  Mr.  Rich,  our  botanist,  which  he  obtaiued  from 
the  best  authorities.  Speaking  well  the  Spanish  lan- 
gua.;e,  he  was  enabled  to  obt.ain  much  iuCormation, 
and  had  much  intercourse  with  several  distinguished 
gentlemen  of  Manilla,  who  are  well  acquainted  with 
this  branch  of  cultivation. 

"  Instead  of  Ihe  word  Faddy  being  applied  to 
Mountiin  Rice  exclusively,  as  Loudon  has  it,  in  the 
Philippine  Islands  and  at  Singapore  they  apply  it  to 
all  rice  with  the  husk  on ;  this  I  found  invariably 
their  practice.  The  rice  fields  of  the  Philippine  Is- 
lands, the  Water  rice,  both  before  and  after  it  is 
growing,  yield  a  large  supply  of  fish  for  the  inhabit- 
ants ;  some,  it  is  said,  mucli  over  a  pound  in  weight, 
and  a  foot  in  length  !  The  only  mode  they  have  of 
cleaning  the  rice  of  the  husk  is  to  beat  it  in  a  wooden 
mortar  by  hand ;  this  each  family  does  for  itself,  it 
being  sold  as  Paddy. 

"All  the  aquatic  kinds  are  planted  in  July  and 
August  by  hand,  and  are  reaped  in  Deeeniber.  The 
Upland  rice  comes  much  sooner  to  maturity,  and  is 
much  esteemed,  though  they  do  not  raise  any  great 
quantity. 

"  Near  Singapore  there  are  no  rice  fields  yet,  the 
country  is  belter  adapted  for  sugar  ;  it  is  imported 
from  Cochin  China  and  China.  We  have  had  no  op- 
portunity of  getting  the  information  you  desire,  rela- 
tive lo  the  rices  of  Sumatra  and  Java.  The  spe- 
cimens of  rice  obtained  at  Manilla  are  small,  and 
not  in  such  a  state  as  to  bo  preserved  for  usefulness. 
Any  description  of  those  mentioned  by  Mr.  Rich  may 
be  obtained  from  our  Consul  at  ^hlnilla  immediately 
after  the  crop  is  gathered;  it  will  afford  me  pleasure 
to  be  instrumental  in  procuring  such  as  you  may  de- 
sire." 

In  Brazil, fc)  toward  the  base  of  the  Organ  Moun- 
tains, where  the  country  is  rich  and  flat,  the  cultiva- 
tion of  rice  is  carried  on  to  a  considerable  extent.  At 
one  place,  on  the  banks  of  a  small  river,  we  observed 
not  less  than  seventy  acres  sown  with  rice. 

Till)  following,  appareu'ly,  was  the  mode  of  cultiva- 
ting it  there  :  Dykes  or  dams,  in  breadth  three  or 
four  feet,  inclosed  from  two  to  three  acres.  These 
inclosureg  were  either  square  or  oblong,  as  suited 
the  nature  of  the  ground,  which  had  been  ploughed, 
tnnde  fine  and  level,  with  several  furrows  or  runs 
through  the  centre  of  each,  for  the  purpose  of  drain- 
ing tlie  surface.    In  the  dykes  were  two  or  more  gaiis 

(c)  D.Brackenridge,  horticulturist  attached  to  the 
U.  S.  Exploring  Expedition,  under  the  command  of 
Cbarles  \rilkcs,  Esq.  U.  S.  Navy. 


minutely  granulated  or  dotted.  Aw7i  straight, 
rough,  various  in  length. 

Rice :  A  plant  cultivated  in  the  East,  in 
America,  North  and  South ;  in  Africa,  Spain, 
Italy,  and  Tiedmont.  Its  stalk  not  unlike 
that  of  wheat,  but  fuller  of  joints,  and  with 
leaves  resembling  those  of  the  leek.  It 
branches  into  several  stems,  at  the  top  of 
which  the  grain  grows  in  clusters,  and  each  is 
terminated  with  a  beard,  and  inclosed  in  a 
yellow  rough  husk.  When  stripped  of  this, 
the  seed  appears  to  be  oval  in  shape,  of  a 


or  sluices,  to  flood  or  let  off  the  water  at  will  The 
young  rice  plants,  when  we  saw  them,  were  from  two 
to  three  inches  high  ;  tlie  ground  was  moist  to  satu- 
r,,tion,  but  not  flooded.  We  were  told  that  v/ater 
would  be  let  on  in  a  few  days,  and  allowed  to  re- 
main till  the  plants  were  in  flower.  The  soil  was  a 
deefN  rich,  black  earth.  This  culture  on  the  part  of 
the  Brazilians  resembles  very  much  that  of  the 
Westphaliaus. 

Several  patches  of  rice  were  seen  at  the  Sandwich 
Isliinds,  near  Honolulu. 

The  varieties  of  rice  cultivated  at  the  Philippine 
Islands  (/)  are  very  numerous;  the  natives  discin- 
guisli  tliem  by  the  size  and  shajie  of  the  grain.  The 
following  are  some  of  the  most  esteemed  varieties  : 

Binamhan^ — With  the  leaves  slightly  hairy,  glumes 
whitish,  grows  to  the  height  of  five  feet,  tlowcrs  in 
December.     Aquatic. 

Lnmiujo — Greatly  resembles  the  above,  is  more  ex- 
tensively cultivated,  particularly  in  Batangas,  where 
it  is  the  principal  article  of  food  among  the  inhabit- 
ants of  the  coast. 

jMalngcquit — This  variety  derives  its  name  from  its 
becoming  very  glutinous  after  boiling;  it  is  much 
used  by  the  natives  in  making  sweet  and  fancy  dish- 
es, but  is  considered  uiiwholescme ;  it  is  also  used  in 
making  a  whitewash,  (g)  which  is  remarkable  for  its 
brilliancy  and  for  withstanding  rain,  &c.     Aquatic. 

Hoiitol  Cn/)«(/»— Common  in  Ilocos,  where  it  is  cul- 
tivated, both  upland  and  in  water.  It  produces  a 
large  grain,  and  is  therefore  mucli  valued,  but  it  baa 
rather  a  rough  taste. 

l)uma!i—or  early  rice.  This  variety  is  raised  in 
the  uplands  exclusively,  and  derives  its  name  from 
ripening  i:s  grain  three  months  from  planting;  the 
seed  is  rather  broader  and  shorter  than  the  other 
varieties ;  it  is  not  extensively  cultivated,  as  birds 
and  insects  are  very  destructive  to  it. 

Q'linanda — With  smooth  leaves.  This  variety  is 
held  in  great  estimation  by  the  people  of  Batangas, 
as  they  saj-  it  swells  more  in  boiling  than  any  other 
variety.  It  is  sown  in  May  and  gathered  in  October. 
Upland. 

Bu/oUnn — This  variety  lias  very  hairy  glumes ;  it  is 
not  held  in  much  esteem  by  the  natives,  but  is  culti- 
vated on  account  of  its  not  being  so  liable  lo  the  at- 
tacks of  insects  and  diseases  as  most  of  the  other 
upland  varieties. 

jVal'iircijuit — Smooth  Irtives, glumes  red  ;  in  all  the 
above  they  arc  whitish.  It  possesses  all  the  qualities 
of  the  aquatic  variety  of  the  same  name,  that  of  be- 
coming very  glutinous  after  boiling,  &c.  This  rice  is 
said  to  be  a  remedy  for  worms  in  liorses,  soaked  in 
water  with  the  husk  on.  It  is  given  mixed  with  honey 
an<l  water. 

TuHiri — Leaves  slightly  hairy,  glumes  light  violet 
color.  This  upland  variety  is  much  esteemedVor  its 
fine  flavor. 

(/)  Mr.  Rich,  the  botanist  nttaclied  to  the  U.  S.  Ex- 
ploiiiig  Expedition,  under  the  command  of  Charles 
Wilkes,  Esq.,  l\  S.  Navy. 

(g)  Small  rice  is  used  in  the  lower  parts  of  Carolina 
for  making  whitewash  with  lime,  and  with  good 
effect. 


KICE — HISTORY   AND   STATISTICS   OF. 


395 


shining  white  color,  and  nhnost  transparent. 
One  species,  several  varieties. 

1.  Common  Rice :  Stem  four  feet  high — 
panicle  spiketl,  simple — husk  pule,  oblong, 
with  long  awns  or  heard,  a  late  sort ;  grows 
in  moist  places ;  injured  by  either  drought  or 
salt  water. 

2.  Early  Rice :  Stem  three  feet  high — pan- 
icle spiked — Ijranched — husk  tinged,  brownish 
red — awns  shorter  ;  grows  in  marshy  places  ; 
is  not  injured  by  salt  inundations. 

3.  Mountain  Rice :  Stem  three  feet,  more 
slender — husk  longer,  the  awns  very  long ; 
grows  in  dry  situations  ;  excosed  to  cold,  ex- 
posed to  continued  inundation,  it  decays — sea 
water  kills  it. 

4.  Glutinous  or  Clammy  Rice:  Stem  four 
feet  high,  leaves  wider,  yellowish — panicle 
large,  with  shorter  awns — seed  oblong,  rather 
large,  glutinous,  very  white  ;  grows  in  both 
wet  and  dry  places. 

There  is  a  variety  having  a  black  seed  high- 
ly flavored,  as  well  as  another  having  red 
seed.  Rice  seems  to  contain  more  silcx  in  its 
composition  than  most  of  its  natural  order. 
Even  the  seed  is  not  destitute  of  this  sub 
stance.  Brilliant  imitations  of  precious  stones 
are  said  to  have  been  made  of  rice,  for  which 
purpose  a  large  quantity  of  the  grain  is  re- 
quired.* 

Oryza — from  the  Arabic  Ertiz. — la  modern  Eu- 
rope, Riz,  Reis,  Rice. 

Ori/za  sativa,  the  common  rice,  has  the 
culm  or  stem  from  one  to  six  feet  in  length ; 
annual,  erect,  simple,  round,  jointed ;  leaves 
subulate-liuear,  reflex,  embracing,  not  fleshy, 
flowers  in  a  terminal  panicle  ;  calycine,  leaf- 
lets lanceolate,  valves  of  the  corolla  equal  in 
length,  the  inner  valve  even,  awnless ;  the 
outer  twice  as  wide,  four  grooved,  hispid, 
awued  ;  style  single,  two  parted. 

Ori/za  mutica,  the  dry  or  mountain  rice, 
cultivateil  in  Ceylon,  Java,  and  of  late  in 
Hungary,  has  the  culm  or  stem  three  feet 
high,  and  more  slender;  fruit  longish,  with 
awns  the  longest  of  all.  It  is  sown  on  moun- 
tains and  in  dry  soil ;  rots  with  a  long  inun- 
dation, and  perishes  with  sea  water. 

The  varieties  of  rice,  as  of  other  cultivated 
grains,  are  as  numerous  as  the  different  soils, 
climates,  and  other  physical  circumstances  in 
which  it  is  cultivated  ;  besides  the  tlry  rice, 
the  chief  sorts,  by  some  considered  specie.s, 
are  the  0.  pnecox,  or  early  rice,  and  the  0. 
g/.udnosa,  or  clammy  rice,  both  cultivated  in 
irrigateil  lands. 

The  native  place  of  rice,  like  that  of  the 
other  sorts  of  grain  in  common  use,  is  un- 
known. 

In  the  hilly  parts  of  Java,  and  in  many  of 
the  eastern  islands,  the  mountain  rice  is  plant- 
ed upon  the  sides  of  hills,  where  no  water  but 


Rees'  Cyclopedia.— Art.  Oryza. 


rain  can  come;  it  is,  however,  planted  in  the 
beginning  oftlie  rainy  season,  and  reaped  in  the 
beginning  of  the  dry  .season.  The  natives  call 
it  padJi/  (finiHVff,  wliich  signifies  mountain 
rice,  it  is  entirely  unknown  in  the  western 
parts  of  India,  but  it  is  well  known  in  Cochin 
Ciiina,  wlure  it  thrives  in  tky,  light  soils, 
mostly  on  the  sides  of  iiills  not  requiring  more 
moisture  than  the  usual  rains  and  dews  sup- 
ply, neither  of  which  are  frequent  at  the  sea- 
son of  its  vegetation. 

There  is  a  kind  of  hill  rice  wliich  is  hardy 
enough  to  grow  on  the  edge  of  the  Himalayan 
snows  ;  it  is  almost  to  be  expected  that  this 
will,  at  some  future  time,  prove  an  acquisition 
of  value  to  the  European  cultivator. 

In  Lomburdy  and  Savoy,  rice  is  sown  on 
rich  lands,  the  sower  often  wading  to  the 
knees  in  the  water  ;  one  crop  a  year  only  is 
obtained,  but  four  crops  are  often  taken  in 
succession. 

In  Westphalia,  and  some  other  parts  of  the 
south  of  Germany,  rice  has  long  been  culti- 
vated ;  there  it  is  sown  on  lands  that  admit  of 
irrigation,  but  water  is  not  admitted  till  the 
seed  has  germinated,  and  it  is  withdrawn,  as 
in  Italy,  when  the  crop  comes  into  flower. 
From  long  culture  in  a  comparatively  cold 
country,  the  German  rice  has  acquired  a  re- 
markable degree  of  hardiness  and  adaptation 
to  the  climate,  a  circumstance  which  has  fre- 
quently been  alluded  to  as  an  encouragement 
to  the  acclimating  of  exotics.  It  is  fountl.  Dr. 
Walker  remarks,  that  rice  seeds  direct  from 
India  will  not  ripen  in  Germany  at  all,  and 
even  that  Italian  or  Spanish  seeds  are  much 
less  early  and  hardy  than  those  ripened  on 
the  spot.  In  Hungary,  rice  has  not  been  long 
cultivated  ;  the  mountain  sort  has  chiefly  been 
tried,  and  that  in  the  manner  of  our  barley  or 
summer  wheat. 

In  England  a  crop  of  rice  has  been  obtain- 
ed near  Windsor,  on  the  banks  of  the  Thames. 

By  far  the  best  imported  rice  is  from  Caro- 
lina ;  it  is  larj^jer  and  better  tasted  than  that 
of  India,  which  is  small,  meagre,  and  the 
grains  frequently  broken.* 

The  varieties  of  rice  which  are  most  com- 
mon with  us  in  Carolina  are : 

1.  The  Gold  Seed  Rice,  the  ordinary  crop 
rice  most  highly  esteemed,  and  therefore  uni- 
versally cultivated  ;  an  oblong  grain  3-8th3 
of  an  inch  in  length,  slightly  flattened  on  two 
sides,  of  a  deep  yellow  or  golden  color,  awn 
short ;  when  the  husk  and  inner  coat  are  re- 
moved, the  grain  presents  a  beautiful  pearly- 
white  appearance — an  ellipsoid  in  figure,  and 
somewhat  translucent.  This  rice  has  been 
introduced  into  the  Winyaw  and  ^Yaccamaw 
region  since  the  revolution.  It  was  planted 
by  Col.  Mayham,  on  Santee,  in  1785. 

2.  The  Lluinca  like,  so  called  from  its  re- 
semblance to  one  of  the  varieties  of  Guinea 


Loudon's  Eucyclopedia  of  Plants — Art.  Oryza. 


396 


RICE HISTORY   AND    STATISTICS    OF. 


corn,  iu  Ihc  shape  of  the  head  and  clustering '  exterior  husk  as  No.  1,  witli  perhaps  the 
of  the  grains.  In  color  the  same,  or  perhaps  awn  a  little  longer;  the  red  grain  having  a 
a  little  deeper;  the  grain  of  this  variety  is  in  ;  white  husk  like  jS'o.  3;  and  the  red  grain 
shape  both  broader  and  shorter,  but  not  thick-  having  the  husk  white  like  the  last,  with  a 
er  than  Xo.  1.  Iu  figure,  a  sort  of  oblong  longer  awn,  and  droj^jiing  from  the  stem  in 
spheroid,  compressed  on  two  opposite  sides,  the  field  as  soon  as  it  is  matured.  This  kind 
so  as  to  be  nearly  twice  as  broad  as  it  is  i  of  volunteer  never  can  be  harvested  on 
thick  ;  awn  sliort,  blunt ;  it  is  not  cultivated  i  the  stem  ;  it  is  sometimes  stripped  into  bags 
as  a  crop,  and  is  rarely  met  with.  '  and  baskets,  and  used  as  horse  and  poultry 

3.  The  Coin»w7i  White  liice,  in  shape  and  '  feed.  In  either  case,  whetlier  the  grain  has 
general  description  like  No.  1,  except  that  the  dropped  from  being  touched,  or  has  been 
color  of  the  husk  is  white  or  cream-colored,  stripped  off  for  \ise,  the  stem,  relieved  of 
and  the  grain  when  hulled  is  not  as  broad,  t  its  superincumbent  weight,  stands  erect  and 
nor  as  pearly;  awn  short.  Some  grains  of  towers  above  the  worthier  and  well-freight- 
this,  mixed  with  a  sample  of  seed  rice,  consti-  i  ed  heads  of  the  surrounding  fields.  Hence 
tute  an  objection  to  it,  although  it  is  this  va- 1  it  is  called,  in  the  vernacular,  "  Proud 
riety  that  constituted  the  earlier  crops  of  the   Rice." 

country.  The  cultivation  of  rice  in  Carolina  has 

4.  The  Mliite-Bearded  Rice,  very  much  the  '  added  materially  to  the  wealth  of  the  prov- 
same  as  No.  3  in  general  characteristics.  The  \  ince,  the  colony,  the  state ;  and  has  enhanced 
grain  of  tiiis  kind  is  rather  larger,  and  is  fur- 1  in  no  inconsiderable  degree  the  value  of 
nished  in  its  unhuUed  state  with  a  very  long '  the  active  commerce  of  both  the  kingdom 
awn  or  beard — grows  well  on  high  land.  A  \  of  Great  Britain  and  the  federal  republic 
sample  of  this  last  was  brought  from  the  East '.  of  the  United  States. 

Indies  in  1S42,  by  Capt.  Petigru,  U.  S.  Navy. !  It  is  destined  to  add  still  further  to  the 
Some  years  ago  it  was  cultivated  more  or  |  productive  wealth  of  our  country.  The 
less  extensively  by  planters  for  their  negroes.  |  eonsunn)tion  of  rice,  it  is  believed,  will  con- 
There  are  several  other  kinds  of  rice  iu  ap- !  tinue  steadily  to  increase  in  proportion  as 
pearance,  to  be  found  in  both  the  fields  and  I  the  various  uses  of  thisvahiable  grain  shall 
the  barn-yards,  differing  either  in  the  size  and  '  be  more  generally  ascertained,  and  rendered 
shape  of  the  grain,  or  in  the  size  and  appear- !  familiar  in  the  useful  and  ornamental  arts, 
ance  of  the  stera  and  leaflets.  Tliey  are  be- 1  as  well  as  in  its  culinary  preparations,  as 
lieved  'to  be  modifications  of  either  one  or  !  an  ordinaiy  vegetable,  or  a  delicate  luxury.* 

other  of  the  foregoing  descriptions;  none  of  j — — 

these   have  as  yet   established   a  sufficient      •  The  following  methods  of  preparing  rice  in  the 

claim  to  be  classed  as  distinct  varieties.  cuisine,  though  common  with  us,  may  not  be  found 

They  may  be  classed  as  '°  ''^^    ^^'^  manuals  of  housekeeping.     They   are 

•■/••'  "   1.    /ii  •       ^  ■   n         1      deemed  not  unworthy  of  being  noticed : 

_  1.  An  unprovement  of  the  gram  chiefly  cul- 1     .y.„  j^,-/  yj,vc.-Piek  all  the  specks  and  gravel  from 

tivated,  arising  from  a  long-contiimed,  careful   the  rice,  then  wash  it  thoroughly  in  cold  water ; 

selection  of  seed,  the  vigorous  nature  of  tlie   ^^^^^  your  Pot  of  water  boihng,  add  salt,  and  then 

soil  in  which  it  wis  snore'^eivelv  nl-inted  llie  ' ''"'  ^^^  '''<='^  '"  ^^'^  ^^"  ''  "'"'"  bo'''°S  ;  li-'t  it  boil 
sou  in  wuicii  ic  was  successively  planted,  me    ^^^^^  minutes,  tlien  pour  off  the  water  as  close  as 

pecuhanties  ot  the  cultivation  ])ursued  con-  i  you  can.  without  stirring  the  rice  ;  set  the  pot  on 
eistently  from  year  to  year,  and  other  circum- '  some  coals  and  cover  it ;  let  it  remain  twenty  min- 
stances.  Of  this  character,  it  is  believed,  is  '  y,''^^*'  th<;n  dish  it  u,.  for  use  Prepared  thus,  it  is 
.,      ,  .        .  r  11  1         1    the  most  sinii>le  among  vegetables,  IS  palatalile,  nu- 

the  large  gram  rice  .so  successfully  produced  ■  tritious  and  light.  When  boiled,  rice  is  increased 
by  Colonel  Ward.*  I  in  bulk  some  iSO  per  cent.,  and  in  weight  over  100 

2  A  commingling  of  the  grain,  arising  i  p<^r  cent.  For  dyspeptics  there  is  no  vegetable  so 
from  a  careless  selection,  or  a  neglect  of  se- 1  "'"J^^/,"]j,.,„,,/„st  7JrM,;.-Mix  a  spoonful  of  butter 
lection  ot  seed — and  two  or  more  of  the  }  with  some  hot  hommony,  very  thoroughly,  and 
fore 


sam 

th 

the  other,  etc. 

3.  A  corruption  or  deterioration  of  the 
grain,    arising  from  utter  neglect  and  e.x 


and  bakequiclvly. —  f'avi. 

Jhwtkcr  liicc  Bread.— llaye  a  bucket  for  the  spe- 
cial purpose ;  mix  overnight  .some  hommony,  or  the 
eyes  of  the  ri'-e,  boiled  soft,  witli  milk  and  rice  tlour, 


posiire  of  the  seed  to  the  vicissitudes  of ;  having  added  s.alt,  (/.«.,  into  a  stiff  batter,  so  that 
weather  from  year  to  year,  or  the  being  jit  will  just  pour;  set  it  where  it  will  not  get  warm, 
covered  so  deep  in  either  earth  or  water  as  (fl)Fice  flour  is  obtained  by  pounding  into  powder 
not  to  have  vegetated  for  years.  m  a  hand  mortar  the  requisite  .[u.-intiiy  of  milled 

/^.fii  ■     1     1.   ii     ir  1      i         I)-         A-      1  rice.    Two  iiuarts   of  rice   will  make  nearly  three 

Of  this  last,  the  Volunteer  liice  aftords  ex-   \l^^^^^^  ^}  ,ig'^^_    ^his  is  the  best  way  to  prepare  it 
amples,  viz.:  the  red  grain  having  the  same    for  immediate  use;  if  kept,  it  soon  becomes  acid. 

It  is  sometimes  ground  by  the  mills.    This  keeps 

very  well,  but  the  rice  cannot  be  so  completely  pul- 
*  See  Report  of  Committee  on  Rice  to  the  State    verized  when  ground.     It  is  prepared  thus  at  the 
Agricultural  Society  of  South  Carolina,  1843,  for  Col.   New-York  steam  rice  mill,  and  packed  in  barrels  tor 
■Ward's  account  of  this  grain,  I  exportation. 


RICE — HISTORY   AND   STATISTICS   OF. 


397 


By  this  grain  a  large  portion  of  the  hu- 
man race  actually  subsist,  iiml  it  is  believed 
it  may  be  yet  more  universally  consumed. 
It  ia  a  vegetable  which  undergoes  no  very 
material  change,  from  change  of  climate. 
When  put  up  ,for  exportation,  it  deterio- 
rates less  than  any  other  grain  orbreadstuif 
whatever,  and  when  cleaned  and  brushed 
in  the  best  manner,  it  will  keep  sutHeiently 
eweet  and  sound  during  the  longest  voyage. 

Indeed,  rough  rice,  or  rice  in  its  primi- 
tive state,  before  the  chaff  or  husk  has  been 
removed,  may  be  kept  fresh  and  sweet  for 
years ;  even  should  it,  for  a  moment,  have 
Deen  immersed  in  water,  the  sun's  warm 
rays,  and  a  little  dry  air,  eifectually  \>ve- 
serve  it  for  a  long  time.  One  hour  is  suffi- 
cient to  reduce  a  bushel  of  rough  rice  (one 
lialf)  to  a  state  fit  for  cooking ;  and  the  only 
instrument  requisite  is  simply  a  wooden 
mortar  and  pestle. 

Professor  Liebig,  in  a  note  to  his  admira- 
ble and  valued  work  on  Chemistry,  as  ap- 
plied to  agriculture  and  physiology,  p.  98, 
furnishes  a  chemical  analysis  of  rice,  in 
terms  substantially  the  same  as  those  in 
■which  the  same  analysis  by  Braconnot  is 
given  by  Berzelius.  According  to  the  an- 
alysis of  Braconnot,  A?in.  de  Cftim.  et  de 
P/ii/s.  t.  iv.  p.  370,  this  grain  is  thus  con- 
stituted : 

Carolina  Rice.    Piedmont  Rice. 

Water 5.00  7.00 

Starch 85.07  83.80 

Parenchyma -i.SO  4.80 

Glutten 3.G0  3.00^ 

Uncrystallizable  sugar. -.0.29  0.05^ 

Gummy  matter  approach-  I 

ingto  starch 0.71  0.10 

Oil 0.13  0.25 

Phosphate  of  lime 0. 1 3  0.40 

99.73      100.00 

with  traces  of  muriate  of  potash,  phos- 
phate of  potash,  acetic  aci.l,  sulphur,  and 
lime,  and  potash  united  to  a  vegetable 
alkali. 

which  injures  it ;  in  the  morniti','  stir  it,  pour  it  into 
tho  pan,  and  i!ct  it  to  htilic—Onllnu'int.  Hi 

GritliUm  for  Hrcal;fn.sl.—'M\x.  a  tliia  hatter  with 
milk  and  rice  tlour,  ad'aini;  salt,  q.  .s.,  have  your  «nd- 
dle-iron  liot,  grease  it  with  lard,  pour  some  batter 
on,  spread  it  thin,  turn  it  and  brown  it  on  both  sides. 

Rice  G/uc— There  is  also  a  very  good  glue  made 
from  rice,  by  boiliuc;  the  ground  ri<^o  in  soft  water 
till  it  .icauires  the  eonsistimcy  of  a  thin  jelly.— 
En':y.  Am.  This  is  one  of  the  best  cemouts  for 
china-ware,  shell.*,  &c. 

starch  from  /iice.— This  is  said  to  be  finer,  whiter, 
and  better,  inasmuch  as  a  given  quantity  will  go 
farther  than  that  produced  from  wheat.  The  man- 
ufacturers, however,  allege  that  the  material  is  too 
costly  to  justify  their  usinj  it  in  making  starch. 
Moreover,  the  difficulty  of  separating  it  from  the 
gluten  contained  in  this  grain,  is  an  obstacle  in  the 
way  of  its  use.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  some  of  our 
chemists  will  yet  discover  a  more  ready  and  certain 
method  of  completing  this  process. 


Vauquelin  was  unable  to  detect  any 
saccharine  matter  in  rice. — 2'hom.ion's  Or- 
gan'ic  Chemistry,  p.  883. 

EaUI.Y     iNTROnrCTIOM    AND    ClILTl.'RE. As 

early  as  the  year  1060,  the  facilities  afforded 
by  the  character  of  the  low  country  of 
Carolina  for  the  cultivati(m  of  this  seed, 
were  remarked  by  agents  of  the  English 
interestc'l  in  the  settlement  and  improve- 
ment of  the  now  world.*  In  less  than  forty 
year.'i  from  that  time,  the  swamp  seed  was 
actually  introduced  and  successfully  culti- 
vated in  South  Carolina. 

It  happened  thus,  by  accidont.f  Land- 
grave Thomas  Smith,  or  Smyth,  as  honest 
•lohn  Arehdale  wrote  the  name,  on  a  visit  to 
the  East,  before  coming  to  this  country,  had 
observed  the  plant  and  some  of  Ihe  circum- 
stances attending  its  culture.  After  settling 
in  Carolina,  it  occurred  to  him  that  the  low 
grounds  and  climate  of  the  country  were  ad- 
mirably adapted  to  this  culture.  Earnest  in 
this  o])inion,  and  desirous  of  an  ojiportunity 
to  test  its  value  by  experien<y?,  Providence 
brought  within  his  reach  the  only  means 
necessary  to  do  so ;  and  thus  by  his  instru- 
mentality, bestowed  upon  a  portion  of  the 
new  world  a  great  and  permanent  blessing. 
In  fhe  year  1694,  after  Landgrave  Smith, 
dissatisfied  with  the  province,  had  enter- 
tained thoughts  of  quitting  it,  a  vessel  from 
Madagascar,  in  distress,  put  into  the  harbor 
of  Charleston,  having  on  board  a  little  rough 
rice,  in  the  cook's  bag.  This  rice  was  given 
to  Mr.  Smith,  who  planted  it  in  a  low,  moist 
part  of  the  garden,  at  his  residence  near 
White  Point.:!^  The  plant  grew  luxuriantly, 
and  the  grain  matured  finely.  The  product 
was  wisely  and  liberally  disseminated  as 
seed  among  the  neighboring  planters,  who 
in  their  turn  supplied  other  planters  living 
more  in  the  interior;  and  so  on  until  this 
became  the  chief  article  of  production,  the 
staple  commodit}^  of  the  colony. 

There  is  extant  another  account  of  the  in- 
troduction of  this  valuable  seed,  which  re- 
fers it  to  the  year  1700§  or  thereabout,  and 

*  In  "A  Brief  Description  of  the  Province  of  Car- 
olina on  the  coasts  of  Florida,  etc.,  printed  for 
Robert  Homo,  near  liishopsgate  street,  London,  in 
1660,"  (the  charter  of  Carolina  is  dated  the  oOtli  of 
June,  in  the  17th  year  of  the  reign  of  Charles  II.,) 
it  is  mentioned,  among  otlier  things,  that  the 
marshes  and  meadows  are  very  large,  from  1.500 
to  3,000  acres  and  upwards,  and  are  excellent  food 
for  cattle,  and  will  bear  any  grain  being  iircpared: 
some  cattle,  both  great  and  small,  will  live  well  all 
winter,  and  keep  their  fat  without  fodder.  The 
moailows  are  very  proper  for  rice,  rapeseed,  lin- 
seed, and  many  of  them  be  made  to  overflow  at 
pleasure  with  a  small  charge. — '2  Cur.  Cut.   13. 

+  Ramsay's  History  of  goulh  Carolina,  chap.  5th. 

X  .\  spot  now  traversed  by  Longitude  Lane. 

§  In  new  land,  well  drained,  under  favorable  cir- 
cumstances, from  one  grain  may  be  matured  24  ears 
or  heads,  carrying  each  from  10  to  3^0  grains.  There 
is  a  tradition,  that  come  foi-ly  years  ago,  a  stalk  of 
rice  having  GO  branches  or  tillers  was  seen  at  the  old 


398 


KICE HISTORY    AND    STATISTICS    OF. 


associates  with  it  the  name  of  another  gen- 
tleman, a  Mr.  Woodward. 

It  is  further  recorded*  that  a  Mr.  Dubois, 
Treasurer  of  the  East  India  Company,  did, 
some  short  time  after,  send  out  to  this  coun- 
try a  small  bag  of  seed  rice.  Wliethcr  these 
were  distinct  and  successive  importations, 
■which  is  highly  probable,  and  whether  or  not 
there  were  two  or  more  varieties  of  the  grain 
introduced,  certain  it  is,  the  seed  was  so  rap- 
idly dispersed  along  the  rivers  and  inland 
swamps,  that  soon  the  province  became  a 
rice-growiiig  country.  And  since,  under  dif- 
ferent forms  of  government,  as  a  colony  of 
Great  Britain,  and  as  a  sovereign  state, 
constituting  an  integral  part  of  the  United 
States  under  a  federal  republican  form  of 
government,  the  principal  staple  production 
of  South  Carolina  has  been  the  best  rice  in 
the  world. 

At  first,  rice  was  cultivated  on  the  high 
land,  and  on  little  spots  of  low  ground,  as 
they  were  met  with  here  and  there.  These 
low  grounds  being  found  to  agree  better  with 
the  plant,  the  inland  swamps  were  cleared 
for  the  purpose  of  extending  the  culture. 
In  the  process  of  time,  as  the  fields  became 
too  grassy  and  stubborn,  they  were  aban- 
doned for  new  clearings ;  and  so  on,  until  at 
length  was  discovered  the  superior  adapta- 
tion of  the  tide-lands,  and  the  great  facilities 
for  irrigation  afforded  by  their  location.  For 
these,  the  inland  plantations  were  gradually 
and  slowly  abandoned,  until  now,  that  the 
great  body  of  land  which  little  more  than  a 
century  ago  furnished  for  exportation  over 
50,000  barrels  of  rice,  now  lies  utterly  waste, 
constituting,  where  trees  have  not  overgrown 
it,  the  finest  natural  pasture  that  could  be 
desired. 

As  may  very  well  be  supposed,  the  seed 
was,  at  first,  very  sparingly  sown,  and  the 
ground,  being  new,  furnished  an  immense 
yield  in  return. 

A  peck  of  seed  to  the  acre,  sown  thin  in 
drills,  eighteen  inches  apart,  would,  on  good 
land,  yield  thirty,  forty,  fifty,  and  even  sixty 
bushels,  in  jjroportion  to  the  care  bestowed 
on  its  culture. 

As  the  grain  became  more  plenty  and 
common,  and  the  space  betweer  the  drills 
was  slightly  diminished,  the  quantity  of  seed 
was  by  little  and  little  increased. 

It  is  now  from  two  to  three  bushels  per 
acre,  varying  according  to  the  character  and 
condition  of  the  land,  and  the  ]ieeuliar  no- 
tions of  watering  entertained  by  the  planter 
— a  free  use  of  water  justifying,  and  indeed 
requiring,  a  liberal  allowance  of  seed. 

The  space  between  the  drills  now,  from 


bntcher-pt'ii,  near  Goorsfotown.     Thiire  was  grown 
ttic  past  year,  in  flie  (,'arden  of  Dr.E.  T.  Heriot,  apian 
from  nni'  irraiii  liavini;?!!  branches. 
♦  2  Carolina  Col.  p.  270. 


centre  to  centre,  is  thirteen,  fourteen,  or  fif- 
teen inches — the  best  distance  is  thirteen 
inches,  Avhere  water  is  used  fieely  ;  the  dry 
culture  requires  a  more  frequent  use  of  the 
hoe,  and  therefore  the  larger  space  is  prefer- 
able. 

The  average  product  of  i-icc  land  at  pres- 
ent varies  from  twenty-five  to  sixty  bushels 
per  acre,  generally  increasing  in  quantity, 
though  deteiiorated  in  quality,  in  an  inverse 
ratio  to  latitude.* 

The  seed  should  be  selected  with  the 
greatest  attention  to  purity  and  maturity  of 
the  grain.  A  sample  containing  one  red 
grain  in  one  hundred  grains,  is  considered 
by  the  best  planters  inferior.  Seed  rice, 
having  a  greater  proportion  of  red  or  volun- 
teer rice  than  one  per  cent.,  is  totally  imfit 
for  planting.  To  procure  the  most  mature 
rice  for  seed,  a  good  plan  is  to  thresh  the 
rice  over  a  barrel  or  large  log,  the  butt  of 
the  sheaf  being  held  by  both  liands.  In  this 
way  the  riper  grains  alone  are  whipped  ofl^, 
serving  as  seed  ;  while  the  remainder  on  the 
sheaf  is  threshed  ott'  in  the  usual  way. 

Froduct. — AVithin  seventy  degrees  of  lati- 
tude, radiating  from  the  equator,  this  valu- 
able grain  is  cultivated  all  over  the  globe; 
even  in  the  Himal.ij'a  mountains  there  is 
said  to  be  a  variety  naturalized  and  grown  ;f 
another,  or  possibly  the  same,  in  Siberia. 
From  climate  and  peculiar  treatment,  the 
vegetable  rice  acquires  a  certain  constitu- 
tion, adapting  itself  to  the  habitude  of  the 
region  in  which  it  grows;  it  does  not  so 
readily  succeed  elsewhere,  until  it  is  accli- 
mated by  time.  Grown  in  India,  in  China, 
in  most  of  the  Asiatic  islands,  in  southern 
Europe,  in  Africa,  in  South  and  jN'orth  Ame- 
rica, each  country  yields  its  own  ^^eculiar 
seed. 

In  JTorth  America,  although  there  is 
known  on  the  margins  of  some  of  the 
northei'n  lakes  a  kind  of  wild  rice,  which, 
when  that  country  was  in  a  state  of  nature, 
furnished  no  little  subsistence  to  the  abo- 
rigines, yet  it  is  scarcely  cultivated  north 
of  tlie  state  of  Virginia.  ^The  census  of  1840 
exhibits  the  following  scale  of  production  in 
the  United  States : 

Taking  the  crop  of  18.39  as  a  basis — 


Missouri  produced 

G5  lbs,  rice. 

Illinois          " 

598 

<< 

Virginia       " 

.3,084 

«' 

Arkansas     " 

5,987 

« 

Tennessee    " 

8,455 

<( 

Kentucky    " 

16,848 

« 

Alabama     " 

156,469 

<< 

*  The  higlipr  the  latitude,  generally,  the  better  the 
ricn  in  quality  ;  hence  planters  look  to  the  north- 
want  of  tlicir  own  locality  for  tluir  seed  rice,  when  it 
can  be  obtained  theuce  comparatively  free  of  volun- 
teer. 

t  Ency.  Am. 


BICE — HISTORY   AND   STATISTICS    OF. 


399 


Florida  Tcr'y  produced  495,626  lbs,  rice. 
JMisiidsippi  "        801,711       " 

JS'orth  Ciiruliiia     "     3,'S->-l,l'6'2,       " 
Louisiana  "    3,766,541       " 

Georgia  "  i;3,417,2U9       " 

South  Carolina     "  66,897,244       " 

As  it  is  only  in  tide-water  swamps  that 
this  grain  can  be  culivatcd  to  advantage, 
and  therefore  only  iu  such  lands  that  the 
culture  will  probably  be  extended,  the  sys- 
tem of  culture  j>ursued  on  the  tide-lands  of 
Carolina  only  will  be  detailed. 

The  swamp  and  marsh  lands  in  this 
region,  when  in  a  state  of  nature,  were 
overllowed  by  the  tides  in  ordinary  times. 
In  the  time  ol  spring  tides,  they  might  have 
been  found  covered  at  high  water  to  the 
depth  of  from  twelve  to  twenty  inches. 
When  reclaimed  they  are  furnished  with  a 
sufficient  dam  to  exclude  the  tide-water,  and 
a  trunk,  or  framed  culvert,  furnished  with  a 
door  at  each  end  swinging  upon  long  levers, 
which  are  attached  to  sturdy  uprights,  so  as 
to  admit  or  exclude  the  tide  at  pleasure — 
retain  or  discharge  it,  after  being  admitted. 
The  large  inclosure  is  subdivided  b}-  cross- 
banks,  or  dams,  into  fields  of  convenient 
Eize,  containing  variously  from  fourteen  to 
twenty-two  acres.  In  constructing  the 
banks,  large  ditches,  five  to  eight  feet  wide, 
are  excavated  to  the  depth  of  five  feet,  leav- 
ing between  the  ditch  and  bank  a  margin 
of  twelve  feet  or  more.  These  serve  to 
drain  the  field.  From  one  of  these  ditches 
to  another,  in  one  direction,  and  at  the  dis- 
tance of  ?)li  to  50  feet  apart,  are  cut 
smaller  ditches  or  drains,  eighteen  inches 
wide,  and  three  feet  deep.  Thus  thorough 
ly  reclaimed,  and  completely  drained,  the 
Bwamp,  if  well  seeded,  will  produce  abun- 
dantly from  the  first.  The  following  re- 
marks, however,  will  be  luiderstood  as  ap- 
plying to  old  land,  from  the  surface  of 
which  stum])S  and  marsh  have  entirely,  or 
for  the  most  part,  disappeared.  In  this  con- 
dition are  now  found  most  of  the  lands  in 
the  rice-growing  region.  Fields,  as  they 
become  exhausted  by  long-continued  crop 
ping,  are  revived  by  manuring  with  rice 
straw  and  tailings,  or  by  turning  under  the 
spontaneous  growth  of  a  dry  fallow  for  one 
or  more  years.* 

*  Southern  Agriculturist,  N.  S.,  vol.  iii.  p.  243. 
Mount  Arena,  JVov.  8, 1843. 
Col.  R.  F.  W.  Allston  : 

Your  queries  respectiug  the  varieties  of  rice,  &c., 
remind  nie  of  my  promise  to  give  you  the  result  of 
EOiiie  of  my  experiments  with  riee  straw  and  tailiiigri, 
as  manure  to  rice  land.  Whenever  they  have  heen 
put  upon  my  fields  which  had  been  makini;  small 
crops,  the  clTect  has  been  satislaetory,  and  it  has  be- 
come a  part  of  the  system  of  my  plantation. 

In  tlie  month  of  Novtmber,  lS:i!),  1  caused  ths 
stubble  of  two  tields,  one  fifteen,  the  other  ten  acres, 
to  be  listed  four  feet  apart,  and  parallel  with  the 


Preparation — The  land  is  ploughed,  or  dug 
with  the  hoe,  as  early  in  the  winter  as  eaa 
be  ;  if  before  Christmas,  the  stubble  is  turn- 


drains  ;  after  wliich  a  furrow  was  made  on  each  side 
with  a  large  plough  ;  the  land  unbroken  in  the  centre 
was  then  drawn  upon  tlie  beds  with  hoes  ;  during  tho 
time  of  threshing,  the  straw  and  tailings  were  carried 
in  a  large  flat,  and  each  load  wa<  distributed  between 
the  beds  of  one  acre,  until  the  whole  was  covered. 
In  this  state  tliey  were  left  until  the  last  week  in 
.June,  when  all  the  volunteer  rice  and  grass  was 
hood  down,  and  the  beds  reversed  with  plou'jhg  and 
completed  with  hoes.  The  ditches  and  drains  were 
then  cleaned,  and  the  fields  were  planted  iu  peas, 
set  in  chops  about  a  foot  apart ;  tlie  laud  was  in  good 
order,  and  the  )ieas  grew  luxuriantly,  and  made  a 
tino  crop;  no  volunteer  rice,  and  as  little  grass  as 
possible  was  allowed  to  go  to  seed. 

In  the  first  week  of  April,  the  vines  were  cut  down, 
and  the  beds  levelled  with  ploughs  and  hoes.  This 
was  very  easily  done,  as  the  lanil  wiis  dry  and  re- 
markably loose.  They  were  then  trenched  in  the 
usual  way  thirteen  inches  from  centre  to  centre — 
two  bushels  and  twelve  quarts  of  rice  were  jdaiited  to 
each  acre,  and  the  seed  was  well  covered  with  earth. 
During  the  cultiv.ition,  the  common  plan  was  pur 
sued,  i.  e.  sprout,  point,  long,  and  lay-by  tlow — two 
hoeings  between  point  and  long  flow,  two  alter,  and 
one  jiicking  in  the  water.  The  crop  was  well  saved, 
and  produced  within  a  fraction  of  seventy-three 
bushels  to  the  acre.  The  straw  and  chafl'  of  this  rice 
was  of  a  much  brighter  color  than  any  other  made 
upon  the  jilautation,  and  the'grain  was  of  superior 
quality.  1970  bushels  of  rough  rice,  made  from  lanl 
treated  in  the  manner  described,  was  poviuded  at  the 
Oeorgetown  steam  mill  last  winter,  and  turned  out— 
Tierces,  009  lbs,  net. 
98,1.57  lbs.  prime  rice, 

5  barrels  middling,  and 
3  ditto  small,  with 
193  ditto  flour. 

I  cannot  say  what  had  been  made  upon  these  fields 
for  the  three  or  four  previous  years,  but  on  reference 
to  the  plantation  book,  where  an  account  had  been 
kept,  I  found  the  average  crop  from  them  to  have  been 
thirty-three  bushels  and  a  fraction  to  the  acre. 

In  some  of  my  fields  I  have  planted  oats  upon  the 
beds,  one  and  sometimes  two  rows,  and  these  have,  ia 
some  instances,  been  followed  by  potato  slips,  which 
succeed  remarkably  well,  and,  it  may  be  worthy  of 
notice,  keep  fully  as  well,  if  not  belter  than  those 
made  upon  high  land. 

Although  the  rice  thus  made  received  as  much  wort 
as  is  usually  bestowed  under  the  best  cultivation,  yet 
it  was  not  bestowed  from  its  seeming  to  require  it.  but 
from  tlie  fact  of  its  being  convenient  to  do  so,  in  turn 
with  other  fields  of  the  plantation.  I  believe  as 
much  might  have  been  mado  with  two  workings,  a3 
the  gra.ss  had  been  so  completely  destroyed,  .niid  the 
land  so  thoroughly  opened  previously,  that  but  little 
remained  to  be  effected  by  the  hoes.  From  subse- 
quent observation,  this  land  is  much  more  easily  cul- 
tivated, and  with  proper  care  some  years  must  elapse 
before  the  volunteer  rice  and  viirious  grasses  regain 
their  standing. 

Which  of  the  three  means  employed  in  this  plan 
is  of  the  most  im|)ortanee,  is  to  be  determined — 
thoroughly  breaking  the  soil,  with  the  destruction  of 
volunteer  rice  and  grass  seed,  change  of  crop  and  cul- 
ture, or  the  application  of  the  rice-straw. 

The  work  laid  out  in  this  manner  ought  not  to  be 
considered  as  .iltogether  additional,  but  very  inurh  as 
given  in  advance,  and  at  a  time  well  suited  to  it — as 
when  tho  rice  planting  season  arrives,  it  will  be  found, 
as  before  remarked,  to  require  very  little  more— after 
which  its  state  of  preparation  for  a  good  crop  will  far 
exceed  any  condition  that  could  be  brought  jiboiU  by 
the  means  at  cnminand  during  the  winter  sea.son. 

From  the  observations  which  I  liave  made  since 
my  atteodion  was  first  drawn  to  this  matter,  it  ap- 


400 


RICE HISTORY    AND    STATISTICS    OF. 


ed  under— if  later,  the  stubble  is  burned  off. 
The  land  is  then  covered  with  water  during 
any  warm  changes  of  weather  in  winter,  and 
exposed  to  the  frost  when  it  is  colder.  In 
March  the  tield  is  kept  dry,  the  drains  are 
cleansed,  the  upturned  clods  are  broken, 
and  the  whole  levelled  with  the  harrow  or 
hoe.  The  Held  is  trenched  in  a  direction 
across  the  drains,  with  a  hoe  made  for  the 
purpose,  to  open  a  trench  of  from  3  to  5 
inches  in  width.  The  trenches  or  seed-fur- 
rows will  be  13,  14,  or  15  inches  apart  from 
centre  to  centre.  In  April,  and  until  the 
middle  of  May,  the  rice  is  sown  in  these 
trenches,  say  2^  bushels  of  seed  to  the  acre 
of  45,000  square  feet. 

Dry  Culture. — The  seed  is  covered  lightly 
with  a  light  board  attached  to  a  hoe  handle, 
and  the  field  is  inundated  from  4  to  6  days, 
just  long  enough  to  swell  the  grain,  and  pre- 
pare it  to  sprout.  As  soon  as  it  is  sprouted, 
and  the  plants  become  perceptible,  like  so 
many  needle-points  above  ground,  the  water 
is  again  put  on  f.ir  4  or  6  days,  accordiug  to 
the  warmth  of  the  atmosphere. 

With  wafer  cover. — The  more  common 
practice  now,  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
writer,  is  not  to  cover  the  seed  with  earth, 
but  to  "  clay"*  it  first,  and  after  sowing,  to 


pears  that  it  would  be  profitable  for  such  persons  as 
plant  weak  or  impoverished  land,  to  subject  one  fifth 
of  the  quantity  annually  planted  to  this  mode  of 
treatment.  From  the  increase  which  might  be  ob- 
tained in  the  first  crop,  a  considerable  return,  if  not 
all,  would  be  made  for  the  loss  of  a  rice-crop  on  the 
land  for  one  year,  and  the  balance,  if  any,  would  be 
soon  made  up  by  the  succeeding  crops — besides  the 
advantage  gained  from  the  increased  fertility  of  the 
fields  for  some  years,  the  enhanced  value  of  tlieir  pro- 
duction from  the  superior  (juality  of  the  grain,  and 
the  diminished  labor  during  tlie  cultivation  of  the 
BUcceedins  crops. 

Impoverished  rice  land  is  particularly  susceptible 
of  improvement  from  manure,  as  may  be  often  seen 
when  fields  are  so  situated  as  to  receive  the  washini;s. 
by  rain,  of  adjacent  corn  or  potato  fields  annually 
manured  with  rice  straw;  and  it  is  more  lasting  in 
its  effect  tlian  might  be  supposed,  as  is  proved  by  the 
marked  difference  in  rice  growing  in  fields  where 
cattle-pens  or  feeding-troughs  had  been  placed,  often 
many  years  before.        With  great  regard, 

Edward  T.  Heriot. 

*  The  process  of  "  claying"  rice  was  introduced 
Bomewl\ere  about  the  year  1800,  by  that  judicious, 
practical  man,  and  observant,  experienced  planter, 
Captain  John  II.  Allslon,  of  Prince  George,  Winyaw. 
It  may  be  tlms  described  :  Take  two  large  tubs,  say 
the  two  halves  of  a  hogshead;  fill  one  with  water 
three  fourths  full,  add  to  it  three  or  four  baskets  or 
more  of  good  red  clay  ;  stir  it  well  >mtil  tlie  clay  is 
dissolved  and  the  water  has  taken  up  a  sulllciency  of 
it  to  feel  clammy  between  the  fingers.  Pour  off  this 
water  into  the  other  tub,  into  which  also  measure  as 
much  seed  lice  as  the  tub  will  hold  without  wasting; 
elir  it  about  until  every  grain  has  be(Mi  wetted  by  the 
clayed  water,  taking  care  to  pause  every  now  and 
then  for  the  purpose  of  skimming  off  the  grass  seed 
nnd  light  rice,  which  rise  to  the  top  and  float  on  the 
surface.  Then  dip  out  llie  seed  rice  in  sieves,  allow- 
ing the  water  to  drip  back  into  the  tub,  and  spread 
it  in  the  barn  to  dry  for  the  next  day's  sowing.  Put 
more  seed  into  the  tub,  and,  when  requisite,  a  fresh 
supply  of  clayed  water,  prepared  as  before,  and  so  on. 


flood  the  land  forthwith,  making  the  "sprout" 
and  "  point"  water  one  and  the  same.  The 
mctliod  first  metitioned  is  the  best  for  early 
planting,  though  the  labor  required  is  greater. 
After  the  season  is  sufficiently  advanced  for 
the  grain  to  germinate  quickly,  the  "open" 
planting,  less  laborious,  is  equally  certain,  and 
by  some  persons  is  considered  more  certain  to 
procure  a  regular  and  even  stand.  In  all  his 
early  planting,  tliat  is,  until  the  middle  of 
April,  the  writer  allows  three  busliels  of 
"  clayed "'  seed  to  the  acre.  His  trenches  are 
fourteen  inches  apart  from  centre  to  centre, 
and  five  inches  wide — the  seed  is  scattered  in 
the  trench.     He  uses  tlie  water  freely. 

When  the  plant  is  five  or  six  weeks  old,  the 
earth  is  stirred  with  the  hoe;  in  ten  days 
more  the  hoe  is  again  used,  and  the  "long 
water"  put  on  for  two  weeks  or  thereabout ; 
deep  the  first  four  days,  then  gradually  di- 
minished, until  the  plant,  somewhat  recovered 
from  the  exhaustion  occasioned  by  its  rapid 
growth  under  water,  stands  up  erect,  and  be- 
gins to  throw  out  a  new  root ;  the  water  i3 
then  drawn.  About  eight  days  after,  when 
the  field  is  quite  dry,  a  very  deep  hoeing  is 
given,  and  the  plant  left  undisturbed  until  it 
is  prepared  to  form  a  joint ;  so  soon  as  this  is 
apparent,  the  field  receives  a  light  dressing 
with  the  narrowest  hoe,  and  is  "  laid  by,"  that 
i.s,  the  "joint  water"  is  put  on  to  remain  until 
the  grain  is  matured,  which  is  usually  two 
months  from  this  time.  A  few  days  before 
cutting,  the  water  is  run  off,  and  the  ditches 
washed  out  by  the  succeeding  tide.  The  rice 
is  cut  with  a  sickle,  (task,  one  quarter  of  an 
acre  to  the  hand,  to  cut  and  carry,)  and  laid 
carefully  across  the  stubble  to  cure,  till  the 
succeeding  day.  The  dew  off,  it  is  then  bound 
in  sheaves  of  convenient  size,  just  as  wheat 
is,  and  packed  in  large  floats,  bearing  five  to 
seven  acres,  to  be  conveyed  to  the  barn-yard. 
There  it  is  stacked  temporarily  in  small  ricks, 
and  when  thoroughly  cured,  put  away  in  large 
stacks  made  to  contain  from  200  to  400 
bushels  each  when  threshed. 

The  threshing  is  performed,  almost  univer- 
salljr,  by  a  labor-saving  machine ;  and  the 
grain  is  cleaned  and  prepared  for  market  by 
means  of  the  pounding-raill. 

Water  Culture ;  or  "  sixty  days  system."* — 


The  advantage  of  this  preparation  is  that  the  grain, 
furnished  on  its  exterior  husk  with  a  liairy  furze,  re- 
tains about  it  (after  being  dried  sufficiently  to  be 
handled  in  the  sowing)  particles  of  the  tenacious 
clay;  this,  on  the  grain  in  the  trenches  being  reached 
by  the  water  with  which  the  field  is  flooded  imme- 
diately after  sowing,  makes  it  adhere  to  the  earth,  and 
of  course  prevents  the  seed  from  floating. 

*  Reduced  to  a  system  )iy  Mr.  Archibald  Ligetll, 
of  Winyaw,  who  has  politely  furnished  this  synopsis. 
Mr.  ij.  thinks,  and  very  jiroperly,  that  the  practice  of 
making  rice  with  water  altogether  is  a  vicious  one, 
and  should  be  resorted  to  only  where  the  land  is  in 
such  bad  order,  that  the  labor  of  planting  would  not 
be  compensated  by  any  other. 


RICE — TIISTORT    AND    STATISTICS    OF. 


401 


Tlie  land  i?  nowed  soon  after  harvest,  for  the 
purpose  of  s]iroiitinif  the  vohintet'r  and  pcat- 
tereil  rice,  utitil  the  winter  sets  in;  it  ia  then 
dried  and  kept  dry.  As  early  as  practicable, 
the  stubble  is  burned  off.  Tlie  ditches  and 
drains  are  well  cleansed  at  conveitii-nt  times, 
and  the  land  is  turned  Lite — a  short  time  pre- 
vious to  plantitii^.  After  tiiis  the  ]irep;iration 
is  as  usual — the  trenches  are  fourteiri  inches" 
apart  from  centre  to  centre,  and  aie  opened 
four  inches  wide.  The  seed,  after  being 
"  clayed,"  is  scattered  in  the  trenches,  allow- 
ing two  bushels  and  twelve  quarts  to  tlie  acre. 
The  water  is  put  on  so  as  to  cover  all  tin;  hills, 
and  kept  so  until  the  sprout  of  the  rice  is 
green,  and  the  blade  well  opened  ;  or  until  rhe 
rice  begin-;  to  float.  The  water  is  then  slacked 
down,  until  the  tops  of  the  plants  show  out 
on  the  level  land,  not  regarding  the  low  places. 
At  this  level  it  is  held  until  the  low  places 
come  out ;  it  is  then  raised  gratlually  evcy 
three  or  four  days,  until  about  si.\  inches  deep 
on  the  level  parts  of  the  field ;  at  this  it  is 
held — observing  to  freshen  the  water  every 
other  night.  As  soon  as  the  plant  is  suffi- 
ciently strong,  the  water  is  slacked  down 
quite  low,  the  hoe  is  dragged  through  between 
the  trenches,  and  the  hands  pick  out  the  long 
grass,  weeds,  and  rushes.  The  water  is  then 
forthwith  returned  up  to  the  same  mark  as 
before.  This  working  sliould  be  given  about 
ten  days  before  drying  the  field,  as,  soon  after 
it  is  done,  the  plant  puts  out  new  roots,  by 
which  it  is  sustained  and  prevented  frouj 
"  checking"  when  the  water  is  drawn.  In 
drawing  this  water,  the  condition  of  the  plant 
must  guide  the  judgment.  In  ordinary  sea- 
sons, the  first  planting  may  be  dried  in  forty- 
five  or  sixty  (lays,  the  last  planting  in  forty 
to  fifty  days,  whenever  about  that  period  the 
plant  is  putting  out  a  new  root,  anil  always 
early  enough  to  allow  it  thirty  days'  dry 
growth  at  least  before  forming  the  second 
joint.  Seven  days  after  the  water  is  drawn, 
the  field  is  hoed  very  deep,  and,  if  the  land  is 
stiff,  the  sods  are  turned  over,  or  it  is  "back- 
sodded  ;"  in  a  fortnight  after,  it  is  hoed  again, 
if  practicable.  As  soon  as  the  plant  has 
formed  a  second  joint,  and  tlie  hollow  is  per- 
ceptible, the  last,  or  "joint-water"  is  put  on  to 
the  same  depth  as  before,  and  never  raised 
until  the  rice  begins  to  shoot  forth  the  ear.f 


*  Various  distances,  from  twelve  to  sixteen  inches, 
have  been  tried  by  Mr.  L.,  and  ho  lias  det-ided  upon 
fourteen  inches  as  the  best.  The  writer's  exiierience 
confirms  this  decision. 

t  The  following  note  is  found  in  2<1  Vol.  Ramsay's 
Hist,  of  S.  Carolina,  p.  200  : 

"  South  CaroMna  i.^  indebted  to  Gideon  Diipont,  of 
St.  James,  Goose  Creek,  for  the  water  culture  of  rice; 
he  was  an  exi)erienced  planter,  ol  discerament  and 
soundjudgnieiit,  who  after  repeated  trials  ascertained 
its  practicability. 

"In  the  year  1783,  he  petitioned  the  legislature  of 
the  state  on  the  suliject.  A  committee  of  fire  was 
appointed  to  confer  with  him.  To  them  he  freely 
VOL.  II. 


Value  of  the  Rice  Crop. — Tlie  value  of 
the  rice  crop,  as  derived  from  examining  tlie 
actual  net  revenue  of  six  different  planters  for 
ten  years,  from  1830  to  1840,  has  been  equal 
to  8140  per  annum  to  the  hand,  that  is,  only 
taking  into  account  the  efficient  force  of  the 
respective  plantations. 

The  price  of  rice  for  the  same  time  averaged 
as  follows : 

In  1830 $2  .5-8 

In  1831 li  3-8 

In  183-2 2  13-16 

In  1833 2  5-8 

la  1834 3  3-16 


communicated  his  method,  relying  upon  the  gene- 
rosity of  the  public.  The  state  treasury  being  then 
empty,  the  committee  could  only  recf.mmi-nd  grant- 
ing him  a  patent.  This  he  declined.  His  method 
is  now  in  general  use  in  river  swamp  lands,  and  has 
been  the  means  of  enriching  thousands,  though  to 
this  day  his  own  faniily  have  reaped  no  benefit  what- 
ever from  the  communication  of  his  discovery. 
Thomas  Bee,  now  Federal  Judge  fur  the  district  of 
South  C.irolina,  was  one  of  the  above  committee  ;  and 
on  his  authority  these  particulars  are  stated." 

The  last  summer  I  instituted  au  inquiry  to  ascertain 
whether  any  of  the  family  of  Gideon  Dupont  were 
living,  and  could  furnish  me  with  an  account  of  the 
water  culture  alluded  to  as  the  result  of  their  ances- 
tor's experience  and  observation.  The  inquiry  was 
fruitless ;  none  of  the  family  of  Gideon  Dupont  could 
be  traced  in  this  state. 

I  noticed  the  memorandum  of  the  historian  no  fur- 
ther until  coming  to  Columbia.  Hero,  through  the 
kind  attention  of  the  Clerk  of  the  House,  I  have  ob- 
tained from  the  journals  of  the  House  of  1784,  not 
only  a  confirmation  of  the  fact  that  a  committee  was 
appointed  to  consider  the  subject,  but  also  the  report 
of  the  committee  inclosed,  of  which  the  following  is 
a  copy : 

"  In  the  Senate,  jMardt  18(A,  1784. 

The  committee  to  whom  Mr.  Gideon  Dupont's  peti- 
tion was  referred, 

REPORT: 

That  they  have  considered  the  same,  and  are  of 
opinion  that,  every  encouragement  ought  to  be  held 
out  for  the  improvement  m  agriculture,  and  the 
staple  commodities  of  this  state. 

Mr.  Dupon-,  intends  to  make  two  experiments  the 
ensuing  crop  to  prove  the  practicability  of  his  under- 
taking, viz.,  one  in  River  Swamp,  at  the  planta- 
tion of  Colonel  Morton  Wilkinson,  and  the  other  iu 
Ulack  ^^wamp,  at  the  plantation  of  Mr.  John  Ueas. 

Your  oomniittee  therefore  recommend  that  Colonel 
Morton  Wilkinson,  Roger  P.  Saunders,  Efq..  and  Mr. 
John  De.ns,  be  appointed  commissioners  to  attend  the 
snid  experiments,  and  if  they  should  be  carried  into 
effect,  and  will  be  of  general  utility,  and  shall  certify 
the  same  under  their  hands  and  seals,  to  the  General 
.\.ssembly,  that  then  the  said  Mr.  Dupont  be  entitled 
to  a  liberal  reward." 

From  the  journals  of  the  succeeding  year,  it  does 
not  ajipear  that  thi-*  commission  ever  reported  on  the 
subject.  It  may  be  presumed  that  Mr.  Dupont'a 
method  of  cultivating  rice  without  the  use  of  the  hoe, 
and  with  water  only,  did  not,  upon  further  test, 
prove  to  be  of  as  great  general  utility  as  he  himself 
supposed.  In  new  land,  just  chared  of  wood  and 
dr.iined,  a  good  crop  of  rice  can  be  made  tkc  first  %ear 
without  the  use  of  the  hoe;(rt)  but  under  no  other 
circumstances  that  I  am  aware  of,  except,  perhaps, 
after  a  good  fallow,  which,  if  properly  treated,  re- 
stores the  soil  almost  to  its  primitive  purity. 

(fl)  The  writer  has  made  such  crops  repeatedly,  be- 
tween the  years  18.'8  and  1836,  when  clearing  new 
laud,  with  a  comparatively  small  labomig  force, 

2G 


402 


RICE — niSTORT   AKD   STATISTICS   OF. 


In  1835 3  1-4     1  pressed  liard  against.    The  rods  on  their  parS 

In  1836 3  7-16     were  each  furui;-hed  at  bottom  with  a  sort  of 

In  1837 3  11-16   shoe,  protruding  a  little  beyond  tlie  tube  for 


the  purpose  of  marking  and  opening  the 
trench  into  which  the  seed  was  to  be  conveyed 
by  its  corresponding  tube.  Although  a  little 
too  complicated,  it  was,  upon  the  whole,  a 
complete  and  interesting  labor-saviug  machine. 
Drawn  by  a  good  horse,  over  ground  in  high 


Inl838 4  1-17 

InlS39 2  1-2 

beinff  an  average  for  that  time  of  83  1-8. 

During  the  past  season,  1842,  the  price  was 
low,  owing  partly  to  the  want  of  demand  for 

roufh  rice,  which  caused  an  undue  quantity  |  tilth,  and  managed  by  a  skilful  and  judicious 
of  clean  rice  to  be  forced  upon  the  market  at ,  hand,  the  drill  plough  would  trench  seed  from 
the  same  time — partly  to  the  increased  pro-  eight  to  twelve  acres  of  ground  in  the  day,  in 
duction  arising  from  a  favorable  harvest,  but  |  proportion  nearly  as  it  was  furnished  with  a 
principally  to  the  low  ]irice  of  breadstuffs  ,  less  or  greater  number  of  trenching  shoes  and 
generally,  and  the  depressed  state  of  trade  tubes.  It  was  used  successfully  by  the  im- 
all  over  "the  world,  and  the  low  standartl  value  ,  porter,  and,  more  or  less,  by  several  planters 
affixed  to  almost  every  thing,  by  a  return  to  a  ;  on  the  Waccamaw  and  Pee  Dee,  up  to  the 
bank  issue,  based  upon  a  specie  currency — the  1  year  of  his  death,  (1821,)  since  which  time  it 
only  safe  and  permanent  basis.  I  has  been  entirely  abandoned.     This  result  is 

To  those  planters  somewhat  in  debt,  who  •■  supposed  to  be  owing,  not  to  the  fact  that  the 
have  been  met  in  the  full  career  of  habitual  plough  was  not  found  to  be  highly  useful,  so 
expenditure,   by   the   late   and   present   low  ,  much  as  to  this,  that  to  use  it  successfully,  it 


prices  of  produce,  they  have  proved  seriously 
embarrassing. 

Low  prices,  if  they  continue  pei-mancnt,  so 
as  to  effect  a  corresponding  graduation  in 
price  of  ail  the  usual  objects  of  expenditure. 


equired  more  minute  attention  and  judgment 
than  could  be  calculated  on  among  the  field 
laborers  of  that  day.  The  writer  is  inclined 
to  the  opinion  that  the  drill  plough  will  again 
be  introduced,  and  successfully  used  in  rice 


are  doubtless  favorable  to  the  lasting  pros  |  planting.'-"  Indeed,  he  has  himself  ordered 
perity  of  the  country.  If  this  be  true,  our  j  the  importation  of  an  improved  one  from 
planters  will  not  complain.  The  sooner  they  i  Scotland,  to  be  accompanied  by  a  laborer 
and  their  society  can  accommodate  themselves  I  who  is  familiar  with  its  use.  One  of  these 
to  the  new  condition  of  things,  that  is,  buy  |  ploughs,  used  by  the  importer,  havins:  fom* 


less,  and  endeavor  to  make  more  fur  sale,  the 
sooner  will  those  whose  business  it  is  to  sup- 
ply them  graduate  their  prices  to  the  reduced 


tubes,  would,  on  long  beds,  trench  and  sow 
ten  acres  in  a  day.  Another,  furnished  with 
six  tubes,  cnuld  accomplish  fifteen  acres  under 


standard  ;  and  their  renewed  prosperity,  if  it  1  like  circumstances,  in  the  same  time. 


be  less  sudden  aud  ostentatious,  will  not  be 
the  less  sure  and  permanent  for  that,  nor  the 
less  gratefully  acknowledged. 

Drill  Plough. — Somewhere  about  the  year 
1812,  the  late  Dr.  Robert  Nesbit,  returning 
from  a  visit  to  his  native  country,  Scotland, 
introduced  an  implement  in  the  economy  of 
rice-planting  which  excited  no  little  interest 
among  the  planters  in  his  neighborhood.     It 


A  simple  trenching  plough,  furnished  with 
coulters  for  opening  two  or  three  trenclu-s  at 
a  time,  has  been  used  with  advantage  on  light 
soils,  but  it  has  not  been  generally  adopted. 

Thrashing  Mill. — The  same  gentleman.  Dr. 
Nesbit,  who  was  as  much  distiuguished  by 
bis  general  intelligence  and  scientific  ingenu- 
ity as  lie  was  noted  for  skill  and  success  in 
the  practice  of  his  profession,  imported  and 


■was  called  the  Drill  Plough.  Its  offices  and  used  upon  his  plantation,  in  the  year  1811,  the 
uses  were  to  open  the  trenches  and  deposit  Scotch  thrashing  mill.  His  motive  jwwer 
the  seed,  which  it  was  found  to  do  very  well    was  the  wind.    When  the  wind  was  fresh  and 


when  managed  with  care,  to  the  saving  of  so 
much  labor. 

The  drill  plough  was  borne  by  a  carriage 
on  two  wheels,  very  much  resembling  in  size 


the  weather  fur,  this  machine  would  thrash 
and  winnow  five  hundred  bu:-hel3  in  a  day. 

Among  the  various  attempts  of  the  several 
inventors  in  this  country  to  improve  upon  the 


and  height  au  ordinary  dr.iy,  and  was  lira  An  j  wheat  thrasher  so  as  to  niake  it  available  for 

by  one  horse   between   shafts.     It   consisted,  j  rice,  none  met  wiih  permanent  success  until 

generally,  of  a  long  box  parallel  with    the    the  year   IS'dO,  when  was  produced  a  ma- 

axlc  and  above  it,  into  which  the  given  quan- ;  chine,  the  beaters  of  which  were  shod  with 

tity  of  seed  grain  was  placed  and  locked  up.  i  sheet  iron,  and  serrated  with  iron  wire. 

From  this  box  the  grain  was  distributed  by        The  principle  to  which  is  owing  the  superi- 

raeans   of    regulators  into   and   through    tin    . 

tube'"  descendin"'  nearly  to  the  eartli,  at  the       ,  o-  •.•      n       i  -^  •  .  •     i  ^i   » 

Luuo.,  u<...Li.iiuni„   iii-iv    jr  .  *  Since  writing  the  above,  it  IS  ascertained  that 

required  distance  irom  eacli  other  lor  ])laiUing.  |  ^p.  Francis  M.   Weston,  of  VVaccimiuw,  v.\\o  has 

These  tubes  or  cylinders  were  guided  in  their  ■  just  rerurned  troin  Knglaiid,  has  ordered  for  impor- 

de-cent  and  sustained  in  their  respective  .,o- i  t»ti"u  an  imi)rovcil  drill  plough,  which,  on  iis  arrival 

.  .  !  1        I-  •  c       \   «„.,,,  :.  >      .1      )  m  this  country,  will  bo  lelt  some  time  at  the  Acricul- 

Sitions.  by  rods  of  iron  fixed  firmly  into   the  ,  ^,,^0!  Hepositorv  of  J.  D.  Legare,  for  the  inspection 

frame,  but  so  as  to  yield  to  an  obstacle  when  J  of  planters. 


nicE — insTonr  akd  statistics  of. 


403 


ority  of  this  invention,  is  that,  ^\-hilc  revolv- 
ing with  increai^ed  rapithty,  (000  to  800  llie 
niiniUe,)  by  means  of  the  teeth  uitii  wliieh 
the  beaters  are  furnished  it  combs  off  the 
grain  from  the  numerous  footstalks  of  which 
tlie  ear  of  rice  is  composed.  The  invention, 
■whicli  is  now  in  very  general  use,  yielding, 
when  worked  by  animal  power,  from  two  to 
three  hundred  bushels  per  day,  ant!  when  pro- 
pelled by  steam,  450  to  700  bushels  each,  ia 
due  to  the  ingenuity  and  mechanism  of  Cal- 
vin Emmons,  of  New-York.*     To  the  liberal 


•  The  following  is  a  li?t  of  patents  obtained  by  citi- 
zens of  .South  Carolina,  together  with  the  KmuionR  of 
New- York, for  their  rcspeetivo  inventions  orimprovc- 
monts  of  a  'J'hras/iinir  Mac/iinc.  There  are  no  mod- 
els for  these  to  bo  found,  and  only  three  are  illus- 
trjitcd  by  drawings.  The  originals  were  doubtle.ss 
destroyed  by  the  fire  of  the  loth  December,  1830; 
and  those  marked  thus  +  have  not  beon  restored: 

tBenjamiu  ?.  Uort,  George- 
town, P.  C patent  21st  Feb.,  1812 

tEliasB.  Uort,  Charleston,  S.C.  "  18th  "        1828 

t(!alvin  Emmons,  New-York..  "  17th  April,  1828 

tJehiel  nutt-,Georgetown,S.C.  "  'JOth  May,  1830 

Calvin  KmniODS "  27th  July,  l^^'-O 

■William  Emmons »  TthKeb.,  183' 

\Y.  Mathews,  Charleston,  S.  C.  "  27th  Aug.,  1835 

Here  follows  a  description,  by  Mr.  Emmons,  of  his 
machine  of  lt!31,  with  liis  improvements  ihereon  : 
New-York,  10th  Sept.,  1843. 
To  R.  F.  W.  Allston,  Esq. 

Dear  Sir  -.—Your  letter  of  the  3d  August  is  re- 
ceived. My  rice-thrasher,  when  I  first  introduced  it 
into  your  state  in  the  winter  of  1830-31,  was  con- 
structed as  follows,  viz. :  a  rectangular  frame,  across 
and  near  the  one  end  of  which  was  iilaced,  in  suit- 
able boxes,  an  iron  .shaft,  on  which  shaft  were  hung 
circular  heads,  or  wheels,  to  the  periphery  of  which 
circular  heads,  and  parrallel  with  the  said  shaft,  were 
attached,  by  joints  or  hinges,  six-tnothed  beaters,  tlie 
length  of  which  beaters  being  nearly  equal  to  the 
width  of  the  frame  in  the  clear.  3  he  teeth  of  every 
second  beater  ranging  alternately  wiih  the  spaces  be- 
tween the  teeth  of  the  othirs;  the  teeth  were  made 
of  5-ll)ths  iron  rod,  one  and  a  half  inches  long,  and 
set  in  the  beaters  5-bths  of  an  inch  apart  from  centre 
to  centre  of  each  tooth.  This  centriiugal  force  caus- 
ing the  said  toothed  beaters,  when  revolving,  to  ex- 
tend themselves  as  far  from  tho  axis  .is  the  joints 
by  which  they  are  secured  will  permit,  and  thus  when 
in  motion  forming  a  cylinder. 

Underneath  the  beaters  was  placed  a  circular 
frame  or  bed,  formed  of  slats  parallel  with  the  axis 
of  the  cylinder,  the  front  eilge  of  which  frame,  wlicro 
the  grain  is  received,  being  raised  nearly  to  the 
height  of  the  axis  o*'lhe  cylinder  ;  directly  in  front  of 
which  is  placed  a  pair  of  feeing  rollers,  to  which  the 
sheaf-rice  was  conveyed  by  a  revolving  feeding-apron, 
the  bands  of  the  sheaves  being  previously  cut. 

The  required  speed  of  a  cylinder  of  18  inches  diam- 
eter was  found  to  be  about  7<0  to  8(;0  revolutions 
per  minute — much  over  that  speed  would  break  the 
rice,  or  much  under  would  not  Ihrash  so  perfi  ctly  1 
clean.    They  feed  at  about  60  feet  per  minute 

The  principal  improvements  and  alterations  which  | 
I  subsequently  a'^opted,  are  the  using  of  cast-steel  ^ 
teeth  two  inches  long,  of  S-Sths  rod,  flattened  and  I 
hardened  at  the  outer  end.«,  ("iron  teeth  having  too  i 
rapidly  worn  away  by  the  action  of  the  rice  upon  I 
them,  land  steel  platesin  the  concave  bed, which  plates 
project  .3-4ths  of  an  inch  above  the  surface  of  th.T  i 
bed  and  incline  towards  the  feeding  rollers,  about 
30  degrees  from  the  radius;  and  which  I  found  to  i 
protect  the  bed  from  too  rapidly  wearing  as  before, 
and  to  aid  in  separating  the  foot  stalk. 

Also,  as  the  feeding  apron  was  found  to  wear  out  I 


!  enterprise  and  public  spirit  of  General  .Tames 
Hamilton  are  the  planters  of  rice  indebted 
for  the  first  tiiorough  test  of  the  powers  of 
lliis  machine,  and  for  the  subsequent  early 
notoriety  of  its  successful  operation.* 

Jfil/iiiff. — Although  it  is  recorded  that 
planters  early  in  tlie  18th  century  cleaned 
tiieir  rice  by  mills  worked  by  horses  or  o.\en, 
I  yet  tiiis  could  not  have  been  the  case  gene- 
i  '•ally,  till  about  the  middle  of  that  century. 
[  Even  toward  the  y)eriod  of  the  war,  hand- 
mortars  were  still  extensively  used. 

The  method  was.  that  each  male  laborer 
j  had  three  pecks  of  rough  rice  in  a  mortar, 
'  and  each  female  two  pecks,  to  pound  before 
day  or  sunrise ;  and  the  same  at  ni^ht,  after 
t  finishing  the  ordinary  task  in  the  field.  The 
pounding  was  done  in  wooden  mortars,  made 
of  the  common  pitch  pine,  to  contain  a  bushel 
or  less;  tiie  pestle  was  made  of  light-wood, 
or  the  heart  of  pine  seasoned ;  the  process 
was  conducted  on  the  floor  of  a  largi^  barn 
prepared  for  the  purpose.  The  rough  rice 
was  sometimes  ground  by  being  passed  be- 
tween wooden  blocks  twenty  inches  in  diam- 
eter by  six  inches  thick,  worked  by  hiind. 
The  mills  early  in  use,  and  propelled  by 
animal  power,  were  tlie  pecker-machine,  so 
called  from  the  striking  resemblance  of  the 
pestle  when  in  action  to  the  bill  of  the  wood- 
pecker, and  the  cog-mill,  both  of  which  liave 
been  entirely  superseded  bj'  the  iiiii)roved 
pounding  mill,  propelled  by  water  or  steam. 

Between  the  years  1780  and  1790,  the  first 
water-mill  was  erected  by  Mr.  Lucas,  the 
elder,  to  whom  solely  the  credit  of  the  inven- 
tion is  understood  to  be  due. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  family  of  Mr. 
Lucas  liave  not  favored  us  with  more  full  and 
accurate  notes  of  their  ancestor's  early  inge- 
nuity and  skill  as   a   millwright.     His   son 


too  rapidly  by  the  roughness  of  the  rice,  an  inclined 
feeding-board  was  substituted. 

I'.y  steam  power  the  machines  have  each  thrashed 
700  bushels  per  day,  tli.ugh  ordinarily  from  450  to 
5011  bushels  per  day  each,  and  by  horse  power,  as  you 
well  know,  much  less. 

I  was  first  induced  to  introduce  the  machine  in 
the  rice-planting  districts,  by  the  urgent  solicitation 
of  General  .Janus  flamilton,  who  bad  seen  a  model 
or  hand  machine  an  agent  of  mine  had  in  Saviumah, 
(Georgia,  and  which  (jcneral  Hamilton  had  taken 
over  to  his  plantation  near  that  city,  and  with  the 
operation  of  which  he  was  so  well  pleased  that  he  at 
once  sent  me  a  bale  of  i ice  in  the  sheaf,  that  I  might 
furllier  exi)eriment  with  it  here;  and  wrote  me, 
offering  every  facility  for  trjnng  the  experiment  by 
animal  power  on  his  plantation,  if  I  would  bring  out 
a  machine  and  driving  gear  the  following  fall  or  win- 
ter, to  which  I  acceded  ;  and  after  the  erection  of 
which  machine,  (ien-ral  Hamilton  invited  the  neigh- 
boring planters  to  witness  the  experiment,  the  result 
of  which  proved  satisfactory.  My  patent  is  dated 
27lhJuly,  1829. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

CAI.VIN  EM.MONS, 

80  White  street,  Sew- York. 

♦  See  in  the  Drawing  Department  of  the  I'nited 
States  Patent  Ofliee  an  iUuslratiou  of  Mr.  Emmons' 
patent,  dated  27th  of  July,  1829. 


404 


RICE HISTORY   AND    STATISTICS    OF. 


Jonathan,  inheriting  the  father's  mechanical  1 
turn  and  skill,  constructed  on  Cooper  river,  in 
1801,  the  first  toll  mill  for  cleaning  rice.  He 
yielded  at  length  to  the  invitations  of  the 
British  government,  and  transported  his  im- 
provements to  England,  where  he  himself 
passed  the  remainder  of  his  days.  His  son, 
Jonathan,  now  living,  sliipped  in  1823  the  first 
load  of  rough  rice  which  was  exported  from 
this  country. 

1'he  tirst  water-mill  built  by  Mr.  Lucas 
was  in  the  year  1787,  for  Mr.  Bowman,  on  a 
reserve  at  his  Peach  Island  plantation,  on  the 
river  Santee.  The  next,  on  the  same  river, 
was  on  the  reserve  at  \Va>ho  plantation,  for 
Mrs.  Middleton,  afterwards  Mrs.  General  T. 
Pinckney. 

About  the  same  time,  or  soon  after,  a 
water  mill  was  put  up  on  a  reserve  on  Win- 
yaw  bay,  for  General  Peter  liorry.  Also  for 
Colonel  William  Allston,on  the  reserve  at  his 
Fairfield  plantation  on  the  river  Waccamaw. 

In  the  year  1791-2,  Mr.  Lucas  built  on 
Santee  tlie  first  tide-mill,  for  Mr.  Andrew 
Johnston,  on  his  plantation  called  Millbrook. 

In  a  year  or  two  after,  the  same  indefati- 
gable and  ingenious  mechanic  erected  on 
Cooper  river  an  improved  tide-mill,  being 
furnished  with  rolling  screen,  elevators,  pack- 
ers, (fee,  at  the  plantation  of  Mr.  Henry  Lau- 
rens, called  Mepkiu.* 


*  The  first  toll-mill  built  in  this  country  was  "Mid- 
dleburg  Mill,"  on  Cooper  river,  which  was  finished  in 
1801,  by  J.  I.ucas,  the  sou. 

The  first  Brushing  Screen  used  was  put  into  that 
mill  iu  18U3. 

The  patent  granted  Mr.  Jonathan  Lucas  by  the 
British  Cjovernmeat  expired  three  or  lour  years 
ago.  One  of  the  most  important  advantanges  se- 
cured to  Mr.  Lucas,  was  getting  the  duty  on  paddy 
reduced  in  England  to  2s.  6d.  per  bushel. 

Steam  was  first  applied  to  rice-mills  in  the  year 
1817,  by  Mr.  Lucas  and  Mr.  Norton. 

The  first  cargo  of  paddy  was  shipped  to  England  in 
1823,  by  .J.  Lucas,  jun.  In  that  year,  the  export  of 
rice  from  this  state  was  equal  to  90,000  barrels,  while 
in  18-l'i  it  had  reached  130,u00  barrels. 

Among  the  numerous  patents  recorded  at  AVash- 
ington  lor  hulling  giiiin,  wheat  and  rice,  the  follow- 
ing are  noted  as  being  associated  with  the  names  of 
citizens  of  ?outh  Carolina,  viz. : 

Winiiowing. ■Screen  Pendulum — Lewis  Duprc,South 
Carolina,  1st  April,  18u7. 

Hulling  and  cleaning  rice — Jonathan  Lucas,  jun., 
12lh  July,  1S08. 

Hulling  and  poundiug  husks— Jacob  Read,  S.  C, 
gth  June,  ieo9. 

Hulling  rice  and  polishing — Jonathan  liUcas,  jun., 
Cth  November.  1819. 

Hulling  rice  by  steam — John  L.  Norton,  IGtli  De- 
cember, lfS23. 

Hulling  rice— John  Raveuel,  17th  May,  1828. 
Hulling  rice — Asa  Nourse,  South   Caiolina,  19th 

July.  IS-it". 
Hulling   rice— Asa  Nourse,    South    Carolina,    tid 

April,  18-9. 

Hulling  rice  and  separating  grain — Peter  Brough- 
tou,  South  Carolina,  .5111  August,  1831. 

The  models  and  plans  illustrating  these  inven- 
tions r<«spectively,  were  douhtless  destroyed  by  the 
Are  of  1830,  and  have  not  been  since  restored. 

There  is  a  mill  on  Savannah  river,  (.Mr.  t;ibboi\"s,) 
carrying  eleven  pestles,  which,  as  Ilcamed  from  him- 


Upon  these,  the  mills  erected  at  a  later 
day  have  been  improvements  in  construction 
chiefly.  Some  stibslantial  improvements  are 
said  to  ha^e  been  introduceil  recently  by 
David  Kidd,  a  machinist  from  Scotland,  of 
very  high  character  for  ingenuity  and  practi- 
cal ability.  He  is  himself  one  of  tlie  best 
millers,  practically,  in  the  state. 

In  the  preparation  of  rice,  much  depends 
upon  the  grinding  of  the  rough.  In  North- 
umberland, England,  are  the  best  quarries 
of  stone  for  this  purpose.  In  this  process,  as 
in  that  of  brushing  and  polishing  the  grain 
after  pounding,  there  has  been  latterly  a  de- 
cided improvement,  owing  mainly  to  the  ob- 
servation and  genius  of  the  millwright  just 
named. 

At  present  almost  every  planter  of  four 
hundred  acres  and  upward,  is  provided  with 
a  tide-water  or  steam-pounding  mill  for  pre- 
paring his  own  crops  for  market. 

There  are  also  a  number  of  toll-mills  in  the 
state,  nearly  sufficient  for  preparing  all  the 
rough  rice  which  is  not  pounded  at  the  plan- 
tations. 

In  Georgetown,  beside   various  tide-mills 
on  the  neighboring  plantations,  which  pound 
on  toll  more  or  less,  there  is   a   very  good 
steam-mill  owned  by  Mr.  Benjamin  King. 
To  3,000  bu.shelsof  fiur') 

rough  rice   this  mill  I 

■will  yield   of  prime  j  144^  barrels. 

rice  for  market J 

Of  middling 7 

Of  small  rice 6         " 

Of  flour 320  bushels.* 


self,  can  pound  fourteen  barrels  the  tide.  The  pestles 
are  shod  with  cast  iron  about  one  foot  in  length, 
and  secured  to  the  wood  by  a  long  bolt  driven  from 
the  bottom,  and  fastened  by  a  screw  and  nut.  The 
mortars  are  of  cast  iron,  weighing  GOO  lbs.,  cast  by 
Allaire,  of  New-York,  and  cost  §30.~  They  are  con- 
structed to  contain  five  bushels  of  rough. 

*  Georgetown,  Nov.  IGth,  1843. 
To  CoL.  R.  V.  ^Y.  Allston  : 

Siu  : — I  have  received  your  communication,  rc- 
([uesting  information  in  relation  to  the  prc]ianition 
of  rouuh  rice  for  market,  and  have  to  say,  that  three 
thousand  bushels,  fair  quality,  have  turned  out  at 
the  steam  rice-mill  here,  one  hundred  and  lorty-four 
and  a  half  barrels  prime  rice,  and  seven  barrels  mid- 
dling, and  si.\  barrels  small  rice,  and  three  hundred 
and  twenty  bushels  Hour.  The  time  of  pounding, 
with  twenty  pestles,  sixty  hours. 

I  would  remark,  that  rice  thrashed  on  floors  with 
Hails  turns  out  much  better  than  mill  thrashed. 
Your  obedient  servant, 

BENJAMIN  KING. 
Charleston,  21st  Nov.,  1843. 
To  CoL.  R.  F.  W.  Allston  : 

Dear  Sir  : — In  reply  to  your  favor  of  14th  ult.,  I 
beg  to  say  that  the  following  is,  to  the  best  of  my 
belief,  an  accurate  statement  of  the  turn  out  from 
my  mill  of  2,000  bushels  of  what  I  consider  prime 
ough  rice. 

To  your  first  incjuiry — 

1.  In  what  time  will  this  quantity  be  preparing? 
One  day. 

2.  How  many  tierces  weighing  GOO  lbs.  net  ?    105. 

3.  How  many  of  second  quality  ?     None. 

4.  Jlow  many  of  middUng  rice  V    Two  barrels. 


HICE — HISTOUY    AND    STATISTICS    OF. 


40fe 


In  Chavleaton  and  its  vicinity  there  are 
numerous  tide-mills  and  several  steam-mill!* ; 
the  chief  a'jd  most  successful  of  the  latter 


5.  How  many  bushels  of  small  rico  ?  Twenty 
bushels. 

6.  How  many  bushels  of  rice  flour?  Two  hundred 
and  City.  With  great  respect, 

I  remain  j  our  ob't  servant, 
A.  W.  OIIISOLM. 

P.  S. — The  above  statement  is  made  from  rout;h 
rice  thrashed  with  the  flail.  Kice  done  by  a  thrashinjr 
mill  would  take  from  one  bushel  to  one  and  a  half 
more,  owing  to  the  quanlity  of  straw  and  foot  stalk 
Dot  being  taken  out  properly  before  sent  to  the  mill. 

A.  VV.  C. 

Results  of  three  different  parrels  pounded  at 
C/Usolm'g  JIM,  1843. 

1.  3,100    bushels  of  rough  rice   from  Waccaraaw, 

thrashed  liy  mi//,  made 

142  barrels  of  whole  rice  of  COO  net. 
'.i  barrels  middling. 
3  barrels  small. 
330  bushels  flour. 

2.  3,000  bushels  of  rou^h  rice  from  Sandy  Island, 

thrashed  Inj  flail,  nia<le 

1.55  barrels  whole  rice  of  600  net. 
3  barrels  middling. 
3  barrels  small. 
330  bushels  flour. 

3.  3,512  bushels   of  rough  rice,  from    Pon   Pon, 
thrashed  by  nmcAnic,  turned  out 

In  whole  rice,  104  tierces  GOO  lbs.  net. 
In  middling,        4 
In  small,  3 

In  flour,  375  bushels. 

Prom  Mr.  Thomas  Bilby. 

New- York  Riee  Mill,  Oct.  12th,  1843. 
I  have  made  sundry  trials  to  ascertain  the  several 
products  of  rough  rice  or  paddy,  a  few  of  which  I 
give  below.     In  1835  I  made  three  trials,  as  follows : 
1  1,000  bushels  paddy,  from  Savannah,  produced 
19,095  lbs.  of  best  quality. 
10,145    "   of  second  quality. 

853    "  of  small  rice,  or  chitts. 
8,140    "  of  flour,  or  douse. 
1,000  bushels  paddy,  from  Charleston,  produced 
16,078  lbs.  of  best  head  rice. 

596    "    of  best  prime. 
9,190    "    of  good  to  fair. 
3,243    "    of  broken. 

570    "    of  chitts,  or  small  rice, 
5,210    "    of  flour  or  douse. 
1,000  bushels  paddy,  from  'Wilmington,  produced 
18,015  lbs.  of  best  quality. 
9,9:^9    "    of  second  quality. 
1,307    «    of  small  rice. 
5,700    "    of  flour  or  douse. 

The  above  were  trials  of  difl"erent  modes  of  screen- 
ing, so  a<s  to  ascertain  which  would  produce  the  most 
money;  all  the  trials  that  I  have  made  since  the 
above,  I  have  not  kept  any  of  the  small  and  douse, 
aud  I  find  that  every  year's  rice  difl'ers  in  its  propor- 
tions as  to  prime  and  broken,  as  also  to  the  whole 
product.  This  year  it  has  averaged  thirty  jiounds  to 
the  bufihel,  and  about  one  tenth  broken ;  last  year 
the  turn-out  was  something  less. 

From  J.  P.  Deveaux,  Napier's  Mills, 

Charleston,  4th  Nov.,  1343. 
Our  mill  differs  from  the  pestle  mill ;  wo  clean  by 
wire  cards  ;  we  have  four  of  the  rubbers  in  operation, 
which  clean  an  average  of  72  barr»»,ls  in  twenty-four 
bours.  In  answer  to  your  interrogatories,  I  will  give 
you  an  exact  account  of  some  lice  bought,  cleaned, 


are   those   of  Mr.  Cliisolm,  Mr.  Ilumc,  and 
Mr.  Lucas.* 

Mr.  Lucas  has  not  favored  me  with  a  reply 
to  my  queries  in  relation  to  the  operations  of 
his  mill.    Nor  has  Mr  Hume. 

From  accounts  of  the  opcr-  "j 

ationsfof   Mr.  Cliisolin'.s  | 

mill    I  infer  that  •1,000  \  Tlcrcc,  m  net. 

bushels  ot  lairrouKh  rice  ( 

will  yield  of  prime  rice  | 

fur  market J  MS  300  lbs. 

Of  middling :5 

Of  small 3 

Of  flour 300  bushels. 

In  the  city  of  New- York,  owing  to  the 
public  spirit  and  enterprise  of  Colonel  Ben- 
jamin F.  Hunt,  there  has  been  for  some  years 
in  operation  a  very  good  steam-mill,  which 
receives  rice  on  toll,  and  consumes,  besides, 
some  50,000  bushels  of  rough  on  its  own  ac- 
count. 

As  the  other  toll  mills  from  which  I  have 
heard  have  furnished  results  based  u]iun  the 
preparation  of  South  Carolina  rice  alone,  I 
have  thought  proper  to  use  only  Mr.  Bilby's 
experiment  with  the  Charleston  rice. 

To  3,000  bushels  of  rough  J 

rice,  the  N  York  mills  V  Tees  GOO  lbs. 
yield  of  prime  rice. .. .  )    82  4'22 


and  sold  by  us — that  i.s,  through  our  factors.  1,291 
bushels  rough  rice,  from  the  plantation  of  Mr.  Thos. 
Lowndes,  lormerly  Mr.  Charles  Rowland's,  in  i?t. 
Paul's  parish,  which  jielded  41,075  lbs.  merehanlable 
rice,  at  600  lbs.  per  barrel,  is  6Si  barrels,  or  19  bushels 
to  the  barrel,  or  39,150  lbs.  whole,  1,925  lbs.  middling, 
991)  lbs.  small,  136  bu?hels  flour.  The  above  was 
cleaned  in  about  twenty-three  hours.  The  above 
parcel  of  rice  was  purchased  1st  December,  1840, 
at  84  cents  per  bushel,  aud  w^as  sold  at  .*3j  on  the 
10th  December.  The  next  parcel  that  I  am  able  to 
inform  you  accurately  upon  is  1,952  bushels  rough 
rice,  from  the  plantation  of  Mr.  Henry  Dcas.  which 
yielded  56,270  lbs.  whole,  240  lbs.  middling,  OiiO  lbs. 
small,  and  147  bushels  flour.  The  above  was  jmr- 
ehased  2d  November,  1841,  at  90  cents  per  bushel,  and 
sold  at  §3  7-16ths,  and  took  20^  bushels  to  the  barrel. 
I  have  given  you  above  the  result  of  two  parcels,  one 
from  Santee,  and  one  from  8t.  Paul's  parish.  I 
should  like  to  furnish  you  particulars  of  the  results 
of  rice  farther  south  ;  not  being  able  to  give  you  the 
number  of  pounds,  I  will  give  you  the  result  in  bar- 
rels of  rice  from  Georgia  ;  say  .5,248  bushels  rice,  ro- 
coived  12th  November,  1842,  from  the  plantaticm  of 
Dr.  Daniel,  near  Savannah,  which  yielded  2.50  barrels 
whole,  12  middling,  11  small,  and  about  400  bushels 
of  flour.  This  day  wo  have  just  finished  a  parcel 
of  5,375  bushels  from  the  same  plantation,  which  re- 
sulted in  2l9i  barrels  whole,  38  middling,  loJ  small, 
and  about  40u  bushels  flour;  you  will  pereeivc'that 
the  above  parcels  took  a  little  over  20  bushels  to  the 
barrel.  The  last  parcel  was  very  much  broken  in 
thrashing,  which  was  done  by  machinery,  whiih  will 
account  to  you  for  the  unusual  ([uantily  of  nudiUing 
rico  ;  we  did  not  come  up  to  our  average  of  72  barrels 
per  day  on  this  last  parcel,  as  the  machines  were  new, 
and  required  some  little  time  to  work  to  advantage; 
but  I  think  we  may  safely  calculate  upi>n  cleaning 
three  barrels  per  hour  to  the  four  machine?. 

*  Since  the  above  was  published,  it  is  "scertained 
that  Mr.  Nowell  has  applied  a  steam  engine  to  his 
miU. 


406 


KICE IIISTOUY    AND    STATISTICS    OF. 


Of  good  to  fair  rice 45  5v  0   bbln.  lbs. 

Of  broken  rice  (middling?).  16  129  U4  521 
Of  small  rice  or  chits  (20.31  bushels)..  2  510 
Of  flour  or  douse  (3S1.21  bushels).. 15,630  lbs. 

In  the  mill  erected  by  Mr.  Napier,  on 
Oooper  river,  "wire  cards"  are  used  instead 
of  pestles  for  cleaning  the  grain.  This  mode 
of  preparing  rice  imparts  a  slightly  bluish  tinge 
to  the  grain,  though  it  is  supposed  to  keep 
longer  than  rice  prepared  in  the  ordinary 
way.  Rice  thus  prepared  will  not  command 
as  high  a  price  per  cwt.  as  that  from  the  pes- 
tle of  similar  quality,  but  it  is  said  to  be  the 
interest  of  the  planter  to  patronize  the  "cards," 
inasmuch  as  the  yield  in  whole  rice  from  a 
givcu  quautitj'  of  rough  is  invariably  greater, 
the  offal  being  less.  In  the  year  1842-3,  this 
mill  prepared  seven  thousand  barrels,  and 
seems  to  have  given  satisfaction  to  patrons. 

The  trial  of  Mr.  Deas'  rice,  from  Sautee,  is 
selected  as  the  fair  test  of  this  mill,  1,950 
bushels.  At  the  same  rate  3,000  bushels  of 
prime  rough  rice  will  yield  in— 

Tierces  600  lbs. 

Prime  rice  for  market 144 

In  middling  rice 868.85  lbs. 

In  small  rice 1,323.23    " 

In  flour 226      bushels. 

Recently  an  ingenious  methoil  of  lifting  the 
pestles  has  been  invented  by  Mr.  S.  K.  Wil- 
liams, of  the  city  of  Charleston,  to  be  used  in 
substitution  of  the  lever  ("lilter")  described 
in  ilr.  Lucas's  mill.  One  advantage  of  this 
invention  is  said  to  be  the  greater  rapidity 
■with  which  the  pestles,  themselves  lighter, 
may  be  driven  without  interfering  or  "  slam- 
ming." Another,  that  a  system  of  pestles 
and  mortars  may  be  more  compactly  ar- 
ranged in  circular  form,  and  may  be  moved 
by  a  less  power. 

The  invention  is  called  "The  Spiral  Shaft 
Rice  Mill."  As  it  has  never  yet  been  actu- 
ally tested,  nothing  more  can  be  said  of  it 
here. 

Process  of  Preparation. — The  stones 
which  are  used  for  grinding  rice  should  be 
five  to  six  feet  two  inches  diameter,  and 
eighteen  inches  thick  at  llie  centre.  Tiierc  is 
said  to  be  a  (]uarry  in  Northumberland,  af- 
fording stones  of  such  excellent  substance,  that 
they  will  grind  rough  rice  enough  for  packing 
one  thousand  barrels  without  being  taken  up. 

The  whole  process  of  preparation  may  be 
described  generally  as  follows  :  From  a  shed 
or  Convenient  storeroom  attached  to  tlie  mill- 
Louse,  the  rough  rice  is  taken,  by  means  of 
elevators,  (i.  e.  a  system  of  small  tin  buckets 
attacheil  to  a  long  revolving  band  of  leather,) 
up  to  the  highest  a|)artment  iu  the  building,  to 
be  passed  through  a  sand-screen  revolving 
nearly  horizontally,  which,  in  sifting  out  the 
grit  and  small  grain  vice,  separates  also  all 


foreign  bodies,  and  such  heads  of  rice  as  were 
not  duly  thrashed. 

From  the  sand-screen  the  sifted  rough  of 
large  size  is  conveyed  directly  to  the  stones 
on  the  same  floor,  where  the  husk  is  broken 
and  ground  off,  thence  to  a  wind-fan  below, 
where  the  chaff  is  separated  and  blown  off. 
The  grain  is  now  deposited  in  a  long  bin, 
placed  over  the  pestle-shaft,  and  correspond- 
ing in  length  with  it,  whence  the  ground  rice 
is  delivered  by  wooden  conductors  into  the 
mortars  on  the  ground  floor — ten,  twelve, 
fourteen,  or  twenty-four  in  number,  as  the 
power  applied  may  justify.*  These  mortars, 
improved  by  Mr.  Kidd's  design,  are  construct- 
ed beautifully  of  four  pieces  of  the  heart  of 
pine,  seasoned.  They  are  in  figure  a  little 
more  than  a  semi-ellipsoid,  and  are  made  to 
contain  four  and  a  half  bushels  of  ground  rice 
each. 

The  pestles,  also  constructed  of  the  heart 
of  pine,  and  corresponding  in  number  and  po- 
sition with  the  mortars,  are  sheathed  at  foot 
with  sheet  iron,  partially  perforated  in  many 
places  from  within  by  some  blunt  instrument, 
so  as  to  resemble,  on  a  very  coarse  scale,  the 
rough  surface  of  a  grater.  They  are  intend- 
ed to  weigh  each  240  to  280  lbs.  or  there- 
about, are  lifted  by  levers  six  feet  long  at- 
tached (two  feet  out)  to  the  large  pestle-sliaft, 
and  make  from  forty-four  to  forty-eight 
strokes  in  a  minute.  A  mortar  of  rice  is  dis- 
posed of,  or  sufliciently  pounded,  in  one  hour 
and  forty  minutes  to  two  hours.  The  grain 
thus  pounded  is  again  elevated  to  the  upper 
floor,  to  bo  passed  through  a  long  horizontal 
rolling-screen,  slightly  depressed  at  one  end, 
where,  by  means  of  a  system  of  wire-sieves, 
gr.ading  coarser  and  coarser  towards  the  lower 
end,  are  sef)arated,  first  the  flour,  second  the 
"  small  rice,"  (the  eyes  atul  smaller  particles 
of  tlie  broken  grains,)  third  the  "  middling 
rice,"  or  the  smaller  and  the  halfbroken 
grains,  fourth  and  last  the  "  prime  rice,"  the 
larger  and  chiefly  unbroken  grains,  which 
fall  through  the  largest  wire,  and  forthwith 
descend  to  the  "  polishing"  or  "  brushing 
screen"  below,  whence  it  descends  thtough  a 
fixn  into  the  barrel  on  the  first  floor,  where  it 
is  packed,  and  the  preparation  is  completed. ■[■ 
The  head  rice,  or  largest  grains  of  all,  together 
with  the  rough,  unbroken  by  the  stones,  pass- 
es off  at  the  lower  end  of  the  screen,  to  bo 
pounded  over. 

The  "  brushinc/  .tc^rfoi"  consists  of  a  vertical 
cylinder  or  drum,  two  feet  in  diameter,  by 
from  four  and  a  lialf  to  six  feet  in  height,  to 
the  surface  of  which  are  attached,  vertically, 
shreds   of  sheop  skin    closely    packed ;   this 


*  It  la  understood  that  Mr.  Lucas's  mill  drives  28 
p  eslles,  and  Mr.  Chisolm's  30. 

t  Mr.  Chi^olm  has  constructed  in  his  mill  a  second 
-screen  for  polishing,  throngh  wluch  the  rice  from  the 
brushing  screen  is  passed  on  its  way  down  to  tlia 
barrel. 


RICE HISTORY    AND    STATISTICS    OF. 


401 


<Jnim  is  made  to  revolve  -with  great  velocity 
\atliin,  and  lijjhtl^'  brusliing  a  cylindrical 
frame  of  iron  wire  made  into  a  fine  sieve.  In 
passing  down  spirally  between  tliia  clothed 
drum  and  the  exterior  cylindrical  wire  sieve, 
the  grains  are  relieved  of  the  particks  of  flour 
■which  still  adhere  to  them,  and  which  are 
bruslied  off  by  the  wool,  and  forced  out 
throuu'h  the  meshes  of  the  wire.  The  rice, 
thus  brushed  clean  and  polished  against  the 
wire,  is  packed  in  barrels  constructed  of  pine 
staves  to  contain  six  cwt.  net.  Tiie  middling 
and  small  rice  are  passed  through  a  fan  wliich 
blows  off  from  theni  the  flour  into  an  apart- 
ment kept  for  that  purpose.  Tliey  are  pack- 
ed separately,  and  usetl  as  provisions  for  the 
laborers  on  the  plantation  during  tlie  warm 
montiis,  chiefly  at  Christmas  holidays  and 
throughout  harvest,  and  habitually  by  the 
families  of  both  the  proprietor  and  his  over- 
seer. 

Rice  being  so  completely  protected  by  a 
silicious  husk,  and  thus  so  much  less  liable  to 
damage  from  transportation  in  the  rough  than 
when  cleaned ;  owing,  too,  to  the  superior  man- 
ner iu  which  clean  rice  can  be  presented  in 
the  Europmin  markets  fresh  from  the  screen, 
capitalists  concerned  in  this  trade  have  caused 
mills,  propelled  by  steam,  to  be  erected  on 
Mr.  Lucas's  plan,  at  vai'ious  ports  in  England, 
aad  on  the  continent,  at  which  upward  of 
400,000  bushels  of  rice  from  this  state  are 
annually  prepared — besides  a  quantity  of 
paddy  from  the  East  Indies,  and  from  other 
quarters. 

To  encourage  the  construction  of  such  ma- 
chinery in  Great  Britain,  and  to  protect  the 
capital  invested  in  the  mills,  the  importation 
of  rough  rice  rather  than  clean  is  encouraged 
in  that  kingdom  by  a  discriminating  duty  in 
favor  of  the  former,  equal  to  four  dollars  per 
barrel  of  the  latter. 

In  England  there  are  in  operation  four 
mills — two  in  London,  and  two  in  Liverpool — 
consuming  each  about  75,00(J  bushels  of  rough 
annually.  When  the  price  of  Carolina  rice 
ranges  iiigh,  these  mills  are  to  a  great  extent 
employed  in  manufacturing  paddy  from  the 
East  Indies. 

The  mill  iu  Scotland  has  been  converted  to 
another  purpose. 

In  Denmark,  at  Copenhagen,  a  mill  has 
been  in  operation  about  six  years ;  consump- 
tion about  90,000  bushels  of  rough. 

At  Bremen  there  is  a  mill  intended  to  pre- 
pare either  wheat  or  rice,  according  to  the 
state  of  the  markets. 

At  Flensburgh,  also,  there  is  a  mill  con- 
structed for  both  wheat  and  rice,  capable  of 
manufacturing  20,000  bushels  of  rough  rice. 

In  Holland,  at  Amsterdam,  a  mill  has  been 
some  years  in  operation,  which  requires  from 
60  to  80,000  bushels  of  rough  rice  annually. 

In  Portugal,  at  Lisbon,  there  is  a  small 
mill  which  prepares  either  wheat  or  rice,  re- 


quiring about  10,000  bushels  of  Carolina  an- 
nually. 

In  France,  at  Bordeaux,  a  mill  has  but  re- 
cently been  put  in  operation ;  for  it,  iu  the 
year  1842,  were  shipped  about  60,000  bush- 
els of  Carolina  rough. 

A  mill,  constructed  after  Mr.  Napier's  plan, 
has  been  erected  by  the  "  Northampton  Rice 
Compajiy  "  at  Maranham,  in  South  America, 
wliere  it  is  in  successful  operation.  It  is  sup- 
plied with  paddy  grown  in  the  neighborhood. 

The  articles  received  from  the  several 
countries  above  named,  as  well  as  from  Cuba, 
may  here  be  mentioned. 

From  Denmark  and  Holland,  as  indeed 
from  all  the  other  countries,  (England  and 
France  excepted,)  little  is  received  in  the 
shape  of  return  cargoes — the  purchases  of  both 
rough  and  clean  rice  being  for  the  most  part 
paid  for  by  bills  of  exchange  on  London. 

From  Bremen  were  once  received  glass- 
ware, bottles,  bagging,  hams,  paving-stones, 
(tc,  but  the  United  States  tariff"  of  duties  has 
put  a  stop  to  these  importations. 

From  Portugal  the  returns  are  fruit  and 
wines  principally. 

From  France  the  articles  at  present  received 
are  silks,  wines,  and  brandy.  This  trade  also 
has  been  affected  by  the  tariff. 

From  England  are  imported  in  return,  iron, 
hardwai-e,  manufactures  of  cotton,  M'ooUen  and 
linen,  salt,  coal,  tfec. 

From  Cuba,  the  returns  are  sugar,  molasses, 
coffee  and  fruit. 

The  consumption  of  rice  in  Cuba  is  esti- 
mated at  15,000  barrels  for  the  north  side, 
and  2,000  for  the  south  side  of  the  island.* 

Exports. — .John  Archdale,  governor  of  Car- 
olina in  1694-5,  who  gave  more  general  satis- 


*  The  following,  together  with  much  other  interest 
ing  and  useful  information  for  the  foregoing  memoir, 
has  been  furnished  by  the  intelligent  and  obliging 
gentlemen  constituting  the  firm  of /<o6crtsojj<S- £iacA- 
/oclc,  of  the  city  of  Charleston,  factors. 

Kice  is  consumed  in  England  and  France  as  aa 
article  of  luxury,  except  a  small  quantity  annually 
made  U])  into  ornaments  in  both  countries,  con.si.'^ting 
principally  of  rice  paper,  beads,  clock  cases,  and 
chimney  ornaments.  In  the  north  of  Europe,  it  is 
used  as  an  article  of  food,  but  cannot  be  afforded  at 
a  sulliciently  low  rate  to  be  substituted  for  potatoes 
or  grain  grown  upon  the  spot.  Iu  the  ihnc  of  war, 
its  value  is  appreciated;  it  has  been  found  to  con- 
tiin  the  greatest  quantity  of  nutriment  in  the  small- 
est compass,  portable,  andleast  liable  to  damage,  and 
was  consequently  much  used  by  the  British  troops 
in  the  lengthy  Peninsular  war. 

Iu  Cuba,  it  is  used  as  a  breadstuff  in  preference  to 
any  other  kind  of  food.  The  consumption  of  {!aro- 
linaricc  begins,  however,  to  be  much  interfered  with 
by  the  rice  grown  in  and  exported  from  Spain,  as 
well  as  the  rice  now  grown  in  the  island  of  Cuba 
itself;  also  a  very  good  quality  of  rice  is  now  imported 
from  Campcachy.  The  present  duty  on  Carolina 
rice  in  Cuba  is  Si  25  per  lOU  lbs.,  while  the  duty  on 
that  from  Spain  is  almost  nominal.  From  Cam- 
peachy  the  duty  may  bo  considered  one  third  loss,  »s 
it  is  brought  in  Spanish  vessels,  which  enjoy  that  dis- 
criminating advantage  in  favor  of  their  Hag.  The 
high  duty  on  rice  from  this  country  also  operates 
very  much  against  its  consumption. 


408 


RTCE HISTORY    AND    STATISTICS    OF. 


iaction  to  all  parties  than  any  other  under  the 
proprietary  rule,  was  a  Quaker — a  very  pious, 
inild  man.  He  succeeded  in  ihe  government 
Landgrave  Smith,  and  was  in  turn  succeeded 
by  Joseph  Biaice.  He  returned  to  Eiighmd 
in  the  year  1696.  la  the  year  1707  was 
printed  for  iiim  in  Loudon  a  pamphlet,  which, 
from  internal  evidence,  appears  to  have  been 
written  some  two  or  three  years  anterior, 
lathis  pamphlet  he  says :  "Notwithstanding 
all  the  discouragements  it,  the  trade  of  the 
colony,  has  met  withal,  which  are  many,  yet 
seventeen  ships  this  year  came  laden  from 
Carolina  with  rice,  skins,  pitch,  tar,  ifec,  in 

From  1720  to  1729  inclusive 

"     r730tol739         "       

From  another  source  is  obtained  the  following 


the  Virginia  fleet,  besides  several  straggling 
ones."*  From  this  time  to  the  year  1720, 
I  luring  the  greater  part  of  which  time  the 
coast  was  infested  by  fleets  of  piratical  ves- 
sels under  command  of  the  notorious  Steed 
B  )nn3tt,  and  others,  there  is  extaut  no  record 
of  the  exports  of  the  province. 

In  a  statement  intended  for  the  House  of 
Commons  drawn  up  about  the  commencement 
of  the  war  with  France,  by  the  merchants  of 
London,  conceraed  in  the  rice  trade,  and  pub- 
lislied  by  Grovernor  Glen  in  his  "Description 
of  South  Carolina,"  1761,  the  exports  of  rice 
from  Carolina  are  thus  given : 

26-4,788  barrel8=44,081  tons.t 

419,525        "     =99,905     " 


statement ; 


EXPORTS   OF   BICE   FROM   THE    POUT    OF    CHARLESTON,    SOUTH     C^VROLINA. 

From  1724  to  1725— N"ov.  to  Nov Casks 

"      1725  to  1726       "  "     


1726  to  1727 

1727  to  1728 

1728  to  1729 

1729  to  1730 

1730  to  1731 

1731  to  1732 

1732  to  1733 

1733  to  1734 

1734  to  1735 


17,734 
23,031 

26,884 

29,905 

Barrels  32,384 

41,722 

39,487 

37.068 

50,726 

3U,323 

45,317 
1,03S 


.Bags 


EXPORTS    FROM   CHARLESTON,   SOUTH    CAROLINA. § 

Barrels.  Bags. 

From  1735  to  1736— Nov.  to  Nov 52,349  1,554 

«   1736  to  1737    "     "  42,619  519 

«   1737  to  1738   "     "  34,324  — 

«   1738  to  1739   «     "  67,117  — 

«   1739  to  1740   "     "  91,110  — 

«   1740  to  1741   "     "  80,040  2,137 

«   1741  to  1742   "     "  46,196  — 

«   1742  to  1743   "     "  73,416  — 

"   1743  to  1744   "     "  80,788  — 

«   1744  to  1745    "     "  59,627  — 

"   1745  to  1746   "     "  54,101  — 

"   1746  to  1747    "     "  54,146  — 

"  1747  to  1748    "     "  55,133  — 

"   1748  to  1749   "     "  41,034  — 

"   1749tol750   "     "  48,011  525 

"  1750  to  1751    "     "  61,522  223 

«   175ltol752    "     "  78,360  186 

«  1752  to  1753   "     "  35,522  — 

«   1753  to  1754   "     "  88,659  — 

«   1754  to  1755    "     "  96,778  — 

«   1758  to  1759   "     "  51,718  — 

"  1759  to  1760   "     "  60,789  44 

'•   1760  to  1761    ••'   Oct.  10 101,359  74 

«   1761  to  1762   "    Nov 79,642  — 

«   1762  to  1763   "     "  101,059  44 

«  1763  to  1764   "     "  101,842  — 

"  1764  to  1765   "  Sept.  14 107,292  — 

"   1768  to  1769— Oct.  10  to  Aug.  24 116,715  — 

"   1770  to  1771— Nov.  1  to  Oct.  10 130,500  — 


Price  at  last  men- 
tioned period. 

.£3     Os.  Qd 


1  17  a 
3  10  0 

2  5  0 
2  10  0 
2     0  0 

2     5  0 

1  17  6 

1  10  0 

2  10  0 


•  2  Car.  Col.  p.  97.  +  The  weight  of  the  barrel  would  seem  to  have  been  about  325  lbs. 

X  The  weight  of  the  barrel  now  400  lbs.  §  S.  Carolina  Gazette. 


RICE HISTORY  AND    STATISTICS    OF. 


409 


Aa  follows :  Barrels. 

To  Great  Britain 73,325 

To  Portugal 14,439 

To  Spain 1 .700 

To  Italy 222 

To  Foreign  West  India  Islands 975 

To  Briti^h  "  "    30,305 

To  ports  on  this  continent 9,(565 

In  the  year  1770,  from  the  colonies 150,529 — 81,530,000* 

From  the  port  of  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  from    Barrels. 

1772  to  1773,  from  1st  Nov.  to  2d  Aug 112,100 

Carrels. 
From  1773  to  1774,  from  12th  Nov.  to  7th  Nov.. .   118,482 

Fr*m  Beaufort,  same  time 3,1)30 

From  Georgetown 2,964 

Crop  of  1773  exported Total  125,076 


Price  at  last-men* 
tiutied  period. 

.  £3     105.     Od 


EXPORTS    FEOil   THE   UXITED 

Tears.  Tierces. 

1791  96,980 

1792 141,762 

1793 134,611 

1794 116,489 

1795 138,526 

1796 131,039 

1797 60,111 

1798 125,243 

1799 110,599 

1800 112,056 

1801 94,806 

1802 79,822 

1803 81.838 

1804 78,385 

1805 56,830 

1806 102,027 

1807 94,692 

18081 9,228 

1809 116,901 

1810 131,341 

1811 119,356 

1812} ■ 77,190 

1813 120,843 

1814 11,476 

1815 129.248 

1816 137,843 

1817 79,296 

1818 88,181 

1819 76,523 

1820 71,663 


$2,455,000 
2,350,000 
1,705,000 
2,617,000 
2,367,000 

221,000 
2,104,000 
2,626,000 
2,387,000 
1 ,544,000 
3,021,000 

230,000 
2,785,000 
3,555,001) 
2,378,001 
3,262,697 
2,142,644 
1,714,923 


*  Pilkin's  Statistics. 
+  The  year  of  the  embargo. 
X  War  with  Great  Britaiu  during  the  years  1812, 
1813,  and  1814. 


1821 88,221  1,494,923 

1822 87,089  1,553,482 

1823 101,365  1,820,985 

1824 113,229  1,882,982 

1825 97,015  1,925,245 

1820 111,063  1,917,445 

1 S27 1 33,51 8  2,343,908 

1S28 175,019  2,020,696 

1829 171,036  2,514,370 

1830 130,697  1,986,824 

1831 116,517  2,010,267 

1832 120,327  2,152,631 

1833 144,166  2,774,418 

1834 121,886  2,122,272 

1835 1 10,851  2,210,331 

1836 1 12,983  2,548,750 

1 837 100,084  2,309,279 

1838 71,048  1,721,819 

1839 93,320  2,460,198 

1840 101,660  1,942,076 

1841 101,617  2,010,107 

The  following  statement  of  exports  from 
South  Carolina,  derived  from  the  journals  of 
the  day,  is  given  from  the  year  1832,  the  pe- 
riod from  which  has  been  kept  an  account  of 
the  receipts  of  rice  at  the  port  of  Charleston. 
The  exports  coastwi.-e,  being  rarely  cleared, 
cannot  with  accuracy  be  given.  The  foreign 
exports  of  rough  rice  are  included  in  the 
foreign  exports  of  tierces,  at  the  rate  of 
twenty-one  bushels  to  the  tierce,  and  so  with 
the  exports  coastwise.* 


♦  Tliis  statement  is  furnished  by  Mr.  J.  W.  Cheesa 
borough. 


410 


EICE — HISTORY   AND    STATISTICS    OF. 


CLEAX   RICE. 


ROUGH    RICE. 


Export 

October  to  October.            Receipts.  Foreign. 

Tierces.  Tierces. 

1832-.33 143,4*73  90,246 

1833-34 117,403  80,089 

1834-35 121.898  74,868 

1835-36 133,633  79,007 

183C-37 119,961  63,396 

1837-38 90,384  51,614 

1838-39 106,001  63,617 

1839-40 107,108  68,795 

1840-41 107,052  75,265 

1841-42 118,004  75,739 

1842-43 136,732  71,575 


Export 

Coast. 

Tierces. 

47,003 
30,918 
42,501 
47,226 
40,614 
30,837 
36,295 
31,591 
25,970 
84,174 
58,011 


City  Con- 
sumption. 
Tierces. 

7,776 
6,330 
5,600 
6,200 
6,500 
6,600 
6,850 
6,800 
6,200 
7,200 
7,300 


317,594 
356,752 
612,808 
336,442 
470,412 
431,506 
455,592 
445,685 
294,018 


41,288 
63.235 
39,609 
44,733 
43,950 
10,342 
37,166 
15,770 
33,493 


The  exportation  of  rough  rice  to  foreign 
countries  commenced  about  the  year  1823,"''' 
as  a[)pears  from  the  following  (among  other 
testimonj')  "account  of  the  quantity  of  rice 
imported    into,    and    re-exported    from    the 


United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ire- 
land, for  ten  years,  ending  oth  January,  1828. 
Ordered  by  the  House  of  Commons."  Ex- 
tracted from  the  Southern  Agriculturint,  vol. 
i.,  p.  461. 


CLEAN  RICE. 

Imports. 

British 
Possessions.       Foreign. 

181'9 cwts.  322,986  102,532 

1820 375,461  95,763 

1821 192,982  89,085 

1822 73.831  56,720 

1823 12,871  107,388 

1824 30,648  94,056 

1825 24,772  123,194 

1826 18,918  35,779 

1827 50,380  40,774 

1S28 107,325  43,897 

ROUGH  RICE. 

1820 758     

1821 2,093      

1822 781     ■ 

1823 259      

1824 298      

"  bushels.     193  13,053 

1825 cwts.    ■     

"  bu-hels.    3,272  92,480 

1826 cwts.    

"  bushels.    4,839  111,646 

1827 cwts.    

"      bushels.         2,855  113,526 

1828 cwts.         

"     bu.shel8.       10,322  171,893 


Exports, 

Rice. 

cleaned 

from 

' 

Total. 

Paddy. 

425,518 

142,880 

471,224 

150,552 

282,067 

100,403 

130,551 

105,249 

120,259 

139,600 

124,704 

79,370 

147,966 

92,897 

54,697 

50,463 

91,154 

35,445 

151,222 


758 
2.093 
781 
259 
298 
13,246. 


51,620 


DUTY. 

On  British  clean,  7s.  6c?.;  in  1820,  reduced 
to  o«. ;  in  1828,  to  4s.;  subsequently  to  %d. 
per  cwt. 

DUTY. 

On  foreign  clean,  20s.;  in  1820,  reduced  to 


*  The  first  cargo  of  rough  rice  was  shipped  to  Eng- 
land from  Cbark'stoa  by  J.  Lucas,  iun.,  in  the  year 
1823. 


15s. ;  in  1842,  to  6s.  per  cwt. 

On  British  rough,  2s.  &d.  per  cwt. ;  in  1 823, 
to  7i(Z  per  bushel;  in  1827,  to  3d;  in  1842, 
to  \d.  per  quarter. 

On  foreign  rough,  10s.  per  cwt.;  in  1823,  to 
2s.  6(/.  per  bushel;  in  1842,  to  \0^d.  per 
bushel. 

RICE. — In  many  years  the  crop  of  rice  has 
neither  been  so  large  nor  so  high  as  in  the  year 


RICE-PLANTING. 


411 


1847.  In  1S33  the  quantity  exported  was 
nearly  the  same  as  in  that  year,  but  did  not 
sell  for  so  nuich  by  nt^arl}"  $(5  per  tierce,  or  25 
per  cent,  lower  than  last  year's  prices. 

EXTORTS  OF  TIERCE3    FROM  THE    UNITED   STATES. 


Russia... 
Prussia.. 
Denmark 
Hanse  i 
towns  ) 
HolliuiJ. 
Belgium.. 
England.. 
British  ) 

^Y.  1.  \ 

France... 
Cuba.... 
Other.... 


183;> 

2,352 

'.'8 

5,006 

15,318 

12.897 

1.007 

29,094 

4,830 

19,082 
10  2114 
20,745 


1843 

1,737 
1,791 
7,304 

9,009 

1,408 
6,447 

18,883 

4,303 

8  042 
28,()-18 
12,531 


1819  ISM  1S.-.1 

3,333  2,870  980 

90  2,537  1,538 

2,716  5,757  4,3-'S 


17,427 

5.753 
9,9-il 

28,058 

3,955 

10.203 
32,132 

15,237 


15,435 

8,232 
9,420 
26,754 

4,287 

11,469 
24,304 
15,003 


17,807 

4,156 
5.301 
15,728 

2,777 

6.784 
27,618 
18,513 


Total..  144,103  100.400  12S,8liI  127,009  10.5,.590 
Talue.. 2,744,418  2,331,824  2,569,31)2  2.031,557  2,170,927 
Pr.  tierce. $.9.03        23.22        19.90        23.00        20.50 

The  greatest  increase  since  1842  has  been 
to  Prussia,  Belgium,  the  Hanse  towns,  and 
Holland,  under  the  influence  of  the  modified 
duties  upon  that  article,  adopted  in  1838. 
through  the  influeuce  of  our  minister,  the 
late  Mr.  Whcaton,  at  the  Court  of  Berlin. 
The  export  to  England  has  declined,  notwith- 
standing that  the  price  per  tierce  has  been 
lower.  It  is  difficult,  however,  for  our  rice 
planters  to  contend  against  the  cheap  rice 
of  the  East  Indies,  in  those  years  when 
freights  are  cheap. 

The  extra  demand  of  England  for  food 
last  year  induced  a  larger  import  of  rice  than 
ever,  ami  she  apparently  outbid  Prussia  for 
it,  and  she  took  less  directly  from  the  south, 
owing  to  the  high  freights.  The  Hanse  towns 
and  Belgium  are  the  avenues  into  the  Customs 
Union,  and  through  them  and  Prussia  were  last 
year  sent  24,622  tierces,  worth  $615,550, 
agamst  of  .§16.453  in  1833,  when  the  crop 
was  larger.  The  revenues  of  the  Customs 
Union  increased  by  this  modification  of  the 
duties  upou  rice,  and  the  result  so  favorable 
to  the  incomes  of  the  German  governments 
participating  in  those  revenues,  were  emi- 
nently calculated  to  promote  further  reforms 
in  the  same  direction. 

The  following  embraces  general  remarks 
in  relation  to  rice  for  a  series  of  years  : 

QUANTITIES    AND     VALUE      OF     RICE     EXPORTED 
FROM   THE   UNITiD   STATES. 


1833 144.103 

1839 71,319 

1840 1(il,ti6l) 

1842 114,017 

1844 134.715 

1845 118,621 

1846 124,007 

1847 144,427 

1848 100,407 

1849 128.861 

1650 127,069 

1851 105,500 


Value 

Value  pr 

S;2,744,4I8 

$19 

1,721,819 

24 

1.942,076 

19 

1,907,337 

!6 

2,182,463 

16 

2,160,456 

18 

2,.564  091 

30 

3.00:),896 

24 

2.33I.S24 

23 

2,.509,362 

19 

2,031,557 

23 

2,170,937 

20. 

RICE-PLANTING.— By  the  mail  which 
conveys  this,  I  transmit  you  a  copy  of  Col.  J. 
J.  Ward's  report  on  the  cultivation  of  the  rice 
crop,  from  which  your  correspondent,  whose 
name  has  escaped  "me,  (his  letter  being  mis- 
placed in  Columbia,)  may  derive  some  notions 
useful  to  him  in  his  proposed  essay  at  rice - 
planting. 

I  have  no  experience  of  "inland  planting" 
myself.  In  the  desire  to  serve  your  friend,  I 
applied  to  several  gentlemen,  habitually  culti- 
vating inland  swamp,  for  the  systems  practised 
by  them  respectively.  I  have  to  regret  that 
none  of  them,  as  yet,  have  found  it  convenient 
or  thought  proper  to  favor  mc,  by  keeping  to 
their  promises. 

Information  is  seldom  obtained  from  the 
planters  in  any  other  way  than  by  conversa- 
tion. I  desired  to  be  more  accurate,  by  fur- 
nishing their  own  statements ;  but  as  the  season 
is  advancing,  I  will  not  longer  withhold  the 
impression  as  to  their  mode  of  culture,  made 
on  my  mind  by  their  several  verbal  communi- 
cations. 

It  is  chiefly  this,  that  they  all  approach  as 
near,  and  practise  as  closely  as  circumstances 
will  permit,  the  systems  most  approved  among 
the  planters  on  Tidewater  swamp. 

"Where  the  water  flows  or  ebbs,  and  there 
is  consequently  a  command  of  water,  the  sys- 
tem is  such  in  the  main  as  described  in  my 
memoir,  and  also  recently  and  in  detail  by 
my  friend  Col.  Wai'd,  in  the  report  I  send 
you. 

As  your  correspondent  will  not  have  the 
benefit  of  such  command  of  water,  but  must 
use  it,  I  presume,  from  a  "reserve,"  I  will 
venture  to  indicate  what  would  be  my  own 
course  under  similar  circumstances. 

I  should  select  new  land,  as  it  is  free  from 
grass,  and  grass  is  the  greatest  enemy  to  rice 
in  inland  swamp;  water  is  the  only  means  by 
which  it  can  be  effectually  subdued,  year  by 
year,  and  the  inland  planter  has  not  the' neces- 
sary command  of  water. 

After  clearing  the  land  as  well  as  one  would 
for  any  other  crop — or  in  case  of  land  already 
cleared,  after  ploughing  it  up  early  for  the  frost 
to  act  upon  it,  ami  draining  it  well,  with  drains 
(18  inches  by  3  feet)  75  feet  apart;  then,  when 
about  to  plant,  levelling  the  surface  with  the 
harrow  and  the  hoe,  I  would  trench  it  with  a 
very  narrow  hoe,  placing  the  trenches  at  the 
distance  of  12  inches  one  from  the  other,  and 
sow  the  rice  carefully,  in  a  "  string,"'  i.  e.,  a3 
thin  (but  regular)  as  possible ;  cover  it  as  other 
seed,  and  if  it  be  not  likely  to  liave  rain  uj)on 
it  in  a  day  or  two,  I  would  flow  it  just  to  cover 
the  land  for  six  days;  but  if  rain  be  plenty,  I 
would  not  flow  until  the  plant  is  seen,  here 
and  there,  gener.illy  coming  through  the  earth  ; 
(this,  in  fine  weather,  will  be  seen  in  12  to  15 
days;)  the  binls  will  then  be  very  troublesome, 
if  uncovered  with  water,  destroying  a  great 
deal.    The  land  should  then  be  covered  with 


412 


RICE-PLANTING. 


■water  ("point  flow")  6  inches  deep,  if  old 
land.  In  ca<e  of  new  land,  wbero  tbere  is  no 
gra«s,  I  would  flow  only  deep  enough  to  cover 
the  rice  from  birds  at  first,  tlien  gradually,  as 
the  plant  grew  stronger  and  taller,  raise  the 
■water  up  to  6  inches  generall}':  incase  the 
planter  is  not  certain  of  having  water  enough 
to  keep  a  flow  of  -lU  days,  (to  help  kill  the 
young  gra*s,)  and  hold  on  until  the  plant, 
■whicii  will  be  stretched  and  weakened  by  it, 
is  strong  enough  to  stand  up.  When  the  water 
shall  be  drawn  off",  (it  will  be  so  in  April  in  40 
days,  in  May  some  80  to  35,)  I  would  then 
send  in  hands  and  pick  out  all  the  long  grass 
■which  may  be  observed  />i  ilie  trenches  with 
the  rice  plants ;  (these  the  hoe  cannot  reach, 
and  they  will  only  come  up  by  the  root  when 
the  earth  is  soft  with  water ;)  then  draw  the 
■water  off  gradually.  The  plant  is  then  putting 
out  new  roots.  Whilst  they  are  still  short, 
and  as  soon  as  the  land  is  dry,  say  in  8  days, 
hoe  it  deep  with  hoes  not  wider  than  4^ 
inches,  (4  is  better;)  the  new  roots  will  easily 
penetrate  the  broken  soil,  and  the  plants  will 
flourish.  In  16  to  20  days  more,  hoe  it  again, 
but  very  light,  so  as  to  level  the  uneven  sur- 
face, and  to  cut  every  spear  of  grass,  picking 
out  by  hand  what  the  hoe  cannot  reach.  Thus 
effectually  cleaned,  the  rice  may  be  "  laid  by" 
in  2  or  3  days;  it  will  then  be  "jointing,"  or 
nearly  so.  The  water  should  now  (after  at 
least  30  days  of  dry  growth  for  April  rice)  be 
put  on  again  full  six  inches,  until  the  head 
shoots  out;  then  it  may  be  raised  higher  with 
impunity,  and  will  be  a  stay  to  the  tall  plant 


machinists  here  could  furnish  pai'ticulars.— 

Col.  AlhtoH  of  S.  a 

N.B. — From  the  "  point  flow,"  he  will  be 
good  enough  to  pursue,  as  nearly  as  he  can, 
the  method  described  by  J.  J.  Ward,  in  his  re- 
port from  where  it  is  marked,  taking  care  to- 
substitute  a  five  inch  hoe  for  his  "  six  inch." 

Report  on  Eice  Culture. — Tour  com- 
mittee beg  leave  to  report  what  in  their  opin- 
ion is  the  best  mode  of  cultivating  rice. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  observe  that  the 
land  should  be  in  good  order  ;  that  is,  that  the 
banks  and  trunks  should  be  in  such  condition  as 
to  keep  the  water  within  or  without  the  fields, 
as  circumstances  may  render  necessary  ;  the 
drains  ought  to  be  thirty-seven  and  a  half  feet 
apart,  and  at  least  three  feet  deep  and  eighteen 
inches  wide  ;  the  size  of  the  fields  to  be  deter- 
mined to  a  great  extent  by  the  force  employed ; 
with  a  strong  force  they  can  be  of  much  larger 
dimensions  than  with  a  smaller.  It  is  evi- 
dently important  that  every  part  of  the  field 
should  be  as  nearly  as  possible  in  the  same 
condition,  as  regards  hoeing,  Ac,  when  the 
water  is  put  on  ;  otherwise,  from  the  different 
state  of  the  plant,  one  portion  would  require 
different  treatment  from  another,  which,  of 
course,  is  impossible.  Perhaps  inattention  in 
this  respect  has  produced  more  mischief  than 
might  at  first  sight  appear.  During  the  win- 
ter the  land  ought  to  be  well  turned,  either  by 
the  jjlough  or  hoe.  As  planting  time  approaches, 
the  land  should  be  v/ell  mashed,  and  laid  off 
in  hold  trenches,  with  a  four  inch  "  trenching 


in  times  of  heavy  wind.     When  the  plant  is  in  ;  hoe,"  thirteen  inches  from  centre  to  centre  ;  the 


bloom  it  should  by  no  means   be  disturbed 
for  any  purpose. 

In  00  days  after  jointing,  the  grain  is  gen 
erally  ripe  for  the  sickle;  the  weather  or 
season  may  have  the  effect  to  retard  or  ad- 
vance it  a  day  or  two;  the  water  should  then 
be  drawn  off,  and  the  reapers  set  to  work.  In 
Carolina,  the  sickle  or  "reap  hook"  is  used, 
with  which  each  hand  will  cut  a  half  acre  in 
the  day,  then  tie  in  sheaves,  and  stock  in  the 
field  what  was  cut  the  day  before. 

The  task  with  us  is  to  cut  \  of  an  acre  early 
in  the  morning ;  then,  when  the  dew  is  off,  tie 
and  carry  to  the  barn-yard  the  ^  of  an  acre 
•which  was  cut  the  day  before,  supposing  the 
sun  to  have  been  shining  duly. 

I  think  that  in  inland  it  would  be  better  also 
to  give  the  like  task,  especially  the  first  year, 
viz:  cut  \  an  acre,  tie,  ("  bind,")  and  carry 
^,  or  stock  it  in  the  fi'jld,  if  dry,  so  as  to  get 
done  handling  tlie  rice  before  the  night  dews 
wet  it. 

The  thrashing  out  is  laborious;  this,  as  well 
as  thi!  pounding  or  cleaning,  is  done  here  by 
niacliinery,  some  account  of  which  may  be 
found  in  my  memoir,  and  also  in  the  pamphlet 
alreaily  referred  to.  This  machinery  is  expen- 
sive :  the  first  will  cost  from  $3,000  to  §7,000 
—the  other  from  $10,000  to  $18,000.      The 


seed  is  to  be  carefully  sowed,  at  the  rate  of 
from  two  and  a  half  to  three  bushels  the  acre, 
according  to  the  oriler  the  land  may  be  in ;  the 
greater  quantity  to  be  used  when  it  is  not  in 
the  best  state  of  preparation.  There  are  dif- 
ferent opinions  on  the  subject  of  covering  the 
seed ;  on  low  and  gummy  lands,  the  "  open 
planting"  is  the  best;  but  when  the  soil  is 
well  prepared,  a  careful  covering  is  to  be  pre- 
ferred. The  sprout  water  is  then  jnit  on,  and 
remains  until  the  grain  "  pips,"  which  will  take 
place,  according  to  the  weather,  itc,  in  from 
three  to  six  days ;  the  water  is  then  taken  off, 
and  the  land  kept  as  dry  as  possible,  until 
you  can  see  the  rice  the  whole  length  of  a  row 
across  the  bed,  coming  out  in  fine  spires,  which 
is  frequently  called  tlie  "  neeiUe  state;"  ihe 
point  flow  is  then  put  on  and  retained  from 
three  to  nine  days,  or  as  long  as  it  can  be  kept 
on  without  weakening  the  ])lant  so  nuKhasto 
cause  it  to  fall  wlu^n  the  water  is  taken  from 
it.  This  is  especially  important,  as  the  grass 
being  young  is  more  effectually  destroyed  than 
at  any  later  stage  of  the  crop.  As  soon  as 
the  rice  is  strong  enough,  whicli  will  depend 
on  circumstances,  a  light  lioeing  shoukl  be 
given  it,  with  a  six  inch  "  rice  hoc."  About 
twelve  days  after  this  first  hoeing,  it  should 
be  well   stirred   with   the    "six    inch  hoe" 


RICE-PLANTING. 


413 


again,  and  allow  two  or  tbree  days  (sbonld  the  | 
•weather  be  drv)  for  tlic  svm  to  kill  the  grass 
disturbed  by  the  hoe.     "The  long  water "  is 
then  put  on,  and  the  rice  to  be  overtopped  for 
three  or  four  days;  the  trai^h  whicli  will  float 
up  must  be  carefully  ruked  on  the  banks.   By 
this  deep  flow  not  only  is  the  tras^h  removed, 
but  the  insects  with  which  the  rice  is  infested 
are  for  the  time  completely  destroyed.     The 
■water  is  then  gradually  slackened  to  about  six 
inches  deep  on  the  general  level.     A  notch 
must  be  made  on  the  trunk  or  elsewhere,  and 
the  water  kept  as  near  the  same  level  as  can 
be,  for  from  twelve  to  twenty-three  day.s,  ac- 
cording to  the  quality  of  the  land;  the  heavy 
land  requiring  tlie  longest  water  ;  (the  water, 
however,  should  not  be  taken  off  on  the  fif- 
teenth day,  as  from  the  state  of  the  plant  at 
that  time  it  is  apt  to  "  fox.")     The  water  is 
then  to  be  gradually  slackened  off,  to  prevent 
the  rice  from  falling  in  the  low  parts  of  the 
field,  it  being  weak  from  the  greater  depth 
of  the  water ;  and  this  points  out  the  great  im- 
portance of  bringing  the  surface  of  every  field 
as  nearly  as  may  be  to  a  level,  as  in  the  lower 
spots  the  rice  is  often  materially  injured,  and 
in  the  high  places  the  grass  is  not  destroyed. 
When  the  water  is  off  the  surface,  the  trunks 
are  to  be  thrown  open,  and  the  land   again 
kept  as  dry  as  possible.     During  this  flow,  or 
rather  about  the  time  of  slacking  off,  as  what 
grass  may  have  escaped  the  hoe  will  have 
grown  rapidly,  it  is  advisable  to  "  turn  "  the 
hands  in  and  pull  it  out.     As  soon  as  the  land 
is  sufficiently  dry,  it  is  to  be  dug  as  deep  as 
practicable,  with  a  four  inch  rice  hoe,  to  enable 
the  roots  of  the  plants  to  spread  with  greater 
facility.     In  about  twenty-two  days  after  the 
"  long  water,"  the  fourth  and  last  hoeing  should 
be  given  with  a  four  inch  hoe,  and  should  be 
very   light,  merely    to  level   the   clods  left 
from  the  digging,  and  to  destroy  the  young 
grass,  particular  care  being  taken  not  to  injure 
or  disturb  the  roots  of  the  plant.      A  day  or 
two   after  this  hoeing,  the  "  lay   by"  water 
should  be  put  on,  about  the  same  depth,  or 
perhaps  a  little  deeper  than  the  "  long  water" 
notcli ;  lower  or  higher  according  to  the  growth 
of  the  rice.      Care  should  be  taken,  when  the 
rice  begins  to   round,  that   the  water  should 
not  get  over  the  fork.     It  is  to  be  noticed  that 
as  soon  as  the  weaker  portion  of  the  rice  gains 
sufficient   strength,   the   water  is   to  be  run 
through  the  field  every  "  tide,"  which  should 
be  regularly  attended   to   until   the   crop  is 
ready  for  the  hook.     "When  circumstances  re- 
quire or  will  admit  of  the  "open  planting," 
the  seed  ought  to  be  well  clayed  before  sow- 
ing.   Tiic  water  is  then  put  gradually  on,  and 
kej)t  on  until  the  rice  is  in  the  "green  fork  ;" 
it   is  tlan  tlrie<l  for  three   days  to  allow  the 
plant  to  take  root,  and  then  again  flowed; 
the  further  treatment  being  the  same  as  before 
stated    for    the    "covered    planting." — /.  /. 
Ward, 


Best  Mode  of  Curing  and  Mii.i.ing  Rice. 
— The  committee  to  whom  was  reft'rred  the 
consideration  of  the  "  best  mode  of  curing_and 
milling  rice,"  beg  leave  to  report; 

That  almost  every  plantation  has  its  own 
particular  method  of  curing  rice  ;  so  in  almost 
every  mill  will  be  found  something  peruliar  in 
the  preparation  and  cleaning  of  rice.  We  may 
with  reapon  suggest  that  the  market  is  the 
true  test  of  the  best  mode.  The  rice  may 
be  pronounced  best  cured  and  best  milled 
which  makes  the  fairest  show  and  commands 
the  most  attention  in  the  maiket.  To  pro- 
duce such  rice,  however,  something  more  is 
requisite  than  curing  and  milling.  'J'lu'  ])revi- 
ous  winter  work  should  have  been  well  placed 
on  the  soil.  The  whole  system  of  planting 
must  have  been  good.  The  seed  should  have 
been  well  selected,  free  from  red  rice,  and  a 
full  thin-skin  grain;  it  should  have  been  sown 
regular,  and  not  too  thick  ;  then  it  should  have 
been  carefully  cultivated,  regarding  the  use  of 
both  the  hoe  and  water.  To  all  this,  industry 
and  attention  are  requisite.  The  attentive 
and  observant  planter  who  keeps  a  journal, 
will  soon  be  taught  by  experience  tlie  best 
method.  He  will  see  that  it  is  a  mi.-take  to 
suppose,  that  because  rice  is  an  aquatic  jjlant, 
it  will  flourish  in  land  which  is  kejjt  in  a 
sobbed  state  ;  but  on  the  contrary,  thai  unless 
the  land  be  well  flowed,  it. should  be  well 
drained. 

It  is  true  that  some  of  the  best  samples  of 
rice  are  often  produced  from  old  lands,  which 
yield  no  more  than  25  and  30  bushels  to  the 
acre.  But  as  it  is  the  desire  of  every  one  en- 
gaged in  planting  to  increase  the  quantity 
as  well  as  to  improve  tlie  quality  of  liis  crop 
it  is  taken  for  granted  that  the  previous  pre-, 
paration  of  the  soil  has  been  duly  attended  to, 
(the  last  and  least  object  of  which  is  the  sur- 
face,) and  that  the  culture  has  been  good 
throughout  the  season. 

L'urhig. — The  field  then  is  to  be  dried  some 
two  or  three  days  before  the  grains  be  fully 
ripe,  and  the  rice  cut  forthwith,  laying  it  of  an 
even  thickness  on  the  stubble,  the  heads  being 
clear  of  any  water. 

If  the  weather  be  fair,  one  day's  sun  is  suf- 
ficient. Accordingly,  after  the  dew  is  off,  on 
the  day  after  the  rice  is  cut,  it  should  be  tied 
into  sheaves  and  borne  to  the  barn  yard,  and 
there  stacked  before  the  dew  falls  again,  in 
ricks  about  seven  feet  ',ride,  twenty  A  et  longj 
and  built  up  as  high  as  a  man  can  pile  from  a 
stool  two  feet  high.  Here  it  undeigoes  a  heat 
which  is  supposed  to  mature  and  harden  the 
grain.  If,  however,  this  process  be  not  duly 
noticed;  if  the  heat  be  too  great  and  continue 
too  long,  (as  it  may,  depending  on  the  condi- 
tion of  the  rice  and  state  of  the  weailur,)  the 
rice  is  said  to  be"  mow-burned,"  and  is  injuied. 
The  greatest  heat  to  which  the  grain  can  be 
subjected  without  injury,  is  deemed  advisable. 
The  rice  will  keep  well  enough  in  the  ricks 


414 


RICE — ANALYSIS   OF,   ETC. 


herein  described,  until  tbrasliod,  but  it  is  often 
transferred  to  large  stacks  after  tlie  Larvest, 
for  safe  keeping— stacks  from  12  to  16  feet 
in  diameter. 

MiUhtg — After  having  been  thrashed,  the 
rice  should  be  "  rayfed,"  i.  e.,  the  broken  and 
imperfect  grains  separated  from  the  full,  the 
small  and  lighter  from  the  large,  tfcc,  so  that 
the  parcel  of  rice  to  be  milled  be  made  up  of 
grains  as  nearly  equal  in  length  as  practicable. 
The  grinding  is  believed  to  be  the  most  im- 
portant part  of  the  process ;  it  is  between  the 
stones  that  the  rice  is  most  apt  to  break.  Each 
grain  revolving  probably  on  its  shortest  a.\is, 
according  with  a  well-tested  principle  of  philo- 
sophy, the  stones  should  be  set  in  regard  to 
their  length. 

From  these  stones,  with  every  hull,  if  pos- 
sible, broken,  if  not  shelled  off,  the  rice  passes 
under  the  pestle.  The  proper  d«  gree  of  pound 


Compomtion  of  100  parts  of  this  residuum. 

Phosphate  of  lime  (bone  earih,)  with 
decided  traces  of  intermixed  phos- 
phate of  magnesia V6.20 

Phospliate    of     potiissa,    nearly   5^ 
per  cent 

Silica,  sometimes  as  high  as  20  per 
cent 

And  the  following  salts  in  traces 
only.  They  are  enumerated  in 
tl}e  supposed  order  of  their  abun- 
dance, viz. : 

Sulphate  of  potassa 

Chloride  of  potassium 

Carbonate  of  lime 

Carbonate  of  magnesia 

2.  Of  the  Cotyledon,  commoxlv   called 

THE   Eye  or   Chit  of  the   Grain. — Ignited 

under  a  muffle  on  a  porcelain  plate,  it  burns 

with  a  bright  light,  and  the  ash  flows  into  a 


v.. .24.8 


J 


ing  can  only  be  ascertained  by  the  inspection  j  glass.     From  the  intimate  way  in  which   it 
of  a  practised  eye.     On  being  discharged  from  [  adhered  to  the   plate,  it  was  impossible   to 


the  mortar,  the  rice  must  be  thoroughly  sepa 
rated  by  lolling  screens  and  fans  from  the  flour 
and  broken  grains.  It  then  should  be  passed 
spirally  tlirough  the  brushing  screen,  which 
revolves  witli  great  rapidity,  (tlie  longer  the 
screen  the  better,  provided  the  velocity  be  not 
diminished,)  until  it  is  delivered  into  the  bar- 
rel, clean,  bright,  and  pearly,  fully  "  prepared  " 
and  ready  for  market. 

Tills  whole  process,  which,  in  the  main,  must 
be  known  to  every  planter  of  any  experience, 
is  thus  familiarly  described,  and,  at  the  request 
of  the  society,  is  herewith  submitted  by  (Col 
Allston.) 

RICE — Analy'sis  of,  Etc. — Dr.  Shepard, 
of  South  Carolina,  under  direction  of  the  Ag- 
ricultural Society  of  tliat  state,  analyzed,  a 
year  or  two  ago,  completely,  the  rice  plant  and 
soils.  The  analysis  is  of  sufficient  importance 
to  have  a  place  in  our  Review.  We  have,  | 
in  previous  numbers,  given  the  analysis  of  I 
sugar,  corn,  cotton,  etc.,  and  their  lands.  | 

1. — Of  Clean  Commercial  Rice. — Burned 
in  a  porcelain  capsule  under  the  muffle,  un- 
til all  coniV)ustib]e  matter  Iiad  disappeared, 
a  blebby  glass-like  ash  remained,  weighing 
0.404  ]K'r  cent,  or  less  than  half  a  part  in  one 
hundred  of  tlie  rice  consunied.'-"  Corrected 
statement  of  mineral  constituents  of  clean 
rice=:0.487  per  cent. 


*It  being  requisite  to  determine  the  inorganic  in- 
gredients  of  rice,  and  of  the  various  jiarts  of  tlic  en- 
tire plsmt,  as  it  may  reasonably  be  .^uiijioscd  they 
are  returned  to  the  soil  again  on  the  decomposition 
of  the  plant  and  its  parts,  (whether  taking  i)lace  spon- 
taneously or  otherwise,)  and  not  to  give  those  ingre- 
dients in  all  cases  as  they  are  actually  yielded  Ions 
in  the  proeess  of  destructive  analysis,  1  shall  sulyoin 
many  of  the  constituents  of  the  ashy  residue,  not  as 
found,  but  rather  as  the  principles  of  cliemisfry  au- 
thorize us  to  declare  them,  in  accordance  with  the 
above  rcc^utBition. 


determine  its  weight,  or  even  its  composition, 
in  a  satisfactory  manner.  The  expression 
6.824  per  cent.,  however,  may  be  taken  as  an 
approximation  to  the  weight  of  tlie  residuum 
In  composition,  it  appears  scsircely  to  differ 
from  the  ash  of  clean  rice,  except  in  being 
somewhat  richer  in  lime,  and  in  the  phospho- 
ric and  sulphuric  acids. 

3.  Of  the  Fine  Rice  Flour,  as  it  comes 
DOWN  ON  the  Bulk. — It  gives,  on  burning,  a 
bulk}',  porous  ash,  weighing  10.746  per  cent, 
of  the  ilour  consumed.  Correcicd  as  above 
=12.30  per  cent. 

Composition  of  100  parts  of  this  residuum, 
as  follows  : 
Silica,  with  traces  of  combined  potassa     38.02 
Phosphate  of  lime,  with  traces  of  phos- 
phate of  magnesia 54.60 

Phospliate  of  potassa  (rich  in  this"! 

'^alt) I   ^ 

Sulphate  of  potassa |   g 

Sulpliate  of  lime,  in  traces J>-^  7.38 

Chloride  of  calcium,      "     I    e 

Chloride  of  potassium,  "    | 

Lime  and  magnesia,      "     J 

4.   Of    Coarse    Rice   Flour    from    th 
Bulk. —  It  gives,  on  burning,  a  bulky,  porous 
asli  =11.23    percent.     Corrected  statement, 
=11.831  per  cent. 

Compositio7i  of  100  parts  of  this  residuum, 
as  follows  : 
Silica,  with  traces  of  combined  potassa.     69.27 
Phosjiliate  of  hine,  with  traces  of  piios- 

phate  of  mngnesia 28.94 

Phosphate  of  potassa  (rich  in   this) 

salt) ( 

Carbonate  of  p«tassa,  in  traces 


Sulphate  of  potassa. 
Lime  and  magnesia, 
Chloriile  of  calcium, 
Chloride  of  potassium, 


y-  6.79 


100.00 


KICE — ANALYSIS   OF,   ETC. 


415 


6.— Of  the  Husk,  C0NrMo>fLY  called 
Chaff,  or  Offal. — Burns,  -with  little  or  no 
flame,  into  a  perfectly  white,  silicious  skele- 
ton of  the  husk.  In  weight  it  equals  13.07 
per  cent 

Composition  o/lOO  parts  of  this  residuum, 
as  follows  : 

Silica 97.551 

Phospliate  of  lime,  with  traces  of  alu- 
mina and  oxides  of  iron  and  man- 
ganese      1.023 

Carbonate  of  lime 0.294 

Phosphate  of  potassa "l   « 

Sulphateofpotassa,  in  traces 1^     1  1<59 

Chloride  of  potassium,     "     j-a 

Carbonate  of  potassa,       "     j   a  

100.000 
6. — Of  the  Rice  Straw.— Burns   into   an 

ash  which   is   a   semi-fused,  glassy  fiit.    It 

weighs  12.-122  per  cent 

Composition  of  100  parts,  as  follows : 

Silica 84.75 

Potassa,  with  probable  traces  of  soda, 

combined  with  the  above  silica 8.69 

Phosphate  of  lime,  with  traces  of  ox- 
ide of  iron  and  manganese 2.00 

Carbonate  of  lime 2.00 

Alumina,  in  traces.  •  -•  ^ 

Phosphate  of  potassa..  j 

Carbonate  of  potassa..  i^andloss 2.56 

Sulphate  of  potassa 

Chloride  of  potassium.  J  

100.00 
7. — Rice  Soil,  from  "Waverlet  Island. 

Silica,  with  fine  saud,  one  third  of 
which  is  feldspathic  and  slightly 
magnesian  or  talcose;  and  contains 
alumina,  with  from  2  to  4  per  cent, 
of  potassa,  mingled  with  soda  and 
magnesia 47.75 

Alumina,  partly  combined  with  humic 

acid 12.35 

Peroxide  of  iron,  (combined  with  hu- 
mus,) with  decided  traces  of  phos- 
phate of  lime  (bone-earth) 4.15 

Carbonate  of  lime,  with  traces  of  mag- 
nesia       0.40 

"Water  of  absorption. . . .  8.50  )  oo  qo 

Humus  (organic  matter)  23.50  ) 

Chloride  of  calcium. .  1 

Sulphate  of  lime. ...  1 

Sulphate  of  magnesia  J- and  loss 1.35 

Sulphate  of  potassa. .  | 

Chloride  of  sodium. ...  J  

100.00 

8. — Rice  Soil  feom  Matanzas  on  the  Mai.v. 

Silica,  with  fine  sand  as  above 00.50 

Alumina,  partly  combined  with  humic 

acid 8.15 

Peroxide  of  iron,  combined  with  hu- 
mus, with  decided  traces  of  phos- 
phate of  lime 3.00 

Carbonate  of  lime,  with  traces  of  mag- 
nesia       0.85 


Water  of  absorption .  9.00  )  „ ,,  ,  p, 

Humus 18.50  [•••'■ '"^^ 

Ciilorides  of  calcium  and  of  sodium. )        ,  .- 
Suljjhates  nearly  as  above >•         ' 

^"^'^ }   101.00 

Since  rice  culture  is  likely  to  be  extensively 
adopted  before  very  long  in  the  low,  river,  and 
bottom  lands  of  Mississippi  and  Louisiana,  we 
deem  the  preservation  of  this  matter  impor- 
tant The  reader  will  find  great  advantage 
from  consulting  Col.  AUston's  paper  above  re- 
ferred to,  and,  as  containing  additional  valua- 
ble particulars,  we  introduce  some  remarks 
made  by  Mr.  Ruffin,  in  hia  late  agricultural 
survey  of  South  Carolina: 

General  Description  of  the  Tide 
Swamps  in  their  Natural  State. — The 
great  body  of  alluvial  swamp  lands  on  the 
Waccamaw  and  Peedee  rivers,  and  subject  to 
their  tides,  are  of  similar  general  character  to 
all  other  swamps  formed  by  the  alluvium  of 
fresh  tide  waters.  In  South  Carolim,  and 
generally  elsewhere,  the  soil  being  wholly 
formed  by  matter  deposited  by  the  rivers  and 
by  the  remains  of  plants  which  died  and  rot- 
ted where  they  grew,  these  lands  are  necessa- 
rily composed  very  largely  of  vegetable  mat- 
ter, mostly  decomposed ;  and  so  far  as  that 
composition  may  serve,  they  were  as  rich  as 
lands  could  be,  and  of  an  unknown  depth  of 
soil.  Their  earthy  parts  are  mostly  of  fine 
clay,  such  as  could  remain  long  suspended  in 
water,  and  which  has  been  mostly  brought  by 
the  long  course  and  turbid  current  of  the 
Peedee.  Of  course,  rivers  flowing  through 
calcareous  regions,  and  washing  down  fertile 
and  well-constituted  soils,  must  have  also 
brought  down  much  calcareous  matter  inter- 
mixed with  the  clayey,  and  serving  to  fix  and 
retain  the  great  and  enduring  fertility  which 
tliese  lands  have  exhibited  unner  the  long 
continued  and  increasing  drafts  made  by  in- 
cessant rice  culture.  Still  there  cannot  be 
near  enough  of  lime  in  these  soils ;  and  there 
is  a  still  greater  deficiency  of  the  ingredient 
of  silicious  sand  necessary  for  a  properly  con- 
stituted soil  of  the  best  productive  power. 

The  rise  and  level  of  the  tides  have  neces 
sarily  fixed  the  final  elevation  and  grade  of 
.surface  of  all  such  lands.  The  earthy  matters 
brought  down  the  river  by  its  floods  would 
continue  to  be  deposited  on  the  marshes,  and 
wherever  else  the  water  was  most  tranquil, 
until  such  deposited  earth  reached  to  the  le- 
vel of  the  height  of  tide  water.  The  lower 
the  surface  was  at  any  previous  time  before 
this  height,  the  more  water,  loaded  with  ma- 
terials for  alluvium,  would  be  over  it,  and  the 
more  it  would  receive  of  the  tribute.  And 
when,  by  such  additions,  the  surface  had  risen 
to  the  full  height  of  ordinary  high  tide,  it 
woukl  no  more  be  covered,  except  on  rare  oc- 
casions, and  of  Course  its  increase  would  al- 
most cease.    Thus,  there  was  for  ages  a  con- 


41G 


EICE — ANALYSIS    OF,   ETC. 


stant  tendency  of  the  waters  to  raise  all  the  i 
lower  parts  the  fastest,  and  to  make  the  lower 
equal  in  height  to  the  highest  And  when 
this  was  done  as  nearly  as  might  be  over  any 
certain  extent,  the  operation  ceased  there,  and 
was  continued  lower  down  toward  tlie  sea. 

Thus,  the  alluvial  lauds  formed  by  the  de- 
posits of  tide  rivers  necessarily  have  surfaces 
very  nearly  level.  The  only  general  and 
slight  exceptions  are  seen  in  the  channels  of 
small  creeks,  or  "  slues"  as  they  are  called, 
which  are  needed  to  give  discharge  to  the  re- 
treating waters,  the  rapidity  of  the  motion  of 
which  serves  to  keep  such  passages  open  and 
deeper ;  and  also  that  the  land  next  the  river- 
side is  generally  higher  than  that  farthest  off, 
and  next  to  the  high  lands.  The  cause  of  the 
latter  effect  is  also  obvious  in  this,  that  the 
water  first  leaving  the  more  rapid  coarse  of 
the  river,  and  spreading  over  the  swamp,  must 
necessarily  deposit  most  of  its  suspended 
earthy  matter  first,  and  carries  only  the  lighter 
portions  to  the  more  remote  ground.  How- 
ever, the  slope  thus  made  is  so  gradual,  that 
the  difference  of  elevation  is  very  slight  be- 
tween parts  of  the  same  swamp.  This  gene- 
ral evenness  of  surface  is  in  a  remarkable  de- 
gree favorable  to  rice  culture,  which  requii-es 
overflowing  the  crop  at  a  depth  as  nearly 
equal  as  possible. 

The  trees  forming  the  natural  growth  and 
dense  cover  of  such  lands  are  of  great  size 
and  vigor — principally  of  tupelo  gum,  ash  and 
cypress;  the  undergrowth  of  cane,  and  nu- 
merous perennial  or  annual  vines  and  water 
grasses,  serving  in  summer  to  make  a  dense 
thicket.  The  earth,  always  saturated  witli 
water,  is  rendered  firm  only  by  its  close  and 
deep  mat  of  roots  of  every  description,  and 
but  for  this  would  be  a  quagmire  in  its  natu- 
ral state,  and  the  more  so  in  proportion  to  the 
excess  of  decomposed  vegetable  matter  in  the 
marshy  soil.  Also,  according  to  the  large 
quantity  and  excess  of  vegetable  matter,  will 
be  the  subsequent  sinking  of  tlie  land,  after 
draining  and  cultivation.  The  excess  of  ve- 
getable matter  in  any  soil,  over  and  above  all 
that  is  cliemically  combined  with  the  soil,  is 
liable  to  rot  and  waste  away.  And  such  must 
be  the  case,  sooner  or  later,  on  all  tide  marshes, 
the  drying  and  cultivation  of  which  produces 
the  conmiencement  of  rotting,  which  the  be- 
fore continual  wet  state  of  the  earth  prevented. 

All  the  tide  swamps  are  not  capable  of  be- 
ing properly  subjected  to  rice  culture.  There 
must  be  a  sufficient  "  pitch  of  tide,"  or  ordi- 
nary variation  between  the  levels  of  high  and 
low  tides,  to  enable  the  lands  to  be,  at  any 
desired  time,  either  quickly  flooded,  or  as 
quickly  to  have  the  overflowing  water  dis- 
charged. The  latter  object  is  ojiposcd  more 
and  more  by  the  freslicts  the  higher  the  rivers 
are  ascended,  so  that  the  upper  tide  lands  are 
from  tliis  cause  too  precarious  for  rice  culture. 
Again,  salt  or  even  brackish  water  is  fatal  to 


rice;  and  therefore  the  usually  fresh  water 
tide  lands  near  the  sea  are  as  much  iu  danger 
of  "salts  ;"  that  is,  of  the  water,  when  needed 
for  flowing  the  crop,  being  contaminated  by 
salt,  owing  to  a  dry  season  and  a  scant  supply 
of  river  water  from  above.  Thus,  omitting 
the  upper  tide  lands,  too  much  endangered  by 
the  river  being  swollen  by  rains,  and  the  low- 
er lands,  too  much  endangered  by  salt  tides 
in  dry  seasons,  there  renuiins  on  all  the  rivers 
but  an  intermediate  body  of  tide  lands  fit  and 
safe  for  rice  culture. 

The  General  Mode  of  Embankixg,  Drain- 
ing AND  Clearing  Tide  Swami's  for  Rice 
Culture.* — "When  a  body  of  new  tide  swamp 
on  the  Waccamaw  or  Peedee  was  to  be 
brought  under  rice  culture,  the  first  process 
has  been  to  cut  down  and  clear  oft'  all  the 
trees  and  undergrowth  of  bushes,  cane,  (or 
reeds,)  &c.,  along  the  course  desitned  for  the 
outer  embankment,  for  the  width  of  about 
fifty  yards,  or  such  distance  as  would  prevent 
the  subsequent  cutting  down  of  the  remain- 
ing large  trees  injuring  the  works.  In  making 
this  clearing,  care  is  taken  to  leave  untouched 
a  margin  next  to  the  river-side ;  which  ought 
to  be,  but  rarely  has  been,  as  wide  as  from 
fifty  to  eighty  feet,  varying  according  to  the 
irregularity  of  the  water-line.  The  trees,  &c., 
cut  from  the  cleared  space,  are  moved  inward 
among  the  standing  trees,  or  far  enough  to  be 
out  of  the  way  both  of  the  outer  embankment 
and  the  main  ditch  witiiin  and  next  to  it 
The  site  of  the  outer  embankment  is  then  de- 
termined precisely ;  and  along  the  centre  of 
its  intended  base  there  is  dug  a  ditch  3 
feet  deep,  3  feet  wide  at  top,  and  as  much  or 
nearly  so  at  bottom.  This  digging  is  for  two 
purposes:  first,  and  princijially,  to  remove  all 
stumps  and  roots  of  trees  from  below  the  bot- 
tom of  the  future  outer  embankment,  which, 
if  left,  would,  in  subsequent  time,  by  their 
rotting,  cause  leaks  to  be  produced ;  secondly, 
the  earth  dug  out  of  this  central  ditch  is  laid 
regularly  and  closely  just  outside  of  its  edge, 
and  forms  a  bank  sufHeient  to  exclude  the  or- 
dinary high  tides  from  covering  the  land,  and 
troubling  materially  the  main  operations 
which  are  to  follow,  for  thoroughly  embanking 
and  clearing  the  land.  Through  this  first  low 
bank,  at  a  suitable  (utlet,  there  is  put  in  one 
of  the  ordinary  tide-trunks,  such  as  will  serve 
afterward  for  one  in  the  finished  embankment, 
and  which  will  serve  sufliciently  to  exclude 
the  high  tides,  and  at  low  tide  to  discharge 


*  For  tlie  substance  nnd  for  all  that  may  be  of  any 
value  in  the  following  statonient  niul  description  of 
rice  culture  and  management,  1  am  indebted  to  ver- 
bal information,  which  I  derived  in  convorsalion  Trilh 
practical  and  judicious  rico  planters,  and  principally 
from  Dr.  Edward  lleriot  and  John  11.  Allston,  Esq., 
ill  regard  to  the  subject  in  general,  and  as  to  the  more 
usual  modes  of  culture  and  management  of  rice; 
and  to  Messrs.  Stephen  Ford  and  S.  C.  Ford,  in  regnrd 
to  "  Leggett's"  and  the  "  All-Water"  plans  of  flooding 
and  cultirution,  as  practised  on  Black  rivei. 


niCE ANALYSIS    OF,    ETC. 


417 


any  accumulation  of  water  in  tlie  area,  from 
rains  !^i)riiig8,  or  leakai^e  of  tlie  low  bank. 

Wlioti  carryiiij^  around  tliis  fir^t  ditcli  and 
eliglit  emliaiiknient,  idljhe  low  places  wliicli 
serve  as  outlets  of  ^niall  creeks  or  "slues" 
are  omitted  at  first.  "Wlieu  all  the  other 
parts  arc  tinislud,  these  lower  parts  are 
undertaken,  for  wiiicb  a  different  and  more 
laborious  procedure  is  necessary.  For  the 
length  across  each  such  slue,  two  parallel 
lines  of  strong  stakes  or  piles  are  driven  per 
pendicularly  and  deeply  into  the  nnid,  and 
the  lines  wider  out  from  the  designed  large 
enibanknient  than  its  two  base  lines  — 
"String-pieces,"  or  long  horizontal  tlmbei's, 
are  placed  outside  of  and  against  these  up- 
right stakes,  2  to  3  feet  lower  tlian  tlie  de- 
signed iieight  of  the  bank  ;  and  these  string 
pieces  kept  m  place,  and  made  to  brace  and 
sujiport  the  lines  of  stakes,  by  upright  and 
much  stronger  and  longer  piles  driven  at,  in- 
tervals of  -t  or  5  feet  outsitle  of  the  string- 
pieces,  and  opposite  to  each  otlier  across  the 
intended  embankment;  and  as  high  as  its 
top  is  to  be  raised,  cap  or  cro.ss  pieces,  made 
of  round  cypress  poles  6  or  8  inches  through, 
extend  frnm  each  of  these  piles  to  its  oppo- 
site pile,  securing  them  in  place,  and  the 
wliole  structure  together,  by  mortises  in  the 
cap  pieces  held  by  tenons  on  the  jwsts.  The 
embankment  is  then  made  within  this  frame- 
work, fully  as  high  as  the  general  level  of 
the  small  bank,  if  it  be  not  convenient  then 
to  complete  the  full  intended  size  at  once  at 
these  low  places. 

The  central  ditch  being  completed,  with 
its  bank  anrl  the  trunk  fixed,  (its  bottom,  as 
in  all  cases,  being  even  with  lowest  tide,)  the 
inner  and  outer  lines  of  the  base  of  the  out- 
siele  embankment  are  staked  off,  which  is 
usually  not  more  than  12  feet  wide,  (and 
Boinetimes  less,)  for  a  designed  height  of  5 
feet.  It  ought  to  be  15  feet,  or  tlirice  as 
much  as  tlie  heiglit,  at  least.  Within  the 
inside  base  line  of  the  embankment,  stake 
off  another  line  parallel  to  it,  and  15  feet 
distant,  if  the  soil  be  stiff,  or  20  feet  if  light 
and  j)orous,  which  space  is  for  the  inner  mar- 
gin. This  width  is  for  the  river-side,  or  ex- 
posed pai'ts  of  the  embankment.  If  along 
narrow  creeks  or  cross-banks,  the  inner  mar- 
gin need  not  be  more  than  10  to  15  feet. 
Along  the  inside  of  this  margin  is  laid  off 
the  main  ditch,  8  feet  wide  and  5  deep,  with 
sides  nearly  perpendicular.*  ■  0  't  of  this 
ditch  all  stumps,  roots  and  burietl  bodies  of 
trees  should  be  entirely  removed.  But  ihis 
is  imt  often  faithfully  done;  nor  is  the  ditch 
always  dug  5  feet  deep.  The  earth  dug  out 
should  be  thrown  by  the  ditchers  as  far  as 
they  can  toward  the  site  for  the  embankment. 


Afterward,  when  it  has  stood  long  enough  to 
be  in  good  condition,  or  is  neither  too  wet 
nor  fiio  dry,  this  earth  is  thrown  by  women 
and  other  inferior  hands  totirst  fill  the  central 
ditch,  and  tluii  to  build  up  the  enilumkinent; 
kee]iing  the  earth  neaily  widiin  tlie  liiiiits  of 
the  base.  After  standing  long  enough  to  be 
somewhat  consolidated,  the  siiiesof  the  bank 
are  trimmed  to  their  proper  elope,  making 
the  embankment  5  feet  high,  generally,  3 
feet  wide  at  top,  and  as  before  stated  12  feet 
(or  more)  at, bottom.  The  rise  of  ordinary 
tide  is  1  to  5  feet;"-  spring  tides  12  to  15 
inches  more.  The  general  level  of  higher 
land  at  first  usually  above  common  high  tide. 
If  the  main  parallel  ditch  does  not  furnish 
earth  enough  to  make  the  bank  everywhere, 
the  deficiencies  are  supplied  by  digging  earth 
where  it  can  be  best  spared  from  the  wide 
outside  margin;  but  care  should  be  taken,  if 
this  course  can  be  ever  justifiable,  at  least 
not  to  dig  any  thing  nearer  than  15  feet  from 
the  outside  base  line  of  the  embankment. 
Unfortunately  this  care  has  been  in  general 
practice  but  little  regarded.  Generally,  too 
little  margin  was  left  at  first ;  and  nearly  all 
which  was  left  at  first  has  been  since  cut 
away  to  heighten  the  embankment,  so  as  to 
leave  it  exposed  to  the  winds  and  waves, 
and  requiring  enormous  annual  labor  and 
expense  to  oppose  the  destructive  action  of 
storms  upon  the  embankment. 

In  beginning  to  bring  in  any  one  body  of 
marsh,  no  matter  how  large,  it  is  sometimes 
better  to  carry  the  first  operations,  already 
described,  around  the  whole,  (except  the 
land  side,  of  course,)  although  the  subsequent 
entire  clearing  of  the  forest  may  require  a 
long  time  for  completion.  Of  so  much  of 
the  land  as  is  designed  to  be  cultivated  the 
first  year,  after  the  above  described  opera- 
tions, all  the  cane,  bushes,  and  smallest  trees 
are  cut  down,  then  the  smaller  size  only  of 
larger  trees,  which  are  lopjied,  and  the  bodies 
cut  into  lengths  of  12  or  15  feet,  leaving  from 
5  to  7  of  the  largest  trees  standing  in  each 
half  acre.  At  a  dry  time  the  next  spring, 
and  with  a  good  wind,  fire  is  put  to  the  wind- 
ward side.  The  effect  is  according  to  cir- 
cumstances; but  it  is  deemed  "a  good  burn" 
if  all  is  consumed  except  the  logs.  If  there 
is  much  cane,  it  serves  so  well  as  fuel,  that 
the  fire  is  much  more  effectual;  iu  other 
cases  nmch  less.  The  remaining  logs  are 
heaped  and  burnt  when  convenient ;  but  by 
some  persons  often  left  scattered  on  the 
ground  for  years.  The  large  trees  left  stand- 
irg  are  afterward  killed  by  belting,  or  taken 
out  for  timber  as  needed  for  use. 

The  land  cleared  should  be  divided  into 
fields  of  convenient  shape  and  size,  and  each 


•This  is  wronjr.  A  wider  ditcli,  with  well-.sloped  I  *  The  greatist  rise  of  tide  low  down  the  river — 
sides,  would  stimd  much  better,  and  need  less  clear-  the  least  highest  up — and  in  proportion  between  the 
iug  out  uud  subsotiueiit  rejair.  J  extremes. 

VOL.  II.  27 


418 


RICE ANALYSIS    OF,    ETC. 


one  be  separated  from  the  next  by  cross 
embankments,  and  surrounded,  except  on  the 
sides  wliero  joining  the  high  land,  by  large 
ditches  parallel  to  the  cross  embankment. 
These  embankments,  being  only  to  keep  out 
of  one  field  the  water  admitted  into  another, 
need  not  be  more  than  7  or  8  feet  wide  at 
base,  and  3  feet  high ;  or  2  feet  less  higli 
than  the  outer  or  main  embankment.  If, 
however,  they  could  be  as  large  it  would  be 
better ;  as  then  a  breach  in  and  overflow  of 
the  outer  embankment  might  be  kept  from 
overflowing  all  but  the  firet  field.  The  ditches 
furnishing  earth  to  make  them  need  not  be 
more  than  sufficient  for  that  purpose,  or  5 
feet  wide  and  4  to  5  deep.  The  margin 
between  the  bank  and  the  ditches  is  10  to 
15  feet  wide.  Each  field  thus  separately  em- 
banked and  ditched  should  discharge  and 
receive  its  water  by  a  separate  trunk  con- 
necting with  the  river  or  creek.  Or  if  it  be 
a  back  field  not  joining  such  natural  outlet, 
then  into  a  canal  confined  within  two  banks, 
and  discharging  through  a  trunk  into  the 
river.  However,  when  such  a  canal  is  needed 
(as  is  usual)  for  navigation  to  the  barns,  etc., 
as  on  many  plantations,  then  it  is  dug  15  feet 
or  more,  with  margins  say  10  feet  wide,  and 
in  time  becomes  sometimes  20  to  25  feet, 
by  its  sides  falling  in,  and  successive  elear- 
ings.  There  is  no  trunk  in  such  case  to  ex- 
clude the  tide ;  and  therefore  the  two  banks 
on  the  sides  must  be  high  and  strong  enough 
for  that  purpose.  Sometimes,  however,  the 
navigable  canal,  instead  of  being  always  open 
to  the  river,  is  separated  from  it  at  its  outlet 
by  a  flood-gate,  wide  enough  to  pass  the 
largest  flats  used  in  transporting  the  crops. 
This  is  the  better  plan,  where  the  canal  is 
long,  as  it  protects  the  banks  on  each  side 
of  it. 

In  laying  off  the  land  into  separately  em- 
banked divisions,  or  fields,  regard  ought  es- 
pecially to  be  had  to  having  the  surface  of 
each  one  as  nearly  equal  in  level  as  possible, 
so  that  it  may  be  flowed  and  drained  equally. 
This  consideration  should  have  most  influence 
In  shaping  the  fields.  As  to  the  proper  size, 
if  the  level  be  alike,  that  depends  much  on 
the  amount  of  v»'orking  force ;  as  no  one 
separately  embanked  division  ought  to  be 
larger  than  the  hands  can  finish  any  one  oper- 
ation upon  in  one  day.  Twenty  acres  make 
a  very  good  quantity  for  the  size  of  trunk 
used. 

The  tide  trunks  used  are  well  planned  and 
constructed  for  this  purpose.  The  trunk  is  1 
feet  wide  by  2  deep.  Both  ends  are  cut  slop- 
ing, so  tliat  the  bottom  of  the  opening  extends 
1  inch  fartlier  out  than  the  top.  The  valve  or 
door  to  close  the  end,  hangs  from  upright 
arms  rising  10  or  12  feetfronr  the  bottom,  by 
long  mortises  in  the  arms,  or  Jiinges  far  above 
the  trunk,  and  closes  it  by  the  mere  pressure 
of  the  water,  when  higher   that  side  of  the 


bank  than  on  the  other.  The  other  end  of  the 
trunk  has  a  like  valve.  But  a  great  improve- 
raeut  in  the  trunk,  which  has  not  been  very 
long  introduced  here  from  Savannah,  is  to  haVe 
each  gate  to  be  raised  by  sliding  upward,  (as 
a  flood-gate  does,)  as  well  as  to  swing  open 
by  pressure  of  water  from'  the  opposite  end. 
Thus,  a  valve  can  be  hoisted  by  sliding  up,  by 
use  of  a  lever,  when  the  tide  is  pressing  the 
valve  to  the  aperture ;  whereas,  were  it  merely 
to  open  by  its  hinges,  it  could  not  be  done 
until  after  the  fall  of  the  tide  on  that  side,  or 
higher  rise  of  the  water  on  the  opposite  side. 
This  simple  improvement  is  of  great  con- 
venience and  utility. 

"When  thus  embanked,  wide  ditched,  and  as 
yet  but  very  imperfectly  cleared,  the  land  is 
put  the  next  season  under  rice  culture.  The 
then  still  remaining  higher  level  of  the  surface, 
and  the  open,  loose,  and  permeable  texture  of 
the  soil,  filled  as  it  is  with  roots  and  other 
undecomposed  vegetable  matter,  make  this 
slight  drainage  sufficient  at  first,  and  perhaps 
for  some  years  after.  As  the  surface  subse- 
quently' becomes  lower,  and  more  compact,  by 
decomposition,  settling,  and  tillage,  more  close 
and  perfect  drainage  will  be  needed.  And 
the  natural  drains  furnished  by  the  former 
beds  of  ci'ooked  creeks  and  small  "  leads"  are 
deepened,  and  side,  or  "spring"  ditches  will 
then  be  required,  and  should  be  cut  3  or  4 
feet  wide,  along  the  foot  of  all  the  high  lands, 
whence  springs  ooze  out.  Afterward,  when 
farther  drainage  is  found  wanting,  straight 
drains  are  cut  in  each  field,  20  to  24  inches 
wide  and  3  feet  deep,  parallel  to  the  longest 
straight  side  of  each  field,  and  to  each  other, 
discharging  at  each  end  into  main  ditches,  and 
either  300  or  150  feet  apart,  according  to  the 
wants  of  the  land.  After  another  or  more 
crops,  the  intervals  left  between  these  narrow 
drains  are  split  in  two  by  other  similar  drains ; 
and  again,  when  needed,  others  made  in  like 
manner  to  subdivide  the  laud,  until  these 
parallel  drains  are  at  every  75  feet  apart,  as 
IS  usual  lower  down  Waccamaw  island,  where 
the  freshets  have  less  effect  to  flood  and  low 
tides  more  effect  to  drain,  or  at  37^  feet,  as  usual 
higher  up  the  rivers.  The  working  acre  is 
not  the  same  size,  of  4,S40  square  yards; 
but,  as  marked  and  estimated  in  all  culture 
in  lower  South  Carolina,  is  a  space  of  300  feet 
by  150,  or  5,000  square  yards.  And  thence, 
the  drainage  at  75  yards  is  technically  called 
"  qututer  draining,"  and  that  at  37.^  yards  aa 
"half quarter  draining.'"  "When  the  drains 
are  very  long,  it  is  usually  best  to  intersect 
them  at  right  angles,  by  cross-drains,  at  dis- 
tances of  3  and  4  half  acres  apart.  "With 
making  all  tliese,  the  general  and  usual  plan 
of  draining  is  complete ;  and  thereafter,  the 
planter  has  but  to  iireserve  and  keep  in  per- 
fectly good  condition  for  operation,  his  em- 
bankments, ditches,  and  flood-gates,  or  tide 
trunks.     And  to  do  this  requires  continued 


RICE CULTURE    OF,    ETC. 


410 


care,  and  annual  and  groat  labor,  which  are 
increased  greatly  according  to  the  amount  of 
omissions  or  defects  of  the  early  construction 
of  the  embankment,  or  retaining  of  sufficient 
outside  margin.  Regularly  every  winter,  or 
as  earty  as  may  be  in  spring,  all  the  drains 
are  cleared  out,  and  such  of  the  main  ditches 
as  require  it;  and  the  mud  from  the  latter 
used  to  partially  repair  the  waste  of  the  ad- 
jacent banks.  The  farther  waste  and  defects 
of  the  banks,  made  necessarily  by  decomposi- 
tion of  the  vegetable  portion  of  the  earth 
itself,  or  by  its  being  washed  away  by  the 
waves  of  the  rivei',  or  of  the  "  flows"  dashed 
against  the  banks,  are  repaired  by  earth  from 
the  most  convenient  places— and  generally 
(and  destructively  for  the  future)  by  cutting 
away  the  outside  margin,  until  none  is  left, 
and  the  whole  force  of  the  breaking  waves  is 
thus  allowed  to  be  spent  upon  the  embank- 
ment on  the  river-side.  The  consequences  of 
this  very  general  error  will  be  again  brought 
into  view. 

When  a  considerable  leak  has  been  made 
through,  the  bank  is  cut  through  at  that  place 
down  to  the  leak,  and  the  passage  carefully 
stopped.  Wlien  an  old  bank  has  by  neglect 
become  generally  leaky,  or  admitting  oozing 
water,  it  is  "  split"  or  "  centre  ditched."  A. 
narrow  ditch  is  dug  lengthwise  along  its 
middle,  and  down  below  the  leaks,  and  the 
opened  space  is  then  filled  up  by  "  slush,"  or 
the  soft  mud  obtained  by  clearing  out  the 
ditches.  A  better  filling  material  for  such  a 
central  ditch  is  used  by  some  persons  in  the 
purest  sand  they  can  obtain.  This  prevents 
the  burrowing  of  snakes,  crawfish  and  other 
small  animals,  &c.,  &c. 

RICE  —  Culture  ov,  Etc. — "  Rice  is  an 
aquatic  plant,  and  naturally,  it  may  be  in- 
ferred, its  growth  was  on  land  .always  under 
water,  or  saturated  with  it  whenever  not  al- 
gether  covered.  And  under  culture,  and  even 
when  in  other  than  its  native  region,  doubtless 
rice  would  prefer  the  continuance  of  water. 
But  other  needs  than  the  mere  supply  of  food 
for  the  plants  have  to  be  provided  for,  which 
require  a  dry  condition  of  the  soil,  at  some 
periods.  And  fortunately,  rice  is  so  hardy  that 
it  will  grow  either  under  water  or  on  dry 
land,  and  with  violent  alternations  of  these 
opposite  conditions.  It  is  necessary  that  the 
land  should  be  dry  to  prepare  for  and  plant 
the  crop — also  for  the  purpose  of  removing 
weeds,  which,  being  native  to  the  soil  and 
climate,  are  therefore  more  hardy  than  the 
cultivated  crop — and  again  to  reap  and  remove 
the  matured  crop.  Bui  it  would  seem  to  be 
the  general  principle  of  the  culture,  that  the 
growing  rice  should  be  kept  covered  with 
water  as  much  as  is  consistent  with  eftecting 
the  foregoing  objects ;  and  with  another  im- 
portant exception  to  indulging  its  aquatic  na- 
ture and  preference,  which  exception  is,  to 


avoid  too  sudden  and  thorough  changes  from 
the  wet  to  the  dry  condition,  or  rather  from 
the  effects  of  those  conditions." 

PRErARATIo^f  OF  Land  and  Ploughixg  — 
"  The  flooding  and  drying  of  the  rice  land, 
when  new,  is  conducted  much  in  the  same 
manner  as  in  after  time ;  but  the  preparation 
for  and  tillage  must  vary,  according  to  the 
state  of  the  land  and  its  wants,  while  the 
stumps,  roots,  and  other  8uperabun<lant  and 
fine  vegetable  matters,  are  gradually  rotting 
away,  and  the  soil  consolidating  and  becoming 
lower  and  closer.  Passing  over  the  less  regu- 
lar operations  of  earlier  years,  let  us  suppose 
the  latter  condition  reached  ;  and  the  jiroper 
and  usual  course  of  culture,  suitable  to  this 
permanent  condition,  will  be  now  stated. 

"  We  suppose  the  field  to  have  been  in  rice 
the  preceding  year,  and  it  is  never  othervv'ise 
on  new  and  good  land,  and  very  rarely  on  any 
— if  the  land  be  still  new,  or  the  soil  loose 
enough,  and  sometimes  also  on  old  land,  many 
persons,  just  before  planting  time,  open  new 
trenches  for  planting  between  the  rows  of  the 
last  year,  the  stubble  having  been  burned  off 
previously.  But  usually,  and  especially  on  old 
land,  the  whole  surface  is  broken  up  flush, either 
by  the  hoe  or  the  plough.  The  plough  is  far 
from  being  in  general  use ;  nor  indeed  is  it  ad- 
missible except  on  well  drained  land,  and  also 
firm  land,  such  as  the  Peedee  swamps.  Even 
in  these  cases,  some  object  to  its  being  used 
every  spring,  but  prefer  it  in  every  other 
spring,  alternating  with  breaking  by  hoeing. 
This  is  because  fearing  to  make  the  sub-soU 
too  close  by  pressure.  The  breaking,  whether 
by  hoe  or  plough,  rarely  exceeds  3  inches 
deep;  the  deepest  hoeing,  done  by  sinking  in 
the  ordinary  hoes  '  up  to  the  eye,'  cannot  be 
more  than  -i  inches,  owing  to  the  oblique  di- 
rection of  the  cut.  It  is  aimed  to  subvert  the 
earth  by  the  hoe ;  but  this  is  always  but  im- 
perfectly done,  as  is  shown  in  the  first  flow  by 
the  quantity  of  floating  stubble  and  roots, 
which  had  been  left  on  the  surface.  I  should 
have  stated  that  the  stubble  of  the  preceding 
crop  is  most  generally  burnt  off  before  the 
breaking  up  of  the  ground,  or  otherwise  is 
turned  in  by  the  plough  or  hoe.  If  the  birds 
had  not  been  early  enough  in  coming,  and 
numerous  enough  to  eat  up  all  the  shattered 
grains  of  the  last  year's  crop  of  rice,  the  turn- 
ing the  stubble  in,  by  planting  all  remaining 
grains,  tends  to  increase  the  growth  of  volun- 
teer rice — which  evil,  iu  such  case,  the  other 
plan  of  burning  to  stubble  would  lessen. 

"  After  the  land  is  dug  up,  the  next  process 
is  to  '  slush'  or  clean  out  all  the  drains.  When 
planting  time  draws  near,  part  of  the  land, 
say  about  one  third,  is  'mashed,'  that  is,  the 
clods  chopped  and  the  surface  levelled  by 
hoes.  This  is  sometimes  expedited  by  jirevi- 
0U3  harrowing,  but  it  is  not  a  general  ])ractice. 
The  balance  of  the  land  is  mashed  as  wanted 
for  planting,  and  just  before  the  planting. 


420 


RICE CULTURE    OF,   ETC. 


"  Tlio  time  to  begin  planting  13  from  March 
2OU1  to  April  1st,  For  tins',  the  land  having 
been  propan^l  and  made  fine  enough  by  the 
'mashing'  process,  just  before,  the  rows  are 
marked  off,  13  inclies  apart,  as  follows:  Hav- 
ing determined  on  tlie  direction  of  the  rows, 
which  is  sometimes  with  the  drains,  but  by 
most  good  planters  is  preferred  across  the  di- 
rection of  the  drains,  a  numberof  rows,  say  30 
or  more,  are  laid  off  4  feet  4  inches  apart,  by 
S  stakes  stuck  up  in  each  row,  the  end  stakes 
or  'trenching  stakes'  not  reaching  near  to  the 
extremity  of  the  field  designed  to  be  planted 
at  one  time.  Guided  by  these  stakes,  expert 
hands  '  trench'  rows  with  trenching  lioes,  about 

2  inches  deep.     These  hoes  are  narrowed  to 

3  or  4  inches  at  tlie  edge,  and  of  course  open 
trenches  of  that  widtli.  Next,  anotlier  hand 
follows,  and  by  similar  trenches  splits  the  in- 
tervals, antl  then  splits  the  halves,  thus  com- 
pleting the  rows  at  13  inches.  Tlie  expertness 
of  the  hands,  and  the  accuracy  of  their  work 
in  these  operations,  are  admirable.  The  seed 
is  tlien  strewed  along  the  trenches,  and  scat- 
tered as  wide  as  their  width,  by  women.  Two 
and  a  quarter  bushels  if  good  rice  (rough,  or 
in  its  close  envelope  of  chaff)  are  by  many 
deemed  *-nough  for  an  acre.  The  seeds  are 
covered  immediately,  either  by  rakes,  lioes,  or 
covermg  boards,  which  are  fixed  witli  handles 
like  rakes,  iind  struck  on  the  edge  of  tlie  row, 
so  as  to  throw  a  little  earth  upon  the  seeds. 

"'Tlie  sprout  flow.'' — The  planting  of  each 
field  should  be  completed  the  day  it  is  begun, 
and  on  the  next  ri-e  of  tide,  the  trunk's  outer 
door  is  lifted,  and  the  water  admitted  to  over- 
flow the  field.  It  should  cover  every  part ; 
and  the  depth  is  not  deemed  very  material, 
though  the  shallo'A'est  complete  covering  by 
water  is  enough,  and  perhaps  the  best  for  the 
seed.  ^.  deep  flow  may  injure  the  banks  by 
washing  them  when  the  wind  blows.  Or  it 
may  even  break  an  interior  bank,  if  weak,  by 
inward  pressure.  If  the  land  be  very  lightantl 
loose  vegetable  soil,  the  water  should  be  ad- 
milted  slowly,  for  fear  of  washing,  or  even  of 
floating  some  f)f  the  soil.  As  soon  as  a  field 
is  completely  flowed,  and  the  remains  of  stub- 
bin  and  other  floated  trash  is  wafted  by  the 
wind  against  a  bank,  it  is  drawn  out  by  long- 
handled  rakes,  and  burnt  as  soon  as  it  becomes 
dry.  The  inner  valve  is  closed,  when  there 
is  enough  water  on.  This  first  watering  is 
called  the  '  sprout  flow,'  and  is  continued  until 
the  seeds  '  pip,'  or  the  sprouts  burst  the  enve- 
lope of  chaff,  when  the  water  is  drawn  off. 
The  time  of  this  flow  depends  on  the  warmth 
of  tlio  weather.  Sometimes  only  4  or  5  days. 
In  this  most  remarkably  cold  and  backward 
Season,  (1S43,)  some  ])laniings  have  been 
under  the  sprout  flow  for  14  days,  and  the 
seeds  have  not  yet  (on  April  7th)  sprouted. 

"■Tlif  pnini.Jiow.' — After  the  water  has  been 
dr;iwn  off,  it  is  necessary  to  guard  the  fields 
from  birds.    The  land  remains  uncovered  and 


drained  until  the  plants  have  risen  above 
ground  enough  for  their  fine  spires  to  show 
like  small  needles,  when  viewed  before  sun- 
rise, while  tipped  with  dew,  and  when  the 
rows  can  thus  be  seen  for  about  50  yards  in 
length  from  the  banks.  Then  the  water  ia 
admitted  again  to  cover  the  field.  This  is 
called  the  'point  flow.'  It  serves  to  protect 
the  seeds  from  birds,  to  soften  the  hard  lumps 
of  earth,  and  to  kill  the  gra^s,  while  it  does  not 
injure  the  rice  plants.  This  flow  continues 
from  3  to  7  days,  and  until  the  plants  are  3  or 
4  inches  high.  If  tiie  water  be  continued 
longer,  the  plants  grow  too  slender  and  long, 
and  will  fall  on  the  ground,  when  the  support 
of  the  water  is  taken  away — though  they  will 
rise  again ;  and  even  were  they  to  rot  off,  iu 
that  case  new  leaves  will  spring  out.  It  is 
preferable  to  see  the  plants  thus  fall,  rather 
than  expose  the  rice  too  soon  to  the  depreda- 
tions of  birds. 

"As  the  different  fields,  or  separately  em- 
banked portions,  are  successively  planted, 
(and  the  planting  is  usually  continued  from 
4  to  5  weeks,)  of  course  the  flowing  should 
follow  in  like  order.  Thus,  while  w-ater  is 
going  upon  one  piece,  it  may  be  passing  oS 
from  another;  and  the  separate  but  adjacent 
fields  present  all  the  various  states  of  flooding 
and  drying. 

'^Planting  in  '  open  trench^ — The  foregoiDg 
description  applies  only  when  the  plan  of 
covering  the  seeds  by  earth  is  adopted.  There 
is  also  in  general  use,  and  latterly  a  more 
extensively  pursued  plan,  of  not  covering  the 
seeds,  and  which  will  be  now  described.*  For 
this  mode,  before  planting,  the  seeds  are 
'  clayed.'  This  consists  in  pouring  water  in 
which  clay  has  been  mixed  and  is  suspended 
over  a  pile  of  seed  rice,  which  is  kept  stirred 
and  worked  up  until  every  grain  is  wetted. 
If  this  claying  were  not  done,  the  small  and 
short  fibres  on  the  grain  would  prevent  the 
immediate  access  of  thf  flow  water,  and  the 
grains  would  float,  which  they  cannot  do 
with  this  treatment.  After  being  '  clayed,' 
(the  eftect  of  which  is  so  slight  as  scarcely  to 
alter  the  appearance  of  the  grains,)  the  rice  is 
dried  enough  to  be  distributed  easily,  and 
strewed  in  the  trenches  as  before  described. 
But  no  covering  of  earth  is  given  ;  and  as  fast 
as  each  separate  piece  of  land  is  thus  planted, 
(or  even  before  the  last  of  it  is  finished,)  tlie 
outer  trunk  door  is  lifted,  and  the  tide  admit- 
ted, slowly  and  gradually  at  first,  to  flow  the 
land.  The  land  remains  undisturbed  under 
this  flow  until  the  sprouts,  which  are  at  first 
white,  become  green,  or  the  plants  rise  high 
enough  to  '  fork,'  or  foi;  the  first  two  leaves  to 

*  I'Vom  a  commuuication  to  the  State  .Agricultural 
Society  by  the  IJoii.  K  P.  W.  All.stou,  whicli  has  been 
publishej  since  tliis  ruport  was  written,  I  li^arncdlliat 
tlio  honor  of  havin-^'  llrst  used  anU  introduced  this 
iinportuni  iniprovemeut  iurice  culture  is  due  to  John 
11.  AUiitou,  Ebq. 


niCE CULTURE    OF,    ETC. 


421 


separate,  Tvliich  -^ill  ha  when  the  plants  are  [  waf^hing  the  sides  of  the  banks,  -which  last  is 
one  and  a  half  or  two  inches  high,  and  at  from  '  the  pjreatest  defect  in  the  plan. 
10  to  30  days,  accordingto  the  weather.  After  I  "The  balancing  of  tlie  advantages  and  dis- 
this,  the  water  is  passed  off,  and  the  land  advantages  of  the  '  Op<'n  Trench'  plan  pre- 
dried.  Floating  trash  should  previously  be  vents  either  that  or  the  other  mode  being 
removed,  as  before  stated.  If  the  surface  [  generally  adopted  exclusively.  It  is  deemed 
should  afterwards  become  too  dr}',  the  water }  best  to  choose  between  them  according  to  cir- 
is  admitted  to  flow  in  for  a  single  flood  tide,  I  cumstances  ;  and  usually  to  plant  and  coyer 
to  barely  wet  the  soil,  be  kept  shut  in  during  [  in  part  of  the  fields,  say  for  about  one  third 
the  next  ebb,  and  passed  out  and  again  tx-  ]  of  the  crop,  and  to  leave  the  balance  in  open 


eluded  with  the  first  lowering  of  tide  there- 
after. 

"  By  this  method  (of  '  planting  in  open 
trench')  the  longer  duration  of  the  first  flowing 
unites  and  brings  into  one  the  '  sprout'  and  the 
'  point  flow'  of  the  covered  planting.  At  the 
stages  now  reached  by  both,  it  may  be  con- 
sidered that  the  plantings  on  the  two  methods 
cease  to  differ,  and  thereafter  the  crops  on 
both  are  treated  alike,  and  will  be  described 


trench." 

First  and  Secoxd  Hoeings,  A?«n  tfie  "  Loxg 
Flow."-"  The  rice,  (on  both  the  foregoing  plans 
of  planting,)  from  the  removal  of  the  water,  as 
already  stated,  remains  dry  until  the  plants 
have  acquired  enough  size  and  strength  to  re- 
sist the  pressure  of  the  light  earth  a*:  falling 
from  the  hoes.  Then  the  intervals  between 
the  'rows  are  hoed,  by  chopping  short  and 
shallow,  suited  to  the  then  low  state  of  the 
plants,  and  care  should  be  taken  not  to  cover 


"The  advantages  of  the  '  Open  Trench' plan  ,  the  plants  by  clods;  and  all  clods  left  previ- 
are  the  following :  '  ously  on  the  plants  should  be  cleared  off  at 

"  First :    The  whole   labor  of  covering   is  !  this  hoeins 


saved,  which  requires  twice  as  much  labor  as 
the  strewing  the  seeds. 

"  Second :    The  depredations  of  birds  and 
other  vermin  are  prevented 


"  The  rice  land  is  left  dry  from  the  first  hoe- 
ing until  after  the  second,  which  is  to  be  givea 
from  14  to  18  days  thereafter.  The  second 
hoeing  is  given  a  little  deeper  than  the  first ; 


Third:  Most  of  the  seeds  of  '  volunteer  '  and  any  large  weeds  or  grass  then  distinguish- 
rice,'  and  other  weeds  and  grass  seeds,  may  be  '  able  in  the  rows  are  pulled  up.  The  rice  then 
presumed  to  have  been  drawn  outside  of  the  j  has  3  leaves,  and  is  6  or  8  inches  high.  If 
trenches  in  opening  them ;  and  instead  of '  in  dry  weather,  the  land  is  left  dry  a  day  or 
being  again  drawn  back  into  the  drills  of  rice  '  two  after  this  second  hoeing,  for  the  uprooted 
in  the  earth,  as  must  be  done  when  the  rice  is  |  weeds  to  die,  before  the  next  water  is  turned 
covered,  these  seeds  remain  and  grow  outside  on ;  but  if  wet  weather,  the  land  is  flowed 
of  the  drills,  and  may  afterwards  be  more  immediately.  This  is  the  •  long  flow.'  The 
easily  destroyed  by  hoeing  or  pulling  out.  water  is  raised  at  first  above  tlie  tops  of  the 
"  Fourth :  If  a  freshet  of  the  river  compels  '  plants,  so  as  to  float  off  trash,  bugs,  <fcc.,  which 
the  water  of  the  '  sprout  flow'  to  be  kept  up  \  floating  stuff  will  be  driven  by  the  wind  into 
much  longer  than  tiie  prescribed  termination, :  corners  of  the  fields,  and  should  be  gathered 
the  covered  rice  is  apt  to  rot;  of  which  there  '  up  and  removed.     Then  the  water  is  lowered, 


is  no  danger  on  the  '  Open  Trench' plan.  The 
cause  of  this  important  difference  is  not  under- 
stood— though  it  is  supposed  to  be  the  bene- 
ficial influence  of  light  in  the  one  case,  and  its 
exclusion  in  the  other. 

"  There  are  also  countervailing  objections  to 
the  'Op"n  Trench'  plan,  which  will  be  named  : 

"  First :  The  long  continuation  of  the  water 
(which  sometimes,  in  easily  plantings  or  back- 
ward season*,  may  extend  to  25  or  30  days) 
promotes  the  growthof  water  grasses. 


o  that  if  the  surface  of  the  field  be  as  level  as 
usual,  (and  as  it  ought  to  be,)  the  tips  of  the 
plants  are  then  seen  above  on  the  highest 
parts  of  the  field.  Then  the  water  is 
lowered  very  gradually,  and  during  several 
days,  until  the  tips  of  about  two  thirds  of  the 
plants  of  the  entire  field,  or  division  of  land, 
are  above  the  surQ\ce  of  the  water.  The  flow 
is  then  kept  stationary  at  this  precise  height 
(which  is  fixed  by  making  and  observing 
marks  on  the  trunk  posts)  for  a   duration   of 


"  Second  :  In  light  soil,  the  loose  mould  may  '  from  10  days  on  the  lightest  land  to  20  on  the 
be  so  moved  by  the  agitation  of  the  water  by  '  stiffest,  when  the  water  is  again  entirely 
high  winds,  as  to  cover  much  of  the  seed  un-  j  drawn  oft',  which  closes  the  '  long  flow.'  This 
equally  and  too  deep.*  j  is  the  most  important  flow,  and  its  execution 

"Tliird:  The  same  operation  is  injurious  to  requires  judgment  and  careful  attention.  At 
ditches  and  drains,  by  carrying  soft  earth  into  I  this   critical   period,  a  field  of  rice  may  be 

much  injured  either  by  too  deep  flowing,  or  by 
suddenly  lowering  and  taking  off  the  water. 
If  the  flow  be  continued  too  long,  or  the  water 
This  obj"ction  maybe  eai?ily  obviated  by  letting    be  drawn  off  when  the  roots  of  the  rice  are  in 
the  loose  puivcrizeil  mould  setilo  before  sowinK  the  t  ^u  exhausted  condition,  the  plants  will  '  fox,' 
seed.     A  rain  will  v^a  this  purpose;  aiid  without  j        ^^^^^  ^  reddish-brown  tint. 
,  It  may  be-'  clone  by  turn.us  m  water  for  a  siugle         ..  „Untnr«  rbnnc.^  tl 


them. 


"  And  fourth  :  By  the  dashing  of  the  waves 


tide,  aud  drying  just  before  sowiug  the  rice. 


Some  planters  change  the  water  during 


422 


RICE — CULTURE    OF,    ETC. 


this  flo'tt',  preserving  the  same  level,  but  others 
object  to  it.  If  the  same  water  is  continued, 
it  ferments,  and  a  frothy  scum  rises,  which, 
being  collected  by  the  wind  in  particular  spots, 
will  adhere  to  and  kill  the  plaiits.  To  prevent 
til  is,  in  sucli  places  the  water  is  beaten  or 
agitated,  wliich  causes  the  scum  to  break  and 
sink  to  the  bottom." 

TlIIUD  AND  FOUUTH  HoEINGS,  AND  THE  "  LaY- 

Ev  Fj-ow." — "  When  the  earth  has  become  dry, 
the  third  hoeing  is  given,  still  deeper  than  tiie 
preceding,  and  afterwards  each  hand  passes 
over  his  task,  and  pulls  tlie  grass  out  of  the 
rows.  The  field  then  remains  untouched  and 
kept  well  drained  until  the  plants  are  about 
to  joint,  when  the  fourth  hoeing  is  given,  light, 
and  pulverizmg  all  large  masses  left  by  the 
preceding  deeper  digging.  The  water  is  then 
again  put  on,  and  kept  at  about  the  same 
height  as  during  the  preceding  '  long  flow ;' 
and  this  is  maintained  until  the  rice  is  fully 
headed,  and  the  blossoms  dropped.  The  water 
is  then  raised  as  high  as  may  be  done  without 
danger  to  the  banks.  It  serves  to  support  the 
plants,  and  prevent  their  being  laid  or  tangled 
by  high  winds.  This  entire  flowing  is  termed 
the  '  lay-by  water,'  it  being  the  last.  It  should 
have  been  mentioned  that  during  the  early  and 
low  stage  of  it,  there  is  a  distinct  operation  of 
the  hands  passing  over  the  ground  with  bas- 
tets,  and  pulling  out  as  mucli  as  possible  of 
the  volunteer  rice,  tick-grass,  and  otlier  weeds, 
which  would,  if  left,  by  admixture,  injure  tiie 
quahty  of  the  grain.  The  volunteer  rice  is 
carried  off;  and  all  other  weeds  are  knotted 
together  in  handfuls  and  trodden  in  the  wet 
earth  under  water,  so  as  to  be  certainly  killed. 
These  two  operations  are  performed  at  dif- 
ferent and  the  most  convenient  times  during 
the  flow." 

Harvesting. — "The  rice  ripens  usually 
rom  the  1st  to  the  10th  of  September. 
When  all  the  grains  are  hard,  excejjt  the 
lower  two  or  three  at  the  bottom  of  each 
head,  (though  the  stem  and  leaves  are  quite 
green,)  the  ci'op  is  ready  for  reaping.  And 
when  the  time  for  the  commencement  of  reap- 
ing is  determined  upon,  the  water  is  drawn 
off  of  the  field  just  tlie  day  before,  or  it  may  be 
best  the  preceding  ebb  tide  ;  and  the  reaping 
may  be  begun  when  the  flow  has  not  yet  en- 
tirely passed  off.  The  reaping  is  performed 
by  the  sickle.  Each  hand  usually  carries  a 
breadth  of  three  rice  rows.  Some  planters 
bave  four  rows  carried.  The  stubble  is  left 
about  twelve  inches  high — or  higher  if  of 
rank  growth.  The  reaped  rice  is  laid  in  hand- 
fuls as  cut,  in  rows,  on  the  stubble,  to  cure. 
The  stubble  is  abundantly  thick  to  thus  sup- 
port the  rice,  unless  the  growth  is  very  thin, 
or  has  partially  failed. 

"  All  the  rice  reaped  from  morning  until 
noon  of  one  day,  is  usually  enough  cured  to 
be  sheaved  by  noon  xthe  next  day,  and  re- 
moved to  the  barn-yard  before  night.     The 


test  of  its  being  dry  enough,  is  when  no  juice 
can  be  made  to  exude  from  the  joints,  when 
twisted  together  by  strong  pressure.  The 
rice  is  then  bound  or  tied  up  in  sheaves,  as 
large  as  single  lengths  of  the  reaped  rice  will 
serve  to  tie  around.  The  sheaves  are  gener- 
ally made  smaller  than  this.  The  sheaved 
rice  is  immediately  carried  to  the  barn-yard 
on  the  heads  of  the  laborers,  if  near  enough, 
or  by  water  in  large  Jiats,  if  far  from  the 
barn.  It  is  there  put  up  in  small  cocks  or 
ricks,  to  remain  until  dry  enough  to  be  put  into 
larger  long  ricks  or  larger  round  stacks,  to 
remain  until  taken  down  for  thrashing.  The 
mode  of  putting  up  the  rice  in  the  ricks  or 
stacks  cannot  be  well  made  clear  by  mere 
description.  The  execution,  however,  is  ex- 
cellent, and  of  the  round  stacks  is  admirable. 
The  latter  is  the  best  mode,  when  well  per- 
formed. The  loss  or  injury  of  the  grain  by 
the  exposure  before  thrashing,  is  not  usually 
considerable,  when  the  ricking  or  stacking  has 
been  well  executed." 

VoLUNTEEK  RicE. — "  What  is  called  '  Yol 
unteer  Rice'  is  the  product  of  grains  scattered 
at  the  previous  harvest,  and  which  remain  on 
or  under  the  surface  of  the  ground  through 
winter,  and  come  up  with  the  next  planted 
crop.  By  this  long  exposure  to  cold,  wet 
and  overflow,  as  would  occur  in  a  state  of 
nature,  it  seems  that  the  plant  is  disposed  to 
revert  from  its  artificial  character  and  quali- 
ties, as  before  improved  by  culture,  to  its  pre- 
vious natural  character  and  habits.  At  least 
this  is  tlie  only  reason  that  I  can  conceive  for 
the  singular  production  and  qualities  of  vol- 
unteer rice.  The  ])lauts  thus  produced,  and 
also  the  product  of  their  seeds,  as  generally 
believed,  if  saved  with  the  cro])  and  planted, 
become  intermixed  with  the  good  seed,  have 
grains  with  a  red  anterior  skin  or  pellicle,  in- 
stead of  white,  as  of  ordinary  and  good  rice. 
There  are  four  different  and  common  kinds  of 
volunteer  rice,  and  even  different  varieties 
among  each  of  these,  in  the  lighter  or  deeper 
tint  of  redness,  or  less  or  greater  thickness  of 
the  red  pellicle.  These  four  kinds  of  red  or 
volunteer  rice,  all  agreeing  in  having  a  red 
pellicle,  are  distinguished  as  follows: 

First.  White  charted  samples. 

Second.  With  white  chatf,  having  a  black 
point,  and  spike  to  one  end  of  the  chaff.  This 
is  the  ordinary  and  general  kind. 

Third.  With  yellow  chafl',  aud  having  a 
long  point. 

The  seeds  of  all  these  three  fall  off  so 
easily,  as  rarely  to  be  harvested  and  brought 
to  the  barn-yard ;  and  o.-pecially  the  last, 
which  drops  its  seed  before  they  seem  ripe. 

Fourth.  With  yellow^  chaff,  aud  like  the 
last,  except  that  the  seeds  do  not  fall  off  iu 
the  field,  and  the  grains  cannt)t  readily  be  dis- 
tinguished from  good  rice,  while  the  chaff  re- 
mains unbroken. 

"  All  these,  except  the  last  kind,  may  be 


RICE    IN   SOUTHERN'    STATES,    ETC. 


423 


distinguished  in  the  field  before  maturing 
the  Seeds,  and  by  using  care  and  lahor 
enough,  the  plants  pulled  out  and  destroyed. 
But  the  la'^t  kind  cannot  be  known  either 
ou  tlie  stalk  or  in  tlie  chaff.  But  with 
all  the  care  used  to  keep  laud  clear  of  red 
rice,  it  continues  more  or  less  infested  with 
all  tlie  kinds.  And  though  the  grain  is  not 
the  worse  in  any  thing  but  some  slight  re- 
mains of  red  tint,  so  despotic  is  Fashion  in 
the  market,  that  a  crop  of  rice  loses  greatly 
in  a^ijjreciatiou  if  thus  showiug  many  grains 
of  Volunteer  rice.  I  have  been  informed  that 
in  Italy  the  admixture  is  not  regarded  by  the 
buyers  for  home  consumption.  The  plants 
of  volunteer  rice  are  usually  the  most  hardy, 
thrifty  and  luxuriant  of  the  crop — which 
helps  to  confirm  the  opinion  that  it  is  rice  ap- 
proaching more  nearly  to  its  natural  and 
hardy  character. 

"  As  there  are  different  varieties  of  cultiva- 
ted rice,  it  is  probable  that  to  this  difference 
of  origin  may  be  owing  the  different  kinds  of 
volunteer  rice.  A  white  chaffed  rice  was  for- 
merly generally  cultivated,  which  has  been 
universally  substituted  by  the  'gold  seed'  or 
yellow  chaffed  rice. 

"  The  circumstances  stated  require  great 
care  to  prevent  as  much  as  possible  the 
growth,  and  still  more  the  increase  of  volun- 
teer rice,  which  is  indeed  a  very  injurious 
■weed  to  the  crop  ;  both  because  its  own  pro- 
duct (if  it  were  worth  any  thing)  is  mostly 
lost  to  the  crop,  and  moreover  that  what  of  it 
is  saved  serves  to  contaminate  the  seed,  and 
lower  the  quality  and  market  price  of  the 
crop  for  sale." 

Resting  and  Maxueixg  Rice  Laxd. — "The 
cultivation  of  rice  on  embanked  marsh  lands 
is  generally  continued  year  after  year,  for  a 
long  time,  without  cessation  or  rest  to  the 
land.  But  rich  and  deep  as  is  the  alluvial 
soil,  it  becomes  tired  and  gradually  less  pro- 
ductive under  this  unceasing  and  unchanged 
production  of  rice,  and  it  is  found  profitable 
to  give  rest,  and  also  manure,  to  the  land 
when  long  cultivated.  Most  planters,  who 
have  land  enough,  give  a  year's  rest  at  dis- 
tant intervals,  and  always  find  a  profit  from 
it,  in  the  increase  of  the  next  year's  cultiva- 
tion. It  may  be  doubted  whether  this  in- 
crease may  not  be  truly  ascribed  in  part  to 
the  alternation  or  change  of  growth,  as  well 
as  to  the  improvement  of  fertility.  Mr.  John 
H.  AUston  rests  his  land  (which  is  clay  soil 
on  the  Pee  Dee)  for  two  years  togethtn-,  keep- 
ing it  dry  during  the  time,  and  he  timls  that 
this,  if  done  once  in  10  or  12  years,  will  add 
50  per  cent,  to  the  next  crop,  or  raise  it  from 
a  previous  product  of  40  bushels  to  00  per 
acre.  Manuring  witli  the  rice  straw  is  also 
practised  with  advantage  by  those  planters 
who  have  no  high  land  or  other  culture,  or 
not  enou:;h  to  require  the  straw  as  manure. 
Dr.  Heriot  is  one  of  these,  and  has  lately 


applied  his  rice-straw  to  fields  thrown  out  of 
rice  culture  for  that  year,  and  cultivated 
(dry,  of  course)  in  cow-peas.  This  change 
and  manuring  he  has  found  to  double  the 
next  crop  of  rice.  Colonel  Belie  has,  by 
manuring  and  rest,  made  upwards  of  90 
bushels  of  (rough)  rice  to  the  acre.  Both  he 
and  Dr.  Heriot  own  and  raise  ou  Sandy  Is- 
land, of  which  barren  sandy  soil  is  their  only 
highland,  and  on  which  their  manure  was  be_ 
fore  entirely  thrown  away,  or  left  to  rot  i 
waste,  without  producing  the  most  transicu" 
productive  power." — Ed.  Ruffin. 

RICE  IX  SOUTHERN  STATES,  Etc.— 
Col.  Ward,  of  South  Carolina,  says  that,  in  1845, 
he  planted  a  field  of  16  acres  in  rice  of  two 
(Hfferent  kinds,  known  as  long  and  small  grain. 
The  long  grain  produced  rough  rice  376 
bushels,  making  clean  rice  10,'754  lbs.,  worth 
8404  67,  and  a  residuum  of  5K)  32,  or  16 
bushels  and  7  quarts  of  small  or  broken  rice, 
and  31  busliels  of  flour.  There  was  then,  per 
acre  of  merchantable  rice,  1,344 J  lbs.,  worth 
850  58  per  acre.  The  small  grain  produced 
343  busliels  rough  rice,  making  12,767  lbs., 
worth  §404  56.  There  was,  then,  per  acre, 
1,345^  lbs.  of  merchantable  rice,  worth 
?50  87,  and  a  residuum  of  16  bushels  and 
23  quarts  of  broken  rice  and  33  bushels  of 
flour. 

In  1846,  Dr.  E.  T.  Hewitt  planted  a  field 
of  25  acres  in  alternate  beds,  as  in  the  fore- 
going case.  His  results  were,  long  grain, 
302  bushels  rough  rice,  making  12,099  lbs. 
clean  rice,  or  968  lbs.  nearly,  per  acre,  worth 
§43  81  to  the  acre,  and  a  residuum  of  4| 
bushels  of  small  rice  and  AO^  bushels  of  flour. 
The  small  grain  produced  381  bushels,  making 
11,065  lbs.  clean  rice,  being  8S5.2  lbs.  to  the 
acre,  and  worth  839  51|  to  the  acre,  with  a 
residuum  of  5^  bushels  of  small  rice  and  37 
bushels  of  flour.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to 
remark,  that  these  small  residuary  portions 
of  the  unmerchantaWe  product  are  used  on 
the  plantations,  either  as  food  lor  the  hands 
or  the  stock  upon  it. 

It  is  also  of  value  to  note  the  rate,  per 
pound,  at  which  the  rice  appears  to  have  been 
sold  : 

Pounds.      Value      Uatc  per  pound. 

First   parcel,   long 

grain, 10,7.i4  S404  G7  3Ji  cts. nearly.  / 

Do.     do.    small,  10,767     404  SO  ZX         "  ' 

Second  parcel,  long 

grain, 12,099     547  62  4.44  cts. 

Do.     do.    small,  11,065    493  96  4.4G    " 

This  will  give  an  average  price  of  4.09 
cents,  nearly,  for  the  varieties,  as  stated,  per  . 
pound,  in  the  two  years  1845  and  1846,  aud 
an  average  money  product  to  the  acre  of 
845  14  nearly,  an  average  product  in  bushels 
of  rough  rice  of  36  J  nearh',  and  an  average 
product  of  merchantable  rice  of  1,090  lbs. 

The  highest  price  per  pound  is  4.46  cents,  / 

the  lowest  3f  cents ;  the  largest  product  per         ' 


424 


RICE    ESTATE    OF    GOV.    AIKEX,    OF    S.    C. 


acre  of  clean  rice  is  1,342J  lbs.,  the  small- 
est is  885.2  lbs. — making  tlie  proiluct  of  the 
first  50  i)cr  cent,  larger  than  that  of  the 
second,  per  acre  of  clean  rice;  and,  tliere- 
fore,  it  is  reasonable  to  sup]K>se  tiiat  the 
latter  was  ni  more  than  a  common  crop,  even 
if  the  former  were  an  extraordinary  one,  and 
hence  making  it  a  safe  basis  to  make  calcu- 
latinns  upon. 

Are  thi're  not,  among  your  readers,  some 
Carolinians  and  Georgians,  who  would  be  able 
to  enlighten  the  public  on  the  mode  of  cul- 
ture, cost  of  it,  and  the  probable  results  'i  I 
am  persuailed  that  the  suuthfrn  part  of  the 
United  States,  by  a  proper  direction  of  labor 
and  ca[)ital,  could  monopolize  the  supply  of 
rice  as  it  now  does  of  cotton,  and  thus  add 
another  strong  item  to  the  strong  influences 
she  now  possesses  on  the  con:merce  and 
destiny  of  the  world,  and  render  her  institu- 
tions more  safe  and  her  property  more  pro- 
fitable. Could  the  vast  quantities  of  rich 
marsh  lands  that  exist  on  our  Atlantic  and 
Gulf  coasts  be  converted  into  rice  fields,  a 
very  extensive  opening  would  be  made  for  an 
additional  application  of  slave  labor,  and  con- 
sequent security  and  advantage  to  our  section 
of  the  country.  Buc  the  cultivation  of  the 
low-land  rice  need  not  be  confined  to  the 
coasts  and  marshes  of  the  Atlantic,  the  Gulf 
and  the  Mississippi.  Throughout  the  south 
there  are  tens  of  thousands  of  acres  susceptible 
of  bfing  flooded  by  springs  and  perennial 
streams,  far  in  the  interior,  and  capable  of 
producing  the  most  heavy  crops  of  rice  at  the 
smallest  cost,  either  for  land  preparation  or 
culture,  and  in  portions  of  the  country  the 
most  healthful  and  inviting. 

The  mode  of  cultivating  rice  in  China, 
noticed  in  the  Patent  Office  Report  for  1847, 
page  173,  is  peculiarly  applicable  to  the  in- 
terior of  a  great  part  of  the  southern  country. 
The  large  fiats  along  small  streams,  capable 
of  being  dammetl  and  thrown  over  large 
tracts  of  lands,  and  the  springs  that  so  gener- 
ally issue  from  the  hills  that  border  these 
flats  that  may  so  easily  be  turned  upon  them, 
reud'tr  flooding,  in  many  places,  a  work  of  the 
smallest  possible  cost,  and  of  the  utmost 
safety  and  security. 

RICE  ESTATE  OF  GOV.  ATKEN,  OF 
S.  C. — While  upon  the  subject  of  rice,  we 
cannot  refrain  from  introducing,  from  the 
American  Agriculturist,  the  sketch  of  a  visit, 
by  Solon  Robinson,  E<q.,  to  Jehossee  Island, 
the  magnificent  rice  estate  of  Ex-Governor 
Aiken,  of  South  Carolina.  We  have  ourselves 
frequently  passed  this  plantation,  between 
Savannah  and  Charleston,  and  know  that  it  is 
one  of  the  mo.st  perfect  in  the  world  : 

This  i.sland  contains  about  3, SOU  acres,  no 
part  of  wiiich  is  over  ten  or  fifteen  feet  above 
tide,  and  not  more  than  200  to  300  acres 


but  what  was  subject  to  overflow,  until 
dyked  out  by  an  amount  of  labor  almost  in- 
conceivable to  be  performed  by  individual 
enterprise,  when  we  also  take  into  account 
the  many  mdes  of  navigable  canals  and 
smaller  ditches.  There  are  1,500  acres  of 
rice  land-^,  divided  into  convenient  compart- 
ments for  floodmg,  by  substantial  banks,  and 
all  laid  off  in  beds,  between  ditches  three  feet 
deep  and  only  thirty-five  feet  apart.  Part  of 
the  land  was  tide-water  marsh,  and  part  of 
it  timber  swamp.  Besides  this,  Gov.  Aiken 
cultivates  500  acres  in  corn,  oats,  and  potatoes ; 
the  balance  is  gardens,  yards,  lawns,  and  in 
woods,  pasture  and  unreclaimed  swamp. 
Wood  is  becoming  scarce  on  the  island — so 
much  so  that  he  drives  the  steam-engine,  to 
thrash  the  crop,  by  burning  straw,  which 
answers  a  good  purpose,  but  is  of  doubtful 
economy ;  though  he  intends  carefully  to  save 
and  apply  the  ashes,  which  are  very  abund- 
ant, and  note  the  difference,  in  value,  between 
that  application  and  the  manure  made  from 
the  decomposed  straw.  It  is  generally  cal- 
culated that  two  thirds  of  the  straw  Avill  be 
sufficient  fuel  to  thrash  the  crop,  but  Gov. 
Aiken  has  not  found  it  so.  He  says  there  is 
no  more  danger  of  fire  in  the  use  of  straw 
than  in  any  other  fuel.  The  flue  is  carried 
off  fifty  or  sixty  feet  along  the  ground,  and 
there  rises  in  a  tall  stack  that  never  emits  any 
sparks.  Sugar  planters,  and  all  farmers  who 
use  steam,  may  do  well  to  notice  this.  I 
recollect  Mr.  Burgwyn  carries  his  off  from  his 
barn  in  the  same  way,  with  the  same  effect. 

Governor  Aiken,  however,  has  one  improve- 
ment that  I  recollect  mentioning  to  Mr.  B.  he 
would  require ;  that  is,  a  "  man  hole"  into  this 
flue,  to  enable  him  to  clean  out  the  great  ac- 
cumulation of  cinders  at  the  bottom  of  the 
stack.  In  Gov.  Aiken's  there  are  two,  which 
are  closed  by  iron  covers. 

The  thrashing  apparatus  is  a  most  conve- 
nient one.  The  sheaves  are  brought  from  the 
stacks  in  the  great  smooth  yard  to  a  large 
shed  where  all  the  sheltered  grain  can  be 
saved,  and  are  there  opened  and  laid  on 
carriers,  similar  to  cane  carriers,  which  carry 
them  up  to  these  machines  in  the  second 
story,  where  the  grain  is  separatf^d  from  the 
straw,  and  falls  down  into  winnowing  ma- 
chines, from  whence  it  is  removed  by  hand  (it 
might  be  carried  by  machinery)  to  another 
part  of  the  building,  over  a  canal,  and  is  let 
down  into  boats  to  carry  it  about  half  a  mile 
to  the  hulling  •mill,  which  is  exactly  like  Col. 
Carson's,  and  driven  by  tide.  It  is  carried 
from  the  boats  to  the  mill  l>y  hand,  or  rather 
head,  where  a  little  head-work  of  another 
kind  would  take  it  up  out  of  the  boat  by 
elevators. 

The  straw  is  consumed  almost  as  fast  as 
thrashed.  And  here  the  saving  of  labor  in 
getting  wood,  as  well  as  the  savuig  of  labor 


RICE    ESTATE    OF    OOY.    ATKEN,    OF    S.    C. 


425 


in  stacking  the  straw  and  hauling  manure, 
must  be  taken  into  acrount,  as  an  ofYset  to 
tlie  loss  of  manure  in  burning  the  straw. 

The  rice,  for  seed,  is  alwaj's  thrashed  by 
hand,  as  experience  has  taught  that  the 
vitality  of  a  considerable  portion  is  injured  in 
the  thrashing-machines,  ll  /.v  jn'<t  so  wUh 
wheat.  [An  experienced  fanner  tliinks  about 
one  grain  iu  50U  is  injured  by  thrashing  with 
machines,  and,  as  about  six  per  cent,  by  the 
last  process,  there  is  still  a  great  pecuniary 
advatitage  in  favor  of  thrashing  with  a  ma- 
chine.— Eds.] 

The  quantity  of  seed  to  the  acre  is  two  to 
three  bushels,  planted  in  drills  fifteen  inches 
apart,  opened  by  trenching  ploughs  ;  and,  sin- 
gular as  it  may  sound  to  fome  other  rice 
f)!anters.  Governor  Aiken  ploughs  all  of  the 
and  that  will  bear  a  mule  or  horse,  of  which 
he  works  about  forty,  and  twenty  oxen. 

Corn  is  generally  planted  in  hills,  upon  the 
upland  part  of  the  island,  which  is  sandy,  four 
by  five  feet,  two  stalks  in  a  place,  and  yields 
an  average  of  fifteen  bushels  per  acre.  Corn, 
upon  the  low  or  rice  land,  does  not  yield  well, 
though  it  makes  very  large  stalks.  With 
sweet  potatoes,  on  the  contrary,  the  low  land 
produces  nearly  double,  and  of  better  quality, 
averaging  200  bushels  to  the  acre,  and  fre 
quently  400  bushels.  The  average  yield  of 
rice  is  4.5  bushels  to  the  acre,  and  upon  one 
«ighty-acre  lot  the  average  yield  is  64  bushels. 
The  crop  upon  that  lot,  last  year,  was  5,100 
bushels,  weighing  234,600  lbs.;  that  is,  46  lbs. 
to  the  bushel.  This  made  229  barrels  of 
whole  rice,  two  barrels  of  middling,  and  two 
and  a  half  barrels  of  small  rice,  which,  at 
6,00  lbs.  each,  (probably  about  20  lbs.  below 
the  average,)  would  make  140,100  lbs.  Thi.s, 
at  three  cents,  will  give  the  very  snug  sum  of 
14,203  for  the  crop  of  80  acres. 

The  average  annual  sales  of  the  place  do 
not  vary  materially  from  825,000,  and  the 
average  annual  expenses  not  far  from  $10,000, 
of  which  sum  $2,000  is  paid  t'e  overseer,  who 
is  the  only  white  man  upon  the  place,  besides 
the  owner,  who  is  always  absent  during  the 
sickly  months  of  summer.  All  the  engmeers, 
millers,  smiths,  carpenters  and  sailors,  are 
black.  A  vessel,  belonging  to  the  island,  goes 
twice  a  week  to  Charleston  and  carries  a 
cargo  of  one  hundred  casks.  The  last  crop 
■was  1,500  casks;  the  year  before,  1,800, 
and  all  provisions  and  grain  required  made 
upon  the  place.  Last  year,  there  was  not 
more  than  half  a  sujiply  of  jjrovisions. 

Like  nearly  all  the  lower-country  planta- 
tions, the  diet  of  the  people  is  principally 
vegetable.  Those  who  work  "  task  work '' 
receive,  as  rations,  half  a  bushel  of  sweet 
potatoes  a  week,  or  six  quarts  of  corn-meal  or 
rice,  with  beef  or  pork,  or  mutton  occasion- 
ally, say  two  or  three  meals  a  week.  As  all 
the  tasks  are  very  light,  affording  them  nearly 


one  fourth  of  the  time  to  raise  a  crop  for 
themselves,  they  always  have  an  abundance, 
and  sell  a  good  deal  for  cash.  They  also  raise 
pigs  and  poultry,  though  seldom  for  their  own 
eating.  Tiiey  catch  a  great  many  fisii,  oys- 
ters, crabs,  Ac. 

The  carpenters,  millers,  <L-c.,  who  do  not 
have  an  opportunity  of  raising  a  cmp  for 
themselves,  draw  large  rations,  I  think  a 
bushel  of  corn  a  week,  which  gives  them  a 
surplus  for  sale.  The  children  and  non- 
workers  are  fed  on  corn-bread,  hominy,  mo- 
lasses, rice,  potatoes,  soup,  <tc. 

The  numljer  of  negroes  upon  the  place  is 
just  about  700,  occupying  84  double  frame 
houses,  each  containing  two  tenements  of 
three  rooms  to  a  family,  besides  the  cockloft. 
Each  tenement  has  its  separate  door  and 
window,  and  a  good  brick  fireplace,  and 
nearly  all  have  a  garden  paled  in.  Tliere  are 
tw(j  common  hospitals  and  a  "  lying-in  hos- 
pital," and  a  very  neat,  commodious  church, 
which  is  well  filled,  every  Sabbath,  with  an 
orderly,  pious  congregation,  and  service  per- 
formed by  a  respectable  Methodist  clergyman, 
who  also  performs  the  baptismal,  communion, 
marriage  and  burial  rites. 

There  is  a  small  stock  of  cattle,  hogs  and 
sheep,  kept  upon  the  place  for  meat,  which 
are  only  allowed  to  come  upon  the  fields  in 
wiuter,  under  charge  of  keepers.  The  build- 
ings are  all  of  wood,  but  generally  plain,  sub- 
stantial and  good.  There  is  a  pretty  good 
supply  of  tools,  carts,  boats,  «fcc.,  and  the  land 
is  estimated  to  be  worth  $100  an  acre,  for  the 

rice  land,  which  would  be, $150,000 

The  500  acres  upland,  $25  per  acre,       12.500 

The  negroes,  at  $.300  each, 210,000 

Stock,  tools  and  other  property,  say,        7,500 

$380,000 
which  will  .show  rather  a  low  rate  of  interest, 
made  from  sales  of  ciops,  notwithstanding 
the  amount  of  sales  look  so  large. 

Now,  the  owner  of  all  this  property  lives 
in  a  very  humble  cottage,  embowered  in 
dense  shrubberv  and  making  no  show,  and  is, 
in  fact,  as  a  dwelling  for  a  gentleman  of 
wealth,  far  inferior,  in  point  of  elegance  and 
convenience,  to  any  negro  house  upon  the 
place,  for  the  use  and  comfort  of  that  class  of 
[)eople. 

lie  and  his  family  are  as  plain  and  unosten- 
tatious, in  their  manners,  as  the  house  they 
live  in;  but  they  possess,  in  a  most  eminent 
degree,  that  true  politeness  and  hospitality 
that  will  win  upon  your  heart  and  make 
you  feel  at  home  in  their  humble  cot,  in  such 
a  manner  that  you  will  enjoy  a  visit  there 
better  than  in  a  palace. 

Nearly  all  the  land  has  been  reclaimed,  and 
the  buildings,  except  the  house,  erected  new, 
within  the  twenty  years  that  Governor  Aiken 
has  owned  the  island.    I  fully  believe  that  he 


42G 


RICE    PRODUCT   IK    LOUISIANA. 


is  more  concerned  to  make  his  people  com- 
fortable and  happj',  than  he  is  to  make 
money.  * 

RICE  OF  THE  UPLAKDS.— A  corre- 
spondeut  of  the  Pendleton  (South  Carolina) 
Farmer  and  Planter  communicates  the  fol- 
lowincr  particulars  of  experiments  in  cultivat- 
ing Upland  Rice : 

Say  to  Broomsedge,  that  some  planters  in 
"Williamsburg  planted  their  cotton  lands  all 
in  rice  last  year,  and  tended  in  the  same  way 
as  they  would  cotton,  and  were  successful  in 
a  crop,  and  think  it  is  better  business  than 
five  or  six  cent  cotton.  I  would  say,  for  my 
own  part,  that  rice  is  very  easily  made.  Plant 
it  from  two  to  three  and  a  halt  feet  apart  in 
drills,  and  keep  the  grass  out  of  it.  If  seeded 
from  the  1.5th  of  March  to  the  15th  oi  April, 
there  will  be  a  good  crop  obtained,  if  the 
season  is  not  too  dry  in  August  and  Septem- 
ber. When  I  say  good  crop,  I  mean  from 
twenty -five  to  sixty  bushels  to  the  acre.  The 
tide  way  of  planting  is  quite  different,  be- 
cause the  lands  are  rich,  and  convenience  of 
water  makes  it  mature  better.  The  tide- 
M'ater  growers  plant  from  eight  to  fifteen 
inches  in  the  drill,  and  sow  at  least  two 
bushels  to  the  acre.  For  our  up  country, 
from  one  peck  to  one  half  bushel  is  quite 
enough.  I  made  this  year  from  two  acres 
about  seventy-five  bushels  of  fine  heavy  rice 
— seeded  and  tended  precisely  as  cotton. 

Another  writer  says:  Some  four  years  since, 
I  cleared  a  piece  of  land,  through  which  there 
ran  a  branch  in  m^'  skirts  of  laud  too  wet  for 
corn ;  on  these  necks  I  sowed  rice,  in  rows 
where  I  could  make  them,  and  where  too  wet 
to  make  rows,  I  sowed  broadcast,  none  of 
wliich  received  any  culture,  and  yielded  a 
barrel  of  clean  rice,  at  the  rice  mill  of  T.  Gas- 
saway,  some  six  miles  from  Pendleton.  My 
second  effort  was  with  the  upland  rice ;  I 
planted  between  the  drills  in  my  corn  (on 
land  known  here  as  second  bottom)  about 
three  half  pints  ;  this  was  worked  as  my  corn, 
the  product  one  and  a  half  bushels  from  the 
thrashing  machine.  My  third  effort  was  made 
this  summer,  both  on  lands  rather  wet  for 
corn,  and  on  that  of  the  most  elevated  lauds 
on  my  farm  ;  I  planted  the  wet  lands  in  drills, 
three  and  a  half  by  one  foot,  which  was 
worked  as  my  corn,  and  made  as  good  rice  as 
I  have  ever  seen  ;  that  on  the  highlands  was 
planted  between  the  drills  in  my  corn — it  was 
feeble  when  young,  aad  required  care  in  its 
culture,  yet  I  am  of  opinion  it  yielded  more 
food  for  my  family  than  the  corn  of  the  same 
field. 

The  grain  of  rice  is  not  all  that  is  useful ; 
the  straw  being  soft,  is  easily  cut  by  the 
knife,  and  masticated  by  the  horse  and  cow, 
of  which  they  are  extremely  fond.  My  mode 
of  freeing  the  rice  from  the  straw  is  the  same 
as  that  used  iu  thrashing  and  cleaning  wheat. 


RICE  PRODUCT  IN  LOUISIANA.— It 
was  with  much  pleasure  that  I  perused  an 
article  upon  the  subject  of  Rice  in  one  of  your 
numbers ;  a  product  that  has  latterly  been 
diminishing,  I  think,  in  this  state,  tl:e  lands 
being  bought  up  for  the  perhaps  more  lucra- 
tive crop  of  sugar.  Though  not  quite  so  heavy 
in  its  gross  amoiuit  as  our  two  great  staples, 
yet  not  an  inconsiderable  pf)rtion  of  our  large 
parish,  (Plaquemines,)  and  other  parts  of  the 
state,  are  devoted  to  its  production.  This 
crop  is  more  to  be  valued,  as  it  is  within  the 
reach  of  the  middling  and  poorer  classes,  giv- 
ing to  them  a  neat  and  comfortable  support, 
and  to  many  a  handsome  revenue.  But  little 
capital  is  required  in  its  cultivation,  and  it 
constitutes  a  jiarticularly  healthy  food  in 
damp  southern  latitudes.  The  consumption 
of  it  is  immense ;  and  from  having  been  used 
a  short  time  past  in  this  county  as  a  luxury, 
it  is  now  to  be  found  on  all  well-arranged 
tables  in  the  Union. 

In  regarding  the  expensive  and  laborious 
works  of  a  South  Carolina  rice  plantation,  one 
accustomed  to  the  manner  of  its  cultivation 
here  cannot  but  be  struck  with  the  very 
small  difference  in  the  yield,  and  the  vast 
difference  in  labor.  The  quality,  however,  is 
different.  South  Carolina  rice  commands 
from  one  half  to  three  fourths  of  a  cent  here 
more  than  Louisiana.  This  arises  from  two 
causes — the  Louisiana  rice  not  being  as  white, 
and  the  grains  being  more  broken  than  the 
Carolina.  Both  of  these  faults,  I  believe,  can 
be  remedied  by  cultivation  and  improvements 
of  machinery.  I  hoped  to  have  seen  in  your 
article  on  the  subject  the  reason  that  some 
rice  breaks  more  in  cleaning  than  others.  The 
difference  in  whiteness,  I  am  aware,  proceeds 
from  the  infi'rior  manner  of  preparing  it  for 
market.  Can  you  not  point  out  the  means  of 
remedying  the  former  defect,  which  must  pro- 
ceed from  the  culture  ?  These  are  the  two 
objectionable  things  against  Creole  or  Louis- 
iana rice.  It  is,  however,  much  sweeter,  and 
not  so  apt  to  get  musty  as  the  imported.  I 
have  heard  exactly  opposite  reasons  given  by 
the  jjlanters  here  for  tlie  tirst  of  these  faults. 
Certainh'  the  improvement  of  a  crop  so  im- 
portant to  a  large  number  of  the  inhabitants 
of  our  state,  tending  to  the  division  of  our 
farming  labors,  a  result  most  anxiously  to  be 
desired,  from  the  low  prices  of  both  sugar  and 
cotton,  slu)uld  occupy  most  particular  attention. 

The  rice  crop,  from  thegreat  care  with  which 
it  is  made  here,  the  extreme  richness  of  the 
land,  the  adaptation  of  the  climate  to  it,  and 
perhaps,  it  may  be,  the  enervated  liabits  of 
the  people  generally,  has  never  been  fostered 
or  reduced  to  a  science,  as  in  other  countries, 
where  the  soils  are  poorer  and  climate  worse. 
I  have  conversed  with  many  intelligent  South 
Carolina  planters  and  managers  of  plantations, 
and  they  all  agree  that  the  land  is  suitable 
and  climate  proper  to  vie  here  with  Carolina, 


RICE    PRODUCT    IK    LOUISIANA. 


42*7 


in  both  quantity  and  quality.  Tliere  is  this 
difffreiice  in  favor  of  tlie  cultivation  of  rice  in 
Louisiana,  on  the  borders  of  our  rivers  and 
tributaries : — It  is  well  known  that  in  Caro- 
lina, ou  the  1  ice  plantations,  the  water  used  is 
tide  water,  with  little  or  no  current,  and  the 
8wanq)s  large ;  that  the  water  lies  on  large 
districts,  sometimes  drawn  off,  at  others  let  on, 
leaving  great  fields  subject  to  the  influence 
of  a  burning  sun,  creating  malaria,  and  en- 
gendering the  worst  kind  of  disease,  insomuch 
that  the  planters  yearly  leave  tlie  country  for 
the  cities,  where  smoke  and  tires,  or  some 
other  causes,  seem  to  dispel  the  evil. 

Such  is  not  the  case  here.  It  is  a  well- 
known  fact,  that  the  rice  plantations,  both  as 
regards  whites  and  blacks,  are  more  healthy 
than  the  sugar  and  cotton.  From  what  cause 
does  this  arise  ?  has  been  often  asked  by  many. 
"With  the  same  hot  sun  and  climate,  and  occu- 
pying a  district  of  thirty  to  forty  miles  on 
both  sides  of  the  river,  with  but  two  or  three 
eugar  plantations,  at  long  distances,  there 
exists  almost  one  undivided  rice-field,  making 
on  an  average  about  thirty  thousand  barrels 
of  clean  rice  yearly,  and  overflowing  the 
whole  country  around  them,  except  a  few 
front  acres,  generally  appropriated  to  corn  and 
potatoes.  There  can  be  but  one  cause  for  its 
health.  The  fall  of  the  laud  is  abrupt  to  the 
bayous  and  lakes  behind,  and  the  sea  being 
near,  at  the  time  the  Mississippi  is  high  the 
lice  is  at  the  watering  stage,  and  the  water 
here  not  being  taken  off  at  all,  is  kept  con- 
Btantly  running  from  the  river  back,  prevent- 
ing the  back-water  from  ever  becoming 
stagnant,  and  carrying  oft',  with  the  rapidity 
of  its  current,  the  vegetable  matter  that  in 
decomposing  causes  malaria.  The  water,  too, 
being  drawn  off  at  so  late  a  date,  the  land 
does  not  dry  sufficiently  early  to  cause  de- 
composition, before  the  cooler  and  stormy 
mouths  come  on  and  disperse  it.  Most  cer- 
tain it  is,  that  no  country  so  thickly  settled 
in  southern  latitudes  as  the  rice-planting  part 
of  the  parish  of  Plaquemines,  has  a  greater 
amount  of  healthy  people  and  fine  children. 
Why  is  not  more  attention  paid  to  the  im- 
provement of  the  cultivation  and  manufacture 
of  this  valuable  and  lucrative  staple? 

The  rice  planters,  as  a  body,  generally  con- 
sist of  those  who  have  but  small  farms,  not 
wealthy,  and  hitherto  almost  entirely  unedu- 
cated, and  unable,  from  thesmallncss  of  their 
means,  to  vary  their  crops  from  their  general 
routine ;  and  not  having  the  capital  to  put  uj) 
sufficiently  valuable  machinery,  and  to  prop- 
erly prepare  their  crops  for  market,  nor  yet 
to  get  out  more  than  ten  to  twelve  barrels  a 
day,  they  have  never  progressed  since  their 
couunencement.  This,  too,  while  our  other 
staples  have  advanced  beyond  the  most  san- 
guine expectations ;  having,  at  this  present 
moment,  we  may  say,  stocked  the  whole  world. 

The  common  system  of  rice-plautiug  here, 


is  to  begin  in  February  to  dig  out  the  ditches, 
which,  in  a  farm  of  four  acres  front  on  the 
river,  consist  of  one  ditch,  four  feet  wide  or 
more,  four  to  five  feet  deep,  running  from  the 
river  to  the  swamp,  with  a  dam  or  gate  be 
hind,  at  right  angles,  to  this  main  ditch.  At 
every  half-acre  is  a  two-foot  cross  ditch,  with 
a  bank  behind  it  to  confine  the  water  about  a 
foot  high,  or  more.  At  the  back  of  the  field 
is  a  four-foot  ditch  running  parallel  with  the 
river,  with  a  high  bank  on  the  outside  to  com 
pletely  dam  in  the  field,  with  a  flood-gate 
openingjbehiud  to  gauge  the  height  of  water. 
When  March  arrives,  all  the  ditches  having 
been  opened,  they  commence  ploughing,  mud 
or  not,  rain  or  sunshine,  if  the  oxen  can  go 
tluough  it.  There  are  generally  six  oxen, 
two  drivers,  and  one  to  guide  the  plough. 
The  work  is  generally,  where  the  land  is  dry, 
well  and  neatly  done,  with  the  old  Roman 
plough,  by  us  called  the  French  sock  plough, 
the  best  in  the  world  for  stiff  land.  I  luive 
tried  such  land  successively  with  the  centre 
draft  of  Jacobs,  Gary,  and  others,  none  of 
which  could  equal  this  widi  the  same  team. 

The  planters  sow  and  harrow  in  the  rice  in 
succession,  as  they  can  generally  water  the 
back  cuts  fii-st,  being  lower  than  the  front; 
and  in  the  early  part  of  the  season,  the  river 
is  not  high  enough  to  water  any  but  the  back, 
which  covers  up  fii-st,  and  is  ready  sooner  for 
the  water.  The  rice  is  sown  broad-cast,  about 
three  fourths  of  a  barrel  to  an  acre.  I  have 
often  seen  the  planters  harrow  it  in  with  oxen, 
knee-deep  in  mud.  As  soon  as  the  back  rice 
comes  up,  they  put  on  a  little  water,  just 
leaving  the  heads  out,  to  check  the  weeds 
and  grass  ;  and  from  this  time  out  it  is  kept 
in  water,  always  leaving  the  heads  out  until 
ripe  for  cutting,  at  which  time  all  the  water  is 
drawn  off,  or  a  little  before.  "When  the  rice 
comes  up,  the  weeds  and  grass  also  appear ; 
the  grass  is  kept  under  by  water,  but  not  so 
the  weeds,  and  a  kind  of  grass  having  a  thou- 
sand seeds,  that  sometimes  takes  almost  entire 
possession  of  the  fields.  These  have  to  be 
ciirefuUy  eradicated  with  the  hand,  pulling 
them  up  frequently,  knee-deep  in  water.  The 
process  produces  disagreeable  effects  on  the 
leg.s,  but  is  avoided  by  greasing  them  before 
going  in,  in  the  morning.  The  hands  weed 
about  one  quarter  to  one  third  of  an  acre  per 
day,  and  sometimes  one  half  or  more,  as  the 
weeds  are  more  or  less  bad,  thick  pulling 
j  them  up  by  the  roots,  which  readily  yield. 
So  quick  is  the  vegetation  of  rice,  that  one 
weeding  is  enough;  but  from  the  slowness  of 
the  operation,  the  last  part  of  the  crop  is  very 
full  of  weeds  before  they  can  get  to  it,  and 
sometimes,  should  the  water  fall  too  soon,  it 
is  much  injured  by  being  choked  by  them. 
Here  is,  I  think,  one  of  the  faults  of  the  culti- 
vation by  the  present  mode.  I  will  presently 
point  out  the  mode  of  avoiding  this  disaster. 
The  crop  being  finished,  and  the  weeds  taken 


428 


RICE    PRODrCT   IN    LOUISIANA. 


out  from  the  rice,  they  spend  a  short  time  pre- 
paring lafania  strips  from  tho  woods,  to  tie  up 
the  bund!i?s,  which  they  do  in  the  field  as  it  is 
dried.  Tliis  is  generally  in  July  or  August, 
when  a  man  or  two  is  hired  to  assist,  and 
then,  with  the  sickle,  the  rice  is  out  down 
very  neatly,  about  one  half  to  three  quarters 
of  an  acre  a  day,  as  it  may  be,  better  or 
worse,  standing  or  blown  down.  It  dries  one 
day  in  the  sun.  It  is  then  tied  in  bundles, 
and  put  in  small  stacks  in  the  field  convenient 
to  the  cutters,  without  stack-poles.  The  grain 
is  turned  inside  and  the  stem  outside.  When 
all  is  cut  down  and  stacked  in  three  email 
stacks,  they  arrange  their  grain-yards  and 
begin  hauling  in ;  the  first  cut  being  hauled 
first,  and  fo  on,  until  all  is  stacked  at  the 
house.  The  blocks  are  about  three  feet  from 
the  groimd,  and  tlie  stacks  are  made  regular 
to  hold  about  twenty  barrels  clean  rice.  They 
are  well  pointed,  without  poles,  and  topped 
with  latania.  By  stacking  first  in  the  field  in 
small  stacks,  the  first  sweat  is  passed  through, 
and  when  it  is  opened  and  hauled,  it  is  stacked 
a  second  time ;  it  then  becomes  aired,  and 
dries  perfectly,  and  keeps  for  years  without 
mould  or  mildew. 

When  rice  is  wanted  for  the  mill,  eight  or 
ten  tackeys,  or  small  horses,  are  tied  one  to 
another  to  a  post ;  the  rice  is  placed  on  the 
ground  about  three  feet  deep,  the  heads  up, 
and  the  animals  are  made  to  trot  around, 
occasionally  shaking  up  the  rice.  In  this  way 
about  twenty  barrels  per  day  are  usually 
trodden  out.  It  is  then  turned  in  a  small 
hand-mill  of  wood,  like  a  common  corn-mill, 
and  partially  hulled;  then  placed  in  a  mortar, 
or  four  mortars  in  a  row,  where  the  like  num- 
ber of  pestles  pound  it  till  the  balance  of  the 
hull,  and  a  skin  that  has  a  yellow  appearance, 
are  taken  off.  When  it  is  fanned  and  freed 
from  the  chaff  by  this  process,  about  seven  to 
eight  barrels  a  day  is  cleaned  and  prepared 
for  market.  This  is,  as  yet,  the  largest 
amount  averaged,  I  believe,  in  a  day,  e.Kcept 
by  a  small  steam-mill  once  started  liere  by 
an  engineer,  which  got  out  about  twenty  bar- 
rels a  day;  but  the  prejudice  was  so  strong 
against  that  mode  of  cleaning,  that  the  mill 
could  at  last  neither  buy,  nor  get  rice  upon 
toll,  and  was  abandoned. 

It  is  by  preventing  the  weeds  in  the  rice 
that  its  more  extensive  cultivation  can  be  con- 
ducted, a  better  article  produced,  and  the 
worst  part  of  the  labor  avoi(h;d,  allowing  the 
worker  to  make  more  to  the  hand  by  a  con- 
siderable quantity.  It  is  liere,  generally,  the 
rice  planter  fails;  the  weeds  and  grass  catrh 
him,  and  he  lo.ses  much  of  his  yields.  He 
has  also  a  worse  quality  of  riee.  I  have  re- 
commenclod  the  following  cultivation  to  several 
planters,  but  have  been  told  that  cnougli  is 
made  by  the  present  process,  and  why  should 
our  alteration  be  adopted?  The  reason  tlie 
weeds  are  so  bad  and  the  grass  so  troublesome, 


preventing  the  cultivation  of  so  many  acres 
properly,  is  that  the  ground  is  broken  up  in 
the  spring  after  all  the  grass  begins  to  grow, 
and  the  rice  being  planted  immediately  in 
succession,  the  roots  of  the  grass  and  weeds 
never  lose  their  life,  but  go  on  growing  im- 
mediately, and  get  ahead  of  the  rice,  which 
has  to  sprout,  and  is  at  first  delicate  and  slo^jv 
in  starting.  These  roots  can  be  killed  by 
starting  the  ox  plough  in  October  and  Novem- 
ber, and  ploughing  all  the  land  deeply  during 
those  months,  the  roots  of  the  grass  being 
turned  up  and  exposed  to  the  fros's  of  winter. 
Ditch  in  December  and  February,  and  then, 
with  three  horse  ploughs  in  March,  the  already 
pulverized  ground  can  be  turned  up  and 
knocked  to  pieces,  and  harrowed  over  with  a 
light  horse  hari-ow ;  then  sow  the  rice  and 
harrow  it  in  lightly,  keeping  the  ground  as 
dry  as  you  can ;  now  you  may  moisten  it  with 
water  slightly,  and  the  rice  will  all  come  up 
and  require  little  or  no  weeding.  The  quality 
will  be  better,  and  the  quantity  certainly  con- 
siderably increased.  By  this  process  also,  the 
old  residuum  on  the  ground  will,  being  plough- 
ed in  early,  be  well  rotted,  aud  assist  the 
vegetation  of  the  crop.  The  consequence  of 
this  fall  and  winter  ploughing  would  save  the 
like  amount  of  work  in  the  water  at  our  most 
unhealthy  season,  and  in  the  most  valuable 
time  to  the  planter.  The  weeding  being 
light  and  early  over,  the  preparations  for 
cutting  can  be  sooner  made,  the  crop  gathered 
in  in  good  time,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that, 
instead  of  seven  and  eight  barrels,  ten  and 
twelve  can  be  made  to  the  acre,  and  a  much 
easier  crop. 

If  the  Carolina  mode  of  working  by  drill 
were  tried  properly,  I  have  no  doubt  it  would 
be  found  advantageous  here  as  it  has  been 
there.  I  have  tried  fifteen  or  twenty  acres 
many  years  ago  in  that  manner,  and  found  it 
do  well,  yield  well,  aud  the  rice  was  of  good 
quality.  I  had  no  difficulty,  with  a  good 
canal,  in  taking  the  water  off  and  on  when 
wanted.  I  hoed  it  the  same  as  corn,  and  then 
let  on  water  again.  It  is  said  that  water  had 
better  be  kept  on  until  the  rice  is  nearly 
ready  to  be  cut,  as  it  makes  the  stalk  tender, 
and  prevents  it  from  breaking.  In  case  of 
blowing  down,  many  say  if  they  make  very 
heavy  crops  they  cannot  take  them  off.  This 
is  applicable  to  all  southern  crops;  more 
hands  have  always  to  be  hired  in  harvest,  and 
it  is  a  poor  excuse. 

There  is  no  reason  why  Louisiana  rice 
should  not  be  as  good  as  any  other,  and  yield 
as  much,  except  bad  cultivation  and  worse 
manufacture.  There  is  an  immense  amount 
of  valuable  rice  land  in  the  lower  part  of  this 
parish,  near  the  sea-shore,  on  the  river,  very 
cheap,  and  far  more  valuable  in  Droportion  to 
their  quantity  than  any  other  lands  in  the 
state.  They  have  the  adv.antagc  of  climate 
for  sugar,  rice,  or  cotton.    The  net  product  of 


RICE    CULTURE    IN   THE    EAST   INDIES. 


429 


a  common  acre  of  land  in  rice,  ready  for  sale, 
is  eight  to  ten  barrels.  The  common  price  is* 
seven  to  eight  dolhirs, sometimes  five  and  ten 
dollars,  per  barrel.  The  acres  planted  per  l)and 
are  eigiit  to  ten,  and  as  many  as  fifteen,  some- 
times, by  the  inhabitants  of  this  neighborhood. 

RICE  CULTURE  IN  THE  EAST  IN- 
DIES.—Bice —  Ortjza  saliva. — Dr.  Roxburgh 
considers  that  the  wild  rice,  known  as  J\'ivari 
in  Sanscrit,  as  Ncwarce  in  Telinga,  and  as 
Aritz  in  Arabic,  is  the  parent  from  whence 
have  .sprung  all  the  cultivated  varieties,  of 
which  he  says  40  or  50  are  known,  but  Baboo 
Rhadakant  Deb  enumerates  120. 

It  nmst  not  be  suj)posed  that  these  are  all 
permanent  distinct  varieties:  many  of  them 
are  doubtless  the  same  variety  which  is  men 
tioned  in  the  list  by  otlier  names ;  and  otliers 
are  similarly  nientioned  by  several  titles, 
though  only  casually  altered  in  appearance 
or  quality  by  being  grown  on  different  soils, 
or  at  different  seasons.  Whether  grown  in  a 
cold  or  tropical  latitude,  must  effect  a  great 
change  in  the  ajipearance  of  a  variety  grad- 
ually introduced  from  one  climate  to  the 
other.  This  must  occur  to  a  greater  extent 
with  rice,  perhaps,  than  with  any  other  culti- 
Tateil  crop.  Thus  we  see  it  growing  in  tlie 
plains  of  the  most  equatorial  districts  of  Hin- 
dostan ;  and  we  find  it  in  the  lofty  mountains 
of  Joomla,  towards  the  Himalaya,  in  Nepaul, 
where  it  sustains,  without  suffering,  the  cir- 
cumstances of  frost  and  snow.  Dr.  Wallich 
says,  "  It  was  sent  to  England  about  the  year 
1S20  ;  it  vegetated  there  most  vigorously,  but 
was  sown  too  late  to  permit  its  ripening  its 
produce.*  Still  further  uorth,  and  at  a  greater 
elevation,  it  yet  continues  fruitful.  A  kind  of 
rice  is  grown  on  the  terraces  cut  into  the 
sides  of  the  Himalaya  mountains, •]■  In  the 
interior  of  these  mountains,  barley  is  not 
sown  until  May  or  June,  and  reaped  in  Au- 
gust or  September;  while  on  the  exterior 
ranges,  the  liarvest  is  gathering  in,  at  the  very 
time  the  seed  is  sowing  in  the  interior,  or  at 
greater  elevations.  It  is  at  this  period  that 
the  rice  is  sown  in  places  within  the  influence 
of  the  rainy  season,  which  extends  from  about 
the  miiliile  of  June  to  the  end  of  September. 
In  some  places  rice  is  irrigateil,  ant!  in  others 
it  is  not;  but  rain  falls  very  frequently,  and 
the  air  is  always  in  a  midst  state  frum  being 
charged  with  moisture  from  the  heated  val- 
leys, and  ileposiling  it  on  the  mountains,  when 
it  reaches  an  elevation  where  it  becomes 
cooled  below  the  point  of  saturation. 

Soil. — Rice  delights  in  a  fertile  soil :  some 


*  Trans.  Agri-IIort.  Soc.  of  India,  vol.  iii.  p.B2. 

t  This  varii'ty  yields  a  laryir  propoitioii  of  pure 
farina  and  starch  than  the  varieties  grown  in  the 
plains,  and  altoijethcr  appeals  to  bi-  a  more  uourish- 
jntt  arlii-le  of  food,  and,  therefore,  deserving  nf  con- 
sideration. It  is  reaped  in  the  beginning  of  Novem- 
ber. 


varieties  require  the  soil  to  be  constantly 
flooded,  and  then  it  ouglit  to  be  silicious  ;  oth- 
ers require  upland  aluminous  land,  but  ia 
either  case  it  must  contain  a  more  than  usual 
quantity  of  decomposing  animal  as  well  as 
vegetable  matter;  and  whatever  may  be  the 
mode  of  sowing  or  planting  adopted,  the  soil 
cannot  be  reduced  previously  to  too  fine  a 
tilth. 

Manures. — The  small  quantity  of  dung  ap- 
plied by  the  native  cultivators  to  this  crop 
will  be  noticed  incidentally  when  considering 
the  motles  of  its  insertion.  No  doubt  can  be 
justifiably  entertained  as  to  this  niggardness 
being  injurious,  and  that  a  much  larger  in- 
crease of  grain  would  be  the  consequence  of 
a  more  libei  al  application  of  such  decompos- 
ing organic  matter. 

To  the  upland  dry  land  crops,  I  would  re- 
commend the  application  of  common  salt,  in 
small  quantities.  One  variety  grown  in  the 
southern  parts  of  peninsular  India,  and  no- 
ticed in  the  preceding  list  under  its  Malay 
name,  Cutandeu,  will  not  thrive  in  a  soil 
where  salt  is  not  present.  Four  or  five  bush- 
els per  acre  is  probably  a  proportion  that  will 
be  found  highly  beneficial. 

Sowiny,  ic. — Throughout  India  the  three 
following  modes  of  sowing  rice  are  practi>ed: 
1.  The  seed  is  sown  dry  in  the  fields,  where 
the  plants  are  to  grow  to  matuiity.  At  Se- 
ringapatam  it  is  called  the  Uarra  hulta,  or 
Puneji ;  in  Malabar,  Podi-iidha.  2.  The 
seed  is  made  to  germinate  before  it  is  sown; 
this  is  known  at  Seringapatam  as  the  Jllola 
hutta,  in  Malabar  as  Clutuwclha.  3.  The 
seed  is  sown  thickly  in  a  seed  bed,  and  the 
plants  when  a  fo(jt  high  are  transplanted  into 
the  fields,  where  they  are  to  remain  until 
harvest ;  at  Seringapatam  this  is  called  nati, 
in  Malabar  iiearra. 

The  cultivation  differing  in  each  of  these 
modes,  it  will  be  most  intelligible  to  consider 
them  separately. 

It  must  also  be  observed  that  there  are  two 
distinct  crops  of  rice  usually  raised  annually: 
one  being  sown  just  previously  to  the  rains, 
and  the  other  during  the  dry  weather.  In 
Mysore,  the  first  is  known  as  the  Haiuu  crop, 
and  the  second  as  the  Ccfrwcrop;  by  which 
names,  for  the  sake  of  brevity,  1  shall  distin- 
guish them. 

The  Caru  crops  in  Mysore,  according  to  the 
time  of  sowing,  are  known  by  three  n.uiies. 
If  the  seed  is  sown  at  the  most  favorable 
season,  it  is  called  Camba  Caru;  but  if,  from 
want  of  power  in  laborers  or  cattle,  some  is 
sown  too  early  and  some  too  late,  the  first  is 
called  7\da  Caru,  and  the  second  Maysha 
Caru.  These  variations  cause  a  deficiency  of 
from  30  to  50  per  cent,  in  the  crop,  the 
produce  of  the  JIaiym  and  Cumba  Caru 
crops  is  nearly  the  same. 

Dry  Scrd  Sairlin/.—Fvr  the  Ilaiuu  crop 
this  is  regulated  by  the  time  of  the  setting  in 


430 


RICE    CULTURE    IN    THE    EAST   INDIES. 


of  the  rains.  In  Mysore,  three  days  previ- 
ously to  the  first  sowing,  about  the  middle  of 
February,  the  soil  is  softened  by  being  wa- 
tered. It  is  then  ploughed  twice  a  month 
until  the  end  of  May.  After  the  fourtli 
ploughing,  manure,  obtained  either  from  the 
cow-house  or  city,  is  put  on.  After  the  fifth 
ploughing,  if  rain  does  not  fall,  the  field  must 
be  watered,  and  three  days  subsequently  the 
seed  is  sown  broad-cast,  and  covered  by  the 
sixth  ploughing.  Any  rain  falling  during  the 
thirty  days  immediately  succeeding  the  sow- 
ing, is  allowed  to  run  off  through  an  opening 
in  the  inclosing  bank.  If  much  rain  falls  at 
this  time,  the  crop  is  considerably  injured. 
If  no  rains  have  occurred  during  those  thirty 
days,  the  field  is  kept  constantly  inundated 
until  the  crop  is  lipe ;  but  if  there  have  been 
occasional  sliowers,  the  inundation  is  not  com- 
menced until  the  forty-fifth  day. 

Weeding,  loosening  the  soil,  thinning  where 
too  thick,  and  transplanting  to  where  the 
crop  is  too  thin,  is  performed  thrice.  First, 
betwe"en  the  forty-fifth  and  fiftieth  day,  and 
again  in  twenty  and  thirty-five  days  from 
the  first  weeding.  Rice  which  ripens  in  five 
and  a  half  months  must  be  inundated  on  the 
twentieth  day ;  and  the  weedings  must  be  on 
the  same  day,  and  twice  again  at  intervals  of 
ten  days. 

The  ploughing  season  for  the  Cumha  Cam, 
when  dry  seed  is  used,  commences  about  the 
21st  August,  and  the  seed  is  sown  about  the 
middle  of  December. 

In  the  Mai/sha  Cam,  when  diy  seed  is 
sown,  the  ploughing  begins  in  the  last  week  of 
March,  and  the  seed  is  sown  after  the  first 
week  of  April.  Dry  seed  is  never  used  for 
the  Tula  Cam.  In  some  places  of  Dinajpoor 
the  seed  is  dibbled ;  a  few  seeds  being  dropped 
into  holes,  made  about  a  span  apart.  This  is 
the  mode  usually  adopted  for  inserting  the 
Gohyn,  or  upland  rice,  by  the  Ncpaulese. 

Mr.  Campbell  states,  "that  there  is  proba- 
bly one  third  of  the  valley  lands  annually 
under  the  cultivation  of  this  variety  of  rice. 
It  is  sown  during  the  latter  half  of  April  and 
the  early  part  of  May,  and  reaped  diu'lng  the 
last  week  of  August  and  the  whole  of  Sep- 
tember. In  Iho  cultivation  of  Gohya,  the 
greatest  possible  attention  is  paid  to  the  prep- 
aration of  the  soil,  by  reducing  it  to  a  great 
degree  of  fineness,  as  well  as  by  the  exhibi- 
tion of  manure, and  by  previous  exposure  of 
the  land  to  the  fertilizing  influences  of  water, 
air,  and  frost.  Wliether  tlie  Gohya  succeeds 
a  vetch  crop,  a  crop  of  touli.  or  another  Gohya 
crop,  the  land  to  be  sown  with  it  in  spring  is 
delved,  pulverized,  and  watered  (if  practica- 
ble) during- the  winter  months  of  Dccomber 
and  January.  In  addition  to  this,  it  lias, 
when  suitable  to  the  soil,  a  coating  of  the 
black,  earthy  manure,  laid  on  during  the 
winter,  and,  when  the  cultivator  can  procure 
it,  one  of  artificial  manure  immediately  pre- 


vious to  the  sowing.  Early  in  April,  the  ma- 
nure previously  collected  in  small  heaps  on 
the  field  is  spread  over  it,  and  about  the  mid- 
dle of  the  month  a  light  delving  is  given; 
which,  followed  by  careful  pulverization, 
seiwes  to  mix  the  manure  with  the  soil,  to 
keep  the  former  close  to  the  surface,  and  to 
render  the  field  a  dead  level  Immediately 
the  land  is  thus  prepared,  (not  some  days  af- 
ter, but  simultaneously  with  the  preparation,) 
the  seed  unmoistened  is  put  in  the  ground  by 
the  fingers,  and  in  rows  six  or  eight  inches 
apart,  the  sowers  covering  up  the  seed  as 
they  advance  by  drawing  the  hand  over  each 
transverse  row  of  seed  put  in  the  ground. 
The  Gohya  sower  squats  on  his  or  her  hams, 
with  a  small  basket  of  the  seed  placed  on 
the  ground  between  the  knees,  and,  using  the 
forefinger  and  thumb  of  both  hands,  deposits 
the  seed,  grain  by  grain,  or  two  grains  to- 
gether, at  regular  distances  in  the  ground, 
commencing  laterally  at  the  utmost  reach 
of  the  hands,  and  moving  backwards  after 
each  row  of  six  seeds  is  completed,  and  the 
hands  have  been  quickly  drawn  along  the  row 
for  the  purpose  of  covering  them  in.  Noth- 
ing can  be  more  advantageous  for  quick  and 
equal  vegetation  than  this  process;  the  seed 
getting  a  bed  in  moist,  freshly  turned  up,  and 
finely  powdered  soil,  not  one  grain  of  it  be- 
ing left  uncovered,  nor  one  grain  deeper  set 
in  the  soil  than  its  neighbors. 

The  after  culture  of  Gohya  is  as  carefully 
and  laboriously  gone  through  as  its  sowing. 
So  soon  as  it  is  well  above  ground,  the  soil  is 
loosened  at  the  roots  of  each  row,  by  means 
of  the  small  one  hand  hoe,  and  any  weeds 
which  may  have  sprung  up  with  it  are  care- 
fully removed.  This  hand-hoeing  and  weed- 
ing is  usually  repeated  three  or  four  times, 
and  occasionally  five  or  six  times  during  the 
growth  of  the  crop.  So  universal  is  this  effi- 
cient and  careful  cultivation  throughout  the 
valley,  and  so  essential  is  it  considered  for  the 
procuring  of  a  full  crop,  that  the  cultivator 
who  leaves  his  Gohya  uuhoed  and  unweeded 
is  looked  upon  as  a  ruined  sluggard  :  often 
repeated  weeding  and  hoeing  is  considered  as 
indispensable  to  this  crop  as  flooding  to  the 
malsi  and  toulis. 

"The  more  you  weed  and  hoe  the  Gohya," 
say  tile  cultivators,  "  the  heavier  will  be  the 
returns  of  Dhau,  and  the  greater  the  produce 
of  chaul,  or  edible  rice,  from  it."'  Not  only 
the  straw  and  ear  are  increased  in  size  by  it, 
but  the  more  you  hoe  and  weed,  the  tliinner 
is  the  husk  of  the  grain  compared  witli  its 
nutritious  part.  Witli  the  exception  of  the 
indigo  cultivation  in  Tirhoot,  and  that  of  the 
poppy  in  Debar  generall}',  I  have  never  seen 
the  culture  of  the  Gohya  rice  in  Nepaul  sur- 
passed in  efficiency,  aiul  I  believe  it  is  but 
rarely  equalled  in  any  part  of  Jndia ;  yet  the 
crop  is  inferior  to  the  transplanted  rice,  wiiich 
neither  wants  nor  receives  a  tithe  of  this  care, 


RICE   CULTURE    IN   THE   EAST   INDIES. 


431 


and  is  rarely  Tvceded  in  very  wet  seasong. 
The  reaping,  thrashing,  and  drying  of  the 
Gohya  are  ]iorformed  as  on  the  transphiiited 
rice,  llukwa  is  made  from  it  also,  but  in 
small  quantities.  It  is  of  a  whitish  yellow 
color  in  the  ear,  the  touri  is  of  a  brigliter  yel- 
low, and  the  malsi  darlc  brown  or  blackish. 
The  Gohya  is  considered  very  nutritious  and 
wholesome.* 

In  Nepaul,  from  thirty  seers  to  one  maund 
are  sown  per  biggah,  and  the  average  pro- 
duce is  fifty  niaunds.f 

Fifteen  cutcha  seer  of  rice  is  the  quantity 
of  seed  sown  in  the  northern  parts  of  Bengal 
upon  a  cutcha  biggah  (1-8  of  an  acre)  of 
land.  I 

Germixated  Seed  Soavixg. — In  Mysore,  if 
this  mode  is  adopted  for  the  Hainu  crop,  the 
ploughings  occur  between  the  third  weeks  of 
June  and  the  same  period  in  July.  The 
ploughing  is  repeated  four  times,  each  at  right 
angles  to  the  preceding,  and  the  fields  during 
the  time  inundated.  The  field  is  then  ma- 
nured, immediately  ploughed  afifdi  time,and 
the  mud  smoothened  with  the  laborer's  feet. 
The  water  is  drawn  off,  so  as  to  leave  its 
depth  not  more  than  an  inch,  and  the  sprouted 
seed  sown.  It  requires  no  process  to  cover  it. 
During  the  first  twenty-four  days  the  field  is 
•watered  every  alternate  day,  and  then  inun- 
dated until  the  crop  is  ripe.  The  weedings 
ai-e  on  the  twenty-fifth,  thirty-fifth,  and  fifti- 
eth davs. 

The  seed  is  prepared  by  being  kept  under 
water  in  a  vessel  for  three  days ;  it  is  then 
mixed  with  an  equal  quantity  of  decayed 
cow-duog.g  and  laid  in  a  heap  in  the  house, 
entirely  sheltered  from  the  wind  and  covered 
•with  straw  and  mats.  At  Joomla,  in  Nepaul, 
the  covering  used  is  a  mixture  of  earth  and 
manure.  At  the  end  of  three  days,  sprouts 
three  inches  long  are  thrown  out,  and  it  is 
then  fit  for  sowing. 

Tliis  mode  of  cultivation  is  more  trouble- 
some than  the  former,  and  the  produce  is  not 
greater,  but  it  allows  a  crop  of  pulse  to  be 
previously  obtained  from  the  same  ground, 
and  requires  only  three  fourths  the^quantity 
of  seed. 

Transplanted  Rice  is  cultivated  in  two 
modes,  viz.,  Barrdagy  or  dry  plants,  and 
Nir'agy  or  wet  plants.  ||  Low  lauds  are  re- 
quired for  eacli.  For  the  Barraagy  in  the 
Mainu  crop,  the  ground  is  worked  at  the 
time  and  in  the  manner  as  for  the  dry  seed 
crop.  In  the  last  week  of  May  the  maimre 
is  put  on,  the  seed  sown  very  thick,  and  cov- 
ered with  the  plough ;  one  tenth  of  a  biggah  of 


•  Trans.  Agri-IIort.  See.  vol.  iv.  pp.  1-2-2, 124. 

t  Ibid.  vol.  iv.  p.  79. 

t  Tenuaiit,  liid.  Rcc.  vol.  ii.  p.  185. 

§  About  Mundium  thoy  also  add  fresh  plants  of 
Phlomis  £sc«/en(,i,(l{oxb.,)  there  caUedTuj/iOaySopii. 

II  The  transplanting  system  is  called  JSi'aduffa  in 
South  Malabaj". 


seed  is  allowqd  in  Puraniya  for  every  biggah 
that  is  to  be  planted.  Xo  rain  occurring  be- 
fore the  eighth  day,  water  is  given,  and  again 
in  a  fortnight ;  but  if  tliere  are  shewcrs,  these 
are  unnecessary.  From  the  forty-fifth  to  the 
sixtieth  day,  tlie  plants  continue  fit  for  re- 
moval, to  facilitate  which,  tlie  field  is  inunda- 
ted for  five  days  before.  For  their  reception, 
the  field,  inundated  all  the  time,  is  ploughed 
four  times  in  eight  weeks,  commencing  in  the 
first  week  of  June.  Manure  is  added  before 
the  fourtli  ploughing  ;  after  this,  the  surface  is 
levelled  with  tlie  foot,  the  .seedhngsare  plant- 
ed, from  three  to  five  being  placed  togeth- 
er, and  an  interval  of  a  span  allowed  be-- 
tween  every  two  little  tufts.  The  water  is 
let  oS"  for  a  day,  but  the  land  is  subsequently 
kept  flooded.  The  weedings  are  performed 
on  the  twentieth,  thirty-fifth,  and  forty -fifth 
days  after  the  transplantation. 

In  Mysore,  for  the  Tula  Cant,  sprouted  seed 
is  sown  about  the  10th  of  October,  the  plough- 
ing having  commenced  a  mouth  before.  The 
Cimiba  Cam  sprouted  seed  is  sown  about  the 
Ist  of  January  ;  the  ploughing  having  taken 
place  in  the  previous  month.  The  ploughing 
for  the  Maysha  Cam  sprouted  seed  com- 
mences in  the  second  week  of  April,  and  the 
sowiug  in  the  same  period  of  May. 

When  sprouted  seed  is  sown  in  Mysore,  one 
bushel  aud  four  and  a  half  gallons  are  allotted 
to  an  acre,  and  an  average  produce  is  rather 
better  than  thirty-one  bushels. 

About  Madura,  the  quantity  of  seed  sown 
is  larger,  varying  from  three  pecks  to  more 
than  one  bushel,  and  the  advantage  is  sliown  by 
the  increased  produce.  This  was  from  forty- 
seven  to  fifty-nine  bushels,  being  invariably 
the  largest  where  most  seed  was  sown.'* 

Tkansi'laxtixg. — When  this  mode  of  culti- 
vation is  adopted,  the  rice  is  sown  very  thick  . 
in  a  small  space  of  manured  ground ;  and  when 
the  plants  have  attained  the  heiglit  of  six  or 
eight  inches,  it  is  ready  for  transplantation, 

A  field  overflooded  lias  to  be  ploughed  until 
the  surface  is  converted  into  a  sufticient  mud, 
and  to  this  the  plants  are  removed  fi'ora  the 
seed-bed.  One  or  two  are  dropped  together 
in  a  place,  and  this  is  repeated  at  equal  dis- 
tances all  over  the  field,  which  appears  a  mere 
sheet  of  water.  To  secure  the  plants  sinking 
in  their  proper  position  to  the  bottom,  each  has 
its  roots  enveloped  in  a  ball  of  clay.  Such 
crops,  says  Dr.  Tennant,  though  tedious  in 
preparation,  generally  remunerate  for  the  extra 
trouble.f 

The  progress  of  vegetation  in  Behar  is  so 
rapid,  that  the  first  harvest  arrives  in  two 
paonths  after  planting  the  rice  as  above  de- 
scribed; the  second  is  reajjed  in  Xovember,  and 
having  been  planted  in  August,  may  be  grown 
on  the  same  field  as   its  predecessor.     The 


*  Buchanan's  Mysore,!.  140. 
t  Ind.  Ucc.  ii.  128. 


432 


RICE    CULTURE    IN   THE    EAST    INDIES. 


eecoud  crop  gro-wn  is  a  fine  species  of  rice,  and 
constilutes  the  most  valuable  crop ;  and  upon 
its  success  ti.e  well-being  of  the  farmer  and 
of  the  country  greatly  depends. 

In  Mysore,  for  the  transplanted  Hainu  crop 
tlie  gr(»iind  is  ploughed  dry  thrice  between  the 
middle  of  February  and  the  middle  of  March. 
About  the  24th  of  May  the  field  is  inundated, 
and  ploughed  four  times  in  the  fifteen  following 
days.  After  the  last  ploughing,  the  surface  is 
levelled  with  the  foot,  the  seed  sown  very 
thick,  and  dung  sprinkled  over  it.  The  water 
is  let  off ;  but  on  the  third,  sixth,  and  ninth 
days  water  is  again  given,  and  as  often  let  off, 
not  being  allowed  to  stagnate.  On  the  twelfth 
day  the  water  is  let  on,  and  allowed  to  remain 
until  the  plants  are  fit  for  removing,  which  is 
about  thirty  days  after  sowing.  The  cultiva- 
tion of  the  field  into  which  they  are  trans- 
planted is  the  same  as  fur  the  Barraagy. 

By  this  mode,  the  field  into  which  the 
seedlings  are  transplanted  is  enabled  to  pro- 
duce previously  a  crop  of  pulse.  Otherwise, 
the  produce  is  not  more  than  that  obtained 
from  seed  sown  where  the  plants  are  to  re- 
main. Nor  is  it  stated  by  Dr.  Buchanan  that 
it  is  sujJerior  to  the  less  troublesome  mode  of 
germinating  the  seed.  Ithas  the  advantage  of 
insuring  a  more  regular  plant,  but  its  regu- 
lated distances  are  of  less  consequence,  since 
hoeing  is  not  required  in  a  field  constantly 
under  water.  Twenty  times  the  seed  sown  is 
an  average  crop. 

In  Mysore  the  Cumba  Cam  transplanted 
rice  is  cultivated  only  as  wet  seedlings,  idragy. 
About  the  16th  of  November  the  ploughiugs 
commence,  and  the  seed  is  sown  by  the  last 
day  of  December.  The  fields  on  which  this 
crop  is  ripened  are  begun  to  be  ploughed  about 
the  1st  of  December,  and  the  transplanting 
commences  about  the  29th  of  January.  The 
Tula  Cam  transplanted  rice  is  sown  nir'agy 
in  the  third  week  of  October,  and  is  trans- 
planted within  a  month  after.  Tlie  Maysha 
Cam  transplanted  rice  is  also  sown  riir'ayy, 
after  the  first  week  of  May,  and  in  about  a 
month  the  seedlings  are  transplanted. 

The  regular  Cam  crop  of  tlie  transplanted 
cultivation  does  not  interfere  with  a  preceding 
crop  of  pulse  ;  but  this  is  last  when,  from  want 
of  laborers,  &c.,  the  early  or  late  seasons  are 
adopted.  The  various  modes  of  cultivating 
rice  give  the  farmer  the  great  advantage  of 
being  able  to  cultivate  the  same  land  with 
fewer  hands  and  less  cattle  than  if  there  were 
only  one  seed  time  and  one  harvest,  the  labor 
being  divided  over  a  great  part  of  the  year.* 

In  the  vicinity  of  Pali-ghat,  in  South  Mala- 
bar, the  land  appropriate  for  the  production  of 
rice  is  called  Dhanmu<ry,  and  is  of  two  kinds 
— the  Pnlealll,  or  high  ground,  which  yields 
only  one  crop  annually,  and  the  low  ground, 
Ubayum,  which  produces  two  crops  in  the  year. 

*  Buchanan's  Mysore,  i  84-90. 


The  chief  points  of  difference  in  their  sys- 
tem of  cultivation  is,  that  on  the  Palealil 
ground  they  keep  the  crop  without  water  for 
fifteen  days  after  being  sown  ;  it  is  then  hand- 
weeded  by  women,  and  the  plants  thinned  to 
equal  distances.  At  Pali-ghat,  when  rice  is 
cultivated  according  to  the  transplanting  sys- 
tem, the  seedlings  are  raised  in  a  poor,  high- 
lying  soil,  called  the  Maytan,  which  is  kept 
for  tlie  purpose,  and  pays  no  rent. 

I  shall  make  but  little  allusion  to  the  agri- 
culture of  Birraah,  because  it  is  very  inferior 
es'en  to  that  of  India;  but,  as  an  example,  I 
will  give  an  outline  of  that  adopted  for  this 
their  principal  crop.  After  ploughing,  which  is 
not  done  more  than  twice,  and  even  in  some 
lands  only  harrowing  is  given,  the  clods  are 
broken  by  means  of  a  cylinder  of  wood,  dragged 
over  the  surfiice,  but  not  turning  upon  an  axis. 
The  land  is  wetted,  and  the  plants  transplant- 
ed, after  which  no  cultivation  is  given.  Two 
crops,  and  sometimes  three,  are  obtained  annu 
ally.  The  best  is  produced  during  the  rains , 
the  others  by  irrigation,  wliich  is  a  rude,  ex- 
pensive process,  performed  by  hand.* 

Transplanted  spring  rice  is  cultivated  in 
Puraniya,  on  the  banks  of  the  marshes,  which 
gradually  dry  as  the  spring  advances,  but  which 
always  retain  water  in  the  centre  sufficient  to 
supply  the  fields. 

Between  mid-September  and  mid-Novem- 
ber, a  plot  is  ploughed  upon  the  edge  for  a  seed- 
bed. In  this,  the  soil  being  first  mixed  into  a 
mud,  the  seed  is  sown,  having  been  made  to 
sprout  by  steeping  it  for  thirty  hours  in  water, 
and  keeping  it  covered  with  grass  in  a  shel- 
tered place. 

The  seedlings,  before  the  second  week  of 
January,  are  transplanteil  twice,  lower  down 
the  marsh's  side  each  time,  as  the  water  re- 
tires. At  each  transplanting  they  occupy 
double  the  space  they  previously  required. 

Between  mid-January  and  mid-April  they 
are  finally  transplanted.  About  one  lialf  is  so 
removed  in  the  first  mcnth  of  the  season,  and 
is  very  productive;  an  eighth  is  tran-^plauted 
in  the  second  month,  and  gives  an  indifferent 
crop;  and  the  remaining  three  eighths  are 
transplanted  during  the  tliird  month,  making  a 
return  so  miserable  as  to  be  scarcely  worih 
attention,  if  it  did  not  occupy  time  which 
would  otherwise  be  passed  in  idleness. f 

RE.\riNG. — It  is  a  common  practice  in  Din- 
jijpoor,  when  the  rice  is  nearly  rijie,  to  press 
the  crop  quite  flat  on  the  ground,  by  passing 
a  bamboo,  held  by  two  men,  over  tlie  whole. 
Various  reasons,  says  Dr.  Buchanan,  are  as- 
signed for  this.  It  is  said,  especially  in  the 
northwestern  parts  of  the  district,  where  the 
practice  is  most  common,  that  in  some  measure 
it   secures  the  field  from  the  depredation  of 


*  Crawford's  Embassy  to  Ava,  &c. 
+  Martin's  Biichauan's  India,  iii.  "13. 


RICE  CCXTTRE  IX  THE  EAST  INDIES. 


433 


tWeves,  who,  according  to  the  most  moderate 
computation,  compose  three  eighths  of  the  men 
in  these  parts.  It  is  also  said  that  it  prevents 
the  grain  shaking  out  when  ripe,  anil  so  gives 
time  for  harrosting  it,  resting  on  the  ground 
not  being  injurious;  moreover,  that  it  facilitates 
reaping,  as  the  reaper  aits  on  his  heels  while 
at  work.  It  is  chiefly  the  second  and  third 
kinds  of  winter  rice  that  are  managed  in  this 
manner.  In  reaping  the  coarse  kinds,  little  but 
the  ears  are  cut  off;  but  of  the  finer,  the  straw 
is  severed  close  to  the  ground. 

Diseases,  etc — Although  the  rice  requires 
a  more  abundant  supply  of  water  than  any 
other  of  the  cereal  crops,  yet  that  it  can  be 
applied  in  excess,  admits  of  no  doubt.  If, 
during  its  early  growth,  the  water  for  several 
days  is  deep  enough  to  overtop  its  central 
leaves,  the  crop  is  injured,  and  may  be  de- 
stroyed. Dr.  Tytler  states  decisively,  that  in 
Bengal  the  rice  annually  grows  in  water  far 
more  plentiful  than  is  required  for  its  proper 
cultivation,  and  hence  ihe  greatest  part  of 
every  crop  of  Bengal  paddy,  more  particularly 
the  autumnal,  or  ashoo  (vulgarly  pronounced 
aoosha)  harvest,  is  affected  with  the  ergot,  or 
cockspur,  a  disease  which  renders  it  not  only 
innutricious,  but  poisonous.* 

The  ergoty  claims,  or  cockspur,  which  occa- 
sionally so  much  injures  the  rice  crop,  is  known 
in  Europe  as  affecting  barley,  rye,  and,  more 
rarely,  wheat.  It  has  been  shown  by  M.  de 
Candolle  to  arise  from  a  parasitic  fungus,  which 
he  has  named  Sclerotiuni  clavus. 

It  is  an  elongated  substance,  filling  the  place 
of  the  grain  in  the  glume,  or  husk ;  its  flesh 
firm,  white,  compact,  of  one  substance  ;  its  sur- 
face dingy  purple.  Like  all  the  parasitic  fungi, 
its  occurrence  is  promoted  by  such  excessive 
humidity  as  is  unfavorable  to  the  plant.  Some 
districts  are  much  more  liable  to  its  attacks 
than  others.  It  has  not  been  found  to  be 
caused  by  applying  water  in  excess  upon  the 
head  of  the  grain.  It  is  strictly  topical ;  one 
or  more  grains  in  the  same  ear  may  be  affect- 
ed, and  the  others  free.f 

In  N"epaul,  the  upland  rice  is  liable  to  suffer 
from  the  attacks  of  grubs.  These  attack  the 
roots  of  the  plants,  and  their  ravages  are 
rendered  apparent  by  the  languishing  and 
whitening  of  the  young  rice  plants,  when  only 
a  few  inches  above  the  ground ;  this  is  attri- 
buted to  the  attacks  of  a  large  grub,  called 
kiongki,  or  root-worm,  of  a  black  or  blue  color, 
generally  the  thickness  of  the  forefinger,  some- 
times as  thick  as  the  thumb,  and  about  two 
inche^long.  It  is  supposed  by  the  natives  to 
be  produced,  and  to  thrive  best,  in  rotten 
manure,  and  to  devour  the  seed  and  young 
radicles  of  the  plant.  The  kiongki  is  most 
destructive  to  the  Gohya,  or  upland  rice,  at- 
tacking it  soon  after  being  sown,  and  continu- 


•  Trans.  Agri-Hort.  Soc.  of  India,  i,  10. 
t  Quart.  Journ.  of  Science,ii.  272. 
VOL.  II. 


ing  its  ravages  until  about  the  middle  of  May, 
after  which  it  ceases.  The  people  do  not  know 
of  what  flying  insect  this  grub  is  the  larva,  nor 
have  they  any  remedy  against  its  attacks,  ex- 
cept removing  it  from  the  fields  when  they  see 
it.  The  third  disease  of  wliite  crops  is  a  pre- 
mature whitening  of  the  ears  of  rice,  (both 
kinds,)  and  the  failure  of  the  grain  in  them. 
This  is  attributed  by  the  Newars  to  the  attacks 
of  a  small  grub,  the  size  of  the  common  white 
maggot,  the  body  of  which  is  white,  the  head 
black  and  hard.  It  is  called  xhco-ki,  the  mar- 
row or  pith-worm.  The  shco-ki  is  supposed 
to  eat  the  roots  of  the  rice  plants ;  but  its 
prey  more  especially  is  said  to  be  the  stalk 
and  juices  of  the  plant ;  for  obtaining  the  lat- 
ter of  which,  it  cuts  the  platits  at  the  joints, 
after  which  the  ear  whtxeus  without  filling. 
The  natives  attribute  the  drying  up  of  the  ear 
and  plant  to  the  drinking  of  its  milk  (sap)  by 
the  grub,  which  prevents  the  due  formation  of 
a  full-sized  grain.* 

Paxicum  iTALictiM. — There  are  two  varieties 
cultivated  in  Mysore,  the  ghidu,  or  dwarf,  and 
ihe  jotu,  or  doda,  or  tall. 

Soil. — In  whatever  country  grown,  it  re- 
quires the  best  light,  dry  soils,  unless  manure 
can  be  afforded  for  its  culture  ;  in  which  case 
a  poorer  soil  will  suflice. 

Cultivation. — The  ground  is  ploughed  six 
times  in  spring ;  and  the  seed,  about  half  a 
bushel  per  acre,  ploughed  in  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  rains. 

It  is  sometimes  grown  in  drills  among  Cyno- 
surus  corocanus. 

No  after  culture  is  given.  The  crop,  ripe 
within  three  months  from  the  time  of  sowing, 
is  reaped  close  to  the  ground — in  Mysore 
stacked  for  eight  days ;  and  after  being  dried 
in  the  sunshine  for  one  day,  the  grain  is  trod- 
den out.  The  usual  produce  is  sixteen  bushels 
per  acre. 

Use. — It  is  used  for  the  same  purposes  as 
rice.     The  straw  is  not  good  fooder. 

Paxicum  miliaue. — There  are  three  varie- 
ties in  Mysore,  called  hari,  cari,  and  hal,  or 
bilg.     They  are  never  intermixed. 

Soil. — It  requires  a  light  soil.  Of  this  de- 
scription the  very  poorest  is  usually  assigned  for 
its  gi'owth,  for  no  other  reason  than  that  ma- 
nure is  so  deficient. 

Cultivation. — The  Land  is  ploughed  in  the 
spring  five  times ;  and  when  the  heavy  rains 
begin,  the  seed  is  sown  from  two  to  three  and 
a  half  gallons  per  acre,  and  pUmghed  in.  Ma- 
nure is  not  absolutely  required  for  this  crop, 
even  in  the  worst  lands,  though  its  applica- 
tion improves  the  produce. 

No  after  culture  is  given  to  it;  and  in  three 
months  it  is  reaped,  being  cut  close  to  the 
ground,  and  gathered  into  heaps.  In  five  or 
six  days  it  is  ready  for  the  thrashing  floor 
and  its  oxen.      An  average  crop  is  in  some 

•  Traus.  Agri-Hort.  Soc.  iv.  152,  153. 

28 


434 


RAILROADS ADDRESS. 


districts  three,  and  in  others  sixteen  bushels 
per  acre ;  but  always  most  abundant  where 
the  crop  is  sown  thickest. 

Use. — The  grain  is  employed  for  the  same 
purposes  as  rice,  and  the  straw  is  a  serviceable 
fodder. 

Paxicum  miliacex.'m. — This  is  the  well-known 
chcnna  of  Bengal.  Two  varieties  are  known 
in  Puraniyali — bhadai,  which  ripens  in  spring, 
and  vasaki,  ripening  in  the  rainy  season. 

Sowing. — The  first  is  sown  about  Febru- 
ary, and  the  second  just  as  the  rains  com- 
mence. 

In  Mysore  only  one  crop  of  this  grain  is 
sown,  and  the  sowing  takes  place  at  the  close 
of  the  lieavy  rains. 

Soil. — This  differs  from  the  other  species  in 
preferring  a  tenacious  soil,  which  should  be 
moderately  fertile. 

Cullioation. — After  two  or  three  plougliings, 
the  seed  is  sown,  and,  in  Mysore,  covered  by 
an  additional  ploughing;  but  in  other  parts 
of  India  the  usual  harrowing  is  given.  No 
manure  is  applied,  nor  any  other  culture.  The 
crop  ripens  in  about  ten  weeks,  is  reaped  close 
to  the  surface,  and  the  grain  is  trodden  out.  In 
Mysore  it  is  stacked  for  a  few  days  before 
thrashing. 

Use. — The  seed  is  used  as  rice,  but  the 
straw  only  serves  for  fuel. 

RAILROADS. — Address  to  the  People 
OF  THE  Southerx  axd  Westeun  States. — By 
w.iy  of  preface  to  this  paper,  we  Avill  furnish 
a  i^hort  historical  memoir  of  the  railroad  move- 
ments in  New-Orleans,  wliich  have  been  at- 
tracting so  much  jJublic  attention. 

In  1834,  M.  W.  Hoffman  and  the  Hon. 
Clark  Woodruff'  originated  the  idea  of  a  rail- 
road from  New-Orleans  to  Nasliville,  Ten 
nessee.  A  charter  was  obtained  in  1833.  Sur- 
veys were  imraeiliately  undertaken.  Difficul- 
ties interposed  by  the  Legislature  of  Mississippi 
arrested  the  work  one  year.  Twenty  miles 
were  however  finished  and  put  in  operation. 
Here  the  enterprise  failed,  with  the  loss  of  an 
immense  sum  of  money,  and  at  this  day  nearly 
all  traces  of  the  superstructure  are  lost.  For 
this  failure  several  reasons  are  assigned : 
the  work  being  in  advance  of  the  times — tiie 
want  of  confidence  on  the  part  of  the  people 
and  legislature — the  high  prices  for  material — 
the  restrictions  imposed  by  the  city — the 
crisis  of  1837,  Ac. 

In  the  summer  of  1849,  C.  S.  Tarpley,  of 
Mississippi,  began  the  publication  of  a  .series 
of  papers  advocating  a  road  from  Jackson 
in  Uiat  state  to  New-Orleans.  A  meeting  was 
soon  after  held  at  Jackson  when  it  was  re- 
solved to  hold  a  convention  of  the  two  states 
at  Monticello.  This  convention  met  in  De- 
cember, and  after  appointing  the  following 
committees,  adjourned  over  to  meet  in  New- 
Orleans  on  the  21st  March,  1850  : 

Committee  on  Routes, — John  Marshall,  Hon. 


E.  Ford,  "W.  H.  Bowen,  A.  Steele,  —Love,  S. 
M.  Catchings,  W.  A.  Grice,  John  M.  Bell,  N. 
S.  Edwards. 

(Jommiltee  on  Statistics. — "W.  F.  Robinson. 
J.  T.  Lampkin,  C.  S.  Tarpley,  G.  Nicholsonj 
E.  Saftbrd,  of  ]ilississippi,  J.  D.  B,  De  Bow, 
New-Orleans. 

Committee  on  Memorials. — S.  J.  Peters, 
James  Robb,  J.  W.  Stanton,  A.  Hennon,  J. 
Leeds,  James  Saul,  of  New-Orleans ;  Messrs. 
Ponn,  Tarpley,  Stone,  Catchings,  Mathews, 
Guion,  WauU,  kc,  Mississippi. 

The  meeting  in  New-Orleans  was  held  in 
March,  1850,  but  attracted  no  public  interest, 
and  consisted  only  of  a  handful  of  persons. 
At  this  the  Mississipiiians  took  great  umbrage, 
and  the  friends  of  the  work  began  to  despond. 
Another  meeting  was  however  suggested  by 
them,  to  be  held  in  New-Orleans,  in  April, 
1851.  In  the  interim  the  little  leaven  had  been 
leavening  the  whole  mass.  Prominent  gen- 
tlemen of  New-Orleans  were  willing  to  come 
forward  and  show  their  hands.  Robb,  Burke, 
Benjamin,  Conrey,  White,  tire,  were  shoulder  to 
shoulder.  Mr.  Robb's  speech  electrified  the 
convention  and  the  community.  Morning  be- 
gan to  dawn.  Meanwhile  some  gentlemen  of 
Opeiousas  came  to  New-Orleans,  entreating 
for  capital,  and  proposing  a  bonus  of  i^lOO,UOO 
to  any  company  who  would  build  them  a  road 
to  Point  Coupee,  on  the  river,  about  35  miles. 
These  were  Messrs.  Swayze  and  Martin,  but 
they  got  little  encouragement  The  Attakapas 
country  was  also  vigorously  urging  a  railroad 
to  the  Mississippi  at  Plaquemines  or  Donald- 
sonville.  The  idea  however  took  hold  upon 
some  minds,  and  at  a  meeting  of  which 
Maunsel  White  was  president,  it  was  detei*- 
mined  to  build  the  road  quite  down  to  New- 
Orleans  instead  of  to  Point  Coupoe.  A  con- 
vention was  called  for  June,  which  was  held 
in  the  Municipal  Hall,  and  largely  attended 
from  the  city  and  parishes.  Mr.  Burke  offered 
a  series  of  resolutions,  in  substance  the  same 
as  those  which  were  offered  by  ourselves  in 
the  April  convention,  and  coldly  laid  upon  the 
table  without  dissent,  (the  word  southern 
being  thought  to  smack  too  strongly  of  Caro- 
linaism  and  Nashville  Conventionism,)  pro- 
viding for  a  call  of  a  General  liailroad  Con- 
vention of  the  Southern  and  Western  States, 
to  concert  common  measures  of  advancement. 
The  resolutions  were  carried  by  acclamation, 
and  a  committee  appointed,  consisting  of 
Glendy,  Burke,  A.  D.  Grossman,  J.  D.  B.  De 
Bow,  Alexander  Mouton,  and  C.  S.  Tarpley,  to 
]jrepare  an  address  to  the  people  of  the  south 
and  west,  and  to  visit  all  of  the  states,  de- 
livering (jral  addresses,  ttc.  How  the  com- 
mittee performed  their  duties  will  be  per- 
ceived by  the  paper  now  presented,  and  in 
the  large  and  entiiusiastic  convention  which 
met  in  New-Orleans  in  January,  1852,  and 
which  matured  the  present  great  system  of 
southwestern  improvement.    The  reader  will 


RAILROADS — ADDRESS. 


435 


obtain  the  full  details  of  all  of  these  move- 
ments iu  the  consecutive  volumes  of  the 
Review. 

ADDRESS. 

The  portion  of  the  Union  which  we  occupy 
is  one  of  the  most  wealthy  in  the  world,  and 
produces,  in  proportion  to  population,  tlie 
greatest  amount  of  exportable  commodities. 
Shall  it  be  asserted,  that  this  great  section  of 
the  Union  is  so  peculiarly  anriadlnral  that  it 
can  contain  within  its  limits  no  large  cities, 
no  controlling  centres  and  emporia,  but  must 
be  dependent  upon  the  nortlitrn  Atlantic  sea- 
boards, penetrated  through  mountain  passes, 
and  by  the  most  difficult  and  devious  roads, 
for  the  vitals  of  commercial  life  and  activity  ? 
Is  there  any  necessary  reason  that  the  whole 
commercial  strength  of  the  nation  should  con- 
centrate iu  the  cities  of  the  north,  whilst  New- 
Orleans,  Mobile,  Charleston,  and  Savannah,  j 
are  arrested  in  their  progress,  or  exhibit  at 
times  even  the  evidences  of  decline  ?  Whence  ! 
is  it,  that  Louisville,  Memphis,  Vicksburg,  and 
Nashville,  have  shown  less  of  that  progress 
which  has  marked  other  sections  of  the  con- 
federacy? Are  the  cities  and  towns  of  the 
south  and  southwest  in  particular  to  decline, 
or  to  remain  stagnant,  whilst  the  din  of  pro- 
gress is  heard  every  where  else  ?  Are  there 
aot  sympathies  and  interests  to  bind  us  toge- 
ther in  this  section  of  the  south  and  the  val- 
ley of  the  west,  and  can  we  not,  by  a  con- 
certed action,  promote  our  common  weal  ? 
Whilst  we  have  been  idle  spectators,  New- 
York  and  Boston  have  been  taking  away  the 
commerce  of  the  rich  and  growing  states  of 
the  northwest,  which  once  paid  tribute  to  us 
as  it  passed  to  the  ocean,  but  which  now 
avoids  our  limits  and  refuses  its  former  wealth. 
Are  the  millions  of  the  northwest  more 
naturally  allied  to  those  of  the  north  than  to 
us,  who  occupy  a  part  of  the  same  great  val- 
ley, and  are  nearer  of  approach;  and  must 
we  for  ever  abandon  the  idea  of  controlling, 
or  of  sharing  their  commerce  ? 

These  questions,  fellow-citizens,  have  a 
direct  and  common  interest  to  all  of  our  states, 
and  upon  their  solution  will  depend  much  of 
the  history  of  this  great  and  growing  region 
in  the  future.  Dense  population,  great  and 
growing  cities,  wealth,  power,  and  influence, 
and  political  strengtli  on  the  one  hand — or 
scattering  villages,  decayed  cities,  stagtiaiit 
life,  and  comparative  poverty  and  imbecility, 
are  the  alternatives  wliich  seem  to  be  pre- 
sented ;  the  realization  of  which  may  depend, 
in  a  much  higher  degree  tlian  we  have  sup- 
posed, up<in  our  own  individual  agencies. 

It  is  time  that  we  were  truly  aroused  to 
the  urgencies  and  necessities  of  the  occasion, 
whilst  all  the  world  around  us  is  in  motion. 
The  interiors  of  many  of  our  great  states  are 
as  diflicult  practically  of  comnmnication  with 
their  commercial  cities,  or  with  each  other,  as 


they  would  be  were  the  restraints  of  separate 
governments  and  custom-house  collectors 
interposed  between  them  !  Roads  for  many 
months  of  the  year  almost  impassable,  and  at 
all  times  of  enormously  costly  and  laborious 
transit; — rivers  with  their  insecurities  and 
detentions,  and  frequent  and  frightful  losses, 
exclude  us  from  intercourse  and  easy  connec- 
tion with  each  other,  except  up(jn  the  borders 
of  the  very  largest  rivei-s.  For  many  months 
of  the  year  the  citizens  of  Louisville  might 
reach  New-Orleans  by  way  of  New-York 
sooner  than  by  tliat  of  the  Ohio  and  the  Mis- 
sissippi !  Nashville  is  at  all  times  as  dis- 
tant and  of  more  hazardous  apj)roach  to  New- 
Orleans  than  is  New- York.  Little  Rock  is 
practically  as  far  from  the  ocean  as  if  seated 
at  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony.  But  this  is  not 
the  worst.  Whole  regions  of  immense  fer- 
tility within  om-  limits  are  shut  out  <  ntirely 
and  hopelessly  from  any  market  whatever, 
and  in  not  one  of  our  states  can  the  citizens 
of  the  interior  reach  their  .''hipping  or  com- 
mercial points  in  less  time  than  it  would  take 
a  citizen  of  Boston  to  visit  New- York,  Phila- 
delphia, Baltimore  and  Washington,  and  even 
in  many  cases  to  stop  at  each  of  the  points — 
:md  return  to  his  home  !  Thus  is  it,  that  our 
prosperity  is  interrupted  by  causes  which 
tend  to  separate  us  in  interests  and  in  feel- 
ings ;  and  thus  is  it  that  we  seem  incapable 
of  alliance  for  any  great  purpose,  whilst  other 
sections  of  the  Union  constitute,  so  far  as 
their  intereHts  are  concerned,  always  a  unit. 

If  we  compare  the  ten  northern  state3, 
Maine,  New-Hampshire,  Vermont,  Connec- 
ticut, Rhode  Island,  Delaware,  New-Jersey, 
Massachusetts,  Pennsylvania,  New- York,  with 
the  ten  southern,  Maryland,  A'irginia,  North 
and  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama,  Flo- 
rida, Louisiana,  Arkansas,  Tennessee,  we  find, 
the  population  of  each  class  of  states  being 
nearly  equal,  the  north  has  (5,8.38  miles  of 
railroad  in  operation,  whilst  the  south  has  but 
2,309.  Thus,  in  the  comparison  of  popula- 
tion, the  north  has  three  miles  of  railroad  to 
our  one.  The  comparison  would  be  still  more 
striking,  were  the  states  of  the  southwest 
compared  with  those  of  New-England.  If 
we  compare  in  regard  to  territory,  the  area 
of  the  northern  states  is  less  than  one  fourth 
that  of  the  southern,  or  one  sixth,  including 
Texas.  Thus  the  north  lias  twelve  times,  or, 
including  Texas,  eighteen  times  the  extent  of 
railroads  to  the  square  mile  that  we  have. 

The  average  cost  of  railroads  at  the  north 
has  been  at  least  double  that  of  the  south  ;* 
therefore,  each  individual  of  the  north    has 


*  January  1st,  1849,  there  were  in  Ma«sacliusetts, 
and  the  adjaeent  states,  1,2.59  miles  of  railroad,  coat- 
ing $47,322,93t^— eiiual  to  $.37,.ift7  72  per  mile.  The 
averatre  cost  of  2'17  miles  of  road,  in  North  Caroliua, 
was  $12,800  per  Tnile ;  of  51  mile.s  in  Aliibiinia,  it 
was  $10,703;  of  the  Central  Roiid  of  <;eoi^;iit,  190 
miles  long,  it  was  $12,"02  per  mile,  and  the  Jlacon 
and  Western  Railroad,  101  miles,  cost  only  $6,218 


436 


RAILROADS ADDRESS. 


expended  on  the   average  between  six  and   in  the  same  time.   The  Boston  and  "Worcester 
eight  times  as  much  as  each  individual  at  the  —  "  i:---i..J  ^^  oo  r,,,>  :_ 

south,  and  each  mile  of  northern  territory  has 
expended  upon  railroads  on  tlie  average  about 
thirty  times  as  much  as  each  mile  of  southern 
territory ! 

Whilst  this  state  of  things  has  existed,  the 
relative  commerce  of  the  two  sections  has  re- 
mained as  follows:  In  1 846,  the  exports  of 
northern  growth  and  manufactures,  (and  much 
of  these  manufactm-es  were  from  southern 
materials,)  were  ?  '7,331,290;  whilst  the  ex-/ 


ports  of  southern  produce,  cotton,  tobaccc^  and  western  railroad  improvement,  if  they 
rice,  naval  stores,  &c.,  were  $74,000,000,  <^r  ' 
three  times  as  much.  In  1847,  the  southern 
exports  were  $102,000,000,  against  the  nor- 
thern 848,000,000;  in  1848,  -$98,000,000, 
against  the  northern  $34,000,000;  in  18^9, 
$99,000,000,  against  $32,000,000.  Thkse 
facts  are  conclusive  in  evidence,  that  the  rpiil- 
road  inferiority  of  the  southern  states  is  mot 
the  result  of  inferiority  in  commercial  and 
transportable  commodities  and  wealth.       \ 

A  comparison  of  particular  states  will  shc^, 
too,  most  conclusively,  that  not  the  mep-e 
denseness  of  population  has  influenced  rail- 
road construction.  Thus  Ohio  is  denser  than 
the  average  of  New-England,  and  has  but 
one  third  to  one  half  the  extent  of  railroadsj 
Indiana,  and  parts  of  Michigan,  are  as  dens4 
as  Vermont.  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  both 
exceed  the  density  of  Maine,  which  has  nearly 
211  miles  actually  constructed,  whilst  Ken- 
tucky and  "Tennessee  toe/ether  have  not  so 
much ;  or,  to  compare  even  the  southern  At 
lantic  states  with  each  other,  Georgia,  with 
one  million  of  population,  has  twice  or  three 
tim  es  the  extent  of  railroads  contained  in  all 
the  states  of  the  southwest,  and  south  Carolina 
has  more  than  Louisiana,  Texas,  Mississippi, 
Alabama  and  Arkansas,  actually  constructed,, 
though  her  population  is  not  one  third  so 
great  as  theirs ! 

Will  it  be  said  that  the  people  of  New- 
England  and  the  north  are  more  migratory  in 
their  habits,  more  extensively  addicted  to 
travel,  tlian  the  people  of  the  south  and  the 
west?  Tills  may  be  true,  but  for  no  neces- 
sary reason,  as  the  statistics  of  the  Georgia 
and  Carolina  roads  already  evince;  and, 
indeed,  the  experience  of  the  north  itself  con 
firms  our  judgment.  Time  was  when  loco- 
motion was  as  tardy  and  as  interrupted  at 
the  north  as  it  is  here,  and  the  disposition  for 
travel  did  not  then  exist. 

Wh(;n  the  Boston  and  Lowell  road  was 
proposed,  the  commissioners,  basing  their  esti 
mates  ujjon  the  extent  of  travel  then  existing, 
supposed  that  37,500  passengers  might  be 
carried  annually.  This  high  figure  was 
thought  by  many  absurd.  Ten  years  after- 
wards this  road  carried  400,880  passengers 


per  mile.    The   Jefferson   Railroad,  Indiaua, 
$8,004  iii  per  mile— CO  miles. 


cost 


road  was  estimated  at  23,500  passengers ;  in 
1S4G  it  reached  470,319.  The  Eastern  road 
claimed  121,000  ;  it  has  reached  nearly  1,000,- 
000  !  The  Fitchliurg  road,  based  upon  the 
results  up  to  1845,  had  calculated  upon 
72,000  passengers  per  annum.  The  number 
immediately  reached  327,034.  Thus  the 
travelling  propensities  of  Massachusetts  did 
not  create  their  roads,  but  the  roads  created 
theoe  propensities.* 

Where,  then,  are  the  obstacles  to  southern 


do  not  exist  in  the  want  of  merchantable  pro- 
ducts for  a  market — in  the  density  and  ex- 
tent of  population — in  travelling  propensities, 
or  other  sufficient  facilities  of  transport  ?  Can 
such  obstacles  exist  at  all  among  a  people 
who  have  within  themselves,  for  a  large  part 
of  the  year,  abundance  of  negro  labor  appli- 
cable to  the  construction  of  roads  at  cheap 
expense,  abundance  of  timber  to  be  had  with- 
out cost,  abundance  of  public  lands  ready  to 
be  donated,  and  which  will,  in  some  instances, 
contribute  half  the  expense  of  construction — 
a  level  country  requiring  little  grading,  and 
no  right  of  way  to  be  purchased,  an  immense 
consideration  in  other  quarters  ?  There  is  not 
a  people  upon  the  face  of  the  earth  who  can, 
at  so  cheap  an  expense,  checker  every  section 
of  their  fertile  territory  with  the  iron  bands 
of  travel  and  of  commerce,  or  hear  in  every 
part  of  their  limits  the  shrill  pipe  of  the  loco- 
motive. 

The  importance  of  speedy,  cheap,  and  un- 
interrupted communication  between  the  peo- 
ple of  the  same,  or  of  neighboring  states,  is 
felt  in  the  cheapening  of  commodities,  and,  of 
course,  in  the  increase  of  tlieir  consumption 
and  production;  in  the  enlargement  of  the 
area  tributary  to  their  great  towns,  and  in 
the  extension  of  the  benefits  of  these  towns  ; 
in  the  diversification  of  labor  and  employ- 
Uient ;  the  promotion  of  commerce ;  the  re- 


*  Snfcty  of  Railroads. — The  chief  cause  of  the 
popularity  of  railroads  as  instruments  of  travel,  is 
tlieir  safety.  No  other  conveyance  can  compare 
with  them,  not  oven  private  carriages.  There  were 
in  operation,  January  1st,  !849,  in  Massachusetts, 
and  the  adjoining  states,  1,259  miles  of  railroad  ;  and 
in  18-iy,  (as  far  as  reported,)  there  were  transported 
on  these  roads  19,474,203  passengers  williin  six 
years ;  there  were  22  passengers  killed— 53  em- 
ployees, and  42  other  persons — in  all,  117.  In  Eng- 
land it  is  estimated  that  the  chances  of  a  man's  losing 
his  life  in  travelling  300  miles  is  as  217,i^7i)  to  I  ;  and 
that  out  of  400,000packagcs  of  merchandise  (  nly  1  is 
lost.  By  a  return  made  to  the  English  legislalurc, 
we  find  a  statement  made  of  accidc^nts  which  had 
occurred  in  England,  Ireland  and  Scotland,  for  half 
a  year.  Ninety  persons  had  been  killed ;  of  these, 
thirteen  died  from  causes  which  the  parties  deceased 
could  not  have  averted.  Fifty-seven  had  died  from 
mispo  nduet  or  carelessness  on  the  part  of  the  de- 
ceased themselves.  Ninety-nine  had  also  been 
wound  cd  ;  and  the  whole  uumher  of  passengers  had 
been,  during  the  half  year,  no  fewer  than  20,330,492 
l)ersons.  These  facts  illustrate  very  fully  the  safety 
of  this  mode  of  travel. 


RAILROADS ADDRESS. 


437 


moval  of  prejudices;  the  strengtbening  of 
bonds  of  harmony  and  peace, — the  realization 
of  greater  security  and  strength  during  actual 
war !  In  a  republican  government  more  than 
in  any  other  in  the  world,  these  arguments 
should  be  held  irresistible  and  conclusive  in 
favor  of  such  speedy,  cheap,  and  uninterrupted 
commuiiicati^in. 

It  is  curious  to  reflect  upon  the  tardy  pro- 
gress which  the  world  has  made  in  the  means 
of  transport  and  conveyance,  until  within  the 
experience  of  the  present  generation  of  men. 
Only  eighty  years  ago,  in  proud  old  Eugland, 
the  traveller,  Arthur  Young,  bewailed  the 
"perils"  of  her  best  turnpikes.  "  Let  me 
most  seriously  caution  all  travellers  who  maj' 
accidentally  propose  to  travel  this  terrible 
country,  to  avoid  it  as  thej'  would  the  devil, 
for,  a  thousand  to  one,  they  break  their  necks 
or  their  limbs  by  overthrows  or  breakings 
down."  "This  is  a  paved  road  infamously 
bad ;  any  person  would  imagine  the  people 
of  the  country  had  made  it  with  a  view  to 
immediate  destruction,  for  the  breadth  is  only 
sufficient  for  one  carriage  ;  consequently  it  is 
cut  at  once  into  ruts,"  <tc.  "  Let  me  persuade 
all  travellers  to  avoid  this  terrible  country, 
which  must  either  dislocate  their  bones  with 
broken  pavements,  or  bury  them  in  sandy 
mud."  This  was  spoken  iu  1*770,  of  one  of  the 
wealthiest  portions  of  Englaud,  which  is  at 
present,  according  to  Dr.  Lardner,  reticulated 
with  railroads,  upon  which  tens  of  thousands 
of  passengers  are  daily  ti'ansported  at  a  speed 
varying  from  thirty  to  fifty  miles  an  hour ! 

What  is  true  of  England  is  true,  even  in  a 
higher  degree,  for  the  United  States,  since 
many  of  us  can  remember   the  time  when 
whole  days,  and  even  weeks,  were  occupied 
in  passing  between  the  most  populous  and 
frequented  cities   of  the   north,  which   now  ' 
employ   as  many   hours ;    and   when   New- 
Orleaus  was  practically  as  remote  from  the 
city  of  Washington    as  is  the  Bay  of  San  I 
Francisco  or  the   mouth  of  the  Columbia.* 
Notwithstanding  the  extraordinary  improve- : 
ments  which  have  been  made,  many  populous  i 
and  wealthy  portions  ol'  the  south  and  west 


•  Mr.  Balfour,  of  Massachusetts,  says  :  "Tlie  first 
railroad  cliarler  iu  the  United  folates  was  granted 
March  4th,  1326,  to  convey  granite  from  Quiucy, 
Mass.,  to  tide-water.  The  first  railro;;din  the  United 
States,  on  which  passengers  were  conveyed,  was  the 
Baltimore  and  Ohio  road,  chartered  February,  16:i7, 
and  partly  0|)ened  December  28th,  ld29.  A  single 
horse  was  employed,  carrying  41  pa9senf,'ers  at  the 
rate  of  12  miles  per  hour.  Benjamin  Kranklin,  iu 
1743,  advertises  that  the  northern  post  will  set  out 
from  Philadelphia  for  Xew-York  on  Thursda\s— the 
southern  post  on  Mondays  —  poing  every  fortnight 
during  the  summer  season!  There  are  now  three 
daily  lines  between  Philadelphia  and  New-York. 
The  nc^ws  of  tli<j  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  was  two  weeks 
Sn  reaching  Philadelphia.  William  I'^llery,  a  delegate 
to  Congress,  1777,  was  25  days  j(jurneying  on  horse- 
back from  Dighton,  JIass.,  to  York,  Ponna. ;  and 
Josiab  Quincy,  in  1773,  was  33  days  in  a  journey  from 
South  Carolina  to  Philadelphia,"  i$-c. 


are  in  no  better  condition  than  were  the 
pari.shes  of  England  in  the  time  of  Arthur 
Young.  "Sir,"  said  a  farmer  to  us  in  New- 
berry, S.  C,  "  talk  of  the  expense  of  wagoning 
to  market  my  cotton  eating  up  the  profits  of 
my  crop.  It  does  more,  sir.  I  could  take 
you  to  the  Buzzard  Lane  and  show  you, 
besides  the  profits  of  m^'  crop,  some  dozen 
mules  and  horses  eaten  up  by  the  mud  holes. 
I  could  take  you  to  the  grave-yard  hard  by, 
and  show  you  where  lie  buried  my  dear 
friends,  who  have  died  of  exposure  while  wag- 
oning over  these  cursed  holes,"  &c. 

Railroads  are  the  creations  of  the  present 
'  age,  and  have  reached  their  maturity  almost 
at  one  bound,  if  we  can  call  that  maturity, 
which  is  always  progressing  and  achieving 
results  (that  excel  the  dreams  of  ancient  or 
oriental  fabu'ists)  higher  and  higher,  and 
more  rapidly  than  they  can  be  chronicled. 

The  Manchester  Railroad,  in  EngUmd,  has 
the  credit  of  having  been  the  first  in  the 
world ;  and  Mr.  Stephenson,  its  projector,  was 
laughed  at  very  generally  for  his  folly  in  sup»- 
posing  that  twelve  miles  an  hour  might  be 
attained  on  this  road.  This  was  in  1832.* 
In  1840,  there  were  1,300  miles  of  railroads 
in  Great  Britain;  in  ISil,  1,500;  1845, 
2,-100. 

The  first  railroad  in  the  United  States — a 
pretty  affair  of  four  miles — was  employed  to 
carry  granite  at  Quincy,  and  was  built  in 
1825,  though  in  January,  1829,  says  the 
Railroad  Journal,  there  was  not  a  road  in 
operation  on  which  locomotive  engines  were 
successfully  used  as  the  propelling  power! 
In  1832,  there  were  92  miles  in  operation, 
and  the  utmost  that  was  claimed  for  them 
was,  that  they  would  answer  for  light  parcels 
and  passengers.  In  the  twenty  years  that 
followed,  there  have  been  constructed  7,000 
miles  of  railroads  in  the  United  States. 

Up  to  1845,  there  had  been  expended  in 
the  United  States  110  millions  of  dollars  upon 
railroads,  which  were  yielding  at  that  time  an 
average  interest  of  five  per  cent. ;  whilst  in 
the  same  period  150  millions  had  been  squan- 
dered on  banks,  which  had  carried  ruin  before 
them. 

Let  us  briefly  consider  some  of  the  effects 
of  railroads  as  they  manifest  themselves  upon 
population,  industry,  wealth,  and  society. 

1  Upon  Population. — It  will  not  be  de- 
nied that  very  much  of  the  settlement  of  a 
country  depends  upon  the  capacities  afforded 
of  communication  aud  transport.  Even  infe- 
rior lands  will  be  cultivated,  if  within  reach 
of  a  market,  whilst  the  most  productive  will 
remain  in  a  state  of  nature,  or  with  the  most 
limited  population.     The  arguments   which 

•  They  laughed  more  heartily  at  Mr.  Clinton. 
"  Where  is  the  water  to  come  from  to  till  up  this 
great  ditch  ?"  ''You  need  have  no  fears  upon  that 
subject — the  tears  of  the  people  will  fdlit." — Debate 
oil  the  construction  of  the  Erie  Canal, 


438 


RAILROADS — ADDRESS. 


apply  to  common  roarls  are  strengthened  in 
the  case  of  turnpikes;  still  more  on  plank- 
roads  and  canal?,  and  in  the  hi;^hest  degree  on 
railroads,  which  intro  iuce  the  pi^tent  element 
of  steam.  It  is  common  experience  that  set- 
tlements and  large  towns  will  spring  up  on 
the  route  of  a  railroad,  where  hitherto  nothing 
but  farnvhouses  were  to  be  seen,  except  at  its 
termhii.  The  traveller  at  the  north  will  be 
struck  with  this  every  hour.  These  villages 
and  towns  become  themselves  the  centres  of  a 
back  population,  and  give  rise  to  the  opening 
of  new  lands,  and  tlms  the  area  continually 
widens.  The  history  of  the  west  is  strongly 
in  point.  When  she  was  shut  off  from  the 
Atlantic  by  a  road  of  60  days,  or  a  flat-bt-at 
navigation  quite  as  long,  the  progress  of  pop- 
ulation and  products  was  slow,  revolutions 
were  openly  discussed,  and  a  separate  govern- 
ment adequate  to  her  necessities  proposed. 
Tlie  power  of  railroads  and  steam  has  changed 
the  whole  aspect  of  things,  and  the  west, 
which  had  but  300,000  at  the  close  of  the  last 
century,  contained,  in  1820,  2,207,463;  in  1830, 
3,672,56'J;  in  ISiO,  5,302,918,  and  reaches 
nearly  10,000,000  at  the  present  time.  How 
much  larger  might  have  been  the  population, 
had  facilities  like  those  of  New- York  and 
Massachusetts  been  enjoyed,  may  be  readily 
imagined.  It  will  not  do  to  argue  that  popu- 
lation must  come  before  railroads.  It  is  pos- 
sible to  stimulate  and  excite  it  1  If  the  7ia- 
tural  facilities  of  rivers  and  navigable  streams 
exercise  great  influence  on  the  growth  of  pop- 
ulation, as  in  the  history  of  a  settlement  none 
can  deny,  will  not  other  facilities  of  a  like 
or  even  a  different  cliaracter  have  the  same 
effect  ?  Population  follows  the  rivers,  and 
not  rivers  the  population,  and  so  is  it  cf  rail- 
roads. 

2.  Upon  Industry. — A  people  dependent 
upon  mere  production,  and  incapable  of  ex- 
changing, can  only  remain  in  savage  barbar- 
ism. The  first  step  in  progress  is  barter ;  for 
without  it,  production  will  be  confined  to  the 
mere  abject  necessities  of  life.  Trade  stimu- 
lates new  energies  and  life,  and  ultimately 
civilization.  Industry  is  its  hand-maiden. 
Manufactures  go  hand  in  hand  with  it;  for 
every  article  of  manufacture,  except  the  very 
rudest,  presupposes  exchange,  since  tlie  skill 
of  the  field  laborer  nuist  be  sujjplied  by  that 
of  the  artisan.  The  frequency  of  exchanges, 
and  the  capacities  for  them,  llujs  operate  upon 
production  and  fabrication.  The  Indian  hunter 
will  transport  on  his  back,  or  in  canoes,  his 
peltry,  iiuudreds  of  miles,  to  tl\c  trader.  This  | 
is  excliange  under  the  greatest  conceivable 
disadvantages.  The  Mexican  trader  will  sup- 
ply the  interior  commerce  upon  j)ack-lK)rses 
across  great  deserts.  This  is  connnerce  at  one 
remove ;  but  still,  under  such  discouragements, 
it  cannot  thrive,  and  thus  Mexico  remains, 
from  age  to  age,  without  improvement  or  pro- 1 
gress.    The  wagon,  the  flat-boat,  the  ship,  the  i 


steamer,  and  the  railroad,  are  successive  stepa 
in  advancement.  New  wants  spring  up  with 
the  facilities  of  their  enjoyment,  and  new  ener- 
gies are  diffused.  The  poorer  classes  become 
consumers  of  what  formerly  was  confined  to 
the  wealthy.  The  wealthy  look  around  for 
new  marks  to  distinguish  them  from  the  com- 
monalty ;  thus  industry  is  every  where  taxed 
and  encouraged,  manufacturing  towns  spring 
jp,  and  villages  grow  into  immense  cities, 
riie  forests  give  way  to  the  axe,  and  the  age 
of  highest  civilization  is  ushered  in. 

3.  Upon  Wealth. — "VVe  shall  confine  our- 
selves here  to  a  few  facts,  which  go  to  show 
the  immense  results  which  have  grown  out  of 
the  construction  of  railroads.  They  are  the 
creators  of  wealth  in  more  than  one  way.  As 
a  source  of  profitable  investment,  railroads 
have  not  been  surpassed  by  any  other.  We 
have  stated,  the  actual  earnings  on  the  roads 
of  England  are  over  four  per  cent,  on  the 
present  value  of  shares,  whilst  the  interest  on 
money  is  much  less.  If  there  has  been  a 
depreciation  in  the  stocks  of  the  roads,  it  is 
easily  accounted  for  by  the  monomania  which 
induced  the  construction  of  roads  that  were 
unnecessary,  and  by  the  reckless  and  extrava- 
gant system  of  construction,  incident  to  the 
infancy  of  all  novel  enterprises.  The  same 
remark  applies  to  the  United  States,  where 
the  dividends  of  roads  average  over  five  per 
cent.,  though  in  Massachusetts  this  average 
reaches  eight  per  cent. ;  whilst  upon  many 
roads  in  the  country,  ten,  and  even  a  much 
greater  per  cent,  has  been  realized  by  an 
economical  management.  No  other  invest- 
ments of  capital  have  paid  more;  and  if  we 
take  a  long  series  of  years,  no  others  have 
paid  so  much.  Losses,  to  be  sure,  have  been 
incurred,  and  immense  amounts  sunk,  as  our 
own  state  of  Louisiana  may  exemplify  ;  but  in 
what  depaa-*^ment  of  business  has  experience 
been  otherwise  ?  Certainly  not  in  commerce  ; 
certainly  not  in  banking ;  nor  even  in  agricul- 
ture and  manufactures.  Visionary  and  im- 
practicable schemes, and  ruinous  extravagance, 
will  find  their  place  in  every  branch  of  hu- 
man affairs.  In  the  United  States  they  have 
been,  perhaps,  less  felt  in  the  matter  of  rail- 
roads than  in  any  other  matter.  Nor  is  it  in 
actual  dividends  alone  that  railroad  profits 
are  achieved.  Far  from  it.  These  are  among 
their  least  advantages.  Projjrietors,  urban 
and  rural,  feel  their  effects  primarily  and  to 
the  largest  extent.  If  the  whole  amount  of 
the  investment  were  for  ever  without  dividend, 
it  would  be  good  economy  often  for  the  land- 
holders if  they  contributed  every  cent  of  it. 
The  enhancement  of  the  value  of  property 
has  in  many  cases  i)aid  tenfold  the  value  of 
the  investment.  Throughout  the  Union  prop- 
erty has  received  an  actual  tangible  benefit  to 
a  much  greater  amount  than  the  cost  of  all 
the  roads  in  it.  New- York  is  a  strong  illus- 
tration.   In  the  fifteen  yeai's  which  imme- 


RAILROADS ADDRESS. 


439 


diately  succeeiled  the  construction  of  the  Erie 
Canal,  the  value  of  property  in  the  city  ad- 
vanced 149  per  cent.,  though  in  tiie  preceding 
ten  years  it  had  not  adi'anced  one  dollar ;  the 
per  cent,  increase  of  population  being  not 
much  greater  immediately  atter  than  before 
the  construction  of  the  canal.  "  Wherever 
railroads  have  been  constructed,"  says  Colonel 
Gadsden,  of  South  Carolina,  "property  has 
risen  in  value,  and  new  stimuli  have  been 
given  to  trade  and  intercourse.  These  are 
not  speculative  views,  but  realities.  The  ap- 
preciation of  property  in  Boston  from  the 
roads  converging  upon  that  city  has  been  esti- 
mated at  thirty-seven  millions  of  dollars.  A 
reference  to  the  statistics  of  Carolina  roads 
will  show  that  property  and  trade  has,  within 
the  last  fifteen  years,  and  since  the  completion 
of  our  railroads,  increased  in  a  greater  degree 
on  the  Neck,  in  Colleton,  Barnwell,  Orange- 
burg, and  Edgefield,  than  iu  any  other  portion 
of  the  state,"  <fec. 

He  says  again :  "  I  shall  show  that  trade 
has  expanded,  and  the  value  of  real  estate 
increased,  since  the  establishment  of  the 
railroad.  Any  one  who  will  make  the  in- 
quiry, will  find  that  land  all  along  the  road 
to  Hambtirg  and  Columbia,  for  live  miles 
each  side  of  it,  has  appreciated  in  value  since 
its  construction,  50,  500,  and  in  some  cases, 
5,000  per  cent. ;  and  where  before  its  con- 
struction there  were  not  twenty  thousand 
dollars  of  trade,  there  is  now  upwards  of 
^250,000.  The  valuationof  property  on  the 
South  Carolina  railroad,  compared  before 
and  since  its  construction,  shows — I8.3O, 
$11,337,012;  184G,  819,0'75,157 ;  gain,  $7,- 
638,145.  The  city  of  Charleston  shows  real 
estate,  1830,  $8,366,914;  1840,  813,527,743; 
gain,  .$5,160,829.  This  increase  in  trade,  and 
the  value  of  real  estate,  I  insist  has  been 
principally  attributable  to  the  introduction 
of  railroads;  and  if  the  saving  were  added 
to  the  gain,  the  advantages  woidd  appear 
almost  inappi-eeiable." 

The  statistics  of  New- York  and  Boston 
are  even  more  interesting  in  showing  the  re- 
sults of  railroads. 

BOSTON. 

Real  Estate.        Personal.  Totil 

1841.. 62,063,000  3G,043,C00  98.100,(500 
184-2.. 6.5,509,i5no  41,2-22.800  10C,73:t,300 
1843.. 72,048,000  4(5,-102.300  1 18,4.'-)0.300 
1844. 97,704,500  64,595,900  1U2,3()0.400 
1830 206,040,844 

I  ncrease  of  real  and  personal 

estate  from  184 1  to  1845 §74,253,800 

Deduct  cost  of  railroads  iu 

.Mass.,  to  that  time 30,244,920 

Net  gain,  supposing  the/oads  dead  stock,  $44,008,874 

The  same  period  of  five  years  in  New- 
York  showed  a  falling  off  in  the  value  of 
real  estate  from  $251,194,920  to  $247,152,- 
303,  an  amount  equal  to  $4,042,017.  This 
fitriking  fact  has  alarmed  the  New-Yorkers, 


and  set  them  to  work  in  sucli  a  way  as  must 
restore  the  equilibrium.  Within  the  last 
five  years  both  cities  have  continued  their 
amazing  strides. 

We  turn  now  to  our  neighbor  and  enter- 
prising city  of  Mobile  for  illustration.  The 
assessment  rolls  of  real  and  personal  estate, 
published  by  authority,  show  that  the  total 
value  of  property,  which  from  1836  to  1S47 
had  averaged  $20,0u0,000,  had  declined  in 
1847,  '48  and '4  9  to  $12,000,000.  There- 
suit  was  on  all  sides  evidences  of  general 
decay.  Rents  fell,  business  declined,  and 
emigration  commenced  its  inroads.  The 
glory  of  Mobile  had  departed  !  But  these 
things  were  not  to  last.  The  stake  was  too 
large  a  one.  Property- holders  awoke  from 
their  sleep  of  death.  They  looked  around. 
The  grand  conception  of  a  railroad  to  the 
Ohio  was  formed.  Many  laughed  and  sneer- 
ed. Thousands  doubted.  But  the  work 
gained  steadily  in  favor,  until  now,  its  real- 
ization is  demonstrably  certain.  In  a  single 
year  the  real  estate  of  Mobile  has  advanced 
$5,000,000;  rents  have  taken  a  new  start; 
lots  are  sold  at  an  immense  premium  over 
previous  rates,  and  general  confidence  has 
been  re-established  throughout  the  city. 
The  St.  Louis  Keveille  says: 

"The  remarkable  increase  in  the  price  of 
property  in  St.  Louis  this  spring,  as  shown 
by  the  late  sales  of  real  estate  in  that  city  and 
the  suburbs,  is  referable,  in  no  small  degree, 
to  the  anticipated  construction  of  railroads 
having  their  termini  at  St.  Louis.  Since  the 
passage,  by  the  Illinois  legislature,  of  the 
charter  for  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  railroad, 
foreign  capital  and  enterprise  have  been  di- 
rected to  that  point,  and  large  amounts  have 
been  invested  in  the  last  two  months  in  real 
estate,  at  prices  far  in  advance  of  those 
hitherto  commanded  by  property  at  the 
same  season,  under  circumstances  of  an  ordi- 
nary character." 

The  next  illustration  is  Virginia;  and 
here  we  quote  from  the  late  able  message  of 
Gov.  Floyd.  "The  wisdom  of  the  policy 
stands  fully  vindicated  by  the  recent  assess- 
ment of  lands  in  the  commonwealth,  which 
shows  an  increase  of  294-  per  cent,  upon  our 
entire  landed  property  during  the  last, 
twelve  years,  or  an  aggregate  increase  in 
the  value  of  real  estate  alone,  since  1838,  of 
$62,749,718,  while  the  increase  between  the 
assessments  of  1819  and  1838  was  only 
$5,036,530,  or  two  and  a  half  per  cent. 
The  total  value  of  lands  in  the  state,  in 
1819,  was  .$206,893,978;  in  1838,  it  was 
$211,930,-508,  and  in  1850  it  is  $274,680,- 
226 ;  which  shows  an  average  increase  each 
year,  since  1888,  whilst  the  system  of  inter- 
nal improvement  has  been  in  operation, 
equal  to  the  whole  increase  during  the 
j  nineteen  years  prior  to  that  time.  This  re- 
isult  has  been  owing  chief  y  to  the  impidse  im- 


440 


RAILROADS ADDRKSS. 


parted  to  the  industnj  of  the  stately  the  facil- 
ities U'hich  her  public  works  have  afforded  to 
our  citizens,  for  transporting  their  produce  to 
market.  Portions  of  our  country  which, 
twenty  years  ago,  were  scarcely  iuhabiteJ, 
are  now  thickly  settled,  well  cultivateil  and 
prosperous.  A  tax-paying  fund  has  been  thus 
provided,  which  will  constitute,  through  all 
time,  a  valuable  addition  to  the  permanent 
capital  of  tlie  commonwealth." 

Governor  Floyd  also  presents,  in  a  strong 
light,  the  comparative  growth  of  Boston. 
"The  advancement  of  Boston  is  bej'ond  all 
example.  The  value  of  her  property  has  in- 
creased from  120,1 14,5'74,  to  266,G4C,8-14 
dollars ;  over  twelve  per  cent,  per  annum, 
or  more  than  double  the  legal  interest  in 
A^rginia.  The  population  of  the  city  has 
increased  with  an  equally  surprising  rapid- 
ity. The  population  of  the  state  has  ad- 
vanced from  718,592  to  973,115,  an  increase 
of  255,123.  Every  vocation  of  life  has  par- 
taken of  this  prosperity  and  thrift.  Agricul- 
ture, manufactures,  commerce — all  branches 
of  industry,  are  advancing  with  an  unparal- 
leled rapidity ;  and  the  future  prospects  of 
Boston  continue  still  to  be  as  brilliant  as 
those  of  any  other  city  in  the  Union.  That 
this  great  increase  has  been  the  result  of 
her  railway  improvements,  is  denied  by 
Done — no  other  element  of  prosperity  than 
this  has  been  added  to  those  always  pos- 
sessed by  her ;  and  we  have  therefore  a 
right  to  infer  that  from  this  source  flows  the 
extraordinary  tide  of  wealth.  In  1839,  Bos- 
ton had  1G7  miles  of  railroad  radiating 
thence  in  various  directions ;  in  1850,  she  is 
connected  with  .3,0(jO  miles — one  third  of 
which  lies  within  the  territory  of  Massa- 
chusetts; 1,350  within  the  borders  of  other 
New-England  states  ;  and  six  hundred  and 
fifty  in  the  state  of  IS'ew-York.  These  great 
works  have  enlarged  the  area  of  country 
which  contributes  to  her  commerce,  prob- 
ably tenfold,  and  the  effect  is  unprecedent- 
ed. Iler  annual  manufactures  are  worth 
§91,000,000;  and  the  home  trade  of  Boston 
is  estimated  to  be  worth  annually  the  im- 
mense sum  of  8200,000,000." 

Baltimore,  too,  exhibits  the  effects  already 
pf  a  wise  and  liberal  railroad  policy.  The 
Baltimore  and  Ohio  road,  though  incom- 
plete, has  paid  a  dividend  during  the  past 
year  of  more  than  ten  per  cent.  ;  and  such 
has  been  the  effect  produced  by  it  already 
Tipon  the  commercial  ])rosperity  of  Balti- 
more, that  it  is  said  "she  is  now  compen- 
sated for  her  subscription  of  $3,500,000  to 
the  work." 

The  increase  in  the  value  of  real  estate  in 
the  counties  bordering  on  tlie  Vicksburg 
and  Jackson  railroad  has  been  estimated 
to  be  from  sTOO.OOO  to  §7, 000,000,  wliilst 
on  the  Nashville  and  Chattanooga  road,  in 


four  counties,  the  gain  in  the  value  of  tax- 
able property  has  been  .^2,554,039. 

"  I  confess,"  said  Mr.  Segur,  in  an  able 
speech  delivered  several  years  ago  to  the 
Legislature  of  Virginia,  "  that  if  a  canal  or 
railroad  were  to  dejiend,  for  the  reimburse- 
ment of  its  cost,  upon  the  production  usually 
made  at  the  time  of  construction,  indemnity 
would  be  out  of  the  question.  But  present 
production  forma  a  very  inconsiderable  por- 
tion of  the  elements  of  transportation  and 
profit.  AVe  must  estimate  the  increased 
production  caused  by  the  improvements 
themselves,  gradually  progressing  from  the 
ordinary  amount  to  the  highest  point  to 
which  the  means  of  the  state  will  admit 
augmentation — and  that  is  almost  incalcula- 
ble. We  must  take  into  the  estimate  the 
opening  of  new  channels  of  trade,  and  the 
filling  up  of  old  ones — the  creation  of  man- 
ufactures— the  opening  of, mines — the  ex- 
pansion of  trade  in  all  its  ramifications — 
the  rising  up  of  cities — the  growth  of  popu- 
lation— the  increase  of  travelling  resulting 
from  increase  of  facilities  of  communica- 
tion." 

There  can  be  nothing  more  striking  in  the 
history  of  railroads,  than  the  manner  in 
which  they  have  triumphed  over  the  strong- 
est and  most  inveterate  opposition,  and 
baffled  in  their  results  the  wildest  calcula- 
tions of  their  most  sanguine  advocates.  The 
Loudon  Quarterly  Review  made  infinite 
sport  of  the  proposition  that  an  eventual 
speed  of  18  or  20  miles  an  hour  might  be 
attained.  "  The  gross  exaggerations  of  the 
power  of  the  locomotive  engine  may  delude 
for  a  time,  but  must  end  in  the  mortification 
of  those  concerned.  We  should  as  soon  ex- 
pect the  jieople  of  Woolwich  to  sutler  them- 
selves to  be  fired  upon  by  one  of  Congreve's 
ricochet  rockets,  as  trust  themselves  to  the 
mercy  of  such  a  machine,  going  at  such  a 
rate."  In  the  present  year,  upon  the  Great 
Western  road  in  England,  48.2  miles  per 
hour  has  been  attained  on  an  average  run, 
without  stoppage,  and  we  learn,  also,  in 
some  cases  the  iltimatum  has  been  sixty 
miles !  A  member  of  Parliament  declared, 
in  opposition  to  the  Manchester  road,  "that 
a  railroad  could  not  enter  into  competition 
with  a  canal,  l.ven  with  the  best  loco- 
motive engine,  the  average  rate  would  be 
Z\  miles  per  hour,  which  was  slower  than 
the  canal  conveyance."*  The  Buffalo  and 
Albany  railroad  even  now  runs  side  by  side 
with  the  great  canal  of  New-York,  a  dis- 
tance of  350  miles,  transporting  its  passen- 
gers at  1.72  of  a  cent  per  mile,  whilst  the 


*  Mr.  ■Wood,  in  his  [listory  of  Railroads,  say^j 
"  Nothing  can  do  more  harm  to  the  adoption  of  rail- 
roads than  the  promulgation  of  such  nonsense  as  that 
wo  shall  SCO  locomotive  engines  travelling  at  the  rate 
of  li,  16, 18  aud  20  miles  per  hour." 


RAILROADS ADDRESS. 


441 


Pennsylvania  road  has  transported  coal  at  j  and  tlie  average  freights  on  British  roads, 
1  cent  per  ton  per  mile,  and  the  average  of  with  tlii-ir  enormous  expenditures,  is  2d.  per 
freight   on   tiie   roads   of    Kew-England  is   ton  on  bale  goods. 

about  two  cents  per  ton  per  mile  on  tlie  Let  us  now  furnish  some  tables  showing 
heaviest  goods.  The  Providence  road  has  the  increase  of  business  upon  different  roads. 
transjJorted  passengers  at  1  cent  per  mile, 

Estimated  No.  No.  Pnsson-  No.  Pa?sen- 

Names  of  Roads.  I'asseiiLjfrs  gers  soon  gpis  c.irried 

belbrt!  oiiL'ued.  after  oponed.  in  ld48. 

Boston  and  "Worcester 23,500  262,830  807,143 

Boston  and  Lowell 37,400  400,886  525,764 

Fitchburg TLlSO  327,044  745,825 

Eastern 121,700  488,026  1,021,169 

Boston  and  Maine 460,426  1,057,569 


TABLE   SHOWING   THE   I.XCftEASE    OF    PASSES  GEKS    ON  VARIOUS   ROADS, 


Names  of  Roads. 


Year. 


Boston  and  Lowell 1846 

Fitchburg 1 845 

Western 1842 

Boston  and  Worcester 1 843 

Old  Colony 1846 

Eastern 1842 

Boston  and  Maine 1846 

Boston  and  Providence — 

Utica  and  Sclienectady. .  ..1843 

Utica  and  Syracuse — 

Auburn  and  Syracuse — 

Auburn  and  Rochester. ...  — 

Tonawauda — 

Attica  and  Bullalo — 

Baltimore  and  Ohio — 


Number 
of  I'as- 
sengers. 

400,886 
196,669 
190,436 
262,830 
213,144 
431,000 
460,426 
476,525 
147,868 
114,843 
83,316 
105,190 
67,604 
68,896 
149,533 


The  subsequent  progress  of  these  roads  has 
been  in  a  similar  ratio.  In  freights  the  West- 
em  Road,  Massachusetts,  liad  a  revenue  of 
$246,351— in  1848,6781,030  ;  the  Boston  and 
Worcester,  1840,  §96,950—1848,  $123,111  ; 
Boston  and  Providence,  1840,  $67,950—1848, 


Year, 


1848 


Number 
of  Pas- 
senRers. 

525,764 
745,825 
405,614 
807,144 
552,203 
1,021,169 
1,057,569 
569,127 
270,413 
216,807 
154,215 
209,259 
148,443 
146,235 
270,616 


No. 
of 
Years. 
2 
3 
6 
5 
2 
6 
3 
2 

5 
5 
5 
5 
5 
5 
5 


Increase. 

124,918 
549,156 
215,178 
644,313 
339,059 
590,160 
597,143 

92,612 
122,545 
101,964 

71,899 
104,069 

80,839 

77,339 
121,083 


Per 

cent. 

31 

280 

113 

20*7 

159 

119 

129 

119 

83 

89 

86 

99 

120 

112 

80 


$123,111;  Eastern  Road,  1840,  $41,8.37— 
1848,  $101,088;  Boston  and  Lowell,  1840, 
$104,569—1848,  $260,129. 

Tlie  southern  roads  exhibit  results  equally 
gratifying,  as  the  following  will  show  : 


BUSINESS   OF   SOUTH    CAROLINA   RAILROADS. 


Miles 
Run. 


154,000 
160,072 
161,160 
153,000 
190,264 
232,832 
232,656 
236,108 
286,995 
313,908 
310,812 
342,435 
345,893 
327,539 
352,431 


Passen- 
gers. 


Up 

Freight. 


Down. 


Total 
Receipts. 


26,649' 
34,283, 
39,216| 
41,554| 
44,487 1 
37,283 
29,279' 
35,141j 
33,925 
37,740: 
54,146 
66,785 
64,036 
77,579 
75,149 
92,713: 
117,351 


$55,009 
89,237 
101,335 
84,958 
111,027 
129,776 
110,732 
105,951 
131,989 
129,337 
163,778 
179,803 
172,291 
201,481 
217,071 
268,483 
310,616 


$28, 

42, 

38, 

53. 

52, 

74 

77. 

56 

95 

118 

148, 

162 

179 

186 

318 

358 

282 


205 
546 
699 
311 
395 
547 
,771 
,035 
,876 
,524 
,769 
,514 
,399 
,153 
,523 
,507 
,739 


$166 
249, 
271. 
280, 
323 
422 
388, 
336 
408, 
442, 
532 
562 
589 
656 
800 
892 

E912 


,559 
,754 
614 
215 
,381 
,842 
,127 
,538 
705 
,931 
,870' 
,296, 
,082| 
,2751 
,073| 
403, 
720! 


Bales 

Cotton. 


24,567 

34,760 

28,497 

34,395 

35,346 

52,585 

58,496 

54,064 

92,336 

128,047, 

186,638 

197,657 

186,271 

134,302 

274,364 

339,999 

284,935 


Barrels  [  Bushels  Bushels  Bbls.  Tiir- 
Flour.       Corn.    Wheat.  1  pentine. 


12,148 
19,043 
15,447 


334,761] 
201,l77j 


4,087 
2,307 


48 
3,186 
5,763 


442 


RAILROADS ADDRESS. 


Calculating  the  saving  in  transportation, 
&c.,  at  50  per  cent.,  Col.  Gadsden  shows  an 
animal  gain  to  the  state  of  -^70,000  on  passen- 
gers, and  8-100,000  on  freights,  nearly  one 
half  million  of  dollars,  upon  railroads,  whose 
cost  has  been  85,099,T36,  independently  of 
the  revenue  of  the  road. 

Spealvin^  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Rail- 
road, the  Railroad  Journal  says :  "  The  im- 
mense amount  of  freight  collected  on  the  lines, 
and  destined  for  the  seaboard,  rendered  it  al- 
most impossible  for  the  company  with  their 
old  arrangements  to  dispose  of  it ;  and  as  the 
coal  trade  grew  in  importance,  it  called  for 
greater  accommodations  than  the  company 
were  able  to  give.  The  amount  of  passengers 
carried  per  annum,  331, lYO." 

The  Central  Railroad  of  Georgia,  from  Sa- 
vannah to  Macon,  exhibits  the  following : 

Receipts  1844 $328,424 

1845 368,450 

1847 383,863 

"  1848 500,000 

An  official  report  of  the  City  Council  of  Sa- 
vannah says :  "  It  is  perhaps  a  remarkable  fact 
in  the  history  of  this  road,  that,  projected  and 
commenced  as  it  was  in  the  infancy  of  such 
improvements,  and  from  a  port  on  the  sea- 
coast  with  a  population  of  white  and  black 
of  only  about  10,000  persons,  to  a  town  distant 
190  miles,  witli  only  4,000  persons,  and  through 
a  country  almost  a  wilderness,  it  should  have 
sustained  itself  amid  all  the  embarrassments 
of  the  times,  and  without  sacrifice  of  capital 
or  credit." 

The  increasing  business  and  the  saving  in 
freights  upon  the  canals  of  New- York,  present 
one  of  the  most  extraordinary  events  of  the 
age.  The  cost  of  freight  from  Buffalo  to  New- 
York  before  the  construction  of  these  canals 
was  $100  per  ton.  The  canal  committee  sup- 
posed it  might  be  reduced  to  $10  or  $12, 
whereas,  in  fact,  the  average  of  freight  from 
Buffalo  to  New- York  from  1830  to  1850  was 
$8.81,  and  in  the  last  three  years  it  has  been 
reduced  to  $7.50  per  ton,  364  miles.  The  return 
rates  are  higher.  With  the  enlargement  pro- 
posed, freigjits  will  again  be  reduced  one  half. 
Charles  Ellet,  Esq.,  engineer  on  the  Virginia 
Public  Works,  estimates  the  freights  on  canals, 
exclusive  of  tolls,  1^-  cents  per  ton  per  mile  ; 
on  railroads,  2^  cents;  Macadam  roads,  15 
cents;  turnpikes,  15  to  20  cents;  steamboats 
on  tl)e  hdces,  2  to  4  cents;  on  the  Mississippi 
and  Ohio,  -J-  to  1-J-,  or  an  average  of  |  to  1 
cent. 

If  there  were  wanting  other  considerations 
to  induce  the  people  of  the  southwest  to  enter 
upon  the  construction  of  a  system  of  railroads, 
extending  through  every  ])art  of  their  limits, 
it  would  be  easy  to  find  them  in  the  peculiar 
position  which  they  sustain  with  relation  to 
the  rest  of  the  world.  They  have  an  interest 
in  each  other's  prosperity,  founded  upon  com- 


mon hopes,  and  fears,  and  dangei-s.  Menaced, 
as  they  are,  from  so  many  quarters,  it  becomes 
them,  in  every  possible  way,  to  strengthen 
themselves  at  home.  The  interests  of  Mobile, 
New-Orleans,  Charleston, or  Savannah, in  each 
other's  advancement  are  stronger  than  their  in- 
terest in  the  advancement  of  Boston  or  New- 
York.  These  interests  should  preclude  all  jea- 
lousies and  rivalries,  and  induce  a  generous  co- 
operation in  every  instance  where  the  benefit 
of  the  whole  south  is  at  issue.  Such  a  course 
cannot  be  in  conflict  with  the  individual  inter- 
ests of  any.  By  opening  or  creating  new  ave- 
nues of  trade  and  production,  and  extending 
our  operations  at  home  and  abroad,  it  is  possi- 
ble for  these  cities,  and  all  others  in  our  midst, 
to  go  on  enlarging,  and  increasing,  and  ex- 
tending their  influences,  without  at  all  affect- 
ing the  progress  of  each  other.  \n  so  wide  a 
fleld  there  will  be  room  for  alL  The  progress 
of  Boston  has  not  destroyed  New-York,  but 
has  rather  diverted  her  energies  into  new  and 
profitable  channels.  It  was  an  idea  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  as  barbarous  as  it  was  false, 
that  one  community  could  only  advance  at 
the  expense  of  another.  The  benefits  of  trade 
are  reciprocal. 

It  is  not  true  that  we  at  the  south  are  defi- 
cient altogether  in  the  spirit  of  progress  and 
improvement,  and  can  only  be  fed  by  the  la- 
bors of  our  fellows.  The  south  has  had  tri- 
umphs enough  to  satisfy  us  that  the  principle 
of  progress  is  here,  though  latent  for  the  mo- 
ment, and  that  it  only  requires  the  proper 
stimulant  to  be  brought  into  an  activity  which 
shall  know  no  rest.  She  had  at  one  time  the 
longest  railroad  in  the  world,  and  was  the  first 
to  j)roject  a  railroad  across  the  mountains 
to  the  banks  of  the  Ohio ;  an  enterprise  con- 
sidered, at  the  time,  the  most  stupendous  in 
the  world.* 

The  wa'st,  too,  full  of  youth  and  vigor,  has  a 
high  destiny  before  her.  She  finds  among  us 
consumers  of  her  bread-stuffs  and  provisions, 
to  an  enormous  extent ;  and  when  she  becomes, 
as  she  is  destined  to  be,  the  great  manufactur- 
ing centre  of  the  world,  her  material  and  her 
markets  will  be  found  in  this  quarter. f      Her 


•  The  Ch.nrleston  and  H.imburg  and  Louisville 
Road. — De  Jloic'a  Review,  February,  1851. 

t  The  facilities  formanufacturcs  in  the  weft,  from 
the  cheapness  of  labor  and  of  food,  the  abundance  of 
coal  and  iron,  and  the  saving  in  trau-s; Dilalion,  have 
already  attracted  the  attention  of  cajiitalifls  in  New- 
England,  and  found  a  place  among  the  dipcusfionsof 
tho  manufacturers  of  Great  llritain.  There  can  be 
no  doubt  that  the  seat  of  cotton  manufactures  in 
America  will  be  on  this  side  of  the  mountains,  and  the 
able  arguments  and  statistics  of  Hamilton  S<mith,  of 
Kentucky,  have  unanswerably  thown  it.  The  expe- 
riment at  C'annclton,  Indiana,  has  answered  tho  high- 
e.st  expectations.  In  tho  soutliwestern  states,  manu- 
factures, under  the  new  and  liberal  spirit  of  enterprise 
which  is  dawning  aninng  ns,  must  be  stimulated  iuto 
a  very  high  develo])ment.  What  we  want  is  a  few 
judicious  heads  to  take  the  lead.  Even  a  single  reso- 
lute aud  entcrprigiug  man  could  work  a  revolution 
here. 


RAILROADS — ADDRESS. 


443 


interests  will  be  subserved  by  a  more  immedi- 
ate counection  with  us,  iuid  she  will  find  us 
ready  to  cooperate  heartily  in  every  enterprise 
■whicli  .slijiU  make  for  her  interests  and  pro- 
gress. New-Orleans,  iu  every  period  of  her 
history,  has  been  the  emporium  of  the  west, 
and  New-Orleans  will  ouly  give  up  that  dis- 
tinction after  the  most  unremitting  and  her- 
culean struggles  have  exhausted  her  energies. 
Tlie  sceptre  has  not  yet  departed,  and  if  her 
citizens  are  true  to  themselves,  the  sceptre 
shall  not  depart.  As  the  west  grows  in  j)opu- 
lation,  she  must  consume  more  of  valuable 
goods  favorable  to  railroads ;  her  rivers,  in 
favoring  population,  are  rather  an  advantage 
than  an  impediment  to  their  construction,  and 
roads  may  be  constructed  from  the  levels  ex- 
isting at  one  half  or  one  third  the  cost  of  the 
roads  in  the  east. 

"  The  west  in  sixty  years  will  probably  con- 
tain one  hundred  millions  of  people.  The  east 
"will  then  have  but  twenty  millions.  The  west, 
in  its  level  surface,  cheap  materials,  and  free 
right  of  way,  may  build  the  best  class  of  rail- 
roads, at  less  than  half  the  cost  of  the  eastern 
railroads,  and  run  trains  ou  them  at  a  greatly 
reduced  expense.  The  west  offers  now  the 
first  choice  of  routes — a  choice  that  a  few 
years  will  show  to  be  of  immense  advantage 
to  those  who  wisely  avail  themselves  of  it. 
In  number  and  variety  of  exchaugeable  pro- 
ducts, except  manufactured  goods,  the  western 
railroads  will  obviously  have  the  advantage 
of  the  eastern,  for  freight,  aud  in  manufactures 
the  prospect  of  a  great  increase  is  not  less 
for  the  western  than  the  eastern  states.  Iu 
her  auxiliary  means  of  commerce,  her  naviga- 
ble rivers,  lakes,  and  can.als,  the  west  proffers 
additional  inducements  to  the  construction  of 
roads." 

A  well-informed  authority  further  remarks 
of  the  construction  of  western  and  southern 
roads :  "  The  cost  of  constructing  iu  the  dif- 
ferent parts  of  our  territory  containing  a 
primitive  soil,  broken  by  abrupt  hills  and  deep 
valleys,  is  very  great.  Here  but  few  natural 
levels  are  to  be  found  ;  and  the  excavation  for 
their  tracks  sometimes  widening  along  the 
valleys  of  rivers,  thus  prolonging  the  distance 
from  point  to  point,  have  to  be  made  fre- 
quently through  stony  hills,  which  are  often 
blown  up  at  great  expense;  tunnels  are  to  be 
cut  through  .solid  rocks,  and  viaducts  built  over 
the  frequent  streams.  This  must  necessarily 
be  the  case  throughout  the  greater  part  of 
New-England  and  eastern  New- York,  as  well 
as  in  Pennsylvania,  where  tracks  are  laid  out, 
even  througli  ridges  of  the  Alleghany  moun- 
tains. Such,  however,  is  not  the  fact  through- 
out the  south  and  greater  part  of  the  west, 
where  the  laud  is  level,  and  an  alluvial  soil, 
easy  to  excavate,  prevails.  There  is  yet  an- 
other great  advantage  possessed  by  the  south- 
ern aud  western  roads,  so  far  as  cost  is  con- 


cerned, in  the  circumstance  that  wood,  which 
is  an  important  expense  in  the  item  of  pro- 
pelling the  cars  at  the  east,  is  found  in  great 
abundance  throughout  the  greater  part  of  the 
new  country;  ami  from  the  level  character  of 
the  soil,  the  tracks  of  the  railroads  may  be  run 
in  direct  lines  from  point  to  point.  The  soil 
of  these  sections  of  tiie  territory  is  very  mel- 
low, so  that  the  expense  of  excavation  will  be 
comparatively  small." 

The  principle  laid  down  in  the  following 
remarks  may  be  assumed  to  be  correct,  not 
only  for  New-Orleans  but  for  any  other  city, 
and  should  underlay  any  system  of  workg 
which  may  be  commenced  in  the  southwest : 

"  The  suni  of  the  commerce  of  a  seaboard 
city  is  regulated  by  the  number  and  extent  of 
the  interior  cities  representing  its  several  tri- 
butary basins  ;  to  draw  of  the  tribute  of  one  of 
those  citicx  or  basins  is  to  diminish  the  com- 
merce of  the  or i (final outlet  by  a  corresponding 
amount. — If  the  Chattanooga  Railroad  draw 
off  the  business  of  Nashville  to  Charleston, 
the  commerce  of  New-Orleaus  is  diminished 
by  an  amouut  corresponding  to  the  trade  of 
the  Nashville  basin.  On  the  other  hand,  to 
extend  the  area  tributary  to  one  of  her  interior 
cities — to  increase  its  production  or  stimulate 
its  industry,  is  a  yain  to  that  amount  to  the 
business  of  the  seaboard  city.  For  example, 
to  extend  the  area  tributary  to  the  city  of 
Natchez  or  to  the  city  of  Memphis,  is  a  gain 
to  the  amount  of  the  extension  by  the  city  of 
New  Orleans." 

It  thus  occurs  that  the  interests  of  the  sea- 
board city  are  as  much  subserved  by  the  in- 
terior railroads  as  if  their  termini  were  actu- 
ally at  its  wharves,  and  that  a  sound  policy 
will  not  be  satisfied  with  contributions  ouly  to 
roads  having  such  a  terminus.  It  is  possible  to 
receive  more  actual  benefit  from  a  road  100 
or  even  500  miles  away,  than  from  another 
whose  locomotive  smokes  in  our  suburbs. 

There  are  three  classes  of  roads,  whose  dis- 
cussion belongs  to  the  present  occasion,  and 
which  we  shall  briefly  pass  in  review,  with 
such  statistical  details  aud  information  as  will 
enable  the  reader  to  form  an  accurate  idea  of 
the  enterprises,  present  and  prospective,  of 
the  southwest  and  (he  west,  whether  of  a  cha- 
racter tending  to  the  advancement  of  theii; 
own  cities,  or  those  of  other  sections  of  the 
Union. 

I.  In  \he  first  class  will  be  embraced  the 
roads  in  the  states  of  Kentucky,  Tennessee, 
Missouri,  Arkansas,  Mississippi,  Alabama, 
Texas,  and  Louisiana,  as  forming  a  system  in 
which  New- Orleans,  in  particular,  lias  a  pri- 
mary and  parainou7it  interest. 

II.  In  the  second  class  is  included  the  roads 
of  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois,  constituting  a 
system  in  wliich  New-Orleans»>irt^  or  may  not 
be  beneficially  interested. 

III.  In  the  third  class  are  the  roads  of  Mas- 


444 


RAILROADS ADDRESS. 


sachusetts,  New-York,  Pennsylvania.Yirginia, 
South  Caroliua,  aud  Georgia,  all  of  which,  in 
tapping  the  resources  of  the  west  iu  a  greater 
or  less  degree,  are  drawiug  upon  the  resources 
hitherto  controlled  by  New-Orleans,  and  may 
thus  be  considered  antagonistic  roads,  to  that 
extent,  though  the  last  three  are  exercising 
beneficial  tendencies  upon  the  whole  south. 

We  begin  with  the  first  class,  and  take  the 
states  iu  the  order  in  which  we  have  named 
them : 

1.  Kentucky,  which  has  at  present  but  the 
short  road  connecting  Louisville,  Frankfort, 
and  Lexington,  proposes  to  extend  this  road 
so  as  to  intersect  the  Virginia  road  at  Guyan- 
dotte  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other  hand, 
to  connect  at  the  Ohio  with  the  Indianapolis 
and  Madison  Railroad,  whose  ultimate  desti- 
nation is  on  Lake  Michigan.  More  lately  a 
proposition  is  in  discussion  for  the  construc- 
tion of  a  road  to  the  city  of  Nashville,  and 
thence  to  Memphis,  or  more  directly  to  the 
latter  point.  A  convention  has  been  called  to 
determine  upon  the  practicability  of  this  road. 
In  behalf  of  the  road  it  has  been  ably  urged  : 

"  The  railroads  of  New-York  hold  Cincin- 
nati at  present  within  their  influence;  and, 
operating  from  that  point,  New- York,  by 
drawiug  trade  in  the  opposite  direction,  is 
sapping  the  prosperity  of  Louisville.  An 
extension  of  a  Memphis  and  Nashville  road 
to  Louisville  will  hold  trade  to  its  original 
direction,  and,  by  maintaining  Louisville 
against  the  otherwise  ruinous  influence  of 
Cincinnati,  preserve  the  prosperity  of  Louis- 
ville, as  part  and  parcel  of  the  prosperity  of 
New-Orleans.  All  the  trade  on  the  north 
side  of  the  road  from  Memphis  to  Nashville 
will  be  caught  on  its  rails  and  whirled  ott'  to 
New-Orleans. 

"  On  every  consideration,  it  may  be  conclu- 
ded that  this  Louisville  and  New-Orleans 
Railroad — a  road  of  3*70  miles,  in  reality, 
though  a  road  of  TOO  miles  in  result — is  the 
first,  as  it  is  the  best,  in  the  policy  of  New- 
Orleans. 

"  Louisville,  situated  at  a  point  where  much 
of  the  business  of  the  upper  country  must, 
for  a  great  part  of  the  year,  take  the  rails,  on 
its  way  to  New-Orleans,  will  necessarily  be- 
come, under  the  influence  of  this  road,  the 
greatest  city  on  the  Ohio.  The  road  to  Mem- 
phis being  tlie  only  means  of  preventing  a 
change  in  the  direction  of  trade  from  Cincin- 
nati, will  compel  that  city  to  ])ay  tribute  to 
Louisville  ;  whereas,  without  this  road,  busi- 
ness following  the  direction  of  New-Yt)rk, 
Louisville,  absorbed  into  a  system,  in  which, 
taking  the  part  of  an  extremity  which  trade 
flows/rom,  rather  than  a  centre  M'hich  trade 
flows  to,  must  inevitably  dwindle  into  a  tiib- 
utary  to  Cincinnati.  The  importance  of  this 
road  to  Louisville  is,  perha])s,  eveu  greater 
than  to  New-Orleans." 

2.  Tennessee  having,  iu  course  of  construc- 


tion, or  nearly  completed,  her  road  from  Chat- 
tanooga to  Nashville,  to  connect  with  the 
Charleston  and  Savannah  railroads,  and  anoth- 
er road  from  the  same  point  to  Knoxville,  in- 
tended to  be  continued  to  Abingdon,  intersect- 
ing there  the  Abingdon  and  Lynchburg  or 
East  Tennessee  and  Yirginia  railroad,  whose 
terminus  is  Richmond,  and  extending  still 
farther  to  the  north-east,  to  intersect  the  Bal- 
timore and  "Wheeling  road,  proposes  in  addi- 
tion the  roads  we  have  referred  to  as  connect- 
ing Nashville  or  Memphis  with  Louisville, 
and  a  road  from  Chattanooga  to  the  city  of 
Memphis.  This  last  road  has  been  advocated 
in  New-Orleans,  as  one  greatly  to  her  interest 
in  arresting  the  trade  of  North  Alabama  and 
Middle  Tennessee  from  its  present  direction 
to  the  Atlantic  sea-board,  and  a  very  hand- 
some subscription  was  received  from  its  citi- 
zens. Whether  the  road  will  have  that  eftect 
or  not,  may  admit  of  some  question.  It  would 
seem,  at  the  worst,  that  the  road  oft'ers  but 
the  choice  of  markets  to  the  planters  of  those 
sections,  who  otherwise,  from  the  difficulties 
of  reaching  the  Mississippi  River,  might  al- 
ways take  the  cars  to  Charleston  in  prefer- 
ence. It  would  seem,  also,  to  be  the  policy 
of  New- Orleans,  that  every  railroad  from  the 
Atlantic  sea-board  penetrating  the  valley, 
should  find  its  terminus  invariably  at  the 
river. 

3.  Arkansas. — This  now  prosperous  and 
thriving  state,  with  a  population  of  209,641, 
and  a  crop  of  100,000  bales  of  cotton,  has  not 
within  her  limits  a  single  mile  of  railroad. 
A  citizen  of  Memphis  has  proposed  two  roads 
for  the  people  of  Arkansas,  which  we  have 
understood  meet  with  great  favor  in  that 
state.  1st. — A  road  from  opposite  Memphis 
to  St.  Francis,  with  two  branches  from  that 
point,  one  into  the  heart  of  Missouri  to  Erie, 
on  the  Osage  river,  and  the  other  to  Little 
Rock,  the  capital  of  the  state.  2d. — A  road 
from  Little  Rock  to  Lagrange,  on  the  south- 
western extremity  of  Arkansas,  to  connect 
with  a  road  at  that  point  extending  to  Nat- 
chez, Miss.  These  roads  form  a  system  for 
Arkansas  which  nuist  exei't  an  extraordinary 
influence  in  developing  her  resources,  and 
putting  her  far  iu  advance  of  her  present  po- 
sitiou  in  this  era  of  progress.  The  arguments 
in  their  favor  are  thus  strongly  summed  up 
by  Mr.  Hewson : 

"The  road  from  Memphis  to  the  Osage 
must  form  the  basis  of  a  system  of  roads. 
Though  only  some  two  liuudred  and  fifty 
miles  long,  it  suggests,  indeed  will  force, 
junctions,  extensions,  brandies,  to  an  extent 
much  greater  than  its  own.  The  branch 
from  St.  Francis  to  Little  Rock,  the  first 
link  in  a  southern  route  to  the  Pacific,  will 
be  90  miles  long.  A  branch  road  west- 
ward from  Elizabeth  will  open  up  the  coun- 
try to  the  head  waters  of  White  River.  A 
northeasterly  branch  from  Jackson,  or  Canton 


RAILROADS — ADDRESS. 


445 


in  Arkansas,  will  penetrate  the  great  mineral 
district  of  Missouri.  A  connection  at  Erie,  or 
some  otlier  point  in  the  valley  of  the  Osage, 
will  tap  the  St.  Louis  '  Pacific  Railroad '  on 
its  route  easterly.  This  Osage  road  must, 
necessarily,  be  the  parent  of  all  these.  It 
will,  therefore,  identify  New-Orleans  with  the 
great  future — lying  within  and  without  the 
state  of  Missouri.  Traversing  a  country 
teeming  with  industrial  resources — coal,  lead, 
zinc,  copper,  iron — it  will  make  New-Orleans 
the  market  of  the  greatest  manufacturing 
city  in  the  Mississippi  valley,  namely,  the 
city  of  Memphis,  when  acted  on  Vjy  this  road  . 
This  road  may  be  said  to  be  not  so  much  a 
work  of  development  as  of  creation — the 
creation,  however,  of  an  unequalled,  and  still 
more  of  an  unassailable,  commercial  great- 
ness. But  even  now  the  farmers  in  the 
valleys  of  White  River  and  of  Arkansas 
River  are  crying,  like  Sterne's  starling,  '  I 
can't  get  out.'  Gentlemen  of  New-Orleans, 
pray  help  those  thrifty  fellows  to  bring 
grist  to  your  mill.  1,200,000  dollars  will, 
most  likely,  build  a  railroad  from  Memphis 
to  Little  Rock.  A  land  donation  from  the 
government — obtainable  for  the  asking — may 
be  made  to  yield  (and  the  sales  should  be 
made  on  the  condition  of  settlement)  at  least 
500,000  dollars  ;  Arkansas  and  Memphis  will 
subscribe  300,000  dollars;  and  surely  you, 
gentlemen,  are  sufficiently  interested  in  this 
road  to  subscribe  the  balance — 400,000  dol- 
lars. You  will  not  trouble  yourselves  in  the 
matter?  But  better  things  are  to  be  hoped 
of  you.  An  untamed  earthquake  tore  those 
Arkansas  and  Missouri  riches  from  the  bow- 
els of  the  earth  for  you ;  speak  the  word,  and 
a  tamed,  a  harnessed  earthquake  shall  lay 
them  at  your  feet. 

"A  railroad  from  Natchez,  by  way  of  Red 
River  to  Little  Rock,  recommends  itself  to 
the  support  of  New-Orleans,  by  the  influence 
it  must  exert  on  the  development  of  the 
whole  of  northern  Louisiana  and  southern 
Arkansas;  and  above  all, in  the  advancement 
of  the  present  incipient  state,  inhabited  chiefly 
by  that  interesting  people,  the  Choctaws. 
This  road  defines  a  system  of  roads  that,  un- 
der its  fostering  influence,  will  spring  up 
immediately  on  its  completion :  it  bends  sufli- 
cientlj'  westward  to  unlock  the  trade  of  north- 
western Texas  by  a  branch  road :  it  runs  far 
enough  towards  the  borders  of  Arkansas  to 
insure  a  future  extension  to  the  upper  Ar- 
kansas, in  the  territory  of  the  Cherokees  and 
Creeks:  and  in  conjunction  with  a  Memphis 
and  Little  Rock  road,  its  upper  bend  runs 
sufficiently  westward  to  place  the  starting 
point  oi  a  southern  route  to  the  Pacific  on 
the  borders  of  Texas." 

4  Mississippi. — With  only  the  short  road 
which  connects  Jackson  withVicksburg,  which 
has  been  lately  extended  to  Brandon,  now  in 


operation  throughout  her  limits,*  Mississippi 
proj)()sos  to  extend  that  road  still  further  to 
the  Alabama  line,  and  thence  to  Montgomery, 
and  also  to  connect  Jack.son  with  Holly 
Springs  on  the  one  hand,  through  the  richest 
portions  of  her  territory,  and  on  the  other 
with  New-Orleans  by  whatever  route  shall 
appear  most  advantageous.  She  also  is  con- 
tributing largely  to  the  construction  of  a 
road  through  her  eastern  limits  which  has  its 
terminus  at  Mobile.  Of  the  New-Orleans 
and  Mobile  termini  we  shall  hereafter  speak. 

A  committee  of  the  citizens  of  Yicksburg 
reports  to  the  convention  which  lately  assem- 
bled in  New-Orleans,  in  regard  to  the  Alabama 
road : 

"  This  road  is  to  extend  from  Jackson,  Mis- 
sissippi, to  Montgomery,  and  will  connect  at 
Selma  with  the  Alabama  and  Tennessee  River 
Railroad,  by  which,  and  the  roads  now  under 
contract  and  in  contemplation,  a  continuous 
railway  communication  will  be  opened  through 
Tennessee,  Kentucky,  and  Ohio,  with  the  lakes 
— and  through  Tennes,see  and  Virginia  with  all 
the  Atlantic  and  Northern  states,  and  at  Mont- 
gomery will  connect  with  the  railroads  run- 
ning east  through  Alabama,  Georgia  and 
South  Carolina.  It  will  pass,  in  the  state  of 
Mississippi,  entirely  through  the  counties  of 
Rankin,  Scott,  Newton  and  Lauderdale ;  and 
in  Alabama,  before  it  reaches  Selma,  one  of 
the  termini  of  the  Alabama  and  Tennessee 
River  Railroad,  it  will  pass  through  Sumter, 
Marengo,  Perry  and  Dallas  counties.  Nearly 
all  of  these  and  the  contiguous  counties,  both 
north  and  south,  now  haul  in  wagons  their 
cotton  and  other  articles  of  export  to  the 
Tombigbee  and  Alabama  rivers,  and  ship 
them  thence  to  Mobile.  The  counties  of  Sum- 
ter, Marengo,  Perry,  Green  and  Dallas,  pro- 
duce annually  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  bales  of  cotton,  all  of  which  now 
goes  to  Mobile,  but  much  of  whicli  will  prob- 
ably be  turned  to  New-Orleans  by  means  of 
this  road.  In  fact,  nearly  all  the  products  of 
East  Mississippi  and  Western  Alabama,  and 
their  supplies  for  that  region  of  country,  will 
probably  find  their  way  upon  this  road,  and 
the  branch  extending  througli  the  northeast- 
ern part  of  Mississippi.  The  southern  route 
then  will  become  the  great  thoroughfare 
of  northern  and  eastern  travel.  It  will  de- 
velop the  mineral  resources  of  North  Alaba- 
ma Its  rich  and  inexhaustible  mines  of  iron 
are  now  worked  in  spite  of  the  difficulties  of 
getting  to  a  market,  and  it  will  create  and 
open  a  way  to  trade,  the  vast  extent  of  which 
cannot  be  too  highly  estim.ated.  We  think  it 
within  bounds  to  assert  that  200,000  bales  of 
cotton  will  probably  come  over  this  road,  and 
the  branch  extending  through  the  northeast- 


*  The  few  otiier  very  short  roads  are  scarcely  worth 
mentioning. 


446 


RAILROADS — ADDRESS. 


era  portion  of  Mississippi  to  New-Orleana, 
not  one  bale  of  which  now  ever  reaches  it. 
Detailed  estimates,  made  by  an  engineer  who 
has  surveyed  the  route  from  Brandon  to  the 
Alabama  line,  of  the  amount  required  for  tlie 
completion  of  the  road  that  far,  are  in  our 
possession,  and  may  be  set  down  in  round 
numbers  at  one  million  of  dollars.  If  New- 
Orkans  wfre  to  pay  the  whole  cost  of  building 
the  road  that  fur,  it  would  return  to  her  in  the 
increase  of  trade  alone,  without  estimating  the 
other  advantages,  a  handsome  profit  upon 
the  investment.  But  there  are  inducements 
to  render  the  stock  of  this  road  valuable,  that 
are  not  ]iresented  by  any  other  railroad  in 
the  United  States.  From  Jackson  to  Bran- 
don— fourteen  miles  and  a  half — the  road  is 
completed,  and  in  profitable  operation.  These 
foul  teen  and  a  half  miles,  with  the  cars,  loco- 
motives, fixtures,  depots,  town  lots,  <fcc.,  at- 
tached to  the  road ;  sixty  choice  and  picked 
negroes  ;  the  two  per  cent,  fund  now  on  liand, 
being  about  $12,000,  and  that  which  may 
hereafter  be  received,  now  the  property  of  the 
state  of  Mississippi,  and  valued,  upon  a  care- 
ful estimate  by  the  President  of  the  Southern 
Railroad,  including  the  grading  and  labor  done 
east  of  Brandon,  at  $378,000,  are  all  offered, 
by  a  recent  act  of  the  Legislature,  as  a  bonus 
for  the  organization  of  this  company,  and  the 
completion  of  the  road  to  the  Alabama  line 
in  six  years.  This  act  was  passed  in  1S50, 
and  provides  that  the  whole  property  shall 
come  into  the  possession  of  the  company  so 
soon  as  twenty  miles  of  the  road  beyond 
Brandon  has  been  finished. 

"  To  organize  the  company  requires  a  sub- 
scription of  $500,000  of  stock,  with  a  cash 
payment  of  $50,000,  immediately  upon  which 
the  company  becomes  the  owner  of  nearly  a 
half  nnllion  more  of  valuable  and  active 
property.  This  statement  sliows  of  itself  a 
conclusive  inducement  to  take  stock  in  this 
road,  and  renders  it  absolutely  certain  that  it 
will  be  valuable. 

"But  there  are  other  causes  at  work  to 
render  this  road  profitable  stock.  Congress 
has  already  displayed  a  liberal  sjairit  in  the 
donation  of  public  lands  to  similar  works,  and 
the  Senate  has  twice  passed  bills  in  behalf  of 
this  road,  granting  lands  to  aid  in  its  construc- 
tion, worth,  at  tlie  government  price,  over  one 
half  million  of  dollars.  It  is  believed  a  sim- 
ilar bill  will  become  a  law  at  the  next  Con- 
gress." 

The  Holly  Springs  road  was  proposed  by 
Col.  Walters,  who  offered  the  following  reso- 
lutions, which  were  unanimously  adopted  in 
the  Convention,  and  sustained  them  in  a 
speech  of  great  force  and  ability : 

Jieso/vcd,  That  the  citizens  of  North  Mis- 
sissippi be,  and  they  are  hereby  earnestly  so- 
licited to  procure  from  the  legislature  of  that 
Btate  a  charter  for  a  railroad  from  Jackson, 
Miss.,  to  Holly  Springs,  Miss. 


Resolved,  That  should  said  charter  be  pro- 
cured, that  the  citizens  of  New-Orleans,  Lou- 
isiana, and  Jackson,  Mississippi,  through  their 
representatives  in  the  Convention,  pledge 
themselves  iov  a  liberal  aid  (should  the  same 
be  necessary)  in  constructing  said  road. 

Resolved,  That  the  citizens  of  Western 
Tennessee  and  South  Kentucky  be,  and  they 
are  hereby  earnestly  solicited  to  procure 
from  the  legislature  of  their  respective  states 
a  charter  for  a  railroad  to  extend  from  some 
point  on  the  southern  boundary  line  of  Ten- 
nessee, to  some  point  in  Kentucky,  opposite 
or  near  Cairo,  Illinois. 

Resolved,  That  should  said  charter  be  pro- 
cured, then  the  city  of  New-Orleans,  through 
its  representatives  in  this  Convention,  pledges 
itself  for  a  very  liberal  aid  in  the  construction 
of  said  road. 

5.  Alabama. — The  railroads  of  this  state, 
which  are  now  confined  to  the  Montgomery 
and  West  Point  road  in  the  direction  of  At- 
lanta, and  a  fragment  of  the  Charleston  and 
Nashville  read,  open  out  into  several  vast  and 
important  projections,  which  are  pressed  by 
the  people  with  a  zeal  and  activity  that  are 
the  guarantees  of  the  highest  and  moft  bril- 
liant success.  These  roads  are — The  Mobile 
and  Ohio  Road;  The  Selma  and  Tetinessee 
Road;  The  Blakely  amd  Girard,  or  Georgia 
Road. 

And  first  of  the  Afobile  and  Ohio  Railroad: 
This  road  has  a  total  length  of  521.8  miles, 
and  is  estimated  to  cost  $9,700,000.  Of  the 
distance — 

164  miles  are  in  Alabama. 
191  "  Mississippi. 

127  *'         Tennessee. 

40  "         Kentucky. 

The  citizens  of  Mobile  have,  by  an  almost 
unanimous  voice,  voted  a  tax  upon  their  real 
estate  of  $300,000  for  the  benefit  of  the  road, 
and  it  is  now  proposed,  with  very  general 
concurrence,  to  raise  this  tax  to  2  per  cent,  per 
annum  upon  all  the  real  estate  of  the  city  for 
five  years,  the  tax-payer,  as  now,  to  be  enti- 
tled to  his  assessment  in  stocks  of  the  com- 
pany. An  ajipropriatiou  of  one  million  acres 
of  public  domain  has  been  made  to  the  com- 
pany, of  sufilcient  value,  it  is  thought,  to  iron 
the  entire  line,  and  furnish  it  with  ample 
equipments  for  a  large  through  business.  In 
Mississippi  the  Boards  of  Police  have  been  au- 
thorized by  law  to  subscribe  to  the  extent  of 
$100,000  each  to  the  road,  after  obtaining  the 
vote  of  the  people.  The  county'  of  Noxubee 
was  the  first  to  act  under  the  luw  by  an  over- 
whelming majority.  A  portion  of  the  iron 
has  been  contracted  for,  deliverable  at  Mo- 
bile for  $38  per  ton,  T  pattern,  of  65  lbs. 
The  principles  of  the  Mississippi  act,  allowing 
the  counties  to  subscribe  in  a  corporate  capa- 
city, extends  to  all  raikoads  which  may  be 


RAILROADS — ADDRESS. 


447 


undertaken  in  tbe  state,  and  admits  of  the 
issue  of  comity  warrants  at  twelve  months, 
bearing  interest  to  meet  the  subscription. 

The  total  population  upon  the  hne  of  the 
Mobile  and  Ohio  road  is  estimated  at  725,322. 
It  is  argued  for  the  road  : 

1 .  Tiuit  the  planters  on  the  route,  from  the 
difficulties  of  river  navigation,  are  kept  back 
two  montlis  from  market,  and  })ay  from  §3.50 
to  §7  trans|)ortatioD  on  a  bale  of  cotton,  whilst 
the  railroad  will  furnish  it  for  ,^2.50  to  §3.50 ; 
that  corn  will  be  delivered  to  these  planters 
from  Tennessee,  for  25  cents,  against  50  and 
75  cents  at  present,  and  bacon  at  half  the 
present  rates,  and  so  of  other  articles  of  con- 
sumption. 

2.  The  corn,  wheat,  hemp  and  tobacco 
growers  of  Tennessee  and  Kentucky,  will  be 
furnished  with  a  steady  and  uninterrupted 
market ;  the  iron  miners  of  central  and  west- 
ern Tennessee  will  enjoy  the  same  faciUties  ; 


and  the  100,000  bales  of  the  Tennessee  River 
cotton,  which  now  takes  a  voyage  of  1,300 
miles  to  a  market. 

3.  That  the  road  will  enjoy  much  of  tlio 
transport  of  passengers  and  merchandise  now 
passing  from  New-Orleans  to  the  Ohio,  or 
downwards,  by  250  steamers,  averaging  75 
passengers,  and  400  tons,  or  in  all,  375,000 
passengers,  and  2,000,000  tons  freight  aunu- 
ally. 

4.  That  the  road  will  be  a  great  trunk,  of- 
fering a  safe  transit  from  the  gulf  to  the  lakes 
in  44  hours  of  time. 

The  last  report  of  the  Company  contains 
some  statistics  of  distance,  prepared  with 
much  labor,  from  which  we  form  a  table  as 
evidence  of  the  great  disadvantages  of  our 
water  conveyances  at  New-Orleans,  in  com- 
parison with  railroads,  whether  to  Mobile  or 
to  oui"  own  city  : 


TABLE   OF  COMPARATIVE    RAILROAD   AND  WATER    DISTANCES. 


Miles. 

Jackson,  Mississippi,  to  Mobile,  (R.  R.,)  221 

Yicksburg,       "               "  (via  Jackson,)  268 

Tennessee  River  to  Mobile,  (R.  R.,). . .  346 

Memphis  to  Mobile, via  Lagrange  R.  R.,  428 

it  it  (t  (C  u 

Huntsville  to  Mobile,  via  Decatur  R.  R.  445 

Gunter's  landing  to  Mobile,. 462 

Nashville  to  Mobile,  via  River  and  R.  R,  475 

Mouth  of  Ohio  to  Mobile,  R.  R 492 


St.  Louis  to  Mobile 696 

((  tc 

(<  <l 

Louisville  to  Mobile,  R.  R 700 

Cincinnati  to  Mobile,     "     736 


Chicago  to  Mobile,  R.  R 867 


Tlie  second  important  railroad  projection  in 
Alabama  is  the  Alabama  and  Tennessee  River 
Railroad,  commencing  at  Selma,  and  extend- 
ing to  Gunter's  Landing  on  the  Tennessee, 
with  proposed  branches  to  Chattanooga  and 
Rome.  This  road,  too,  has  been  advocated  in 
New-Orleans,  and  subscriptions  received  upon 
the  ground  of   immediately  shortening    the 


Miles. 
To  New-Orleans,  by  Vicksb'g  and  river    420 

"  "  via  river. 268 

"      1,345 

"      803 

"  Savannah,  via  R.  R 625 

502 

"  New-Orleans,  river 1,432 

"  Savannah,  H.  R 429 

"  Charleston,  R.  R 600 

"  Savannah,  R.  R 584 

"  New-Orleans,  river, 1,531 

"     1,046 

"  Baltimore,  R.  R.,  Ac 1,143 

"  New- York,  by  river,  R.  R.  and  lake.  1,415 

"  Philadelphia,  river  and  R.  R 1,296 

"  Savannah,  via  Nashville  R.  R 770 

"  Charleston,  "  «    789 

"  Baltimore 1,353 

"  New-Orleans,  (river) 1,256 

"  Baltimore,  by  river  to  Cincinnati  and 

Wheeling,  "(R.  R.) 816 

•'  New-Orleans,  (river) 1,403 

"  "  "       1,546 

"  Baltimore,  (R.  R.) 656 

"  New- York,    "       796 

"        "         via  Buffalo 915 

"  Boston,  (R.  R.) 975 

"  Richmond, "     970 

"  New- Orleans,  (canal  and  river). . . .  1,624 

"  Boston 1,087 

"  New- York 1,025 

route  of  travel  to  the  north.  Selma  is  on  tbe 
route  of  the  Vicksburg  and  Jackson  road  ex- 
tended to  Montgomery.  The  subscriptions  to 
this  road  were  already  §923,000  six  months 
since,  of  which  Mobile  had  taken  §200,000  ; 
to  which  is  to  be  added  an  appropriation  of 
§238,806  from  the  legislature.  The  cost  of 
the  road  to  Gadsden  on  the  Coosa  River,  in 


448 


RAILROADS — ADDRESS. 


the  direction  of  Rome,  is  estimated  at  §2,- 
198,690.  Large  labor  subscriptions  are  count- 
ed on,  and  appropriations  of  valuable  gov- 
ernment lands.  An  independent  railro.ad  has 
already  been  chartered  from  Gadsden  to  Gun- 
ter's  Landing  on  the  Tennessee,  and  the  two 
companies  will  combine.  Distance  from  Gads- 
den toSclina,  160  miles ;  from  Gunter's  Land- 
ing to  Selnia,  200  miles.  The  Alabama  river 
13  always  navigable  to  Selma. 

It  is  argued  for  this  road,  that  it  will  shorten 
the  distance  of  travel  as  follows : 

Boston  to  Mobile  via  Richmond,  Charleston, 
Atlanta,  Montgomery,  itc,  1,803  miles. 

Boston  to  Mobile  via  Winchester,  Abingdon, 
Ya.,  Knoxville,  Tenn.,  Rome,  Selma,  «tc.,  and 
Alabama  River,  1,582  miles, 

New- York  to  Mobile,  by  the  present  route 
of  travel  as  above,  by  Charleston,  tfec,  1,565 
miles. 

New- York  to  Mobile  by  proposed  new 
route  of  Selma  road,  l,-34-l:;  Philadelphia  old 
route  by  Charleston,  1,476  ;  by  Selma,  1,258  ; 
Baltimore  old  route,  1,-3*79  ;  by  Selma,  1,158 
to  Mobile. 

Of  course,  with  the  Mobile  and  Ohio  road, 
or  ihe  road  from  Selma  to  Jackson  and  to 
New-Orleans,  the  distance  will  be  shortened 
in  a  still  greater  degree  as  well  as  the  time. 
The  road  intersects  an  abundant  mineral  and 
rich  agricultural  country  in  the  greater  por- 
tion of  its  extent,  and  the  chief  engineer  says : 

"  It  is  a  link  in  the  great  chain  of  railroads 
now  constructed  and  projected  on  the  most 
direct,  shortest,  and  most  expeditious  route 
■which  can  be  selected,  to  comiect  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  with  the  middle  and  the  northeastern 
Atlantic  states ;  a  route  which  will  present 
one  continuous  line  of  railroads,  passing 
through  the  most  healthy  and  picturesque 
sections  of  the  Union. 

"  This  great  chain  of  railroads  may  be  said 
to  commence  at  Portland,  in  the  state  of 
Maine,  thence  to  extend  to  Boston,  New- York, 
Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  and  to  Winchester, 
Virginia ;  up  to  tliis  town  the  line  of  railroads, 
witli  sh'irt  gaps  of  steamboat  travel,  is  now 
completed ;  thence  to  Staunton  and  to  Abing- 
don, through  the  great  valley  of  Mrginia,  and 
on  to  Knoxville,  Tennessee,  a  part  of  the 
route  is  under  contract.  From  Knoxville  to 
the  Georgia  raih'oads,  the  connection  by  rail- 
way will  soon  be  comj)leted.  From  the 
Georgia  roads  the  connection  with  your  rail- 
road, either  from  Rome  or  Chattanooga,  will 
naturally  follow  the  completion  of  your  enter- 
prise ;  indeed,  it  nuiy  be  anticipated,  charters 
having  been  obtained  at  the  last  sessions  of 
the  legislatures  of  Georgia  and  Alabama,  for 
a  railroad  from  Jacksonville,  in  Benton  county, 
to  Rome,  or  to  some  point  farther  soutli  on 
the  Georgia  State  Road,  as  may  be  found 
most  practicable." 

Tiie  third  great  road  is  that  from  Blakely, 
on  the  Bay  of  3Iobile,  to  Girard,  opposite 


Columbus,  Georgia,  on  the  Chattahoochio 
River. 

Length  of  the  road  238  miles,  or  perhaps 
230.     Estimated  total  cost,  82,931,816.* 

This  route  projwses  to  connect  New-Orleans 
and  New- York  in  seventy-six  hours.    Thus  : 

Miles  Hours 

New-Orleans  to  Jloljile,  steamer 160  10 

Mobile  to  Girard,  (railroad  proposed) 220  11 

Girard  to  Fort  Valley,  (now  constructing)...  71  3i 

Thence  to  Macon,  (built) 23  \^ 

Macon  to  Augusta,  (built) 160  8 

Augusta  to  Branchville,  (built) 73  i% 

Brauchville  to  Manchester,  (built) 46  2>J 

Manchester  to  Wilmington,  (to  be  built). . .  148  7^ 

Wilmington  to  New-Vork,  (built) 594  29^- 

1,497    76 

6.  Texas. — We  are  not  aware  of  any  rail- 
roads at  present  completed  in  Texas,  though, 
considering  the  fertility  of  many  parts  of  that 
state,  the  interruption  in  the  navigation  of  its 
rivers,  and  the  growing  population,  there 
would  seem  to  be  a  necessity  for  her  imme- 
diate action.  The  people  of  New- York  are 
already  controlling  the  trade  of  Texas  by  her 


*  The  friends  of  the  road  say:  "  We  have  no  dis- 
position to  disparage,  in  the  least,  the  importance  or 
the  profitableness  of  the  Memphis  and  Charleston 
road;  we  regard  it  as  an  enterprise  which  is  de- 
manded by  the  wants  of  the  country,  and  one  which 
promises  to  remunerate  its  owners.  Our  only  object 
is  to  expose  the  folly  of  the  pretensions  which  it 
makes  to  the  patronage  of  New-Orleans  capital.  And 
first,  as  to  the  claim  set  up  in  favor  of  this  road,  on 
the  ground  of  its  being  a  part  of  the  most  direct 
route  between  New-Orleans  and  New-York.  The 
Memphis  and  Charleston  read,  we  have  just  seen, 
intersects  the  Nashville  and  Chattanooga  road  at 
Crow  Creek,  which  is  forty  miles  west  of  Chattanooga, 
From  that  point,  the  route,  cast,  is  by  tlie  way  of 
Dalton,  and  thence,  north,  by  the  Daltou  and  Kuox- 
ville  railroad.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  a  road 
■ivill  be  chartered  and  built  from  Chattanooga  to 
Cleveland,  on  the  Kast  Tennessee  road,  which  would 
save  a  distance  of  forty  miles,  by  cutting  off  the 
angle  made  in  running  down  to  Dalton.  We  will 
allow  that  road  to  be  built,  and  it  will  then  be  seen 
that  the  two  routes  from  New-Orleans  to  New- York, 
the  one  by  the  way  of  Memphis,  and  the  other  by  the 
way  of  Mobile,  and  thenco,  by  the  Mobile  and 
Girard  road,  through  West  Point  and  Atlanta,  will 
intersect  each  other  at  Cleveland,  on  the  Kast  Ten- 
nessee railroad.  From  that  point  to  New-York,  the 
route  is  the  same  to  both.  In  estimating  the  com- 
parative distance  of  the  two  routes,  therefore,  we 
have  only  to  take  into  consideration  the  distance 
from  Cleveland  to  New-Orleans.  From  Cleveland  to 
Memphis,  the  distance  is  351  miles,  and  allowing 
(Jov.  Jones'  rates,  twenty-five  miles  per  hour,  the 
time  required  is  fourteen  hours.  From  Memphis  to 
New-Orleans,  (iov  Jones  allows  two  days  and  twelve 
hours,  making  the  entire  tune  from  Cleveland  to 
New-Orleans,  three  days  and  two  hours.  We  will 
now  estimate  the  time  over  the  Mobile  and  Girard 
railroad,  and  through  West  Point,  Atlnnta,  and 
Dalton.  From  New-Orleans  to  Mobile  Bay,  fifteen' 
hours ;  fnrai  Mobile  Bay  to  Columbus,  nine  hours  ; 
from  Columbus  to  Cleveland,  Tenn.,  ten  and  a  half 
hours,  making  the  total  time  one  day  and  ten  and  a 
half  hours — a  difference  of  forty  hours  in  favor  of 
the  lower  route !  A  difference,  which,  apart  from 
the  greater  safety  and  certainty  of  the  lower  route, 
would  always  command  the  mail  and  the  great  body 
of  the  through  travel." 


RAILROADS ADDRESS. 


449 


gulf  ports.  A  route  for  a  road  has  been  ex- 
amined by  Colonel  Johnson,  from  Lavaca  Bay 
to  El  Paso,  on  the  LTpper  Rio  Grande.  We 
are  confident  that  these  surveys,  when  com- 
pleted, will  show  that  the  southern  route  for 
a  railroad  connecting  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  with 
the  Gulf  of  California,  extending  from  Gal- 
veston or  Lavaca  Bay,  by  El  Paso,  is  far  pre- 
ferable to  the  northern  route  through  Missouri. 
It  is  shorter,  and  the  country  is  so  uniform, 
rising  by  regular  gradations  from  the  gulf  on 
the  east  to  the  summit  of  the  table-lauds  of 
the  Gila,  and  declining  by  equally  regular 
gradations  to  the  Pacific  coast,  that  the  cost 
of  constructing  a  railroad  on  this  route  will 
scarcely  amount  to  two  thirds  of  the  cost  on 
the  northern  route. 

Texas  has  a  deep  interest  in  connecting 
herself  with  the  great  public  works  of  the 
United  States,  and  she  has  public  domain 
enough  to  build  more  roads  than  are  in  all 
New-England.  A  grand  trunk  road  from 
Austin,  with  branches  to  Houston  and  Gal- 
veston, passing  in  the  vicinities  of  Montgom- 
ery, Washington,  Sau  Augustine,  Nacogdoches, 
would  enter  Louisiana  in  about  the  same  par- 
allel of  latitude  with  Alexandria,  and  connect 
with  the  proposed  road  from  thence  to  New- 
Orleans.  In  the  other  direction,  her  roads 
should  radiate  towards  New-Mexico  and  the 
valleys  of  the  Pacific.  The  committee  have 
been  instructed,  particularly  and  urgently,  to 
invite  the  coiiperation  of  Texas. 

A  railroad  from  Brazos,  Texas,  across  to 
Harrisburg,  on  the  Buffalo  Bayou  of  the  Bay 
of  Galveston,  is  commenced,  and  20  miles 
contracted  to  be  finished  this  year.  Efforts 
are  being  made  to  connect  San  Antonio  with 
the  coast.  Other  roads  with  great  merits 
might  be  constructed  from  Houston  to  Red 
River,  near  the  head  of  the  Trinity,  and  south- 
westwardly  through  Columbus  and  Seguin 
to  San  Augustine.  The  San  Antonio  and 
Gulf  road  has  already  been  chartered,  and 
$150,000  subscribed  towards  its  construction. 

7.  3IissoHri. — The  people  of  Missouri  al- 
ready di-ij)lay  a  degree  of  energy  and  enter- 
prise in  nuitters  of  railroad  construction,  which 
place  them  on  a  level  with  the  most  advanced 
states  of  the  Union.  There  are  now  two  pro- 
jects before  the  Legislature,  one  to  authorize 
the  Pacific  Railroail,  with  a  capital  of  ."j' 1,500,- 
000,  and  the  Hannibal  and  St.  Joseph's  Rail- 
road, with  a  capital  of  $4,500,000.  Total, 
$9,000,000,  of  which  .$600,000  is  to  be  raised 
by  state  credit.  The  last  bill  has  become  a 
law.  The  St.  Louis  and  Cincinnati  Railroad  is 
another  great  project,  towards  which  the  city 
of  St.  Louis  has  subscribed  6500,000.  Other 
roads,  it  is  believed,  are  projected  in  thedirec- 
tion  of  Arkansas. 

8.  Lonisiana. — Here,  fellow-citizens,  would 
be  the  proper  place  to  introduce  some  remarks 
upon  the  proposed  railroad  enterprises  in 
Louisiana,  which  are  now  attracting  so  large  a 

VOL.   II. 


'  portion  of  the  public  attention,  and  which  gave 
rise  to  the  late  Jackson  and  Opelousas  R;iilroad 
Conventions,  were  it  not  that  the  committee 
deem  it  desirable  to  postpone  that  sul)ject  to 
the  closing  pages  of  this  ])amphlet,  where  it 
can  be  treated  as  a  suliject  complete  in  itself, 
but  only  capable  of  being  thoroughly  under- 
stood after  a  familiarity  with  the  details  of 
manjf  other  matters  coimected  with  the  rail- 
roads of  the  Great  West  and  the  Atlantic  sea- 
board. 

II.  The  second  clas.i  of  roads,  in  which  it 
has  been  held  that  New-Orleans  has  but  a 
secondary  interest,  are  the  roads  of  Indiana, 
Illinois,  and  Ohio.  So  far  as  these  roads  are 
seeking  an  Atlantic  terminus,  they  militate 
against  the  interest  of  New-Orleans  ;  but  so 
far  as  they  are  employed  in  developing  the 
resources  of  the  northwest,  increasing  popula- 
tion and  traffic,  may  be  made  a  part  of  our 
own  proposed  system  of  works,  they  are,  or 
may  become,  of  positive  benefit  to  her  and  to 
Mobile,  perhaps  even  in  a  very  high  degree. 

1.  Ohio. — There  are  four  great  lines  con- 
structed east  and  west  through  the  state. 
There  are  four  lines  completed,  or  in  progress, 
from  north  to  south.  These  roads  are :  The 
Cincinnati  and  Sandusky,  completed  218 
miles;  Cincinnati,  Cleveland,  and  Columbus, 
203  miles  completed ;  the  Sandusky,  Mans- 
field, Newark,  and  Portsmouth  line,  221  miles 
compU^tcd  or  in  progress ;  Cleveland  and 
Wellsville  line,  88  miles,  constructing  ;  Cincin- 
nati and  Belpre  line,  20-4  miles,  in  the  state, 
constructing  ;  Ohio  Central  line  to  the  Indiana 
line,  243  miles,  in  the  state;  the  Pennsylvania 
and  Ohio  Railroad  to  the  Indiana  line,  263 
miles,  in  the  state  ;  Lake  Shore  line,  165  miles. 
Total,  23  roads,  1,705  miles;  of  which  572 
miles  are  completed,  and  748  are  in  construc- 
tion. The  Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis  road  will 
pass  in  its  greatest  extent  through  the  states 
of  Indiana  and  Illinois.  Most  of  these  roads, 
in  addition  to  the  great  canals  to  the  lakes,, 
are  engaged  in  conducting  trade  to  the  east. 
Several  of  them,  however,  will  conncjct  with 
the  roads  contemplated  from  the  southwest. 
The  following  is  tlie  position  of  the  St.  Louis 
and  Cincinnati  Railroad : 

"  Several  years  ago,  a  charter  was  granted 
by  the  state  of  Indiana,  incorporating  a  com- 
pany to  construct  a  railroad  from  Yincennes  to 
Cincinnati.  This  charter  Wiis  ratified  and 
adopted  by  the  state  of  Ohio.  Subscriptions 
of  stock  to  this  road,  including  the  amount  to 
be  taken  by  the  city  of  Cincinnati,  have  al- 
ready been  obtained  to  the  amount  of  about 
two  millions  of  dollars.  The  surveys  have 
been  nearly  completed,  over  a  most  favorable 
route ;  and  we  believe  the  lettings  of  contracts 
on  the  eastern  end  of  the  line  have  already 
been  made.  At  all  events,  the  subscriptions 
already  obtained  insure  the  early  completion 
of  the  road,  beyond  a  shadow  of  a  doubt.  Two 
years  ago,  the  Legislature  of  Illinois  refused 

29 


450 


RAILROADS ADDRESS. 


the  right  of  way  to  this  road  through  the 
state;  consequeutly,  the  Indiana  cliarter  only 
embraced  the  road"  from  Vincennes  to  Cincin- 
nati. But  at  the  late  session  of  the  Illinois 
Legislature  more  reasonable  counsels  pre- 
vailed, and  a  charter  was  granted  for  the  con- 
tinuation of  the  road  from  Vincennes  to  Illinois 
town.  The  length  of  the  road  from  here  to 
Vincennes  will  be  less  than  150  miles,  and 
from  Vincennes  to  Cincinnati  about  180  miles, 
making  the  entire  distance  by  the  road  from 
here  to  Cincinnati  less  than  330  miles.  It  is 
believed  that  the  entire  road  can  be  built  in 
the  most  substantial  manner,  at  a  cost  of  about 
$20,000  per  mile,  which  would  give  six  mil- 
lions six  hundred  thousand  dollars  as  the  ag- 
gregate cost  of  the  entire  road." 

2.  Indiana. — The  following  is  very  nearly  a 
correct  list  of  the  railroads  of  Indiana,  and 
shows  very  favorably  for  the  enterprise  and 
wealth  of  that  state : 

Com-      Con- 
Length,  pleted.  Btructing. 

Madison  and  Indianapolis 88  88  — 

Shelby  ville  and  Edinburgh 16  IG  — 

<•             Kniahtstown..  26  26  — 

Rushville  and  Shelbyville 19  19  — 

Indianapolis  and  Bellelontaine.  83  28  55 

New-Albany  and  Salem lno  27  73 

Jeffcrsonville 66  8  58 

Lafayctto  and  Indianapolis  ... .  61  —  61 

Peru  and  Indiasapolis 70  —  70 

Crawfordsville  and  Lafayette.. .  26  —  26 

Evans  ville  and  Illinois 50  —  50 

Lawrenceburg  and  Indianapolis  87  —  87 

Junction 38  —  38 

Terre  Haute  and  Richmond..  ..141  —  141 

Richmond  and  Newcastle 50  —  50 

Martinsville  and  Franklin 20  —  20 

Southern  Michigan 100  —  100 

Ricluiioud  and  Ohio 4  —  4 

Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis 160  —  100 

1,205       212       993 

3.  Illinois. — Through  this  state  it  is  pro- 
posed to  extend  the  Mobile  and  Ohio  Railroad 
to  the  shores  of  Lake  Michigan.  A  point  in 
Illinois,  upon  the  Ohio  river,  is  claimed  as  the 
centre  of  the  Union,  and  an  effort  is  being 
made  to  divert  the  terminus  of  the  Mobile  and 
Ohio  Railroad  from  Cairo  to  that  point.    A 


[  great  central  railroad  is  projected  through  the 
state  from  the  Oiiio  to  Lake  Michigan,  with 
several  branches ;  and  Congress  has  appropri- 
ated 2,500,000  acres  of  land  in  aid  of  the 
work.  "  This  road  is  part  of  that  great  chain 
of  railroads  of  which  the  Erie  Railroad  is  the 
first  great  link.  The  extension  of  the  Michi- 
gan and  Southern  Railroad  will  connect  Dun- 
kirk, New-York,  with  Chicago,  and  parts  of 
this  connection  are  already  constructed. 

III.  The  third  class  of  roads,  <fec,  to  which  we 
referred,  and  distinguished  as  directly  engaged 
in  tapping  the  resources  of  the  Valley  of  the 
Mississippi  and  Ohio,  and  taking  away  from 
the  cities  of  the  southwest  the  elements  of  their 
past  commercial  empire,  are  those  of  Boston, 
New- York,  Pennsylvania,  Baltimore,  Rich- 
mond, Charleston  and  Savannah.  With  so 
many  drains  opened  at  once  upon  our  re- 
sources, and  without  corresponding  and  coun 
tervailing  efforts,  it  must  be  evident  that  the 
greatest  prosperity  in  the  world  will  be  in 
the  end  sapped  and  destroj'ed.  We  shall 
take  a  brief  review  of  these  rival  routes. 

1.  Boston. — The  Great  Western  Road  of 
Massachusetts  connects  Boston  with  Albany — 
a  distance  of  200  miles.  At  this  point  it 
intersects  with  the  Albany  and  Buffalo  Road, 
323  miles  in  length,  commanding  the  re- 
sources of  Lake  Erie,  and,  by  the  tributary 
canals  and  railroads  in  that  quarter,  much  of 
the  resources  of  the  whole  northwest.  This 
road  has,  in  a  few  years,  given  extraordinary 
prosperity  to  Boston,  and  it  is  now  proposed 
to  expend  several  millions  of  dollars  in  short- 
ening it  a  few  miles. 

2.  New- York  having  realized  the  benefits 
of  her  great  canal  to  Buffalo,  and  finding  it 
insufficient  for  the  enormous  demands  of  trade, 
has  constructed  by  its  side  her  great  Erie 
and  Albany  road.  Perceiving,  however,  that 
this  road  is  serving  as  a  feeder  for  Boston, 
from  the  winter  obstructions  on  the  Hudson, 
she  has  more  lately  completed  a  road  extend- 
ing directly  frotn  her  doors  to  the  great  lakes. 
The  canal  is  also  to  be  widened  at  an  enor- 
mous cost,  so  as  to  become  adequate  to  the 
demands  upon  it* 


•  NEW-YORK  AND  NEW-ORLEANS  IN  WESTERN  TRADE. 


1.    JVcM)-  York  Population 1840 2,429,721 

"  "  1850 3,093,813 


Canal  Trade 66,3n3,89o 

"  156,397,92g 

An  increase  of  25  per  cent,  in  population,  and  150  per  cent,  in  trade  by  canals,  in  ten  years. 


Produce  of  West  received  by  j^Teic-Yor/c  Canals 1842. 

"  "  "  "  18.jO. 


$2-2,751,013 
55,474,937 


An  increase  of  145  per  cent. 


3.     Produce  of  West  received  at  JVew-Ortean.i 1842 $43,716,045 

"  "  "  1850 90.807,873 

Or  an  increase  of  120  per  cent. ;  or  a  comparative  increase  by  New- York  of  25  per  cent,  over  Ncw-Ork'aus  in 
western  produce  in  8  years!  In  the  tbreo  years  1848,  1849,  and  1850,  the  receipts  at  New-Orleans  by  river 
were  2,312,121  bbls.  rtniir ;  at  New-York,  8,636,207  bbls.  I'ork :  New-Orleans,  l,,')3ti,817 ;  New- York,  211,018 
bbls.  Heef:  210,901  bbls.  New-Orleans;  New  York, '.'64,072  bbls.  Wheat:  New-Orleans,  852,497  bushcU  ; 
New-York,  8,798,759.    Corn :  New-Orleans,  9,7-08,750  bushelu  ;  New-York,  11,178,228.    Bacon  :  New-Orleans, 


RAILROADS ADDRKSS.  451 

8.  The  railroads  o^  Philadelphia,  extend- j  cauals  unite.  Tlie  canal  boats  are  divided 
iog  westward,  are  the  roads  to  Pottsville.  in- ,  into  segments  by  partitions  made  transversely, 
tersectiug  the  line  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio]  and  at  right  angles  to  their  length,  so  that 
Railroad,  anil  the  Philadelphia  and  Pittsburg  I  each  boat   can  be,  as   it  were,  broken  into 


route  of  4n(»  miles,  composed  partly  of  rail 
road  and  partly  of  canals.  "  The  trafhc  on 
this  mixed  line  of  transport  is  conducted  so 
as  to  avoid  the  inconvenience  and  expense  of 
transhipment  of  goods  and  passengers  at  the 
successive  points  where    the  railways   and 


three  or  more  pieces.  These  several  pieces 
are  placed  each  on  two  railway  trucks,  which 
support  it  at  its  ends,  a  proper  body  being 
provided  for  the  trucks  adapted  to  the  form 
of  the  bottom  and  keel  of  the  boat.  In  this 
manner  the  boat  is  earned  in  pieces  with  its 


135  million  pounds;  New- York,  26  millions.    Lard:   New-Orleans,  292  million  pounds;  New- York,  21  mil- 
lions.   Butter:  New-Orleans,  8  million  pounds  ;  New-York,  97  millions,  &.c.,  &c. 

4.  Increase  in   tJie  Business  of  Roads  atid  Canals  employed  in  taking  Produce  from  the 
West  to  the  Atlantic  Cities. 


1847. 

1848. 

1849. 

1850. 

$3,6.35,381 

$3,2.52.212 

$3,266,266 

$3,226,903 

1,29.5,494 

1,587,995 

1,633,277 

1,713,848 

805,019 

785.882 

7.3,173 

728,085 



87,i-90 

118.849 

136.331 



108,104 

134,659 

157,173 

$5,735,894 

$5,822,083 

$5,800,224 

$6,018,340 

$248,320 

$.302,326 

$805,053 

$1,600,700 

221,139 

2.S0,085 

321,303 

405,607 

347.555 

373,931 

600,986 

860.559 

383.863 

582,0  4 

626,813 

753,383 

147.768 

161,569 

198,517 

207,040 

643.065 

638,102 

627,904 

687,700 

2,(102.945 

1,092.555 

1,9.33.590 

2,360,786 

1,101,936 

1,213,664 

1,241,705 

1,343,805 

EEVENUES  OF  PUBLIC  WORKS, 

18-ia 

New- York  Canals $2,750,103 

Pennsylvania  Works 1, 190.977 

Ohio  Canals 612,302 

Illinois    "    — — 

Indiana  " 

Total  Canals .  .• $4,565,382 

Erie  Railroad $210,130 

Little  .Miami  ditto 116,052 

Miciiigan  Central 277,478 

Georgia          "       400,935 

Macon  and  Western • . . .  128,430 

Pliiladelphia  and  Baltimore 568,555 

Reading  Railroad 1,900,115 

Baltimore  and  Ohio 797,064 

Total  eight  roads §4,398,759        $5,096,091        $5,244,246        $4,355,871        $6,2 19,582 

These  main  roads,  as  well  as  canals,  have  increased  their  revenues  50  per  cent,  in  the  last  four  years, 
mostly  throucch  the  increase  of  produce  transported. —  T.  P.  JCettell,  in  Democratic  Review. 

5.  Up  to  1835  there  may  be  said  to  have  been  but  one  rou'e  to  connect  the  country  west  of  the  AUeghanies 
with  the  .Atlantic  slope,  and  that  was  the  Erie  Canal.  There  are  now  four  in  operation,  and  still  another  in 
course  of  construction.    The  following  are  these  lines,  with  their  cost  and  revenue : 

Miles. 

Erie  Canal ,?64 

Pennsylvania  Canal 395 

Erie  R"ailroad 450 

Northern  Line,  N.  Y 327 

Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad 179 

Total  5  routes 1715 

Western  Massachusetts  Railroad 150 

The  revenue  of  the  Erie  Canal  in  1835,  the  year  the  Pennsylvania  canals  were  opened,  was  $1,392,130,  and 
that  represented  all  the  tolls  collected  on  western  trade.  This  last  year  that  trade  has  i>aid  on  tlie  five  lines, 
to  tide  water,  a  sum  greater  by  $8,410,000,  or  nearly  seven  limes  greater ;  and,  if  we  remember  that  the  tolls 
nre  now  very  mui'h  le.ss  than  then,  we  can  safely  estimate  that  the  trade,  west  of  the  AUeghanies,  with  the 
Atlantic  slope,  was  ten  times  greater  in  1850  than  in  1835.  Considerable  quantities  of  goods  now  pass  over 
Lake  Champlain  to  New  York,  and  over  the  railroad  to  Boston ;  and  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  already  174 
miles,  will  open  another  route  to  the  West. 

6.  Distances  on  Northern  and  Southern  Routes. — As  computed  from  Cincinnati,  the  distances  to  the 
ocean  are  as  loUows  : — To  Richmond,  by  Virginia  improvement.',  823  miles  ;  to  Baltimore,  by  Wheeling  road, 
&.C.,  941 ;  to  I'hilahelphia,  by  Pennsylvania  improvements,  907  miles;  to  New- York,  by  Erie  Canal,  1,030 
miles;  to  New-Orleans,  1,611  miles.  In  a  comparison,  says  Mr.  Flagg,  of  New-York,  between  New-Orleans 
and  New-York  from  Cincinnati,  there  is  a  difference  of  500  miles  in  favor  of  New-York  ;  yet,  on  the  untaxed 
waters  of  the  Ohio  and  the  Mississippi,  a  barrel  of  flour  is  carried  1..500  miles  in  a  flat  boat  for  50  cents,  being 
less  than  the  toll  charged  by  the  slates  of  Ohio  and  New-York  on  613  miles  of  canals,  besides  the  sum  re- 
quired to  remunerate  the  person  for  transporting  the  barrel  for  1,000  miles,  and  the  inconvenience  and  delay 
occasioned  by  1,239  feet  of  lockage.  The  charge  of  transit  on  the  Ohio  river,  by  steamboats,  is  about  half  a 
cent  per  ton  per  mile. 

The  disadvantages  of  the  New-Orleans  route  are  set  forth  by  Mr.  CaboU,  of  Virginia,  many  of  which  are 
capable  of  being  removed,  and  all  are,  no  doubt,  greatly  exaggerated.  The  dangers  of  Mississippi  naviga- 
tion, and  higliiT  rates  of  insurance  thereon — storms  and  hurricanes  of  Culf  of  .Mexicb — injurious  effect  of 
New-Orleans  climate  on  produce,  &c,    lie  says  the  mercantile  men  of  Richmond  had  better  pay  2  cents  per 


Cost. 
$7,143,789 
12,381,824 
20,323,581 
14,609,152 
7,227,400 

Revenue,  1850- 
$2,926,817 
1,550,555 
1,063,9.50 
2,896.042 
1,387,000 

Expense. 

$420,000 
996.592 
513,412 

1,005  948 
800,000 

Surplus. 
$2,506,817 
553,963 
545,538 

1,890,094 
587,000 

$61,745,746 
7,903,701 

$9,724,364 
1,417,571 

$3,735,952 
607,549 

$6,083,412 
810,022 

452 


RAILROADS ADDRESS. 


load  along  the  railways.  On  arriving  at  the] 
canal,  the  pieces  are  united,  80  as  to  form  a 
continuous  boat,  -wbich  being  launched,  the 
transport  is  continued  on  the  ■water.  On 
arriving  at  the  railway,  the  boat  is  again  re- 
solved into  its  segments,  which,  as  before,  are 
transferred  to  the  railway  trucks,  and  trans- 
ported to  the  next  canal  station  by  locomotive 
engines." 

4.  Baltimore  has  projected  a  great  line  of 
•western  railway  to  the  left  bank  of  the  Ohio, 
near  Wheeling.  The  road  is  already  com- 
pleted to  Cumberland,  and  is  being  vigorously 
pressed  towards  its  ultimate  terminus. 

5.  Virginia  has  aroused  herself  in  the 
general  rivalry  of  the  times,  and  garners  her. 
resources  for  the  great  canal  she  has  pro- 
jected, for  the  connection  of  the  James  River 
aud  Rich  111  oud  with  the  waters  of  the  Ohio. 
It  will  touch  the  Ohio  at  a  favorable  point 
for  navigation,  and  destroy  the  competition 
of  northern  routes  during  the  winter  season, 
when  tiieir  works  are  arrested.  &.  canal-boat 
at  Columbus,  Ohio,  says  Governor  Floyd, 
laden  with  pork,  hemp,  tobacco,  or  iron,  would 
greatly  prefer  going  to  Norfolk  upon  this 
canal,  to  passing  through  the  lakes  and  the 
Erie  Canal,  to  New- York,  if  the  market  was 
as  good  at  one  place  as  the  other,  for  the 
simple  reason,  that  the  distance  would  be 
greatly  shorter,  and  the  navigation  much 
safer  from  interruption  by  ice,  and  from  the 
dangers  of  the  lake.  It  is  plain,  therefore, 
that   such    trade    as   would    prefer    water- 


carriage,  and  as  now  reaches  New-York,  from 
the  heart  of  Ohio,  would  find  its  way  through 
Virginia  by  means  of  her  canal,  It  is  now 
completed  to  Buchanan,  19-i  miles,  leaving  a 
distance  of  174  miles  to  be  consti"ucted  to  the 
great  Falls  of  the  Kanawha. 

"  The  Virginia  and  Tennessee  Railroad  will, 
when  completed,  form  one  link  in  a  chain 
of  road  from  New-York  to  Mobile  and  New- 
Orleans,  most  of  which  is  already  determined 
upon,  and  over  which  will  pass  a  greater 
amount  of  travel  than  this  country  has  ever 
witnessed.  It  is  the  great  line  which  must 
convey  the  travel  to  and  from  California,  from 
the  northern,  middle,  and  partly  from  the 
southern  states,  and  over  which  much  of  the 
commerce  intended  for  the  Pacific  by  the 
Tehuantepec  route  will  likewise  be  trans- 
ported. It  is  worthy  of  all  aid  from  the 
commonwealth.  When  it  shall  be  completed 
to  the  Tennessee  line,  it  will  have  penetrated 
a  country  of  higher  capabilities  and  greater 
extent  than  that  through  which  the  Baltimore 
and  Ohio  Railroad  now  passes  to  Cumberland 
And  should  the  Central  Railroad  decide  to  go 
to  Cincinnati  by  Guyandotte  instead  of  to 
Louisville,  then  the  Virginia  and  Tennessee 
Railroad  will  form  a  common  stem  for  a 
branch  either  from  New  river,  through  Giles, 
I  Mercer,  and  Tazewell,  to  Lexington,  Kentucky, 
j  or  from  Abingdon,  through  the  county  of 
!  Russell,  to  the  same  city.  The  advantages  of 
this  connection  I  developed  sufficiently  at 
i  length  in  my  last  annual  message,  and  there- 


ton  to  Richmoad  than  come  free  to  New-Orleans,  because  of  climate,  rates  of  drayage,  storage,  insurance, 
commission,  &c. ;  aud  even  freights  from  New-Orleans,  which  are  oltbn  50  per  cent,  higher  than  from  Rich- 
mond.   Tliis  is  the  Virginia  account  of  it. 

The  rates  of  tolls  upon  New- York  canals,  on  western  produce,  are  2,  3,  and  4  mills  per  mile  on  each  thou- 
sand pounds. 


7.  Tonnage  New-Yorh  and  Erie  Canal. 


Tide-water. 

1836 696.347 

1817 011,781 

1838 040,481 

1839 602.128 

1840 669.012 

1841 774.344 

1842 600,676 

1843 836,801 


Goinj;  from 

Tidewati-r. 

Total. 

133,790 

830,143 

122,130 

733,911 

142,808 

783,289 

142.035 

744,103 

129.580 

798.592 

102,715 

937,059 

123,294 

789,970 

143,595 

980,456 

1844 

1845 

1840 

1847 

1H48 

1849 

1850 ...2,033 


Arrivir.gat 

Going  from 

Tide-wiUer, 

Tide  water. 

Total. 

1,019,034 

176,737 

1,19.5.831 

1.204,943 

195.000 

1,399,943 

l,3r>2,319 

213,815 

1.575,134 

1,744  283 

288,267 

2,032.550 

1  447.905 

32<1.557 

1.777,462 

1,579.946 

315.550 

1,895,496 

2,033,803 

418,370 

2,452,223 

In  a  report  of  the  Erie  Canal  appears  a  table,  showing  the  cost,  to  the  road,  of  transport  upon  northern 
roads  per  ton  per  mile,  from  which  we  extract  the  following:— Boston  and  Worcester  road,  9  mills  per  ton 
per  mile  ;  l-itcbburg  road,  9  4-10  mills ;  cost  of  train  per  mile,  93  to  66  cents,  with  useful  load  of  102  or  103 
tons.  The  cost  on  Western  road,  with  grades  of  83  feet,  li  cents  per  ton  per  milo;  cost  of  train  per  mile,  83 
cents,  with  useful  load  of  .52i  tons.  The  Reading  road,  its  managers  assert,  can  carry  coal  at  a  cost  of  6 
mills  Ihe  ton,  their  train  being  fully  lo.idod  both  ways.  The  Baltimore  and  Ohio  road  contracfod  at  1}  centa 
per  ton  per  mile,  while  their  ordinary  traffic  was  costing  over  2.i  cents  per  ton.  "  It  is  no  doubt  true,  with  a 
large  business,  and  under  experienced  management,  average  loads  of  100  to  150  tons  may  be  carried,  heavy 
grades  excepted,  at  a  speed  of  ten  miles  an  hour,  and  a  cost  of  5  to  8  mills  per  mile  per  ton,  rejecting  the 
interest  on  investment.''  "  Flour  is  now  taken  from  Detroit  to  Ogdcnsburg  for  30  cents  per  bbl. ;  from  Og- 
densburg  to  Boston,  380  miles  by  railroad,  at  8  mills  per  ton  per  mile,  will  bo  33  cents  more,  making  60  cents 
cost  without  ilividends.  liy  the  Krie  Oanal  last  year  the  average  charges  were— Detroit  to  Buffalo,  12  cents  j 
Buffalo  to  Albany,  54  cents;  Hudson  Kiver,  10  cents:  in  all,  76  cents.  The  Hudson  and  Buffalo  Railroad, 
it  is  estimated,  will  take  flour  from  Detroit  to  New-York  at  54  cents.  The  average  charge  per  ton,  through, 
on  the  Erie  Canal  last  year,  varied  from  §4  44  to  $0  94.  By  Ihe  enlarged  canal  it  is  proposed  to  bring  this 
down  to  .'52  40  per  ton  through  !"— [See  the  Statistics  of  the  Erie  Canal,  in  that  valuable  work,  the  Jiailroad 
Journal,  New-York,  which,  as  a  magazine  of  information  upon  such  points  as  these,  every  man  in  this  age  of 
steam  should  have.] 


RAILROADS — ADDRESS. 


453 


fore  deem  it  unneccpsavy  to  repent  tliem  here.  1  cent  railroarl  in  the  world."  Wc  have  hccn 
There  was  a  mistake  made  in  the  state's  eub- 1  deceived.  Had  all  been  well,  New-Orleans 
scription   to  this  work,  which  ought   to    be   would  have  grown  with  the  growth  _of  the 


rectified,  and  which  I  earnestly  recommend 
to  be  done  at  once. 

"  Should  the  Central  Railroad  reach  Cin- 
cinnati, it  will  form  the  shortest  line  of  road 
between  that  great  city  and  tide-water,  and 
will,  of  course,  command  an  immense  amount 
both  of  trade  and  travel.  It  is  a  truly  great 
work,  and  will  be  ultimately  productive  of 
great  benefits  to  the  state." 

Towards  their  fellow-citizens  of  Louisiana 


west,  as  St.  Louis,  and  Cincinnati,  and  B<).«ton, 
have  grown;  and  we  should  have  had  a  popu- 
lation of  200,000  or  2.50,000,  and  received  in 
produce  already  .$300,000,000  per  annum.* 
Ask  yourselves,  however,  what  are  the  facts? 
How  many  buildings  are  now  untenanted  in 
New-Orleans  ?f  Within  a  few  days  we  have 
seen  a  tributary  region  slip  away,  which  gave 
us  100,000  bales  of  cotton,  and  100,000  to 
200,000  bales  promise  to  go  in  the  same  di- 


and  of  New-Orleans,  in  particular,  the  Com-  rection  !  Thus  our  receipts  will  be  diminished 
mittee  feel  that  they  have  an  important  duty  i  at  least  one  third  or  one  half,  and  what  will 
to  discharge.     Situated  at  the  mouth  of  the  i  be  tlie  value  of  the  rent-rolls  of  New-Orleans? 


largest  river  in  tlie  world,  with  its  thousands 
of  miles  of  tributaries  connecting  with  the 
most  fertile,  and  wealthj--,  and  thriving  regions 
that  the  sun  has  ever  shone  upon;  besides 
being,  in  her  own  agricultural  facilities,  one 
of  the  most  favored  states  in  the  Union,  the 


Let  properly  look  to  its  position  of  peril! 
Real  estate  cannot  survive  the  broken  sceptre 
of  trade.  It  cannot  escape  to  other  places 
like  personal  property.  With  trade  it  lives, 
and  without  trade  it  perishes.  To  the  grip- 
ing, penurious,  and  usurious  holder  of  bonds 


progress  of  Louisiana  has  been  but  slow  in  !  and  mortgages,  and  lots,  and  tenements,  and 
comparison  with  many  of  her  sisters,  whilst !  enormous  rent-rolls,  dreading  a  little  public 


New-Orleans,  which  was  once  the  proud  em 
porium  and  mart  of  the  immense  empire  of 
the  west,  sees  her  trade  taken  away  by 
piece-meal,  by  a  host  of  sleepless  rivals,  until 
her  rank  is  fast  passing  away  from  her,  and 
the  grass  threatens  to  grow  again  in  her  once 
crowded  thoroughfares. 


expenditure  more  than  the  Asiatic  cholera — 
if  such  men  there  be  among  us,  which  God 
forbid — we  would  say  in  the  language  of  Holy 
Writ:  "  Let  him  that  thinketh  that  he  stands, 
take  heed  lest  he  fall." 

What  then  must  be  done  for  New-Orleans? 
She  must,   by  a  ivise   and  liberal   stroke   of 


Fellow-citizens,  had  New-Orleans  been  ivn^^  policy,  regain  a  part,  if  not  the  whole,  of  the 


to  herself,  she  could  not  now  be  occupying  a 
position  of  so  much  hazard;  and  the  humili- 
ation of  such  appeals  as  we  are  making  to 
you  would  never  have  been  necessary.  In  the 
day  of  her  pride  and  her  power,  she  deemed 
that  the  Deity  had  lent  her  armor,  and  that, 
the  child  of  fortune  and  of  destiny,  she  must 
be  for  ever  invulnerable.     Already  the  evil 


trade  she  has  supinely  lost,  and  open  neio 
sources  of  opulence  and  power,  xchichare  abun- 
dant all  around  her.  She  can  do  this  by 
changing  and  modifying  her  laws  bearing  un- 
equalty  or  hardly  upon  capital  and  enterprise ; 
by  cheapening  her  system  of  government ;  by 
affording  greater  facilities  and  pjrcsenting  less 
r~estrictio7is     to    commerce;    by   establishing 


ING     TO   THE  WEST,    AND   THE   NORTH,   AND    THE 


time  has  come,  and  her  enemies  mock  at  her,  niamfactures,  opening  steamship  lijiesto  Eu 
and  at  the  doom  which  her  apathy  is  threat-  rope,  and  cojiducting  a  foreign  im2-)ort  trade; 
ening  to  bring  upon  her.  With  a  position  the  arid  finally,  a7id  what  is  of  first  i7nportarice, 
most  favored  in  the  world,  New-Orleans  ^^nd  shoidd  precede  every  other  effort,  by  muni- 
should  have  been  the  queen  of  the  south  and  ficent  ArruoFRi.\TioNS  to  railroads  branch- 
the  west,  elected  by  the  unanimoxis  voices  of 
subjects  whom  she  had  conciliated  and  attach- 
ed to  herself  by  the  liberality  of  her  spirit 
and  the  extent  of  her  enterprise.  Instead  of 
this,  she  has  preferred  to  sit  in  her  isolation, 
without  sympathy  or  cooperation  in  the  works 
of  her  neighbors.  It  is  thus  that  these  neigh- 
bors, on  their  way  to  the  seaboard,  leave  her 
without  one  parting  symptom  of  regi-et. 

We  have  been  deceived,  fellow-citizens,  by 
the  voices  of  those  among  us,  who,  without 
any  permanent  interest  in  the  city,  or  only  in- 
terested to  abstract  the  most  out  of  it  to  be 
expended  abroad,  or  to  build  up  mammoth 
estates  by  rapacious  exactions,  have  continu- 1  ^"^ 
ally,  and  upon  all  occasions,  been  crying  out  |  4tii 
that  ''All  is  leelir'     "  Let  us  eat,  drink,  and  I  5th 
be  merry ;  the  old  father  of  waters  is  garnering  ^j^ 
for  us  wealth  unbounded,  and  is  altogether 
the  greatest  and  cheapest  and  most  magnifi- 1 


*    RBLATIVB  GROWTH  OF    NEW-ORLKANS  AND 
THE  WEST. 

In  the  last  ten  years  the  west  has  more  than 
doubled  its  population,  whilst  New-Orlraus  has  not 
increased  more  than  25  or  31)  per  cent.  The  average 
increase  of  produce  at  New-Orleans  has  not  doubled 
in  ten  years,  though  the  products  of  the  west,  as  the 
receipts  at  Boston,  New-York,  &.C.,  show,  have  quin- 
tupled. 

t  NO.  vacant  houses  in  2nd  municipality, 

MARCH,  1S51. 

1  St  Ward 39 


2nd 


.45 
.•■■8 
.17 
.34 
.23 
.73 


Total. 


.299 


454 


RAILROADS ADDRESS. 


EAST,  FROM  A  TERMINU3  AT  HER  CENTRE,  OR  I 
FROM  TERMINI  ON  SUCH  INTERIOR  STREAMS  AND 
RIVERS  AS  ARE  NECKSSARILY  TRIBUTARY  TO  HER. 

Now  is  the  accepted  time  for  action.  To- 
morroto  will  be  too  late  ! 

The  concern  of  this  committee  is,  however, 
entirely  at  present  witli  railroads ;  and  Laving 
discussed,  with  some  elaboration,  the  various 
routes  connecting  the  south,  the  east,  and  the 
■west,  their  duties  will  be  performed  by  a  re- 
ference to  the  routes  now  in  projection  in 
Louisiana,  with  the  view  of  connecting  her 
with  her  neighbor  states,  and  more  particu- 
larly with  the  great  lines  of  public  works  ra- 
diating through  every  section  of  the  Union. 
These  routes  are — 

1.  The  New-Orleans  and  Jackson  (Missis- 
sippi) Railioad,  with  an  ultimate  destination 
to  Holly  Springs,  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  and 
the  Ohio  river. 

2.  The  Hew- Orleans  and  Opelousas  Rail- 
road, with  an  ultimate  destination  in  Texas, 
New- Mexico,  and  as  far  westward  as  the  de- 
mands of  population  or  of  industry  may  war- 
rant. 

I.  And,  first,  of  the  New-Orleans  and  Jack 
son  Railroad.  This  road  has  been  advocated 
in  Louisiana  and  Mississippi  upon  grounds 
■which  entitle  it  to  the  highest  fiivor,  and  seve- 
ral conventions  have  been  held  for  promoting 
its  construction.  A  most  favorable  charter 
has  been  procured  in  Mississippi,  authorizing 
the  counties  on  the  Ime  to  subscribe  for  stock 
by  taxation ;  and  a  similar  charter,  it  is 
thought,  will  be  obtained  from  the  Legislature 
of  Louisiana,  which  meets  in  January  next. 
Meanwhile  a  company  has  been  formed,  and 
nearly  half  a  million  of  dollars  in  stock  has 
been  promised. 

The  following  is  the  report  of  the  Committee 
on  plans  and  projects  of  said  road  : 

"A  large  majority  of  the  Connnittee  have 
the  honor  to  report,  that  two  general  plans 
for  the  connection  of  New-Orleans  via  Jack- 
son, with  the  great  systems  of  railroads  now 
under  construction,  and  projected,  in  Missis- 
sippi, Alabama,  and  Tennessee,  have  been 
presented. 

By  one  plan,  it  is  proposed  to  construct  a 
contiiuious  railroad  from  New-Orleans  to 
Jackson  ;  by  the  other,  a  railroad  from  Madi 
sonville  to  Jack.son,  and  thence  to  a  connection 
with  New-Orleans  by  steam  ferry-boats  being 
used  for  bringing  the  trains  of  railroad  cars 
down  the  Chefuncte  river,  and  across  Lake 
Pontcliartrain  to  the  landing  of  the  Pontchar- 
traiii  Railroad. 

The  distance  from  New-Orleans  to  Jackson, 
via  I'ontcharlrain  Railroad,  Lake  Pontcliar- 
train and  M'-idisonville,  is  173  miles,  of  which 
distance  about  80  miles  will  be  steam- ferry. 
By  the  located  line  of  tlie  old  Nashville  Rail- 
road the  distance  is  192  miles.  By  a  route 
recently  surveyed  by  Mr.  Phelps,  passing 
above  Lake'Maurijjas,  the  distance  ■will  be 


about  200  miles ;  and  by  a  proposed  line  up 
the  river,  to  the  vicinity  of  Baton  Rouge,  the 
distance  from  New-Orleans  to  Jackson  will 
be  about  213  miles. 

The  latter  route  avoids  difficult  swamps, 
expensive  drawbridges  across  navigable  riv- 
ers, and  passes  through  a  fertile  aad  well-im- 
proved country. 

Estimating  30  miles  per  hour  for  passenger 
trains,  on  a  level  and  straight  railroad,  the 
time  of  passing  over  each  of  the  routes  will 
be  as  follows : 

1st.  By  the  Pontchartrain  Railroad,  steam- 
ferry,  and  Madisonville  route — 8  hours  15 
minutes. 

2d.  By  the  old  Nashville  Raihoad — 6  hours 
2-1  minutes. 

Sd.  By  the  line  above  Lake  Mauripas — 6 
hours  40  minutes ;  and  by  the  route  near 
Baton  Rouge — 7  hours  5  minutes. 

The  majority  of  the  committee  are  of 
opinion  that  the  road  via  Baton  Rouge  may 
be  constructed  in  the  most  substantial  man- 
ner from  New-Orleans  to  Jackson  for  two 
millions  of  dollars,  and  that  the  shorter  lines 
would  not  cost  materially  less.  The  cost  of 
the  road  from  the  state  line  of  Louisiana  to 
the  town  of  Jackson  will  be  the  same  on 
either  route,  and  may  be  estimated  separately 
at  one  million  of  dollars. 

The  majority  of  the  committee  are  strenu- 
ously opposed  to  any  interruption  of  a  con- 
tinuous railroad  communication  between  New- 
Orleans  and  neighboring  states.  The  time 
I  allotted  to  the  committee  will  not  permit  a 
I  report  in  detail;  but  the  majority  ieel  well 
assured  that,  on  a  simple  statement  of  the 
case,  the  convention  will  not  hesitate  in  adopt- 
ing an  unbroken  line  of  railroad  communica- 
tion.    On  behalf  of  the  majority, 

Glenuy  Bukke,  Chairman." 

II.  The  New-Orleans  and  Opelousas  Rail- 
road.— The  proceedings  of  the  convention  on 
this  road,  and  which  gave  rise  to  the  jiresent 
committee,  will  be  found  reported  in  detail 
in  the  number  of  De  Row's  Review  for  August, 
1851,  ;u  the  jiroceediugs  of  the  other  conven- 
tions are  published  in  previous  numbers.  The 
number  of  delegates  was  large,  comprising 
the  wealth  of  the  slate,  and  the  enthusiasm 
throughout  the  country  is  beyond  all  prece- 
dent. 

The  construction  of  these  two  roads  is, 
then,  the  first  great  matter  upon  which  the 
people  of  Louisiana  anil  New-Orleans  must 
be  engaged  to  regain  their  lost  position,  and 
acquire  that  rank  in  the  atVairs  of  the  nation 
which  nature  seems  to  have  marked  out  for 
them. 

By  the  one  our  city  will  be  connected  with 
that  great  and  growing  region  of  Texas, 
which  is  destiued  to  be  the  empire  state  of 
the  oouth,  and  the  trade  of  which  will  com- 
pensate for  many  losses  incurred  by  us  in 


RAILROADS ADDRESS. 


455 


other  quarters.  Ta  the  progress  of  population 
the  road  will  be  exteiukHl  further,  aiul  still 
further  to  the  westward,  until,  in  less  than  a 
generation,  it  is  no  chimera  to  suppose  it  with 
a  tenniuHf:  upon  the  I'acific,  and  couductiufj; 
the  commerce  of  the  two  hemispheres !  The 
grand  conception  of  such  a  road  is  worthy  of 
America;  and  judging  from  tlie  great  conven- 
tions that  have  been  held  in  its  advocjicy,  it 
is  an  itloa  that  has  taken  too  deep  hold  u])on 
the  public  mind  ever  Ui  be  eradicated. 

Tiie  Jackson  road,  ( n  the  other  hand,  in 
seeking  to  connect  us  with  the  northwestern 
states  and  the  great  lakes,  and  with  New- 
England  and  the  north,  through  the  North- 
Alabama,  Tennessee,  and  Virginia  improve- 
ments, is  another  great  work  entirely  worthy 
of  New-Orleans.  This  road  will  greatly 
facilitate,  cheapen,  and  render  safe  travel  in 
either  direction,  as  will  appear  from  the  fol- 
lowing statistics : 

NEW-ORLEANS  IMPROVEMENTS. 
1. EASTERN    ROUTE. 

Miles. 
N.  0.  to  Jackson 212 

"       Columbus  via  Branch 322 

"       Gunter's    Landing,    Tennessee 

River 452 

"       Knoxville 600 

"       White  Sulphur  Springs.  .  .  ...  .,  770 

From  the  White  Sulphur  to  Richmond, 
Washington,  or  Baltimore,  about  200 
miles  by  roads  already  completed  ;  say 
then  in  all,  from  New-Orleans  to  Balti- 
more  1000 

(Forty  hours.) 

2. NORTHWESTERK    AND    LAKE   ROUTE. 

Miles. 

N.  0.  to  Bonnet  Carre 24 

"       Donaldsonville 65 

"       Branch  to  Baton  Rouge 70 

"       State  Line 110 

"       Jackson,  (Miss.) : 212 

"      Tennessee  Line r)S2 

"       Ohio  River,  (Cairo) 530 

"       Chicago 830 

(Thirty-six  hours.) 
No  grades  or  inclinations  exceeding  fifteen 
feet  per  mile,  nor  curves  of  less   radii  tlian 
10,000  feet,  equal  nearly  to  level  and  straight. 
(^Ranncy.) 

3. WESTERN,  TEXAS,  AND  CALIFORNIA  ROUTE. 

Miles,  (River.) 

From  New-Orleans  to  Plaquemine CO 

"  Opelousas llU 

Sabine  River 210 

Paso  del  Norte..  .710 

"  "  Gulf  of  California.]  350 

A  distance  to  be  attained  in  sixty  iiours,  as 

there  are  no  suows  to  be  encountered,  nor 

Iieavj  grades. 


The  committee  cannot  close  their  labors 
without  referring  to  a  principle  which  has 
been  lately  resorted  to  in  many  quarters  in 
the  construction  of  railroads,  and  wiiicli  has 
been  recommended  with  much  unanimity  in 
both  of  the  conventions  which  have  assembled 
in  New  Orleans.  The  jirinciple  is  thus  stated 
in  the  report  of  Mr.  llobb : 

"  Jiesulved,  That  a  memorial  be  presented  to 
the  legislature  of  this  state,  jiraying  the  pass- 
age of  an  act  providing  substantially  as  1- 
lows,  viz. : 

That  the  several  municipal  councils  of  the 
city  of  New-Orleans,  and  the  police  juries  of 
the  respective  parishes  situated  on  the  line  of 
the  road,  be  empowered  to  levy  a  special  tax 
on  the  real  estate  lying  witliin  their  respec- 
tive limits,  to  be  called  the  New-Orleans  and 
Jackson  Railroad  tax ;  provided  that  no  ordi- 
nance thus  passed  shall  be  bindirig  until  ap- 
proved by  a  majority  of  the  legal  voters  of  the 
locality,  at  a  special  election  called  for  that 
[jurpose,  and  that  the  tax  thus  paid  by,  any 
individual  shall  entitle  him  to  an  equal 
amount  of  stock  in  the  company."' 

This  principle  hiis  been  resorted  to  in  Ken- 
tucky, parts  of  Ohio,  Tennessee,  Mississippi, 
the  city  of  Mobile,  etc ,  with  more  or  less 
luodification,  and  the  legality  and  constitu- 
tionality of  it  has  been  sustained  in  au  elab- 
orate decision  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  Ken- 
tucky, (Talbot  vs.  Dent,  9  J3.  Monroe's  Re- 
ports, pp.  536,  538.  1849.)  The  case  de- 
cides: 

"1.  The  legislature  have  constitutional  au- 
thority to  graut  to  town  corporations  power 
to  tax  the  property  of  towns  or  cities,  for  the 
construction  of  works  of  internal  improvement, 
for  fiicility  of  access  to,  aud  transportation  to 
and  from  the  town  or  city.  8  Leic/Ji's  Rep. 
120;  15  CoH.  Rep.  475;  Ten.  Sup.  Court.  A 
railroad  to  a  city  is  such  a  work. 

"  2.  Taxation  by  a  local  corporation  for  a  lo 
cal  purpose,  and  tending  to  promote  the  local 
prosperity,  is  within  the  scope  of  the  corpo- 
rate powers  of  city  corporations,  when  sanc- 
tioned by  the  legislative  authorit.y,  though  not 
consented  to  by  each  individual  to  be  ati'ected 
thereby ;  the  will  of  a  majority  is  to  govern 
when  it  is  referred  to  the  decision  of  those  to 
be  affected." 

The  advantages  of  such  a  principle  are  these: 
It  throws  upon  real  estate  the  onus  of  those 
improvements  which  most  certainly  and  speed- 
ily are  felt  by  it  in  au  appreciation  of  value. 
It  causes  all  such  property  to  contribute 
equally  ;  and  by  the  distribution  of  stock  into 
small  parcels,  gives  the  whole  community  a 
direct  and  practical  interest  in  the  results  of 
railroad  improvements,  and  thus  insures  great- 
er vigilance  and  responsibilit3%  It  renders 
railroads  practicable  in  quarters  where,  from 
the  obstinacy  or  ignorance  of  the  largest  pro- 
prietors, they  otherwise  would  not  be,  aud  re- 
moves from  the  enterprising  the  necessity  of 


456 


RAILROADS ADDRESS. 


being  at  the  tchole  expense  of  improvements! 
gi'eatly  advantaj^eous  to  the  whole  public  in 
the  long  rut),  though,  perhaps,  immediately 
unprofitable.  It  is  more  unexceptionable  than 
methods  of  state  and  corporation  loans,  or 
pledged  credits,  and  does  not  trench  upon  any 
principle  whose  inviolability  is  essential ;  since, 
under  jiropcr  regulation  and  limitation,  there 
■will  b(i  little  or  no  chance  of  abuse.  In  the 
southwest,  the  large  majority  are  land  pro- 
prietors, and  rnufit  tax  themselves  at  the  same 
time,  and  in  the  same  ^yroportiwi,  that  they  tax 
others;  and  men  are  not  generally  so  fond  of 
the  tax-collector,  that  they  will  willingly  and 
rashbj  adventure  themselves  within  reach  of 
his  rapacious  hands.  Under  this  system,  pro- 
perty will  be  altogether  as  safe  and  well 
guarded  as  under  republican  institutions  in 
general. 

Finally,  fellow-citizens,  the  time  has  come 
for  ns  to  be  astir  in  the  great  movements  of  the 
age,  and  let  us  meet  together  in  one  general  con- 
ventio7i  for  an  exchange  of  views  and  flans ; 
for  a  combitiatio7i  of  these,  where  it  is  practi- 
cable ;  for  a  wider  cooperation  and  a  more 
generous  rivalry ;  and  for  heartily  pledging 
each  other  a  bold,  vigoroits  and  sustained  effort 
throughout  all  the  future,  in  developing  our 
resources  and  our  ptower,  and  in  strengthening 
the  bonds  of f rater  n  itg  and  of  concord  betiveen  us. 

New-Orleans  invites  you  here,  and,  in  the 
awakening  spirit  of  enterprise  throughout  her 
limits,  tells  you  that  she  is  in  heart  with  you, 
and  will  do  her  whole  duty. 

Appendix  1. — Insecurities  and  Losses  on 
"Western  Steamers. — Such  has  been  the 
frightful  loss  of  life  within  the  past  few  years, 
and  the  enormous  loss  of  property  on  western 
rivers,  and  so  hopeless  appears  to  be  the  case 
of  all  remedy,  that  almost  any  possible  mode 
of  communication  would  be  at  once  preferred. 
Pubhc  confidence  has  been  shaken  in  the 
whole  system  of  western  boating,  and  men 
begin  to  feel  that  the  chances  of  the  bat- 
tle-field might  rather  be  encountered  than 
these.  Nothing  is  safe,  nothing  secure.  "We 
lie  down  at  night  upon  a  volcano,  which,  in  an 
instant,  may  hurl  death  and  destruction  in  our 
midst.  It  is  idle  then  to  say  that  railroads 
cannot  compete  with  steam  upon  these  rivers. 
Upon  their  very  banks  tlie  travel,  and  much 
of  the  trade,  would  be  at  once  taken  off  by 
such  roads. 

Mr.  Chambers,  of  St.  Louis,  furnished  a  year 
or  two  ago  the  list  of  steamboat  accidents  in 
twelve  months,  which  showed  5'J  steamers,  or 
mora  than  one  a  week,  destroyed  ;  245  lives, 
and  85'JO,OoO  property,  exclusively  of  person- 
al effects.  This  was  a  favorable  year,  as  the 
loss  of  life  has  since  reached  500  or  more. 
The  dreadful  experience  of  New-Orleans  is  in 
confirmation.  How  frequently,  within  the  last 
few  months,  has  the  work  of  death  been  con- 
summated at  our  levees.    The  whole  number 


of  steamers  built  on  westera  waters,  from 
1S30  to  1847,  says  Mr.  Burke,  in  his  Report 
to  Congress  on  "  Boiler  Explosions,"  is  1,915. 
The  losses  by  explosions  alone  amount,  accord- 
ing to  the  returns,  (admitted  to  be  altogether 
imperfect,)  during  the  same  period,  to  198,  or 
about  10  per  cent. 

Appendix  2. — Public  Lands  foe  Intek- 
NAL  Improvements. — Government,  by  virtue 
of  its  proprietary,  being  benefited  by  the  con- 
struction of  roads,  has  pursued,  to  some  ex- 
tent, the  liberal  system  of  donating  alternate 
sections,  ttc,  in  their  aid.  In  the  last  two  or 
three  years  many  splendid  donations  have 
been  made,  particularly  to  the  Central  Road 
of  Illinois,  and  the  Mobile  and  Ohio  road.  The 
whole  amount  donated  in  this  way,  up  to  IB-lV, 
was  G,G9.3,781  acres,  which  has  since  been 
swelled  to  ten  or  twelve  millions.  The  aid  to 
be  obtained  from  public  lands  for  railroads  is 
special  to  the  southern  and  western  states,  and 
is  an  element  of  immense  consideration. 

Appendix  3.' — Railroad  Progress  in  the 
World. — The  total  amount  of  railroads  now 
opened  in  Great  Britain  (1851)  is  between  sis 
and  seven  thousand  miles.  The  total  miles  in 
the  world,  in  1849,  was  18,656,  having  cost 
nearly  $2,000,000,000.  It  is  estimated  there 
were  at  the  same  time,  in  progress  of  construc- 
tion, a  further  extent  of  7,829  miles,  the  cost 
of  which,  when  completed,  would  be  £146,- 
750,000.  Thus,  when  these  latter  lines  shall 
have  been  brought  into  operation,  the  popula- 
tion of  Europe  and  the  United  States  (for  it 
is  there  only  that  railways  have  made  any 
progress)  will  have  completed,  within  the  pe- 
riod of  less  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  26,- 
485  miles  of  railway — that  is  to  say,  a  great- 
er length  than  would  completely  surround  the 
globe,  at  a  cost  of  about  £500,000,000  ster- 
ling. To  accomplish  this  stupendous  work, 
human  industry  must  have  appropriated,  out 
of  its  annual  savings,  £20,000,000  sterling  for 
twenty-five  successive  years  1  Of  this  prodi- 
gious investment  the  small  spot  of  the  globe 
which  we  inhabit  has  had  a  share,  wiiich  will 
form  not  the  least  striking  fact  in  our  history. 
Of  the  total  length  of  railways  in  actual 
operation  in  all  parts  of  the  globe,  27  miles 
in  every  100  are  in  the  United  Kingdom! 
But  the  proportion  of  the  entire  amount  of 
railway  capital  contributed  by  British  industry 
is  even  more  remarkable.  It  aj^pears  that  of 
the  entire  amount  of  capital  expended  on  the 
railways  of  the  world,  £54  in  every  £100, 
and  of  the  capital  to  be  expended  on  those  in 
progress,  £58  in  every  £100,  are  appropriated 
to  British  railways! 

In  about  twenty  years  there  have  been 
constructed  nearly  7,000  miles  of  railroad  in 
the  United  States,  and  those  in  progress 
will  probably  swell  the  amount  10,000  mil  es 
The  amount  expended  already  reaches  §20  0, 
000,000.  Of  these  roads  1,000  miles  centre 
at  the  city  of  Boston,  and  required  an  outlay 


RAILROAES ADDRESS. 


467 


of  S-19,221,400.  Our  wliole  public  works 
Constructed,  iucUulino;  every  description  in 
the  same  time,  would  perhaps  reach  $500,- 
000,OOU.  Great  Britain,  meauwhile,  has  built 
5,000  miles,  at  a  cost  of  §550,01)0,000,  and 
projects  4,000  additional  miles,  swelling  the 
aggregate  to  §1,000,000,000.  Her  great 
northwestern  road,  428  miles  in  length,  ex- 
hausted §lo4,00©,000  in  its  consh-uction,  suf- 
ficient to  build  our  way  from  ocean  to  ocean. 
France  has  expended  §  1.". 7, Oi  10,000,  Germany 
§168,000,000,  Holland  §;}9,000,000,  and  even 
Russia,  despotic  Russia,  is  on  lier  way  with 
three  stupendous  routes,  from  St.  Petersburg 
to  Warsaw  and  Cracow,  to  Moscow,  to  Odessa, 
to  connect  the  Volga  and  the  Duna  1  The 
passengers  increased  ou  British  roads  from 
23,406,896  in  1843,  to  57,965,070  in  1848,  or 
more  than  double,  and  the  receipts  from 
them  in  the  last  period  were  £5,720,382,  or 
about  §30,000,000.  The  total  receipts  from 
passengers  and  goods  had  augmented  in  six 
years  from  £4,535,1 89  to  £9,933,551,  or  from 
20  to  $50,000,000.  The  average  cost  per  mile 
of  British  railways  is  £56,915,  or  §275,000, 
the  Blackwall  road  having  cost  nearly  §1,500,- 

000  per  mile !  Her  locomotives  have  reached 
67,  and,  in  one  instance,  70  miles  the  hour  ; 
the  average  loss  of  life  being,  in  1847,  1  out 
of  2,887,(.>53  passengers  carried,  and  in  1848, 

1  in  6,428,000 ;  the  German  roads  giving 
only  1  in  25,000,000! 

ArrENDix  4. — Tehu-vntepec  and  Florida 
Peninsula  Railroads. — The  project  of  a  rail- 
road across  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuautepec  is  one 
in  which  the  people  of  the  whole  south  and  west 
have  a  direct  and  practical  interest,  higher  than 
that  of  other  sections  of  the  Union.  Though 
temporarily  suspended  by  the  difficulties  in- 
terposed on  the  part  of  Mexico,  the  work 
should  not  be  allowed  to  rest,  but  every 
effort,  consistent  with  peace  and  goodwill 
towards  Jilexico,  should  be  brought  in  re- 
quisition ti  carry  it  through.  The  road  will, 
practically,  m;i]<e  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the 
cities  upon  it  the  basis  of  future  operations  in 
the  ]\acific,  until  some  overland  communica- 
tion through  the  continent  has  been  achieved. 

The  Florida  Peninsula  road  is  also  one  of 
gi'eat  interest,  and  should  be  properly  repre- 
sented in  the  proposed  convention.  In  Flo- 
rida it  has  been  advocated  witli  much  zeal, 
and  a  citizen  of  that  state,  (Mr.  Fairbanks,) 
in  De  Bov/s  Review,  connects  it  inseparably 
with  the  Tehuantcpec.     We  give  an  extract : 

"The  Tehuantcpec  route  is  135  (160  or 
170)  miles  in  length,  and  is  as  practicable, 
so  far  as  cost  and  time  of  construction  are 
concerned,  as  that  to  Panama.  The  ad- 
vantage offered  by  the  Tehuantcpec  route, 
to  compensate  for  its  increased  length,  is 
the  saving  of  sea  distances  from  each  direc- 
tion to  its  termini  on  the  Gulf  and  Pacific, 
being   1,200   miles  north  of  Panama.     This 


saving  in  sea  distance  is  estimated  at  1,700 
miles,  in  making  the  trip  from  New-Orleans 
to  San  Francisco ;  the  distances  being  stated 
at  5,000  miles  from  New-Orleans  to  San 
Francisco,  by  way  of  Panama,  and  as  being 
only  3,3i)0  by  way  of  Tehuantcpec;  and 
being  from  New- York  to  San  Francisco,  by 
way  of  Panama,  5,858  miles,  and  by  way  of 
Tehuantcpec  only  4,744  miles — being  a  sav- 
ing by  Tehuantcpec,  of  1,100  miles.  This 
immense  difference  in  the  sea  di.stances,  other 
things  beiug  equal,  would  seem  to  be  conclu- 
sive in  favor  of  the  Tehuantcpec  route.  But 
by  the  construction,  in  connection  with  this 
Tehuantcpec  route,  of  a  railroad  across  the 
Peninsula  of  Florida,  a  still  greater  saving  of 
sea  distance  would  be  made  in  the  distance 
from  New- York.  These  two  projects  of  con- 
structing railroads  across  the  Isthmus  of  Te- 
huantepec  of  1J55  miles,  and  saving  1,700 
miles  in  the  passage  to  San  Francisco,  and 
across  the  Peninsula  of  Florida,  135  miles,  and 
saving  l,000miles  in  the  passage  to  New- York 
and  Europe,  would  be  achievements  in  the 
progress  of  communication  worthy  of  the 
spirit  of  tlje  age,  and  of  the  consideration  of 
the  people  of  New-Orleans  and  the  Memphis 
Convention.  These  connections  made,  and 
you  will  see  that  New-Orleans  would  become 
the  great  centre  of  trade  and  commerce  of  a 
continent.  Without  the  Tehuantcpec  route 
New- Orleans  is  left  far  to  the  northward  of 
the  great  stream  of  trade  and  commerce 
tending  toward  the  Pacitic.  Without  the 
railroad  across  the  Peninsula  of  Florida,  the 
steamships  connecting  between  New -York 
and  Tehuantcpec  or  Panama  will  be  com- 
pelled to  leave  her  to  the  northward,  or  lose 
several  hundred  miles ;  while,  with  both 
these  roads  constructed,  (and  the  Florida 
route  is  estimated  at  less  than  §1,000,000,) 
she  becomes  the  great  central  point  of  the 
commerce  of  two  oceans.  It  is  a  magnificent 
idea  to  dwell  upon,  that,  by  the  construction 
of  270  miles  of  railroad,  New- York  and  San  ' 
Francisco  are  brought  within  4,300  miles  of 
each  other,  and  New-Orleans  within  3,000 
miles;  thus  cutting  off  nearly  10,000  miles 
of  the  voyage  round  Cape  Horn.  And  it 
will  not  be  deemed  an  extravagant  supposi- 
tion, that,  when  constructed,  20  days  will 
suffice  to  reach  San  Francisco  from  New- 
York,  and  16  days  from  New-Orleans. 

ArrENDix  5. — Western  Canals. — Whilst 
referring  to  the  processes  by  which  trade  is 
being  carried  on  with  the  western  states  to 
the  east,  we  neglected  to  refer  to  the  numer- 
ous canals  now  in  successful  operation.  In 
addition  to  the  Great  Erie,  there  are — 

1.  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal,  90A-  miles 
long,  00  feet  wide,  and  6  feet  deep ;  locks  17  ; 
total  lockage,  158  feet  It  connects  the 
Chicago,  which  empties  into  Lake  Michigan, 
with  the  Illiuois,  at  La  Salle,  213  miles  from 


458 


RAILROAD    CONVENTION SOUTHWESTERN. 


the  Mississippi.  The  Illinois  is  navigable  all 
the  year  in  flat-boats,  and  4  mouths  by  steam 
(the  ice  season  beinj^  excluded.) 

2.  Waban/i  and  Eric  Canal. — This  extends 
from  Lafayette,  about  378  miles  above  the 
Wabash  mouth,  where  it  enters  the  Ohio,  to 
Toledo  on  the  Maumee,  adjacent  to  Lake 
Erie,  and  is  187  nailes  long.  It  is  intended 
to  complete  the  canal  from  Lafayette  to  the 
Ohio  river.  At  a  place  called  Junction  this 
canal  intersects  the  Miami  Canal  from  Cinciu- 
natL  It  is  probable  the  Wabash  and  Erie 
Canal  is  now  complete  to  Terre  Haute,  on 
the  Wabash.  The  Muskingum  Improvement 
extends  to  the  Muskingum  River,  at  or  near 
Zanesville,  and  is  9 1  miles  long. 

3.  Sandy  and  Beaver  Ca'icd,  connecting 
the  Beaver  River  with  the  lake  from  the 
Ohio  4.  Mahoning  Canal,  being  a  cross 
canal  of  S3  miles  long.  There  is  a  canal 
called  the  Beaver  and  Erie,  136  miles  long, 
connecting  with  the  Ohio  28  miles  below 
Pittsburg.  The  connection  with  Lake  On- 
tario is  by  the  Welland  Canal  in  Canada,  and 
with  Ontario  and  Champlain  by  the  New- 
York  canals.  The  points  of  union  of  those 
canals,  then,  with  the  Mississippi,  are  as  fol- 
lows :  mouth  of  Illinois  on  the  Mississippi, 
40  miles  above  St.  Louis  ;  mouth  of  Wabash 
on  the  Ohio,  130  miles  from  the  Mississippi ; 
Cincinnati  on  the  Ohio,  550  miles  from  tlie 
Mississippi ;  Portsmouth  on  the  Ohio,  589 
miles  from  Mississippi ;  mouth  of  the  nock- 
ing on  the  Ohio,  750  miles  from  Mississippi; 
Marietta  on  the  Ohio,  783  miles  from  Missis- 
sippi; at  mouth  Little  Beaver  on  the  Ohio, 
924  miles  from  Mississippi. 

4.  Tlic  State  of  Wisconfii7i  is  now  connect- 
ing the  Fox  and  Wisconsin  Rivers,  which 
empty  into  the  Mississippi  and  the  lakes,  by 
a  caual  of  very  short  length.  An  exchange 
remarks : — "  The  above  bids  fair  to  become 
one  of  the  most  important  public  improve- 
ments ever  made  in  the  United  States.  The 
connecting  the  great  lakes  and  the  Mississippi 
River  by  a  route  navigable  by  steamers,  must 
form  an  era,  even  in  our  present  advanced 
state  of  internal  communication,  A  boat 
may  then  load  at  Buffalo  for  the  Falls  of  St. 
Anthony,  the  Yellowstone,  or  New-Orleans. 
The  products  of  the  great  Mississippi  valley 
will  have  a  direct  and  cheap  route  to  the 
Atlantic  cities  by  way  of  the  lakes.  Emi- 
grants may  then  embark  at  Buffalo  or  Os- 
wego, and  be  carried  by  the  same  steamer  to 
the  spot  wliere  they  wish  to  settle.  A  new 
impulse  will  be  given  to  the  commerce  of  the 
country,  and  tlie  bonds  of  our  Union  made 
the  stronger  by  the  opening  of  this  new  route, 
which  is  soon  to  rival  all  other  artificial  lines 
of  water  communication  opened  in  this  coun- 
try. 

RAILROAD    CONVENTION  —  Souxu- 


WESTERN,  AT  New-Okle.\ns,  1852.— Delegates 
present  from  twelve  states. 

Ex-Gov.  Alex.  Moutox,  of  La.,  President. 

Vice-Presidents — C.  S.  Tarpley,  Mississip- 
pi ;  Joseph  Forsyth,  Florida ;  Gen.  Lucius  C. 
Polk,  Tennessee ;  William  N.  Burwell,  Vir- 
ginia ;  Amos  Morrill,  Texas;  H.  Chouteau, 
Missouri ;  P.  P.  Parham,  Alabama ;  J.  N. 
Beadles,  Kentucky  ;  Judge  James  Campbell, 
Louisiana ;  Absalom  P'owler,  Arkansas. 

Secretaries — John  Calhoun,  Victor  Wiltz, 
Louisiana ;  R.  C.  Farreley,  Arkansas ;  John 
Duncan,  Mississippi. 

Mr.  James  Robb,  of  Louisiana,  Chairman  of 
the  Committee  on  Ways  and  Cleans,  stated 
that  the  report  of  that  committtee  was  not 
yet  finished,  but,  with  the  consent  of  the  Con- 
vention, he  would  give  an  outline  of  the  same, 
verbally,  and  furnish  the  written  report  at  a 
subsequent  meeting.  Having  addressed  the 
Convention,  he  offered  the  following  resolu- 
tions on  behalf  of  said  committee,  which  were 
adopted  by  the  vote  of  every  state  repre- 
sented in  the  Convention  : 

Resolved,  That  the  great  system  of  internal 
communication  by  railroads  through  the  south- 
ern and  southwestern  states,  is  an  object  of 
such  importance  as  to  justify  and  require  a 
liberal  application  of  the  resources  of  the  states 
interested  in  these  works. 

Resolved,  That  the  voluntaiy  subscriptions 
of  private  individuals  are  inadequate  to  the 
accomplishment  of  works  of  such  m.agnitude. 

Resolved,  That  public  lands  in  the  western 
and  southwestern  states  of  this  Union  ought 
to  be  liberally  appropriated  to  the  objects  now 
proposed,  and  that  this  appropriation  ought  to 
be  made  by  a  general  law,  applicable  within 
proper  restrictions  to  all  the  railroad  enter- 
prises in  which  the  people  of  the  west  and 
southwest  are  interested. 

Resolved,  That  the  great  additional  value 
given  to  public  lands  by  railroads  passing  in 
their  neigliborhood,  and  the  augmented  reve- 
nues derived  by  the  government  from  the  in- 
creased population  and  wealth  which  result 
directly  from  such  works,  render  it  peculiarly 
proper  and  equitable  that  the  general  gov- 
ernment, which  shares  in  the  benefit,  should 
contribute  by  grants  of  land  to  the  cost  of 
such  works. 

Resolved,  That  it  is  the  right  of  the  people 
whenever  they  may  deem  it  proper,  to  sub- 
scribe through  their  nmnicipal  and  parochial 
corporations  for  the  stock  of  railroads  calcu- 
lated to  advauce  their  interests,  and  that  the 
legislatures  of  the  dilfercnt  states  ought,  by 
law,  to  authorize  their  cities,  parishes,  and 
counties  to  make  such  subscription  when  de- 
sired by  the  respective  inhabitants. 

Resolved,  Tiiat  the  resources  for  the  pay- 
ment (jf  such  subscriptions  when  made,  ought 
to  be  derived  from  taxes  levied  on  landed  pro- 
perty, inasmuch  as  that  species  of  property  is, 


RAILROADS   AND   TRANSPORT,    AT   HOME    AND    ABROAD. 


459 


more  llian  any  other,  benefited  and  enhanced 
in  vaUie  by  works  of  internal  improvement. 

Resolved,  That  -wlienever  subscriptions  are 
made  by  cities,  counties  or  parishes,  it  is  in- 
expedient that  the  administration  of  the  stock 
thus  subscribed  sliould  remain  under  tlie  con- 
trol of  tlie  local  authorities,  and  that  it  ought 
to  be  distributed  amongst  those  wiiose  pro- 
perty has  been  taxed  for  its  payment,  in  pro- 
portion to  the  amount  paid  by  each ;  to  the 
end  that  each  individual  may  be  stimulated 
by  personal  interest  to  a  vigilant  supervision 
of  the  conduct  of  the  work. 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  three  be  ap- 
pointed by  the  chair  to  address  to  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States,  and  to  the  legislatures  of 
the  separate  states,  memorials  in  support  of 
the  principles  contained  in  these  resolutions. 

Mr.  W.  N.  Burwell,  of  Virginia,  Ciiairman 
of  the  Committee  on  Routes,  presented  the 
following : 

Resolved,  Tiiat  the  Committee  on  Routes 
regard  the  following  system  of  internal  im- 
provements as  not  only  indispensable  to  the 
development  of  the  agricultural,  commercial, 
and  mineral  wealth  of  the  southwestern  states 
and  cities,  but  also  as  essential  to  the  equality 
and  uuity  of  the  states  of  this  confederacy ; 
and  they  earnestly  recommend  the  same  to 
the  patriotic  consideration  of  the  legislatures 
and  citizens  of  the  southwestern  states. 

1.  A  national  road  to  the  Pacific  ocean ;  with 
one  terminus  on  the  Mississippi  River  north, 
and  one  south  of  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  River, 
80  as  to  divide  the  advantages  of  each  road  as 
equally  as  possible  among  the  different  states 
of  the  Union. 

2.  The  Southwestern  National  Railroad, 
from  Washington  City  to  New-Orleans,  pass- 
ing through  the  states  of  Virginia,  Tennessee, 
Alabama,  Mississippi,  and  Louisiana ;  consti- 
tuting the  shortest  practicable  line  of  mail  and 
travel  transit,  and  consisting  of  the  following 
continuous  sections  now  under  construction,  to  j 
wit :  the  Richmond  and  Lynchburg  Railroad,  [ 
the  Virginia  and  Tennessee  Road,  the  Georgia  j 
and  Alabama  Road,  the  Alabama  and  Ten- , 
nessee  River  Road,  the  Selma  and  Jackson  t 
Road,  the  New-Orleans  and  Jackson  Road. 

3.  I'or  Ke  .tuchj. — The  Memphis  and  Louis- 
ville Road,  the  Louisville  and  Nashville 
Road. 

4.  For  Tennessee.  —  The  Memphis  and 
Louisville  Road,  the  Memphis  and  Charleston 
Road,  the  Louisville  and  Nashville  Road,  the 
Nashville  and  Southwestern  Road,  and  the 
roads  embraced  in  the  "  National  Route" 
above  referred  to. 

5.  For  Alabama. — The  Mobile  and  Ohio 
Road,  and  the  roads  embraced  in  the  "Na- 
tional Route"  referred  to. 

6.  For  Georgia  and  Florida. — The  Gulf 
Road,  or  a  continuation  of  the  Southwestern 
Road  of  Georgia  to  Pensacola  Bay ;  the  Flo 
rida  Peninsula  Road. 


j  T.  For  Mississippi. — Tlie  Mobile  and  Ohio 
!  Road ;  the  New-Orieana  Jackson  and  Nash- 
,  ville  Road  ;  the  New-Orleans,  Holly  Springs, 
and  Ohio  Road;  the  Vicksburg  and  Jackson 
Road,  extended  by  Brandon  .eastward  to  Sel- 
I  ma. 

8.  For  A  rknnsas. — The  Arkansas  and  Mis- 
j  sissippi  River  Road,  from  Fort  Smith  or  Van 
Buren  to  Little  Rock,  and  thence  to  Wiiite 
River,  and  there  diverging  to  Memphis  and 
j  Helena.     A  road   from  Fayetteville  to  Van 
Buren;  and  one  from  the  Central   Railroad, 
I  leaving  the  same  near  the  St.  Francis  Ridge, 
;  througii  Jack'^on  and  Independence  counties 
j  to    southwestern    Missouri.      A   road    from 
i  Little  Rock  to  the  Louisiana  line,  to  intersect 
with  the  New-Orleans  and   Opelousas  Rail- 
road.    A   road  from  northeastern  Texas  to 
I  Little  Rock,  crossing  Red  River  at  or  near 
Fulton. 

I  9.  For  Louisiana. — The  New-Orleans,  Al- 
giers, Texas,  and  El  Paso  Road ;  the  Madi- 
souville  and  Jackson  Road ;  the  Vicksburg 
and  Shreveport  Road ;  the  New-Orleans  and 
Nashville  Road. 

to.  For  Texas. — A  road  from  a  point  on  the 
northeast  pait  of  the  state,  (connecting  with 
the  Little  Rock  and  P'ulton  Road,)  to  run  on 
the  dividing  ridge  of  the  Sulphur  and  Red 
River  to  the  lidge  between  Buis  D'Arc  and 
Sulphur;  thence  to  Dallas,  and  to  connect 
with  the  New-Orleans  and  El  Paso  Route. 
The  continuation  of  the  New-Orleans,  Ope- 
lousas, and  El  Paso  Road  tlirough  Texas. 

11.  For  Mi.isonri. — The  road  from  St.  Louis 
westward ;  the  Hannibal  and  St.  Joseph  Road. 
The  second  section,  being  under  considera- 
tion, was  amended  by  proposing  a  route  from 
Paducah,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Tennessee 
River,  to  the  Tennessee  State  line,  to  inter- 
sect the  road  from  New-Orleans  and  Mobile. 

The  following,  offered  by  Mr.  J.  R.  Ander- 
son, of  Virginia,  was  passed  : 

Resolved,  That,  as  the  sense  of  this  Con- 
vention, a  railway  and  water  communication 
across  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec  is  of  na- 
tional importance,  and  especially  so  to  the 
whole  southwest 

RAILROADS  AND  TRANSPORT,  AT 
HOME  AND  ABROAD.— Soon  after  the  re- 
volution, New- York  and  Pennsylvania  set 
about  the  construction  of  canals,  and  so  impor- 
tant was  the  matter  of  internal  communica- 
tion regarded  in  Congress,  that  the  Secretary 
of  State,  Mr.  Gallatin,  was  requested,  in  1817, 
to  project  a  general  system  for  the  country' 
The  Erie  Canal  was  begun  in  1817,  and  com- 
pleted in  1825,  for  the  connection  of  the  Hud- 
son with  the  lakes,  at  a  cost  of  about  twelve 
millions  of  dollars,  or,  including  the  enlarge- 
ment in  1835,  nearly  twenty-five  millions  of 
dollars.     The  total  length  is  3(53  miles. 

Mr.  M.  Chevalier,  wlio  published,  not  long 
since,  a  work  upon  the  modes  of  transport  in 


460 


RAILROADS    AND    TRANSPORT,    AT    HOME    AND    ABROAD. 


the  United  States,  estimates  the  length  of  all 
the  canals  attiiattime,  1843.4,333,  with  2,359 
in  [iiojection,  much  of  xvhich  has  since  been 
finished.  The  total  cost,  to  the  time  of  his 
estimate,  w-as  .£27,8'70,964,  or  nearly  $130,- 
000,000.  The  canals  of  the  United  States  to 
those  of  Great  Britain,  compared  by  popula- 
tion, are  in  lenjrth  as  9  to  4,  and  to  those  of 
France  as  13  to  4. 

The  inland  steam  navigation  of  the  country 
has  also  grown  to  be  a  subject  of  proud  grat- 
ulation,  and  no  nation  in  the  world  can  at  this 
time  vie  with  us. 

Dr.  Lardner  gives  a  list  of  the  first-class 
steamers  on  the  Hudson  in  1838,  and  at  the 
present  time,  which  shows,  on  the  single  point 
of  length,  the  following  extraordinary  improve- 
ment : 

Length,  Breadth 
feet.    Beam,  ft. 

De  Witt  Clinton 230 28 

Champlain 180 27 

Erie 180 27 

North  America 200 30 

Independence 148 26 

Albany 212 26 

Swallow 233 22 

Rochester 200 25 

Utica 200 21 

Providence 180 27 

Isaac  Newton 333 40 

Bay  State 300 39 

Empire  State 304 39 

Oregon 305 35 

Hendrick  Hudson 320 35 

C.  Yanderbilt 300 35 

Connecticut 300 37 

Commodore 280 33 

New  World 376 35 

Alida 286 28 

"  All  the  vessels  more  recently  constructed 
are,  accordingly,  finished  and  decorated  in  the 
most  luxuriant  manner.  No  water  communi- 
cation in  the  world  can  compare  with  them. 
Nothing  can  exceed  the  splendor  and  luxury 
of  the  furniture.  Silk  velvet,  and  the  most 
expensive  carpeting,  mirrors  of  immense  size, 
gilding  and  carving  are  used  profusely  in  their 
decoration.  Even  the  engine  room  in  some  of 
them  is  lined  with  mirrors.  In  the  Alida,  for 
example,  the  end  of  the  room  containing  the 
machinery  is  composed  of  one  large  mirror,  in 
which  the  movements  of  the  highly  finished 
machinery  are  reflected." 

On  the  Mississippi  and  otiier  western  waters, 
a  class  of  boats,  scarcely  less  splendid,  have 
come  into  use,  but  worked  upon  principles  en- 
tirely different,  and  with  greatly  reduced  se- 
curity to  person  and  life.  They  are  worked 
witli  higli-pressure  steam,  without  comlensa- 
tion,  and  to  obtain  the  benefit  derived  from  a 
vacuum  in  the  low-pressure  boats,  tlie  steam 
is  worked  at  an  extraordinary  pressure,  reach- 
ing, ordinarily,  150,  and  sometimes  200  pounds 
to  the  square  inch.    Accidents  to  these  boats 


are  frequent,  and  occur  in  a  variety  of  ways. 
When  the  boilers  are  constructed  with  re- 
turning flues,  the  space  left  is  so  small,  the 
slightest  variation  in  the  quantity  of  water 
contained,  or  in  the  trim  of  the  vessel,  causes 
the  upper  flues  to  be  uncovered,  become  red 
hot,  and  collapse  with  frightful  force  and  loss 
of  life.  And  this  cause  of  explosion  results 
from  the  great  accumulation  of  mud  from  the 
rivers  in  the  boiler.  This  cuts  the  action  of 
the  fire  off  from  the  water,  and  concentrates 
it  all  upon  the  iron,  which,  soon  becoming  red 
hot,  softens  and  bursts.  The  remedy  is  in 
continually  "  blowing  ofi","  before  the  mud  can 
accumulate  in  quantities  to  be  dangerous. 

In  the  better  class  of  boats  on  the  Mississippi 
river,  however,  there  is  a  wiser  and  far  more 
secure  system  of  management  of  late  adopted, 
and  travellers  may  feel  much  more  at  their 
ease  than  in  former  times,  since  accidents  upon 
these  boats  are  growing  very  rare.  It  is  a 
pity  the  example  could  not  be  more  widely 
followed,  and  that  if  the  interest  of  owners 
could  not  be  a  sufficient  stimulant,  some  meth- 
od of  coercion  has  not  been  devised  by  govern- 
ment over  the  refractory.  Hundreds  of  lives 
are  lost  every  year  by  the  sheerest  negli- 
gence, or  by  the  most  criminal  cupidity.  There 
must  be  a  remedy  somewhere,  and  the  calls 
of  humanity  demand  its  early  enforcement. 

In  speaking  of  the  Mississippi  boats.  Dr. 
Lardner  says :  "  The  magnitude  and  splendor 
of  these  boats  is  little,  if  at  all  inferior  to  those 
of  the  Hudson.  They  are,  however,  constructed 
more  with  a  view  to  the  accommodation  ©f 
freight,  as  they  carry  down  the  river  large 
quantities  of  cotton  and  otiier  produce,  as 
well  as  passengers,  to  the  port  of  New-Or- 
leans. Many  of  these  vessels  are  three  hun- 
dred feet  and  upwards  in  length,  and  are  ca- 
pable of  carrying  a  thousand  tons  freight,  and 
three  or  four  hundred  deck  passengers,  be- 
sides the  cabin  passengers.  The  traffic  in 
goods  and  passengers  of  the  entire  extent  of 
the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  is  carried  by 
these  vessels,  except  that  portion  which  is 
floated  down  by  the  stream  in  a  species  of 
raft,  called  flat  boats. 

The  following  statistics,  from  .another  source, 
will  show  the  rapid  increase  of  steam  naviga- 
tion upon  western  waters : 

In  1815  there  were  in  use  about  1 4  steamboats. 


In  1829 
In  1834 
In  1842 
In  1843 
In  1848 


200 
230 
450 
600 
1200 


The  number  of  steamboats  running  at  the 
present  time  ujion  the  western  lakes  and 
rivers  is  now  reckoned  at  about  1,400.  Their 
tonnage  is  over  twice  as  much  as  the  entire 
steamboat  tonnage  of  Great  Britain,  and  prob- 
ably fully  equal  to  the  steamboat  tonnage  of 


RAILROADS    AND    TRANSPORT,   AT   HOME    AND   ABROAD. 


461 


all  other  parts  of  the  world.  Tlie  total  value 
aumially  afloat  ou  all  western  waters,  is  esti- 
mated at  about  $550,000,000. 

The  progress  of  railroads  in  our  country 
has  been  a  subject  we  have  frequently  dis- 
cussed in  the  pages  of  the  Review,  and  have 
furnished  all  tlie  statistics  and  iiift)rmation  it 
has  been  in  our  power  to  obtain.  No  one 
need  be  told  that  this  branch  of  enterprise  is 
but  hi  its  infancy  among  us,  whatever  its  pres- 
ent stature  and  importance.  The  great  west 
is  an  exiiaustless  field  for  future  develop- 
ments, thouj^h  it  is  now  able  to  show  but  lit- 
tle. We  extract  from  the  work  of  Dr.  Lard- 
ner  the  following  pages,  which  sketch  in  bold 
and  clear  colors  the  great  lines  of  railway 
communication  which  connect  the  Atlantic 
states  together,  or  reach  backwards  from  them 
to  the  western  valley.  It  is  impossible  to  do 
justice  to  the  subject  in  any  less  concise  de- 
scription : 

'•  Of  the  total  length  of  railways  which 
overspread  the  territory  of  the  Uuion,  more 
than  the  half  are  constructed  in  the  states  of 
Pennsylvania,  New- York,  and  those  of  New- 
England.  Tlie  principal  centres  from  which 
these  lines  of  communication  diverge  are  Bos- 
ton, New- York  and  Philadelphia. 

"A  considerable  extent,  tliough  of  less  im- 
portance, diverges  from  Baltimore ;  and  re- 
cently lines  of  communication  of  great  length 
have  been  constructed  from  Charleston  in 
South  Carolina,  and  from  Savannah  in  Geor- 
gia. 

"  From  Boston  three  trunk  lines  issue ;  the 
chief  of  which  passes  through  the  state  of 
Massachusetts  to  Albany,  on  the  Hudson. 
This  line  of  railway  is  two  hundred  miles  in 
length,  and  appears  destined  to  carry  a  con- 
siderable traffic.  Its  ramifications  southward, 
through  the  smaller  states  of  New-England, 
are  numerous,  chiefly  leading  to  the  ports 
upon  Long  Island  Sound,  which  communicate 
by  steamboats  with  New- York.  The  first 
branch  is  carried  from  "Worcester,  in  Massachu- 
setts, to  New- London  on  the  Sound,  where 
it  meets  a  short  steam  ferry  which  commu- 
nicates with  Greenport,  at  the  eastern  extrem- 
ity of  Long  Island,  from  which  another  rail- 
way, nearly  100  miles  long,  is  carried  to 
Brooklyn,  which  occupies  the  shore  of  that 
island  immediately  opposite  New- York,  and 
communicates  with  the  latter  city  by  a  steam 
ferry. 

"  Thus  there  is  a  continued  railway  com- 
munication from  Boston  to  New- York,  inter- 
rupted only  by  two  ferries. 

"Another  branch  of  the  great  Massachu- 
setts line  is  carried  south  from  Springfield 
through  Hartford  to  New-Haven ;  and  a  third 
from  Pittsfield  to  Bridgeport,  both  the  latter 
places  being  on  the  Sound,  and  communicating 
with  New-York  by  steamboats. 

"  The  second  trunk  line  from  Boston  pro- 
ceeds southward  to  Providence,  and  thence  to 


Stonington,  from  which  it  communicates  by  a 
ferry  with  the  Long  Island  railway.  Tliis 
trunk  line  throws  off  a  branch  from  Foxburg 
to  New-Bedford,  where  it  communicates  by 
ferries  with  tlie  group  of  islands  and  promcu- 
tories  clustered  round  Cape  Cod. 

"A  third  trunk  line  proceeds  from  Boston 
through  the  state  of  Maine. 

"  Notwithstanding  the  speed  and  perfection 
of  the  steam  navigation  of  the  Hudson,  a  rail- 
way is  now  being  constructed  on  the  east  side 
of  that  river  to  Albany,  which  will  be  opened 
in  the  course  of  1850.  The  section  terminat- 
ing at  New- York  is  already  in  operation. 

"  From  Albany  an  extensive  line  of  railway 
communication,  323  miles  in  length,  is  carried 
across  the  entire  state  of  New- York  to  Buf- 
falo, at  the  head  of  Lake  Erie,  with  branches 
to  some  important  places  on  the  one  side  and 
on  the  other.  This  line  forms  the  continuation 
of  the  western  railway,  carried  from  Boston 
to  Albany,  and,  combined  with  this  latter, 
completes  the  continuous  railway  communica- 
tion from  the  harbor  of  Boston  to  that  of  Buf- 
falo on  Lake  Erie,  making  an  entire  length  of 
railway  communication  from  Boston  to  Buffalo 
of  523  miles. 

"  The  branches  constructed  from  this  trunk 
line  are  not  numerous.  There  is  one  from 
Schenectady  to  Troy,  on  the  Hudson,  and  an- 
other from  Schenectady  to  Saratoga ;  another 
from  Syracuse  to  Oswego,  on  Lake  Ontario; 
and  another  from  Buffalo  to  the  Falls  of  Nia- 
gara, and  from  thence  to  Lockport. 

"  Not  content  with  this  fine  line  of  commu- 
nication to  the  western  lakes,  the  commercial 
interests  of  New- York  have  projected,  and  in 
part  constructed,  a  more  direct  route  from 
New- York  to  Buffalo,  independent  of  the 
Hudson. 

"  The  disadvantage  of  this  river  as  a  sole 
means  of  communication  is,  that  during  a  cer- 
tain portion  of  the  winter,  all  traffic  upon  it 
is  suspended  by  frost.  In  this  case,  the  line 
of  railway  communicating  already  from 
Bridgeport  and  New-Haven  to  Albany,  has 
been  resorted  to  by  travellers.  However,  it 
may  be  regarded  as  certain,  that  the  interme- 
diate traffic  of  the  state  of  New- York  along 
the  direct  line  of  railway  now  in  progress 
from  that  city  to  Buffalo,  will  very  speedily 
be  sufficient  for  the  support  of  an  independent 
line  of  railway. 

"  The  immediate  environs  of  New- York  are 
served  by  several  short  railways,  as  is  usual, 
indeed,  in  all  great  capitals  where  the  railway 
system  of  transport  prevails. 

"  The  line  connecting  that  city  with  Harlem 
is  analogous  in  many  respects  to  the  Green- 
wich and  Blackwall  lines  at  London,  and  the 
Versailles  and  St.  Germain  lines  at  Paris.  It 
is  supported  by  a  like  description  of  traffic. 
The  New- York  line,  however,  has  this  pecu- 
liarity, that  it  is  conducted  through  the  streets 
of  the  capital  upon  their  uatuial  level,  with- 


462 


RAILROADS    AND    TRANSPORT,    AT    HOME    AND    ABROAD. 


out  either  cutting,  tunnel,  or  embankment. 
The  carriages,  on  entering  the  town,  are 
drawn  hy  horses,  four  horses  being  allowed  to 
each  coacJi ;  eacli  coach  carrying  from  sixty  to 
eighty  persons,  and  being  constructed  like 
the  railway  coaches  in  general  in  the  United 
States. 

"The  rails  along  the  streets  are  laid  down 
in  a  manner  similar  to  that  which  is  custom- 
ary at  places  where  lines  of  railway  in  Eng- 
land cross  turnpike  roads  on  a  level.  The 
surface  of  the  rail  is  flush  with  the  pavement, 
and  a  cavity  is  left  for  the  flange  to  sink  in. 

"Other  short  railways  from  New- York  to 
Paterson,  Morristowu,  and  Somerville,  require 
no  particular  note. 

"  The  great  line  of  railway  already  de- 
scribed, from  Boston  to  New- York,  is  contin- 
ued southward  from  that  capital  to  Phila- 
delphia, There  are  here  two  rival  lines  ;  one 
of  which,  commencing  from  Jersey  City  on 
the  Hudson,  opposite  to  the  southern  part  of 
New- York,  is  carried  to  Bordeutown,  on  the 
left  bank  of  the  Delaware,  whence  the  traffic 
is  carried  by  steamboats  a  few  miles  further 
to  Philadelphia.  The  rival  line  commences 
from  South  Amboy  in  New-Jersey,  to  which 
the  traffic  is  brought  from  New- York  by 
steamers  plying  on  the  Raritan  river,  which 
separates  New-Jersey  from  Staten  Island. 
From  Amboy  the  railway  is  continued  to 
Camden,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Delaware, 
opposite  Philadel|.lna. 

"  By  far  the  greater  part  of  the  traffic  be- 
tween New- York  and  Philadelphia  is  carried 
by  the  former  line. 

"Philadelphia  is  the  next  great  centre 
from  which  railways  diverge.  One  line  is 
carried  westward  through  the  state  of  Penn- 
sylvania, ])assing  through  Reading,  and 
terminating  at  Pottsville,  in  the  midst  of  the 
great  Pennsylvanian  coal-field.  There  it 
connects  with  a  network  of  small  railways, 
serving  the  coal  and  iron  mines  of  this  lo- 
cality. This  line  of  railway  is  a  descending 
line  towards  Philadelphia,  and  serves  the 
purposes  of  the  mining  districts  better  than 
a  level.  The  loaded  trains  descend  usually 
with  but  little  efl'ort  to  the  moving  power, 
while  the  empty  wagons  are  drawn  back. 

"  The  passenger  traffic  is  chiefly  between 
Reading  and  Philadelphia. 

"Another  line  of  railway  is  carried  west- 
ward through  the  state  of  Pennsylvania, 
passing  through  Lancaster,  IIarrisl)urg,  the 
seat  of  the  legislature,  Carlisle,  and  Cham- 
bersburg,  where  it  apjiroaches  the  Baltimore 
and  Ohio  railway.  The  length  of  this  rail- 
way from  Philadelj)hia  to  Chambersbnrg  is 
154  miles.  The  former,  to  Pottsville  and 
Mount  Carbon,  is  108  miles,  the  section  to 
Reading  being  Gt. 

"A  great  line  of  communication  is  estab- 
lished 400  miles  in  length,  between  Phila- 
delphia and  Pittsburg,  on  the  left  bank  of 


the  Ohio,  composed  partly  of  railway  and 
partly  of  canal.  The  section  from  Philadel- 
phia to  Columbia,  82  miles,  is  railway.  The 
line  is  then  continued  by  canal,  for  172 
miles,  to  Ilolidaysburg.  It  is  then  carried 
by  railway  37  miles  to  Johnstown,  from 
whence  it  is  continued  104  miles  further  to 
Pittsburg  by  canal. 

"The  traffic  on  this  mixed  line  of  trans- 
port is  conducted  so  as  to  avoid  the  expense 
and  inconvenience  of  transhipment  of  goods 
and  passengers  at  the  successive  points 
where  the  railways  and  canals  unite.  The 
merchandise  is  loaded,  and  the  passengers 
accommodated  in  the  boats  adapted  to  the 
canals  at  the  dej^ot  in  Market  street,  Phila- 
delphia. These  boats,  which  are  of  con- 
siderable magnitude  and  length,  are  divided 
into  segments,  by  partitions  made  trans- 
versely and  at  right  angles  to  their  length, 
so  that  each  boat  can  be,  as  it  were,  broken 
into  three  or  more  pieces.  These  several 
pieces  are  placed  each  on  two  railway 
trucks  adapted  to  the  form  of  the  bottom 
and  keel  of  the  boat.  In  this  manner  the 
boat  is  carried  in  pieces,  with  its  load,  along 
the  railways.  On  arriving  at  the  canal,  the 
pieces  are  united  so  as  to  form  a  continuous 
boat,  which  being  launched,  the  transport 
is  continued  on  the  water. 

"On  arriving  again  at  the  railway,  the 
boat  is  once  more  resolved  into  its  segments, 
which,  as  before,  are  transferred  to  the  rail- 
way trucks,  and  transported  to  the  next 
canal  station  by  locomotive  engines. 

"  Between  the  depot  in  Market  street  and 
the  locomotive  station,  wdiich  is  situated  in 
the  suburbs  of  Philadelphia,  the  segments 
of  the  boats  are  drawn  by  horses,  on  rail- 
ways conducted  through  the  streets.  At 
the  locomotive  station  the  trucks  are  formed 
into  a  continuous  train,  and  delivered  over 
to  the  locomotive  engine. 

"  As  the  body  of  the  trucks  rest  upon  a 
pivot,  under  which  it  is  supported  by  the 
wheels,  it  is  capable  of  revolving,  and  no 
difficulty  is  found  in  turning  the  shortest 
curves ;  and  these  enoi-inous  vehicles,  with 
their  contents  of  merchandise  and  passen- 
gers, are  seen  daily  issuing  from  the  gates 
of  the  depot  in  IMarket  street,  and  turning 
without  difficulty  the  corners  at  Uie  entrance 
of  each  successive  street. 

"  The  southern  line  of  railway  communi- 
cations is  continued  from  Philadelphia  to 
Baltimore,  interrupted  only  by  a  steam 
ferry  over  the  Susquehanna. 

"The  management  of  these  steam  ferries 
is  deserving  of  notice.  It  is  generally  so 
arranged,  that  the  time  of  crossing  them 
corresponds  with  a  meal  of  the  passen- 
gers. A  ]datform  is  constructed,  level  with 
the  line  of  rails,  and  carried  to  the  water's 
edge.  Upon  this  platform  rails  are  laid,  on 
which  the  wagons  which  bear  the  passen- 


RAILUOADS    AND    TRANSPOUT,    AT    HOME    AND    ABROAD. 


463 


gers'  luctrnge,  and  other  matters  of  light 
and  rapid  traus[)ort,  arc  rolled  directly  upon 
the  upper  deck  of  the  ferry-boat,  the  pas- 
sengers meanwhile  passing  under  a  covered 
way  to  the  lower  deck. 

"The  whole  operation  is  accomplished  in 
five  minutes.  While  the  boat  is  crossing 
the  spacious  river,  the  passengers  arc  sup- 
plied with  their  breakfast,  dinner,  lunch,  or 
supper,  as  the  case  may  be.  On  arriving  at 
the  opposite  bank,  the  upper  deck  comes 
into  contact  with  a  like  platform,  bearing  a 
railway  upon  which  the  luggage  wagons  are 
rolled.  The  passengers  ascend  by  a  covered 
way,  and,  resuming  their  places  in  the  rail- 
way carriages,  the  train  proceeds. 

"  Biiltimore  is  the  next  centre  of  railway 
movement.  One  line  issues  northward  to 
Harrisburg  in  Pennsylvania,  where  it  unites 
with  the  rhiladelphia  and  Chambersburg 
line.  A  great  line  of  western  railway  is 
projected  to  be  carried  from  Baltimore  to 
the  left  bank  of  the  Ohio,  to  some  point 
near  Wheeling.  This  line,  however,  is  as 
vet  finished  only  so  far  as  Cumberlan<l,  153 
miles.  This  place  is  at  the  foot  of  the 
Alleghany  range,  which  is  crossed  by  the 
great  national,  an  excellent  Macadamized 
roadway,  which  continues  the  communica- 
tion 126  miles  further,  to  Wheeling,  on  the 
Ohio.  The  ascent  is  gradual,  and  con- 
structed on  good  engineering  principles. 

"The  railway,  when  completed,  will  cross 
this  ascent  by  a  series  of  inclined  planes,  all 
of  which  but  one  will  be  worked  by  loco- 
motive engines.  This  will  probably  be 
worked  by  means  of  a  stationary  engine. 
Nothing,  however,  is  done  as  yet  toward 
the  realization  of  this  part  of  the  project. 

"Baltimore  is  connected  with  Washing- 
ington,  the  seat  of  the  federal  legislature, 
by  an  excellent  line  of  railway  nearly  forty 
miles  in  length.  From  this  point  the  great 
southern  line  of  communication  iscontinued 
by  steamboats  on  the  Potomac  to  the  left 
bank  of  that  river  near  Fredericksburg,  in 
Virginia,  a  distance  of  about  fifty  miles. 
Here  the  line  of  railway  communication  is 
resumed  and  continued  through  the  state  of 
Virginia,  passing  through  liichmond  and 
Petersburg,  being  continued  southward  to 
Halifax,  on  the  frontiers  of  Xorth  Carolina. 
"Another  line  of  communication  soutli- 


apeake,  which  ply  between  Baltimore  and 
Noi'folk,  from  which  place  a  line  of  railway 
is  cari'ied  to  the  frontiers  of  Korth  Cai-olina, 
near  Halifax,  running  into  the  great  artery 
just  mentioned,  at  Weldon.  From  Halifax 
the  Great  Southern  llailway  is  continued 
through  Xorth  Carolina  to  Wilmington,  a 
seaport  near  the  southern  limits  of  that 
state. 

"  Thus  is  completed  so  far  a  continuous 
line  of  railway  communication  running 
north  and  south  through  the  Atlantic  states, 
commencing  at  Portland  in  the  state  of 
Maine,  passing  successively  througli  Boston, 
Providence,  Kew-York,  Philadelpliia,  Balti- 
more, Washington,  and  Richmond,  and  ter- 
minating at  Wilmington,  the  total  length  of 
which  is  nearly  1,000  "miles.  From  Wilming- 
ton the  communication  with  Charleston  is 
maintained  by  steamboats,  which  ply  along 
the  coast. 

"  Charleston,  in  South  Carolina,  and  Sa- 
vannah, in  Georgia,  are  the  points  from  which 
other  great  lines  of  railway  communication 
issue  westward.  That  which  proceeds  from 
Charleston  is  carried  across  South  Carolina 
to  Augusta,  on  the  confines  of  Georgia, 
throwing  off  a  branch  northward  to  Co- 
lumbia, the  capital  of  the  state. 

"  The  length  of  the  main  line  to  Augusta 
is  13-1  miles. 

"From  Augusta  the  line  of  railway  is 
continued  westward  through  Georgia,  pass- 
ing through  Madison  and  Decatur,  to  the 
left  bank  of  the  Tennessee  river,  throwing 
off  a  branch  to  Athens,  the  seat  of  the 
University. 

"  From  Savannah  the  line  of  railway 
passes  through  Georgia  and  Macon,  and 
unites  with  the  former  line  at  Decatur. 

"These  lines  of  railway  communication 
are  continued  westward  to  the  left  bank  of 
the  Alabama  river,  on  which  the  transport 
is  continued  by  steamboats  to  Mobile,  and 
thence  to  Xew-Orleans,  and  by  another  line 
to  the  Tennessee,  by  which  the  navigation  is 
continued  through  the  Mississippi  valley  to 
the  left  bank  of  its  great  tributary,  the 
Ohio." 

We  conclude  this  hasty  paper  with  some 
statistics,  showing  the  comparative  railroad 
economy  of  the  different  nations  of  the 
world. 


ward  is  formed  by  steamboats  on  the  Ches- 

Table,  showing  the  Population,  extent  of  Territory,  and  extent  of  Railwai/  iii  operation  and 
in  progress,  in  the  several  countries  of  the  World  where  Railways  have  been  constrticted. 


cnUNTRlE$.  Population. 

Tnited  Kingdom 27,019,558 

GcrmAiiic  states,  including 
Pcniniirk  and  IloUand..  .45.753.r)-10 

United  States 17,104.()1.'5 

France 3.').4()().4H() 

Belgium 4,335.319 

Russia 54,09i  3110 

Italy 47,096,338 

Totals  and  averages 231,312,250 


Pnpuhition 

Extent  of 

E.itent  of 

■  Cap.  invested 

Extent  of 

per  square 

railwiiy 

railway  in 

in  rallwrtya 

vested  in  rail. 

territory. 

opeii 

progress 

open. 

ways  in  progress 

.£ 

.£ 

121,050 

223.0 

5,000 

4,500 

100,000,000 

100,000,000 

2f)8,548 

170.0 

4,542 

800 

50,-75,000 

10.000,000 

5,042,536 

10.4 

6,565 

2(10 

5-.',ono,ono 

2  000,000 

281,708 

173.0 

1  722 

189 

45.812,(100 

15,350,000 

1 1,25G 

382.0 

'457 

200 

8,0(10.000 

3  000,000 

1,892.478 

28.6 

200 

470 

3,000,000 

7.500,000 

31. ',774 

152.0 

170 

470 

3,(100,000 

8,300,000 

4,453,350         52.0      18,656       7,829        368,567,000        146,750,000 


4G4 


EAILROADS   AKD   TRAKSrOKT,   AT   HOME   AKD   ABROAD. 


Comparison  of  the  extent  of  Railways  in  operation,  and  the  amoimt  of  Railway  capital,  with 
the  Population  and  territorial  extent  of  the  countries  tvhich  possess  them. 


«^ 


COUNTRIES. 


SSg 


United  Kingdom 185.00 

Germanic  states,  including  Den- 
mark and  Holland 99 .  50 

United  Stales 384 .00 

Franco 48.30 

Belgium 105.20 

Russia S-'O 

Italy 3.57 


41.3 

1G.9 
4.0 
8.3 

40.5 
0.10 
0.54 


7.100 

1.240 
3.050 
1.310 
1.850 
0.('55 
0.0G3 


1,C52.00        26.80        54.10        57.50        68.16 


212.00 

31.70 

227.00 

705.00 

1.59 

9.60 


24.34 
35.17 
9.12 
2.45 
1.07 
0.91 


15.27 
14.10 
12.75 
2.16 
6.81 
6.81 


10.20 
2.55 

15.20 
2.. 55 
6.00 
6.00 


6.82 
1.37 
10.40 
2.45 
5.13 
5.07 


4.18      1.600 


Totals  and  averages 80 . 5 

Thus  in  the  proportion  -which  length  of 
railway  bears  to  pojiulation  we  have — 1. 
United  States;  2.  Great  Britain;  3.  Bel- 
gium ;  4.  Germany ;  5.  France. 

In  the  proportion  of  length  of  railway  to 
territory — 1st  Great  Britain  and  5th  United 
States.  In  proportion  of  railway  capital  to 
population,   the  United  States  stands  2d; 


83.00      100.00      100.00      100.00      100.00 


and  in  relation  to  the  capital  expended  upon 
railways,  3d.  In  regard  to  length  of  rail- 
ways actually  open,  we  have — 1.  United 
States  ;  2.  Great  Britain  ;  3.  Germanic 
states;  4.  France;  5.  Belgium;  G.  Russia; 
7.  Italy. 

The  following  table  is  invaluable,  for  the 
means  of  comparison  it  affords : 


Comparative  vieio  of  the  movement  of  the  traffic  on  a  portion  of  the  Railways  in  operation  in 
the  United  Kingdom,  United  States,  Belgium,  France,  and  Germany. 


United 
Kini'dom. 


Tear  reported 1847 


Length  of  railway .. 


miles. 
3,036 


Average  cost  of  construction  and  stock,      £■ 
per  mile 40,000 

Per  mile  of  railway,  per  day ■£ 

Receipts 7.6 

Expenses 3.  Of 

Profits 4.0Gf 

Expenses  per  cent,  of  receipts 40 .  Of 

Profits  per  cent,  of  capital 4 .  2f 

5.     d. 

Receipts  per  mile  of  train 7     0 

Receipts  per  passengers  booked 2     0 


United 
States. 

1847 


miles. 
1,160 

£ 

9,200* 

£ 

4.05 

1.89 

2.16 

46.8 

8.6 


Distance  travelled  per  passenger. 


miles. 
15.75 


d, 
1.54 
50 


Receipts  per  passenger  per  mile.. 

No.  of  passengers  per  train 

Per  cent,  of  passengers  booked 

1st  class 13.8 

2d  class 39.5 

3d  class 4i;.7 


miles. 
18.2 

d. 
1.47 
54 

100 


Belgium. 
1847 

miles. 
353 

£ 

18,000 

£ 

4.6 
2.9 

1.7 
63.0 
3.44 

s.  d. 
5  0 
1     6 

miles. 
22.6 

d. 

0.8 

75.3 

11.0 
24.0 
65.0 


France. 
1848 

miles. 
1,090 

£ 

26,800 

£ 

5.30 
3.33 

1.97 
63.0 
2.68 


miles. 
24.9 

d. 

1.03 
61.4 

7.0 
24.6 
68.4 


German. 
States. 

1846 


miles, 
2,304 

£ 

11,000 

£ 

2.16 
1.04 
1.12 

48.3 
3.72 


75     1  6.5 

miles. 
19.6 

d. 

0.93 


3.6 
22.4 
74.0 


»  Tlie  average  cost  of  the  American  railways  taken  collectively,  per  mile,  is  only  £8,129.    Those  to  which 
the  present  report  refers  include  among  them  the  most  expensive  iu  the  states. 
+  The  estimated  limit. 


RAILWAY   SYSTEM    OF   EUROPE. 


465 


Receipts  per  ton  of  goods  booked. . 


s.    d. 
3     2.2 


8.    d. 
5     8.5 


t.     d, 
5     2 


s.     d. 


I.     i. 
10. 1 


miles. 
Distance  carried  per  ton 22. 5 

d. 

Receipts  per  ton  per  mile 1  .QfJ 

No.  of  tons  per  train 

Average  speed  of  passenger  train  in 

miles  per  hour , . , 

Stoppages  included U4 . 5 

Stoppages  excluded 32 . 0 


miles. 

38 

d. 

1.8 

64.5 


15.0* 


miles. 
43.8 

d. 
1.34 
33.2 


18.10 
24.90 


miles. 


21.2 

27.0 


miles 
46.4 

d. 
2.6 


20.0 
24.2 


RAILWAY  SYSTEM  OF  EUROPE.— 
Teaffic  of  British  Rahav  ays  ;  Cost  of  Con- 
steuctiox  as  compared  ■with  other  nations  ; 
Railroads  on  the  Continent  of  Europe; 
Railroad  Taxation  ;  Speed  ;  Accidents. — 
Our  readers  will  now  be  anxious  to  know  the 
nature  and  extent  of  the  traffic  possessed  by 
these  railways,  and  the  pecuniary  return;! 
which  it  has  yielded.^ 

No.  of         Receipts  from 
Years.  Passengers.       Passengers. 

1843 23,466,896  £3,110,257 

1844 27,763.602  3,439,294 

1845 33,791.253  3,976,341 

1846 48,796,983  4,725,216 

1847 51,352,163  5,149,002 

1848 57,965,070  5,720,382 

It  appears  from  this  table,  that  though  the 
number  of  miles  of  railway  opened  in  1848 
was  more  than  double  of  that  opened  in 
1843,  and  though  the  number  of  passengers 
had  increased  in  a  still  greater  proportion, 
y«t  the  receipts  were  not  nearly  double, 
being  only  as  67  to  31,  a  result  which  must 
have  arisen  either  from  the  passengers  having 
travelled  a  shorter  distance,  or  from  their 
having  travelled  in  carriages  of  a  lower  class, 
results  arising  doubtless  from  the  state  of  the 
country. 

In  the  table  of  the  gooda  traffic  the  result 
is  widely  different : 

Total  receipts 
Receipts        from  Goods  & 
Years.  from  Goods.       Passengers. 

1-843 £1,424,932  £4,535,189 

1844 1,635,380  5,074,674 

1846 2,233,373  6,208,719 

1846 2,846,353  7,565,569 

1847 3,762,884  8,910,886 

1848 4,213,169  9,933,551 

This  table  is  a  most  important  one,  as  it 
proves  that  while  the  railway  lines  have  been 


*  By  estimation. 

+  From  the  North  British  Review,  for  August,  1849. 

VOL.  II. 


little  more  than  doubled,  or  have  been 
increased  in  the  ratio  of  18.6  to  38.7,  the 
receipts  from  goods  have  been  increa.«ed  three 
times,  in  the  ratio  of  14  to  42;  so  that  the 
total  receipts  have  increased  at  a  greater  ra- 
tio than  the  number  of  miles,  viz.,  as  45  to 
99. 

In  order  to  learn  what  classes  of  society 
contribute  to  the  support  of  the  railway  sys- 
tem, and  in  what  proportion,  we  shall  take 
the  year  from  30th  June,  1847,  to  30th  June, 
1848,  the  number  of  miles  that  were  open  at 
the  beginning  of  this  period  being  3,507,  and 
the  number  open  at  the  end  of  it,  4,357  : 

Passengers.  Receipts. 

First  class. 7,190,779  £1,792,533 

Second  class 21,690,509  2,353,153 

Third  class 15,241,529  661,038 

Parliamentarv  class.  13,092,489  902,851 

Mixed " 749,763  11,807 

Total 57,965,069      £5,721,382 

Receipts  from  goods,  cattle,  )  a  o^Q^^^n 

parcels,  &c )  ^.^^-^-^vy 

Total  receipts  for  tlie  year  )        mno,  r■^^ 
1847-8... \       A934,661 

It  appears  frc-n  this  table  that  the  middle 
classes  of  society  are  the  best  contributors  to 
railways ;  tfce  number  of  that  class  who  tra- 
vel in  secnid  class  carriages  being  three  times 
greater  Shan  those  who  travel  in  first  class 
carriages,  and  the  receipts  from  that  class 
being  greater  in  the  ratio  of  18  to  24. 

Tbd  same  returns  for  the  lialf  year  ending 
December,  31st,  1848,  give  a  very  favorable 
view  of  the  progress  of  the  system.  The 
number  of  miles  open  at  the  beginning  of 
that  half  year  was  4,443,  and  the  nuuiber 
open  at  the  end  of  it,  5,079.  These  5,079  are 
distributed  as  follows : 

Railways  in  England 3,918 

"        in  Scotland 728 

"        in  Ireland 261 

30 


466 


KAILWAY    SYSTEM    OF   EUROPE. 


First  class 

Second  class 12,ly  1,549 

Third  class 7,184,032 

Parliamentary  class.   8,450,623 
Mixed 60,485 


Passengers.        Eeceipts. 
3,743,002       £1,003,516 


1,360,468 

320,862 

597,071 

1,382 


Total 31,630,291 

Receipts  from  goods,  cattle,  } 
parcels,  «tc ) 

Total  receipts  for  half  year  ) 
ending  Dec.  31st,  1848...  J 


£3,283,299 
2,461,602 


£5,744,961 


It  is  obTious  from  this  table,  compared  with 
the  preceding,  that  the  second  class  passen- 
gers have  increased  in  a  greater  ratio  than 
the  others. 

Taking  the  average  number  of  miles  open, 
during  the  half  year,  at  4,756,  the  receipts 
for  each  mile  would  average  £1,208.  On  the 
following  principal  lines  this  average  differs 
greatly : 

On  the  London  and  Northwestern,  it  is.£2,625 

"       Edinburgh  and  Glasgow. . .  "  1,853 

"       Great  Western "  1,795 

"       Lancashire  and  Yorkshire.  "  1,681 

"       Southeastern "  1,675 

"       London,  Brighton  and  South 

Coast "  1,657 

"      Midland "  1,385 

«       Southwestern "  1,341 

"       Eastern  Counties "  1,298 

"      York,  Newcastle  and  Ber- 
wick   "  1,170 

«       Caledonian "  837 

«       York  and  North  Midland..  "  723 

"       Eastern  Union "  700 

"       Great  Southern  and  West- 
ern of  Ireland "  592 

In  their  latest  report  the  railway  commis- 
sioners have  endeavored  to  estimate  the 
amount  of  money  expended  on  the  construc- 
tion of  railways : 

"  The  returns,  which  will  enable  them  to 
do  this  accurately,  are  being  received  by 
them,  and  will,  on  their  (?om))letioh,  be  laid 
before  I'arliament.  They  believe,  h(,wever, 
that  the  expenditure  in  1848  was  less  than 
that  in  1847,  but  nearly  as  large  as  Uie  ex- 
penditure in  1840;  that  at  the  end  of  iS48, 
rather  more  than  £200,000,000  had  been  ex- 
pended on  railways;  tliat  tlie  cnmpaiiies  re- 
tained power  to  expend  upon  authorized  rail- 
ways £140,000,000,  and  that  the  extension  of 
time  which  has  been  granted  to  so  many  com- 
panies will  allow  this  expenditure  to  be  dis- 
tributed over  five  or  six  years.  But  it  has 
already  been  stated,  that  it  appears  probable 
that  a  large  proportion  uf  the  lines  not  now  in 

Erogress  will  never  be  completed ;  and  if  it 
e  assumed  that  at  least  one  half  of  the  lines 
•which  are  not  ia  progress  will  be  entirely 


abandoned,  it  may  also  be  assumed  that 
£50,000,000  of  authorized  capital  will  not  be 
required." — Report  for  1848,  Part  n.,p.  7. 

Before  concluding  our  general  notice  of  the 
physical  and  commercial  character  of  our 
railway  system,  we  must  notice  the  compara- 
tive expenses  which  have  been  incurred  in 
England  and  in  foreign  countries.  In  favor- 
able situations,  English  railways,  with  their 
double  lines  of  rails,  have  been  constructed 
for  £10,000  per  mile.  When  the  localities 
have  been  very  unfavorable,  they  have  cost  as 
as  much  £50,000  per  mile.  Between  these  two 
extremes  we  have  all  varieties  of  expenditure 
per  mile.  Mr.  Lccount  has  computed  that  a 
railway  eighty  miles  long,  which  cost  £960,- 
000,  or  £12,000  per  mile,  which  will  rarely 
happen,  would  require  the  following  traffic 
per  day,  from  each  end,  to  pay  the  annexed 
dividends : 


Tons  of  goods 
per  day. 

75 

100 

125 

200 


Passengers 
per  day.  Dividend. 

. .  .120 I  per  cent 

...160 1 

...200 If       " 

,...320 4i       " 


Or,  taking  into  account  a  traffic  composed 
of  both  passengers  and  goods,  tbe  calculation 
would  stand  thus : 


Tods  of  goods  Passengers 

per  day.  per  day.  Dividend. 

35 and 60 f  per  cent. 

50 and 80 1 

62 and 100 If       " 

100 and 100 4i      " 

It  seldom  happens  that,  in  this  country,  a 
mile  of  railway  can  be  executed  at  so  low  a 
rate  as  £12,000  per  mile. 

The  average  expense  of  £5,081  per  mile 
for  American  roads,  employed  by  Mr.  Le- 
count,  agrees  very  nearly  with  the  following 
statement  mentioned  by  Mr.  French,  the 
member  for  Roscommon  county,  in  the  dis- 
cussion on  Irish  railways,  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  on  the  9th  of  July : 

Per  mile. 

Columbia  and  Philadelphia. £10,000 

Boston  and  Worcester 7,700 

Western 7,300 

Camden  and  Amboy 4,100 

Utica 3,600 

Richmond 3,600 

Florida 3,200 

Auburn 2,900 

South  Carolina 2,600 

Ayerage £5,00(> 

In  PrusBJa,  a  comprehensive  system  of  rail- 
ways, to  the  extent  of  3,200  miles,  was  plan- 
ned by  the  government,  with  its  usual  wis- 
dom and  liberality  ;  but,  up  to  1845,  six  hun- 


RAILWAY    SYSTEM    OF    EUROPE. 


487 


drcd  and  fifty-two  miles  only -were  completed, 
as  shown  in  tlie  following  table— the  politiciil 
disturbances  in  18-18  and  184'J  having  doubt- 
less prevented  the  execution  of  the  general 

plan : 

'■  Length 

in  iMiles.  Cost. 

Berlin  and  Anhalt 93^  £726,873 

Berliu  and  Potsdam 16  21i»,000 

Berlin  and  Stettin 83  783,000 

Berlin  and  Frankfort  on  Oder  49^-  420,000 

Lower  Silesian,    ) 134  1,200,000 

Upper  Silesian.*  f 49^  630,000 

Breslau  and  Schweidnitz 37  285,000 

Magdeburg  and  Leipsic 67-^  615,000 

Magdeburg  and  Halberstadt  35^  286,155 

Dusseldorf  and  Elberfeld....  16  304,170 

Cologne  and  Aix-la-Chapelle.  52  1,425,000 

Cologne  and  Bonn 18-4  1 3 1,000 

Total 652    £7,017,198 

According  to  this  table,  the  average  cost  of 
the  Prussian  lines  is  about  £10,000  per  mile. 

The  following  table  shows  the  length  and 
cost  of  each  of  the  lines  formed  in  Austria : 

Length 
in  Miles.         Cost. 

Linz  Gmunden  Budweia. ...  119  £742,000 

Emperor  Ferdinand's  line. ..  179  1,700,000 

Vienna  to  Glognitz 46  1,050,000 

Olmutz  and  Prague 151  1,853,725 

Murzuschlag  and  Gratz 57  i  not  given. 

Total 495  £4,936,325 

These  lines  show  an  average  of  about 
£11,300  per  mile. 

The  small  states  of  Germany  have  execu- 
ted the  following  lines  of  railway,  541  miles 
in  length,  of  which  371  miles  belong  to  the 
government : 

Length 
in  Miles.  Cosf 

*Baden-f- 97   £1,704,036 

*Brunswick  and  Hanover.. . .   38  209,707 

*Brunswickand  Oscherleben.  43  240,000 

♦Brunswick  and  Harzbm-g...   27^  127,500 

Hamburg  to  Bergatorf. lo|  191,332 

AltouatoKiel 64  382,500 

Leipsic  to  Dresden 71^-  975,000 

*Saxon  Bavarian 51  900,000' 

Taunus  Railway 28  291,661 

*Munich  to  Augsburg 37  350,000 

*Loui3,  Southern  A  Northern.  70  4,286,500 

Nurembnrg  and  Furth. 4  17,708 

Total 541    £9,676,249 


•  The  Kovcmment  baTc  guaranteed  3^  per  cent, 
to  the  companies. 

t  The  lilies  marlced  *,  were  executed  at  the  expense 
of  the  gorcrnment. 


The  average  cost  of  these  lines  will  be 
about  £l9,00o  per  mile. 

After  these  details  regarding  foreign  rail- 
way.s,  our  readers  will  scarcely  give  credit  to 
the  following  statement  regarding  the  ex- 
pense per  mile  of  English  railways : 


Per  Mile. 

Black  wall  Railway £289,980 

Croydon 80,400 

Manchester  and  Bury 70,000 

Manchester  and  Leeds 04,588 

Manchester  and  Birmingham 61,624 

Brighton 56,981 

Manchester  and  Sheffield 56,316 

Eastern  Counties 46,355 

Great  Western 46,870 

Southeastern 44,412 

Northwestern 41,612 


Le  iving  out  the  Blackwall  railway,  which 
would  make  an  average  of  the  expense  of 
the  preceding  lines  ridiculous,  the  average 
expense  of  the  remaining  ones  per  mile  is 
£56,915  !  Some  idea  of  the  cause  of  appa- 
rently such  profligate  expenditure  may  be 
formed  from  the  following  facts : 


Parliamentary  Expenses  of  the  Per  Mile. 

Blackwall  Railway £14,414 

Eastern  Counties 886 

Manchester  and  Birmingham 5,190 

Brighton 4,806 


The  following  sums,  per  mile,  were  paid 
for  land : 

Per  Mile. 

Manchester  and  Biiiningham £16,262 

Ji^astern  Counties 15,881 

Brighton 10,105 

Average  per  mile 14,083 


So  little  is  known  in  this  country  concern- 
ing foreign  railways,  that  we  were  anxious  to 
have  supplied  the  defect  by  copious  details 
respecting  their  histoiy  and  statistics,  and  by 
comparing  them  with  our  own,  in  reference 
to  the  cost  of  their  construction  and  main- 
tenance, the  accommodation  of  passengers, 
and  their  receipts  and  prospects ;  but  though 
we  have  collected  much  information  on  the 
subject,  our  restricted  space  will  not  allow  ua 
to  give  it  in  detail.  AVe  shall  therefore  con- 
tent ourselves  with  such  an  abstract  of  the 
more  important  particulars  as  our  limits  will 
permit.  The  following  table  contains  a  gene- 
ral view  of  the  railway  system  in  Germany : 


468 


RAILWAY    SYSTEM    OF    EUROPE. 


Eng.  miles 
Names  of  the  States.  consirucied. 

Austria '<  16^ 

Prussia 677^ 

Duchy  of  Anhalt 311^ 

Kingdom  of  Saxony 176 

Duchy  of  Saxe 137+ 

Bavaria 149 

Wurteniberg 24 

Grand  Duchy  of  Baden 1 541 

"                Hesse  Darmstadt 34| 

Duchy  of  Nassau 27 

Fraukfort-on-Main 2 

Electorate  of  Hesse " 

Duchy  of  Brunswick 73 

Hanover 59 

Hanseatic  Towns 9 

Grand  Duchy  of  Mecklenburg 46 

Holstein  and  Lauenberg 90 

Total 2,294: 


Eng.  miles 
iu  jjriject. 

229 
403 

12+ 
148 

43+ 
3(18^ 
148 

3oi 

43^ 

14 

178 

154 


31 


l,748i 


Eng.  miles  to  Eng.  miles 
be  constructed,     total. 

158i^  1,103 

794"  1,874 

—  52 
1  831 

87  144 

174i  632 

32  204 

—  195 
40  118 


4  182 

7  80 

161  374 

2i  IH 

94i  1401 

43+  170+ 

1,595  5,637 


The  total  number  of  lines  thus  projected 
in  all  Germany  is  not  much  greater  than  the 
number  now  executed  in  England. 

"We  have  now  before  us  a  very  interesting 
table  of  French  railways  in   1847,  with  the 


Lengtli  ill  kilomi'tres 
actually  constructed. 


Names  of  the  Lines. 

•j-St.  Etienne  to  Anvrezieux 21.25 

"  to  Lyons 56.69 

Branch  to  Montand " 

•]•  Anvrezieux  to  Roaune 67 .00 

JThe  Garde  Line,  Nismes,  &c 92.32 

Paris  to  St.  Germaius 18.47 

Atmospherical  Branch 2.00 

■j-Anzin  to  Denain  and  Abscon 15.56 

JMontpellier  to  Cette 27.35 

Paris  to  Versailles 19.50 

16.89 

fBordeaux  to  La  Teste 62.31 

,.,  j  Mulhouts  to 15.00 

1- Alsace,   "I  s^rasburg  to  Basle 140 .  50 

P"".   Is™- I "^-^^ 

Paris  to  Rouen 131.31 

Rouen  to  Havre 91.00 

Montpellier  to  Nismes 52.00 

■j-Paris  to  Sceaux 10.45 

The  Northern  Line 334. 90 


minutest  details,  occupying  thirteen  separate 
columns,  and  showing  the  expense  of  all  the 
different  varieties  of  work  necessary  for  their 
completion.  "VVe  nmst  confine  ourselves 
however,  to  a  brief  abstract* 

Total  Expense  per 

expense.  Eng.  mile. 

f.  2,996,503  f.  144.296 

21,182,873  373,648 

399,549 

12,5(10,000  186.587 

18,914,368  204.876 

16,413,139  888,830 

4,689,835  " 

2,818,202  181,083 

4,509,134  164.885 

17,055,722  874,652 

16,855,301  998,005 

5,987,773  114,471 

2,869,096  191.273 

44,953,618  319,953 

59,652,779  '  449,531 

64,589,384  494,169 

56.560,316  621,-542 

16,519,605  317,685 

4,740,120  453,754 

135,476,337  404,528 


The  following  lines  have  been    opened  in 
France  between  1847  and  August,  1849: 

Kilom. 

Paris  to  Tronnerrc 185 

Paris  to  Troyes 182 

Orleans  to  Saumur 171 

Orleans  to  Bourges 112 

Amien.s  to  Boulogne I'il 

Marscille.s  to  Avignon 123 

Rouen  to  Dieppe 70 

Vierzon  to  Chateauroux 63 


•  The  lines  marked  +  are  only  single  lines. 


Making  about  1,360  English  miles  in  all 
"France. 

The  lines  in  Belgium,  constructed  liy  the 
state,  amount  to  HI 7  miles,  and  cost  £5,945,- 
148.  They  unite  Brussels  with  O.'^lend,  Bru- 
ges, Ghent.  Autweip,  Muline.«,  Courtray,  Lille, 
Tournay,  Douay,  A'alencienncs,  Mons,  Char 
leroi,  Namur,  Marienboiig,  Liege  and  Aix-la- 
Chnpelle. 

In  Holland  there  arc  railways  joining  Am- 
steidam  with  R<jtterdam,  fifty  mije.s;  and 
with  Utreclit  and  Arnheim,  sixty  miles. 

In  the  north  of  Italy  a  line  partly  fini.shed 
passes  from  Venice  to  Turin  and  Alessandria, 


RAILWAY    SYSTKM    OF    EUROrE. 


469 


by  Vicenza,  Yeroua,  Brescia,  ]Milaii  and  No- 
vara,  ami  one  from  Milan  to  Monza.  Then' 
is  also  a  line  from  Florence  to  Leghorn, 
through  Pitta,  and  to  Pontedera  ;  another  from 
Pisa  to  Lucca  and  St.  Salvatore,  and  another 
from  Florence  to  Prato. 

Li  the  south  of  Italy  there  is  a  railway 
from  Naples  to  Pompeii  and  Castellamare, 
and  aiiotlier  from  Naples  to  Casurta  and  Ca- 
pua ;  but  no  line  has  been  projected  in  the 
States  of  the  Church.  The  Pope,  indeed,  is 
said  to  have  objected  to  their  introduction. 

There  is  a  railway  in  Switzerland,  twenty- 
five  English  miles  in  length,  from  Zurich  to 
Dietiken  and  Baden  ;  and,  even  in  Spain,  a 
railway  seventeen  and  three-quarter  English 
miles  in  length  has  been  recently  opened  from 
Barcelona  to  Mataro. 

The  most  eastern  railways  in  Europe  ter- 
minate at  Warsaw  and  Cracow.  A  line  is  in 
progress  to  Bochnia,  east  of  Cracow,  and  an- 
other from  Pesth  to  Debretzin,  still  further 
east. 

The  Swedish  government  have  exhibited 
great  practical  wisdom  in  the  encouragement 
they  have  given  in  the  formation  of  railways. 
The  state  guarantees  to  the  projectors  four 
per  cent,  for  fifteen  years ;  and  the  pecuniary 
loans  given  by  government  are  not  to  be  re- 
paid till  after  ten  years,  and  then  they  are 
only  to  be  exacted  from  one  half  of  the  sur- 
plus profits  above  six  per  cent.  If  the  state 
resolves  to  purchase  the  lines,  they  cannot  do 
80  till  after  twenty  years,  and  they  must  then 
pay  a  bonus  of  twenty-five  per  cent.  In 
place  of  a  tax  being  exacted  by  the  state  as 


in  British  railways,  and  exorbitant  local  rates, 
the  government  gives,  for  nothing,  the  por- 
tions of  the  crown  lands  through  which  the 
lines  may  pas.«,  and  also  the  labor  of  soldiers, 
paupers  and  convicts,  at  reduced  wages.  The 
government  has  also  agreed  to  erect  electric 
telegraphs  at  their  own  expense. 

The  liberal  coniluct  of  the  Swedish  and 
other  governments  to  railway  enterprise,  forms 
a  singular  contrast  with  that  of  Great  Britain. 
When  the  early  railway  companies  were  re- 
ceiving large  dividends,  it  was  not  to  be  won- 
dered at  that  government,  in  its  necessities, 
should  impose  some  tax  upon  their  exorbitant 
profits,  and  that  the  parochial  authorities 
siiould  imitate  their  example.  In  the  present 
state  of  railway  property,  however,  these' 
burdens  are  intolerable,  and  cannot,  with  any 
propriety,  be  much  longer  imposed.  The 
London  and  Northwestern  Company  have 
paid,  during  the  last  year,  the  sum  of  £50, 
505  for  government  duty,  and  £58,050  for 
local  rates  and  taxes.  In  the  half  year  just 
ended,  the  London  and  Southwestern  Com- 
pany have  paid  for  local  rates  alone.  £10,833, 
which  is  upivard  of  eleven  per  cent,  on  their 
balance  available  for  a  dividend!  This  tax, 
consisting  chiefly  of  poor's  rate,  is  eo  unjust 
and  oppressive,  that  Parliament  ought  in- 
stantly to  redress  the  grijvance.  In  this  last 
case,  every  adult  employed  by  the  company 
is  taxed  £12  lOs.  per  annum,  while  the  ave- 
rage impost  on  the  male  population  of  the 
country  is  only  30s.  per  head. 

The  following  table  shows  the  taxes  im- 
posed upon  railways  for  the  year  1848  : 


Government  Duty. 

London  and  Northwestern, £50,505  8     0 

Great  Western,] 29,603  18     8 

Midland, 23,043   10 

Eastern  Counties, 16,817     5 

London,  Brighton,  and  South  Coast, 16,376 

London  and  Southwestern, 15,033 


Northeastern, 

York  and  North  Midland, 

York,  Newcastle  and  Berwick 

Lanca.shire  and  Yorkshire 

London  and  Black  wall, 

South  Devon, 

East  Lancashire 

Birkenhead,  Lancashire  and  Chesliire,.  . 
Manchester,  Sheffield,  and  Lincolnshire,. 


14,895 
7,092 
6,571 
4,336 
2,303 
2,134 
1,906 
1,002 


5 

5 

9 

14 

9 
10 
11 

6 

18 
15 


Rales  an 

3  Taxes. 

£58,649 

15 

10 

38,555 

5 

2 

33,125 

13 

2 

24,754 

3 

8 

22,834 

3 

5 

19,491 

9 

6 

24,367 

18 

10 

13.960 

18 

2 

14,513 

17 

1 

16,793 

10 

2 

2,209 

13 

7 

2,017 

1 

10 

2,695 

14 

1 

457 

12 

10 

3,423 

0 

5 

Railways  have  not  made  much  progress  in 
our  colonies  and  dependencies.  They  have 
been  checked  by  the  same  causes  which  o[)er- 
ated  in  every  part  of  Europe.  The  East  In 
dia  Company  have  guaranteed  to  the  Groat 
Indian  Peninsular  Company  a  dividend  of  five 
per  cent,  upon  £500,000,  a  sum  which  is  sup- 
posed capable  of  completing  the  first  thirty- 
nve  miles  of  the  line,  from  Bombay  to  Callian ; 
and  the  11th  and  12th  Victoria,  cap.  13,  guar- 
antees four  per  cent,  for  loans  for  the  construc- 


1,172  19     3 

tion  of  railways  in  the  West  Indies  and  Mau- 
ritius. A  number  of  railway  acts,  passed  by 
the  legislatm-es  f)f  the  colonies  of  British 
Guiana,  Trinidad,  Jamaica, Ceylon,  New-Bruns- 
wick and  Canada,  liave  been  reported  upon  by 
the  railway  conmiissioners  to  the  Colonial 
Office.  Colonial  acts  have  also  been  passed, 
in  1847  and  1848,  for  incorporating  the  Nova 
Scotia  Electrical  Telegraph  Company,  and 
the  British  North  American  ElectroMaguetic 
Telegraph  Association. 


470 


RAILWAY    SYSTEM    OF    EUROPE. 


The  greatest  railway  speed  that  has  yet 
been  accomplished,  was  displayed  by  the 
Courier,  in  travelling  from  Didcot  to  Pad- 
dingtoii,  on  the  26th  August,  l8-i8,  with  the 
twelve  o'clock  express  train  from  Exeter. 
This  engine  is  one  of  the  eight  wheel  class, 
with  eight  feet  driving  wheels,  a  cylinder  of 
eighteen  inches,  and  a  stroke  of  twenty-four 
feet.  From  a  state  of  rest  at  Didcot  to  the 
time  when  the  train  entered  the  station  at 
Paddington,  only  forty-nine  minutes  and  thir- 
teen seconds  elapsed  ;  that  is,  at  the  average 
rate  of  sivti/sevcn  miles  an  hour,  including  the 
time  lost  in  getting  up  speed  when  leaving 
Didcot,  and  in  reducing  speed  when  approach 
ing  Paddington.  Exclusive,  however,  of  these 
losses,  exactly,  in  travelling  from  the  forty- 
seventh  mile-post,  which  the  train  passed  at 
3''  46'  401"  to  the  fourth  mile  post,  which  it 
reached  at  4"^  23'  1&V',  forty-three  miles  were 
perfirmed  in  thirty-six  minutes  and  forty  sec- 
onds, or  an  average  speed  accomplished  of 
upward  of  severity  miles  per  hour  I  While 
the  train  is  thus  almost  on  the  wing,  beating 
the  eagle  in  its  flight,  the  passengers  are  reclin- 
ing in  their  easy  chairs,  thinking  or  sleeping, 
reading  or  writing,  as  if  they  were  in  their  own 
happy  homes — safer,  indeed,  than  there,  for 
thieves  cannot  rob  them  by  day,  nor  burglars 
alarm  them  by  night.  The  steam-horse  starts 
naither  at  the  roar  of  the  thunderstorm  nor 
the  flash  of  its  fire.  Draughts  of  a  purer  air 
expel  the  marsh  poison  from  its  seat  before  it 
has  begun  its  work  of  death ;  and,  surrounded 
by  conductors,  the  delicate  and  timid  traveller 
looks  without  dismay  on  the  forked  messen- 
gers of  destruction,  twisting  tlie  spire  or  rend- 
ing the  oak,  or  raging  above  the  fear-stricken 
dwellings  of  man. 

In  a  former  article  we  had  occasion  to  men- 
tion the  i7UTC«s?ngf  safety  of  steam  navigation, 
as  exhibited  in  the  voyages  of  steamers  con- 
nected with  the  state  of  New- York.  In  the 
five  years  ending  with  1824,  one  life  was  lost 
out  of  every  126,211  passengers;  in  the  same 
period,  ending  with  1833,  one  life  was  lost  in 
every  1.51,931  passengers;  and  in  the  same 
period,  ending  with  1838,  only  one  life  was 
lost  out  of  1,985,787,  the  safety  of  the  passen- 
gers having  increased  sixteen  and  one  half 
times.  The  same  result  has  l)cen  obtained  in 
railway  travelling.  According  to  the  calcu- 
lations of  Baron  von  Reden,  tlie  following 
were  the  casualties  which  took  place  on  the 
railways  of  England,  France,  Belgium  and 
Germany,  between  the  1st  of  August,  1840, 
and  July,  1845: 

Killed  by  his  oion  Negligence. 

England,  1  passenger  out  of      809,000  passengers. 
France,      1        "  "         2,157,0(10         •' 

Belgium,   1         »  "  670,000         « 

Germany,!        "  "      2.'),000,000        " 


Killed  and  Wounded  from  Misconduct. 

EnRland,    1  official  out  of       300,000  officials. 

France,       1       "  "  5,000,000       " 

Belgium,    1      "  "  280.000       '< 

Gormiiny,  1      "  "     .  9,000,000       " 

Killed  from  Defective  Management. 

Encland,    1  person  out  of  852,000 

France,       I      "         "  3,4&J,996 

Belgium,    1       "          "  1,690,76-4 

Germany,  1       "         "  12,254,858 

The  safety  of  railway  travelling  in  Ger- 
many, as  shown  in  the  above  table,  is  very 
remarkable,  and  to  us  inexplicable;  nor  is  the 
great  loss  of  life  on  English  railways  less  unac- 
countable ;  for  it  is  four  and  one  quarter  times 
greater  than  in  France,  two  times  greater  than 
in  Belgium,  for  passengers,  and  nearly  fifteen 
times  greater  than  in  Germany.  If  these  re- 
sults are  correct,  they  inspire  us  at  least  with 
the  hope  that  all  nations  may  now  rival  the 
Germans  in  the  safety  with  which  they  con- 
duct their  railway  operations.  That  railway 
travelling  in  England  is  approaching  rapidly 
to  that  in  Germany,  in  respect  to  the  safety 
of  travellers,  we  shall  be  able  to  show  from 
documents  that  cannot  be  questioned.  We 
have  now  before  us  the  returns  to  Parliament 
of  all  the  accidents  which  have  taken  place 
on  the  railways  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland 
for  the  years  1847  and  1848,  and  from  them 
we  obtain  the  following  important  results : 

In  1847. 

19  passengers  killed,  and   87  injured,  from   csuses 
beyond  their  control. 

8  «  n  3  injured,  owing  to  their 

own  misconduct  or 
iucaution. 
17  servants  lulled,  25  servants  injured,  from 

causes  beyond  Ibeir 
control. 
107         "  "  43  injured,  owing  to  want 

of  caution. 
55  trespassers  killed,  12  injured. 

1  person  killed,  1  injured,  by  crossiug  or 

standing  on  the  line. 
1  suicide,  — 

—  174  injured. 

211  killed. 

The  number  of  passengers  during  1847  was 
54,854,019. 

In  1848. 

9  passengers  killed,  and  128  injured,  from    causes 

beyond    their   own 
control. 

12  "  "  7  injured,  owing  to  their 

own   misconduct  or 
incaution. 

13  servants  killed,  32  injured,    from   causes 

beyond    thtir    own 
conlrol. 
125        "  "  42  injured,  from  miscon- 

duct or  incaution. 
41  trespassers  killed,  10  injured,  irora  crossing 

or  standing  on  line. 

202  killed.  219  injured. 

Tho  number  of  pnssenKfrs  during  1848  was 
57,855,133. 


RAILROADS    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES. 


471 


If  we  now  take  the  mimber  of  passengers 
killed  from  causes  beyond  their  own  control. 
we  shall  obtain  the  following  results : 


1847, Ifl,    or  1  out  of  2,887,053  passengers 

1648, 9,    or  1  out  of  0,4'J8,348  " 

Hence  the  risk  of  being  killed  was  nearly 
two  and  one  half  times  less  in  1848  than  in 
18-47,  and  nearly  eight  times  less  tlian  it  was 
in  the  years  184ij  and  1845,  according  to  Baron 
von  lleden's  calculations.  The  comparatively 
great  loss  of  life  to  passengers  in  1847  was 
occasioned  by  the  accident  at  Wolverton,  on 
the  5  th  of  November,  when  seve7i  passengers 
were  killed  by  the  passenger  trains  running 
into  a  sliding,  and  coming  into  collision  with 
a  coal  train,  in  consequence  of  the  negligence 
of  the  policeman ;  and  also  to  the  death  of 
three  passengers  on  the  24th  of  May,  by  the 
fall  of  part  of  the  railway  bridge  over  the 
liver  Dee,  when  part  of  the  train  was  pre- 
cipitated into  the  water.  Such  disasters  will, 
in  all  probability,  never  again  occur.  They 
have,  at  least,  not  occurred  in  1848  and  1849; 
and  we  can  therefore  say  to  our  timid  and 
over-sensitive  friends,  who  refuse  to  travel  on 
railways,  that  in  the  year  1848  only  one  pas- 
senger was  killed  out  of  six  and  a  half  mil- 
lions of  passengers  who  travelled  by  railway  ; 
and  that  no  safer  ti-avelling  than  this  is  to  be 
found,  or  can  be  conceived. 

RAILROADS  IN  THE  UNITED 
STATES. — The  superintendent  of  the  census, 
J.  C.  G.  Kennedy,  Esq., having,  at  the  request  of 
the  French  Department  of  Public  Works,  and 
at  very  considerable  labor,  prepared  the  sub 
joined  able  and  comprehensive  statistical  view 
of  the  extent  of  American  railroads,  as  well 
those  in  course  of  construction  as  tliose  con- 
templated and  in  operation,  he  has  kindly  per- 
Qiitted  us  to  take  a  copy  of  it  for  publication : 

Census  Office, 
Washington,  Maixh  1,  1852. 

Ib  compliance  with  your  request,  I  proceed 
to  answer  your  inquiries  concerning  railroads 
in  the  United  States. 

The  number  of  miles  of  railroads  in  opera- 
tion in  the  United  States,  January  1st,  1852, 
was,  as  nearly  as  can  be  ascertained,  10,8144. 
At  the  same  time  there  was  in  course  of  con- 
struction an  extent  of  railroad  amounting,  ac 
cording  to  the  most  reliable  estimates,  to 
10,898^  miles.  By  far  the  greater  portion  of 
the  lines  commenced,  but  now  incomplete,  will 
be  finished  within  the  ensuing  five  years.  The 
length  of  railroad  brought  into  operation  since 
January  1,  1848,  is  5,224  miles.  Within  the 
last  year,  2,153  miles  have  been  finished. 
Uearly  all  the  lines  in  progress  have  been 
commenced  since  1848.  It  is  supposed  that 
from  one  thousand  to  fifteen  hundred  miles, 


additional  to  the  10,898  now  known  to  be  in 
progress,  will  be  put  under  contract  during 
1852. 

Tliere  never  existed  greater  activity  in  the 
making  of  railroads  in  the  United  States  than 
at  tlie  present  time.  Many  of  tJie  lines  pro- 
jected have  taken  the  place  of  plans  for  the 
construction  of  canals  and  turnpike  roads.  Ac- 
cordingly, these  works  of  public  improvement 
are  not  prosecuted  with  tlie  same  ardor  and 
energy  as  formerly,  although  much  activity 
exists  in  the  construction  of  plank-roads.  The 
laboi'  and  capital  which  tl>ey  would  require 
are  absorbed  in  the  numerous  and  almost  co- 
lossal railroads  building.  Since  1848,  the  ex- 
tent of  railroad  opened  for  travel  and  trans- 
portation has  nearly  doubled,  an<l  there  is  rea- 
son to  believe  that  the  increase  in  tlie  length 
of  road  brought  into  use  will  not  be  less  rapid 
during  the  next  period  of  four  years.  By  the 
year  1860,  we  may  expect  that  the  territory 
of  the  United  States  will  be  traversed  by  at 
least  30,000  miles  of  railroad. 

It  is  very  difficult  to  form  an  estimate  of 
the  average  expense  per  mile  of  building  rail- 
roads in  the  United  States.  In  fact,  no  aver- 
age can  be  assumed  as  applicable  to  the  whole 
comitry.  The  cost  of  the  roads  in  New-Eng- 
land is  about  ?45,000  per  mile  ;  in  New- York, 
Pennsylvania  and  Maryland,  about  §40,000. 
But  in  the  interior  of  these  states  the  surface 
of  the  country  is  broken,  rendering  the  cost  of 
grading  very  heavy  ;  and  nearer  the  sea,  wide 
and  deep  streams  interrupt  the  lines  of  travel, 
and  make  the  expense  of  bridging  a  serious 
item. 

In  New-England,  and  the  more  densely  in- 
habited parts  of  the  old  states,  from  the  At- 
lantic, as  in  all  European  countries,  the  extin- 
guishment of  private  titles  to  the  real  estate 
required  for  railroads  frequently  forms  a  large 
part  of  the  expenses  included  in  the  item  of 
construction.  In  the  southern  states,  and  the 
valley  of  the  Mississippi,  $20,000  per  mile  is 
considered  a  safe  estimate.  There,  in  most 
case.s,  all  the  lands  necessary  for  the  purposes 
of  the  companies  are  given  to  them  in  consid- 
eration of  the  advantages  which  private  pro- 
prietors expect  from  the  location  of  the  roads 
in  the  vicinity  of  their  estates. 

In  many  of  the  western  states,  the  cost  of 
grading  a  long  line  of  road  does  uot  exceed 
$1,000  per  mile,  the  cost  of  the  timber  amount- 
ing to  nothing  more  than  the  expense  of  cleax"- 
ing  it  from  the  tract.  For  these  reasons  the 
expense  of  building  railro;uls  in  the  southern 
and  western  states  is  now  much  less  than  it 
will  be  when  the  countiy  becomes  as  densely 
settled  as  the  older  states  of  the  Union. 

The  Central  Railroad  of  Illinois  is  an  enter- 
prise which  furnishes  a  remarkable  example  of 
the  energy  and  spirit  of  improvement  in  the 
new  states.  lUinois  was  admitted  into  the 
confederation  as  a  state  in  1818,  with  30,000 
inhabitants.     It  has  55,405  squaie  miles  of 


il2 


RAILROADS    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES. 


tenitory,  and  a  population,  according  to  the  I 
census  of  1850,  of  851,470.  The  Central  Rail- 
road is  to  extend  from  its  soutliwesteru  ex- 
tremity, at  the  eoufluence  of  the  Mississippi  ■ 
and  Ohio  rivers,  to  the  north  line  of  the  state, 
•with  two  diverging  branches.  The  total  length  • 
of  thia   road,  including  the   main   stem   and 
branches,  is  to  be  six  hundred  and  eighty  miles. 
The  cost  is  e.stimated  at  §'20,000  per  mile,  or  i 
$10,000,000    for    the    entire   work,  without] 
equipments  for  operating  it.     This  is  the  long- 
est continuous  line  of  road  now  in  contempla- 
tion in  the  United  States,  of  which  there  is 
any  pi  obabdity  of  speedy  completion.     It  has 
been  commenced  with  such  facilities  for  exe- 
cuting the  plans  of  its  projectors,  that  there  is 
no  reasonable  doubt  that  it  will  be  finished 
within  a  few  years. 

Mr.  Asa  Whitney  proposes  to  construct  a 
railroad  from  St.  Louis,  or  some  other  place 
on  the  Mississippi  river,  to  the  Pacific  ocean, 
terminating  either  at  San  Francisco,  in  Cali- 
fornia, or  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  river, 
in  Oregon.  He  solicits  the  patronage  of  the  ' 
national  government  for  this  prodigious  work, 
and  petitions  for  the  grant  of  land  equal  in  ex- 
tent to  sixty  miles  in  width  to  two  thousand 
miles  in  length.  His  plans  were  first  laid 
before  Congress  in  1842,  and  he  has  since 
been  continually  occupied  in  recommending 
them  to  the  favorable  attention  of  the  govern- 
ment and  the  peoplewith  great  ability  and  zeal; 
but  with  what  success  remains  yet  to  be  seen. 
Without  expressing  any  view  with  reference 
thereto,  it  may  be  said  that  his  project  is  gen- 
erally considered  impracticable,  from  the  fact 
that  of  the  two  thousand  miles  of  territory 
which  his  route  across  the  country  must  tra- 
Terse,  a  large  portion  consists  of  desert  or  of 
sterile  and  very  elevated  mountain  districts, 
in  which  can  be  found  no  materials  of  construc- 
tion, and  which  would  afford  no  business  for 
the  support  of  the  road,  were  the  difficulties 
of  building  it  overcome.  Many  intelligent 
men,  however,  are  convinced  of  its  practica- 
bility and  expediency. 

The  railroad  system  of  the  United  States 
may  be  considered  to  have  commenced  in 
1830.  The  first  one  put  in  operation  was  a 
short  road,  built  for  transportation  of  ice  from 
a  small  lake  to  the  sea,  in  the  state  of  Massa- 
chusetts. The  length  of  this  work  was  four 
miles.  Itwas  finished  in  1830.  In  the  same 
year  the  state  of  South  Carolina  caused  to  be 
commenced  a  railroad  from  Charleston,  its 
principal  port,  to  Augusta,  in  Georgia.  The 
distance  is  135  miles.  The  work  was  finished 
in  1833,  at  the  very  remarkably  small  cost  of 
?l,335,61tj,  which  sum  included  also  the  ex- 
penses of  furni.'jhing  the  road  with  engines  and 
passenger  and  freight  cars,  and  all  other  ne 
ccssary  equipments.  This  was  the  first  road 
of  any  considerable  length  constructed  in  the 
United  States, and  it  is  believed  to  have  been 
the  cheapest  and  one  of  the  most  successful. 


The  longest  continuous  line  of  raHroad  id 
the  world,  and  that  in  the  construction  of  whicb 
the  greatest  natural  obstacles  have  been  over- 
come, is  that  which  extends  from  the  Hudson 
river,  through  the  southern  counties  of  Mew- 
York,  to  Lake  Erie.  Its  length  is  four  hun- 
dred and  sixty-nine  miles,  and  it  has  branches 
of  an  aggregate  additional  length  of  sixty-eight 
miles.  Nearly  its  whole  course  is  through  a 
region  of  mountains.  The  bridges  by  which 
it  is  carried  over  the  Delaware  and  Susque- 
hanna rivers  and  other  streams,  and  the  via- 
ducts upon  which  it  crosses  the  valleys  that 
intercept  its  route,  are  among  the  noblest 
monuments  of  power  and  skill  to  be  found  in 
our  country.  The  most  of  these  works  are  of 
heavy  masonry,  but  one  of  them  is  a  wooden 
bridge,  one  hundred  and  eighty-fom*  feet  in 
height,  and  having  but  one  arch,  the  span  of 
which  is  two  hundred  and  seventy-five  feet. 
One  of  the  viaducts  is  1,200  feet  long,  and  110 
feet  high.  The  aggregate  cost  of  this  import- 
ant work  was  ?23,580,000,  and  tlie  expense 
of  construction  was  .$43,393  per  mile.  The 
road  was  originally  suggested  in  1829  ;  a  com- 
pany ■was  organized  in  1832;  surveys  were 
made  in  the  same  year,  and  operations  were 
begun  by  grading  a  part  of  the  route  in  1833. 
It  was  finished  in  May,  1851,  and  opened  with 
great  ceremony  for  travel  and  transportation 
in  that  month.  The  state  advanced  six  mil- 
lions of  dollars  towards  the  work,  and  after- 
wards released  the  company  from  the  obliga- 
tion to  pay  the  loan.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that 
the  execution  of  this  great  improvement  was 
pursued  through  nineteen  years,  and  it  was 
not  accomplished  without  calling  into  requisi- 
tion both  the  resources  of  the  state  and  the 
means  of  her  citizens. 

In  the  infancy  of  the  American  railroad  sys- 
tem, and  for  ten  years  thereafter,  it  was  the 
rule  to  extend  to  every  important  enterprise 
of  thrtt  character  the  assistance  of  the  state  ia 
which  it  was  to  be  built. 

Pennsylvania,  Michigan,  Illinois,  Mississippi, 
and  some  other  states,  adopted  extensive  sys- 
tems of  improvements,  consisting  of  railroads 
and  canals,  which  they  pursued  until  their 
credit  failed;  an  event  which  happened  in 
most  cases  before  any  of  the  works  h  id  beea 
completed  and  brought  into  profitable  use. 
But  the  general  practice  was  to  charter  con>- 
panies,  each  of  which  was  charged  with  the 
execution  of  some  j^articular  work,  and  to  aid 
them  by  loans  of  state  stocks.  Although  this 
practice  has  fallen  into  so  much  disfavor  in 
some  of  the  states  that  the  citizens  have  incor- 
porated in  their  constitutions  articles  prohibit- 
ing advances  by  their  legislatures  for  such  pur- 
puses,  it  is  yet  continued  by  others,  and  Vir- 
ginia, Tennessee,  and  other  states  are  how  pro- 
secuting expensive  works,  considered  essential 
to  their  prosperity,  by  means  of  advances  from 
their  respective  treasuries. 
1      In  the  year  1850,  Congress  passed  an  aetj, 


RAILllOADS   IN    THE    UNITED    STATES. 


413 


after  a  very  protracted  discussion,  granting  to 
the  state  of  Illinois  about  2,700,000  acres  of 
public  lands  to  aid  in  the  construction  of  the 
Central  Railroad,  to  which  allusion  has  been 
before  made.  This  magnificent  donation  is 
reckoned  by  the  company  to  which  Illinois  lias 
confided  the  building  of  the  road,  to  be  worth 
8 18,000,000.  This  was  the  first  instance  in 
■which  the  aid  of  the  national  government  had 
been  extended  to  a  railroad  project. 
But  since  the  above  grant,  innumerable  ap- 

«  0.0.2  -  S 

^  m  o  a  C  c.'S 

f S  a  S  „£  S 

a  §  .2  <«  S  o  c. 

m  S 

Maine 315 

New-Hampshire 489 

Vermont 380 

Massachusetts 1,089 

Rhode  Island 50 

Connecticut 547 

New- York 1,826 

New -Jersey 226 

Pennsylvania 1,146 

Delaware 16 

Maryland 376 

Virginia 478 

North  Carolina 249 

South  Carolina 340 

Georgia 754 

Alabama 121 

Mississippi 93 

Louisiana 63 

Texas — 

Tennessee 112 

Kentucky 93 

Ohio 828 

Michigan 427 

Indiana 600 

Illinois 176 

Missoiu-i — 

"Wisconsin 20 


Nearly  parallel  to  the  Atlantic  coast  of 
the  United  States,  from  Maine  to  Alabama, 
runs  the  range  of  mountains  known  as  the 
Alleghany  or  Appalachian  chain.  The  eastern 
bases  of  these  mountains  are  not  distant  from 
the  seaboard  more  than  a  hundred  miles,  and 
they  form  a  very  formidable  obstacle  to  the 
construction  of  railroads  between  the  great 
eastern  cities  and  the  interior.  In  nearly  all 
the  great  enterprises  which  have  been  under- 
taken with  the  view  to  effect  such  connection, 
great  additional  expense  has  been  incurred  to 
overcome  or  to  penetrate  this  mountain  bar 
rier.  In  the  plan  first  adopted  for  the  general 
system  of  state  improvements  in  Pennsylvania, 
it  was  proposed  to  effect  the  crossing  of  the 


plications  have  been  made  from  all  the  new 
states  for  cessions  of  land  for  radroad  pur- 
poses. Whether  such  further  aid  shall  be  ex- 
tended, is  now  a  much  agitated  question  in 
American  politics.  Bills  are  pending  in  Con- 
gress, proposing  to  cede  for  these  purposes 
about  20,000,000  acres. 

The  following  table  presents,  in  a  convenient 
form,  some  of  the  principal  facts  connected 
with  railroads  in  the  United  States  on  the  1st 
of January,  1852: 


a  a 


127 

47 

59 

67 

32 

261 

745 

111 

774 

11 

125 

818 

385 

298 

129 

190 

273 

32 

748 

414 

1,892 

915 

1,409 

515 

421 


O    o< 

a;  O 

< 

30,000 

9,280 

10,312 

7,800 

1,306 

4,674 

46,000 

8,320 

46,000 

2,120 

9,356 

61,352 

45,000 

24,500 

68,000 

50,722 

47,156 

46,431 

237,321 

45,600 

37,680 

39,964 

66,243 

33,809 

55,405 

67,380 

53,924 


583,188 
317,964 
314,120 
994,499 
147,544 
370,791 

3,097,294 
489,555 

2,311,786 

91,535 

683,035 

1,421,661 
868,903 
668,507 
905,999 
771,671 
606,555 
517,739 
212,592 

1,002,625 
982,405 

1,980,408 
397,654 
988,416 
851,470 
682,043 
805,191 


;? 
19.44 
34.26 
30.76 
127.49 
112.97 
79.33 
67.33 
58.84 
50.25 
43.17 
62.31 
23.17 
19.30 
27.28 
15.62 
15.21 
12.86 
11.15 
.89 
21.98 
26.07 
49.55 

7.07 
29.23 
15.36 
10.12 

5.65 


10,814     10,8 


Alleghanies  by  means  of  inclined  planes,  with 
powerful  stationary  engines  at  their  summits. 
The  planes  were  built,  and  have  been  used 
for  several  years,  until  experience  proved  their 
operation  was  too  slow  and  too  expensive  to 
maintain  a  successful  competition  with  other 
methods  of  conveyance,  and  other  improve- 
ments have  since  been  furnished  designed  to 
supersede  them.  The  railroad  from  Balti- 
more to  the  Ohio  river  is  caiTied  over  a  pas- 
sage in  these  mountains  where  the  elevation 
is  upwards  of  three  thousand  feet,  and  a  part 
of  that  height  is  overcome  by  tunnels,  varying 
in  length  from  one  sixteenth  to  fourfiftls  of  a 
mile.  The  road  from  New- York  to  Albany, 
along  the  banks  of  the  Hudson,  has  three  tun- 


474 


RAILROADS    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES. 


nels.  The  greatest  work  of  this  kind  yet  pro- 
posed in  the  United  States  is  the  tunnel  through 
the  Hoosick  mountain,  which,  if  executed,  will 
be  four  miles  in  length,  and  fifteen  hundred 
feet  below  the  siuiimil  of  the  ascent.  Tlie  cost 
is  estimated  at  .?2,000,000.  On  the  road  from 
New-York  to  Lake  Erie,  tunnels  have  been 
avoided  by  expensive  works,  which  overcome 
asceuts  of  1,400  feet 

No  authentic  statement  has  ever  been  given 
of  the  capital  invested  in  the  railroads  of  the 
United  States,  but  we  have  the  means  of 
forming  an  estimate  upon  which  much  reli- 
ance may  be  placed.  The  railroads  in  opera- 
tion at  the  beginning  of  tlie  present  year  may 
be  assumed  to  have  cost  $348,000,000.  The 
amount  invested  in  the  lines  under  construc- 
tion, it  is  impossible  to  estimate,  with  even  an 
approximation  to  correctness.  Their  cost,  when 
completed,  will  be  considerably  less  than  that 
of  an  equal  length  of  road  now  in  operation  ; 
for  the  reason  that  the  greater  number  of  new 
or  unfinished  lines  are  in  the  west  or  south, 
where,  as  has  been  shown,  the  cost  of  construc- 
tion is  far  below  what  it  is  in  the  northern  and 
eastern  states. 

The  management  of  the  American  railroads 
is  entirely  distinct  from  the  admiui<tration  of 
government.  Their  concerns  are  managed  by 
corporations,  which  consist  of  a  president,  sec- 
retary, and  du'ectors.  Each  of  the  directors 
must  own  a  certain  amount  of  stock.  They 
are  chosen  by  the  body  of  stockholders,  who 
have  votes  in  proportion  to  the  number  of 
shares  they  hold.  The  directors  choose  one  of 
their  body  president,  and  appoint  the  secre- 
tary. Tiie  president  and  secretary  have  gen- 
erally liberal  salaries,  but  the  services  of  the 
directors  are  gratuitous. 

The  rate  of  the  speed  on  our  railroads  is 
not  so  great  as  on  those  of  England.  The  or- 
dinary velocity  of  a  passenger  train  is  twenty 
miles  an  hour,  but  on  some  routes  it  is  as  high 
as  twenty-eight  and  thirty  miles.  Express 
trains,  on  such  occasions  as  the  conveyance  of 
the  President's  message,  frequently  maintain 
for  a  long  distance  as  high  a  speed  as  forty- 
five  miles  an  hour.  And  on  one  road,  that  be- 
tween New-Ycrk  and  Albany,  forty-five  miles 
per  hour  is  the  regular  rate  for  all  passenger 
trains. 

The  fiires  or  rates  of  passage  are  not  uni- 
form. In  New-England,  the  average  price 
per  mile  for  tlie  conveyance  of  passengers  is 
under  two  cents;  from  New- York  to  Boston, 
it  is  two  and  four  tenths ;  from  New-York  to 
Piiiladelphia,  three  and  four  tenths;  from 
Philadelphia  to  Baltimore,  three  and  one 
tenth.  From  New-York  to  Cincinnati  the  dis- 
tance is  8.57  miles  by  the  northern  route,  of 
which  143  miles  is  travelled  by  steamboat. 
The  price  of  passage  for  the  whole  distance 
is  §15  50,  being  sliglitly  under  two  cents  per 
mile.  The  lines  between  Baltimore  and  Cin- 
ciuaatt,  soon  to  be  opened,  will  be  C50  miles 


in  length,  and  the  fare  will  be  §13 ;  that  is, 
two  cents  per  mile. 

Believing  that  the  history  of  the  origin,  con- 
dition, and  extent  of  the  railroads  in  the 
United  States  form  one  of  the  most  important 
subjects  of  statistical  investigation,  and  one 
not  generally  understood,  I  have  devoted  a 
portion  of  my  time  to  the  preparation  of  a 
complete  history  and  detailed  statement  re- 
specting each  of  the  railroads  in  the  United 
States,  to  accompany  the  other  statistics  to  be 
embraced  within  the  seventli  census ;  but,  as 
Congress  may  exercise  their  right  of  abridg- 
ing the  work  on  this  and  other  subjects,  it  is 
impossible,  in  advance,  to  say  what  the  census, 
when  published,  will  contain.  I  inclose  to 
you  herewith  a  copy  of  the  census  of  Mary- 
land, prepared  in  advance,  for  reasons  which 
will  appear  in  its  "  preface." 

RAILROADS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 
ON  THE  1st  JANUARY,  1852.* 

■-I    ii 

NAMES  OF  RAILWAYS.  «£       J-j 


Androscoggin 36 

Androscoggin  and  Kennebec 55 

Atlantic  and  St.  Lawrence ^1     65 

Bangor  and  Piscataquis 12 

Bnckfield  Branch 10     -- 

Calais  and  Baring 6 

Franklin 9     •• 

Portland  and  Kennebec 86     33 

Portland,  Saco  and  Portsmouth. . .  52 

York  and  Cumberland 12     41 

NEW-HAMPSHIRE. 

Ashuelot 24     .. 

Boston,  Concord  and  Montreal.. .  76     17 

Cheshire 54 

Coeheco" 18 

Concord 35 

Concord  and  Claremont 26     24 

Contocook  Valley 14 

Great  Falls 3 

Great  Falls  and  Conway 13 

Manchester  and  Lawrence 26 

New-Hampshire  Central 26 

Northern 82 

Portsmouth  and  Concord 23     17 

Sullivan 25 

Wilton 18 

White  Mountain 18 

VKRMONT. 

Bennington  Branch 6 

Connecticut  and  Passumpsic 61     63 

Rutland  and  Burlington 119     .. 

RutlaiKr  and  Washington 12     .. 

Troy  and  Rutland 55 

Vermont  and  Canada 38     -. 


•  Western  Journal. 


RAItnOADS    IN'    THE    UNITED    STATES. 


475 


Vermont  Central 115     .. 

Vermont  Valley 24     .. 

Western  Vermont 63 


UASSACHUSETT8. 

Berkshire 21 

Boston  and  Lowell 28 

Boston  and  Maine 83 

Boston  and  Providence 53 

Boston  and  Worcester 69 

Cape  Cod  Branch 29 

Connecticut  River 52 

Dorchester  and  Milton 3 

*Ea8tern '75 

Essex 21 

Fall  River 42 

Fitehburg 69 

Fitchburg  and  Worcester 14 

Grand  Junction 7 

Harvard  Branch 1 

Lexington  and  West  Cambridge..  T 

Lowell  and  Lawrence .  12 

Nashua  and  Lowell 15 

New-Bedford  and  Taunton 21 

Newhuryport 15 

Norfolk  County 26 

Old   Colony 45 

Peterboro'  and  Shirley 14 

Pittsfield  and  North  Adams 18 

Providence  and  Worcester 43 

Salem  and  Lowell 17 

South  Reading  Branch 8 

South  Shore 11 

Stockbridge  and  Pittsfield 22 

Stony  Brook 13 

Stoughton  Branch 4 

Taunton  Branch 12 

Troy  and  Green  field 

Vermont  and  Massachusetts 77 

fWestern 157 

West  Stockbridge 3 

Worcester  and  Nashua 46 

RHODE  ISLAND. 

Providence  and  Stonington 60 


CONNECTICUT. 

Hartford  and  New-Haven 62 

Hartford,  Providence  and  Fishkill     51 

Housatonic —    110 

Housatonic  Branch 11 

Middletown  Branch 10 

Naugatuck 62 

New-LIaven  and  Northampton. . .     45 
New-London,  Willimantic  and  Pal- 
mer      60 

New-London  and  New-Haven 

New-York  and  New-Haven 76 


67 


55 


•  This  includes  the  Eastern  (N.  11.)  Railway,  which 
is  owned  and  operated  by  theEastern  (Mass.)  com- 
pany. 

+  This  includes  the  Albany  and  West  Stockbridge 
Railway  in  New-York,  which  is  owned  and  operated 
by  the  Western  Railroad  Company. 


Norwich  and  Worcester 

CoUinsville 

Stonington  and  New-London. . . 

NEW-TORK. 

Albany  and  Schenectady 

Albany  and  West  Stockbridge. . 

Attica  and  Buffalo 

Buffalo  and  Niagara  Falls 

Cayuga  and  Susquehanna 

Chemung 

Hudson  and  Berkshire , 

Hudson  River 

Lewiston 

Long  Island 

New-York  and  Erie 

New-York  and  Harlem 

Northern 

Oswego  and  Syracuse 

Rensselaer  and  Saratoga 

Rochester  and  Syracuse 

Saratoga  and  Washington , 

Saratoga  and  Schenectady 

Schenectady  and  Troy 

Skaneateles  and  Jordan 

Syracuse  and  Utica 

Tioga 

Tonawanda 

Troy  and  Greenbush 

Utica  and  Schenectady 

Watertown  and  Rome 

Albany  and  Northern 

Albany  and  Susquehanna 

Buffalo  and  State  Line 

Buffalo  and  New- York 

Buffalo  and  Cohocton  Valley. . , 

Canandaigua  and  Corning 

Plattsburg  and  Montreal 

Rochester  and  Niagara  Falls . . . , 

Rutland  and  Washington 

Sackett's  Harbor  and  Ellisburg. . 

Troy  and  Boston 

Troy  and  Rutland 

Canandaigua  and  Niagara  Falls. 

Syracuse  and  Binghamton 

Sodus  Bay  and  Southern 

Whitehall  and  Rutland 


66  .. 
11  .. 
-.     10 


17 

38^ 

32i 

22 

33 

17i 

3H 
144 
3 

98 
464 
130 
118 

35 

32 
104 

39i 

22 

20i 
5 

53 

15 

43i 
6 

78 

97 

..     33 

..   130 

26     41 

..     58 

..   130 

46     .. 

,.     25 

..     74 


28 


15 


13 


17 
39 

92 
70 
35 


NEW-JERSEY. 

Belvidere  and  Delaware 

Burlington  and  Mount  Holly. 

Camden  and  Amboy 

Morris  and  Essex 

New-Jersey 

New-Jersey  Central 

Paterson  and  Ramapo 

Trenton  Branch 


PENNSYLVANIA. 


Alleghany  Portage 

Beaver  Meadow 

Carbondale  and  Honesdale. . 
Columbia  and  Philadelphia. 
Westchester  Branch 


15 

40 

6 

,  , 

64 

,  , 

35 

45 

31 

30 

26 

33 

6 

•• 

36 

36 

. . 

24 

. . 

476 


KAILROADS    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES, 


Corning  and  Blossburg 25 

CumberlaiuljA'alley 52 

Hazleton  and  Lehigh 10 

Little  Schuylkill 20 

MinelTill 30 

Mount  Carbon 7 

Pennsylvania 185 

Phila.,  Reading  and  Pottsville 92 

Phila.  and  Korristown 1*7 

Gcrraantown  Branch 6 

Phila.  and  Trenton 30 

Phila.,  Wilmington  and  Baltimore .     98 

Schujdkill  Valley 25 

Summit  Hill  and  Maueh  Chunk. .  .      25 
Whitehaven  and  Wilkesbarre. . . .     20 

Williamsport  and  Elmira 25 

Franklin 22 

Dauphin  and  Susquehanna 16 

Strasburg 1 

Lykens  Valley 16 

Nesquehoning 5 

Room  Run 5 

Pine  Grove 5 

Beaver  Meadow  Branch 12 

York  and  Cumberland 25 

Sunbury  and  Erie 

Lackawanna  and  Western 50 

Catawissa  and  Williamsport 

Delaware  and  Susquehanna 

Philadelphia  and  Westchester 

Pennsylvania  Coal  Co 47 

Hempfield 

Alleghany  Valley 

Columbia  Branch 19 

Hanover  Branch 13 

York  and  Wrightsville 13 

Lancaster  and  Harrisburg 37 

DELAWARE. 

New-Castle  and  French  town 16 

Wilmington  Branch 


64 


51 


240 

89 
48 
25 

77 
180 


branch  to  AVarrenton,  10  miles.     10     90 
Richmond,  Fredericksburg  and  Po- 
tomac      7C 

i  Greenville  and  Roanoke 21 

Northwestern 120 

NORTH  CAKOLINA. 

Gaston  and  Raleigh Si 

*Wilmington  and  Manchester 162 

Wilmington  and  Weldon 162     . . 

North  Carolina  Centre 223 

SOUTH  CAROLINA. 

South  Carolina  Railroad 241  .. 

Greenville  and  Columbia 54  111 

Charlotte  and  South  Carolina 45  65 

King's  Mountain 25 

Laurens 31 

Spartanburg  and  Union 66 

MISSISStPPL 

Raymond 7 

St.  Francisville  and  Woodville. . .     28     .. 

Vicksburg  and  Brandon 60     . . 

Mobile  aiad  Ohio 273 

Memphis  and  Charleston 


11 


MARYLAND. 

Annapolis  and  Elkridge 21      . . 

Baltimore  and  Ohio 254  125 

Washington  Branch 21 

Frederick  Branch 3     . . 

Baltimore  and  Susquehanna 57 

Westminster  Branch 10     . . 


VIRGINIA. 

Richmond  and  Danville 

Richmond  and  Petersburg 

Clover  Hill 

South  Side 

Manassas  Gap 

Petersburg  and  Roanoke 

Sealioard  and  Roanoke 

Appomattox 

Winchester  and  Potomac 

Virginia    Cei  tral,   including   Blue 

Ridge  liftllroad 

Virginia  and  Tennessee 

Orange  and  Alexandria,  including 


GEORGIA, 

Central 191 

Georgia 175 

Macon  and  Western 101 

Western  and  Atlantic 140 

Southwestern 51 

Rome  Branch 17 

Muscogee 

Atlanta  and  Westpoint 40 

Milledgeville 

Eatonton  and  Milledgeville 

Wilkes 

Athens  Branch 39 

Waynesboro' 


71 
47 
18 
22 
18 


85 

122 

22 

15 

10 

110 

106 

60 

80 

9 

32 

98 

75 

10 

195 

ALABAMA, 

Montgomery  and  Westpoint 88     . . 

Mobile  and  Ohio 33  29^ 

Alabama  and  Tennessee 160 

Tuseumbia,  Courtland  and  Decatur    44     . , 
Memphis  and  Charleston 


Carroll  ton 6 

Clinton  and  Port  Hudson 24 

Lake  Pontchartrain 6 

Mexican  Gulf 27 

(Add  West  Feliciana  R,  R.— Ed.) 


TENNESSEE. 

Nashville  and  Chattanooga 70 

East  Tennessee  and  Georgia 42 

East  Tennessee  and  Virginia 


*  Part  of  this  line  is  ia  South  Caiolina. 


89 

68 

130 


RAILROADS    IN    THE    UNITED    SEATES. 


411 


*Meniphis  and  Charleston 28U 

Winchester  and  Iluntsville CO 

Mobile  and  Ohio 1  lO-i 


KENXnCKT. 

Frankfort  and  Lexington . . , 
Louisville  and  Frankfort. . , 
Maysville  and  Lexington. . . 
Covint^ton  and  Lexington. . , 
Lexington  and  Danville.  . . 
Louisville  and  Nashville.., 
Mobile  and  Ohio , 


Pacific 

ILmnibal  and  St.  Joseph. 


.  70 

.  78 

.  37 

.  180 

.  39i 


315 
200 


Cleveland  and  Columbus 

Columbus  and  Lake  Erie 

Dayton  and  Springfield  Branch. . 

Findlay 

Little  Miami 

Mad  River 

Sandusky  and  Mansfield 

Xenia  and  Columbus 

Bellefontaine  and  Indiana 

Cincinnati  and  Marietta 

Cleveland  and  Pittsburg 

Cleveland,  Norwalk  and  Toledo. . 
Cleve,  Painesville  and  Ashtabula. 
Columbus,  Urbana  and  Piqua. . . . 
Cine.,  Wilmington  and  Zanesville . 
Cincinnati,  Hamilton  and  Dayton. 

Dayton  and  Western 

Dayton  and  Xenia 

Green\-ille  and  Miami 

Hamilton  and  Eaton , 

Hillsboro' 

Iron 

Junction 

Ohio  and  Indiana , 

Ohio  and  Mississippi 

Ohio  and  Pennsylvania , 

Ohio  Central 

Scioto  and  Hocking  Valley 

Steubenville  and  Indiana 

Pittsburg  and  Cincinnati 

Daytou  and  Michigan 

Eaton  and  Piqua 

Hudson  and  Akron  Branch 

Franklin  and  Warren  Branch. . . 


135 
61 
24 
16 
84 

134 
56 
54 


98 


60 


118 

188 

87 

nk 

93 
160 

Soi 
15 
40 


..  37 
..  50 
..110+ 
..  126 
..  20 
81  104 
25  125 
..  120 
..  121 
..  110 
..  25 
..  30 
..  50 
..     30 


Knightstown  Branch 27     . . 

i^awrenceburg  and  Indianapolis. .      ..   90i 

Indiana  Central 7li 

Riclimond 4 

Newcastle  and  Richmond 27 

Indianapolis  and  Bellefontaine. . .     43     41 

Peru  and  Indianapolis 23j  50 

Lafayette  and  Indianapolis 68 

Crawfordville 26 

Terre  Haute  and  Indianapolis. ...     72 

Evansville  and  Illinois 26     24 

Martinsville  Branch 29 

Indiana  Northern 100     35 

Extension  of  the  Greenville  and 

Miami 10 

Ohio  and  Mississippi 160 


Illinois  Central 699 

Galena  and  Chicago 94     88 

Rock  Island  and  Chicago 180^ 

Central  Military  Tract 125 

Peoria  and  Oquawka 100 

Ohio  and  Mississippi 145 

Northern  Cross  Road 54 

Sangamon  and  Morgan 54     . . 

Alton  and  Sangamon 72 

Aurora  Branch 13 

St.  Charles 7     .. 

O'Fallou's  Coal  Road 8     . . 

MICHIGAN. 

Central 228  .. 

Southern 133 

Pontiac 25  .. 

Tecumseh  Branch 8  . . 

Erie  and  Kalamazoo 33  . . 

WISCONSIN. 

Milwaukee  and  Mississippi 20  180 

Fond  du  Lac  &  Rock  Island  Valley     . .   241 


INDIANA. 

New- Albany    and    Salem     (with 
Branch   around  Lake  Michigan 

of  .54  miles) 117 

JcfTert^onville 50 

Madison  and  Indianapolis 86 

Shelby ville  Branch 16 

llushville  Branch 20 


279 
16 


TEXAS. 

Buffalo,  Bayou  and  Brazos. 


82 


*  This  includes  that  part  of  the  route  which  passes 
Uirough  the  .states  of  Mississippi  and  Alabama. 


Total  number  of  miles  in  operation  and  in 
course  of  construction  in  the  United  Slates. 

Miles  in  Miles  in 

operation.        progress.  Total. 

Maine 315   .. 

New-Hampshire..  489^.. 

Vermont 380   .- 

Massachusetts 1089   .. 

Rhode  Island 50  .. 

Connecticut 547   .. 


Total  inN.  E 2S70i 


New-York 1826 

New- Jersey 226 

Pennsylvania...  1146 

Delaware 16 

Maryland 376 


...128. 

...   442 

..   47. 

...     536i 

...   59. 

...    439 

...   67. 

...1156 

...   32. 

...     82 

...261. 

...    808 

...593. 

...  34635 

Miles  in 

prosress. 

Tot.lI. 

-   744  . 

...2571 

.   Ill   . 

...    337 

.  774 

...1920 

.     11   . 

...     27 

.  125   . 

...   501 

478 


RAILROAD    PROSPECTS    AKD    PROGRESS. 


Virginia 478 

North  Carolina.  249 

South  Carolina.  340 

Georgia. 754 

Alabama .-  121 

Mississiitpi 93 

Louisiana 63 

Texas — 

Tennessee 112 

Kentucky 93 

Ohio 828 

Michigan 427 

Indiana 000 

Illinois. 176 

Missouri — 

Wisconsin 20 


...  818 

....1296 

...  385 

634 

...  298 

638 

...  229 

983 

...  189i 

....  310^ 

...  273 

366 

...  — 

....   63 

...   32 

....   32 

...  748 

800 

...  404i 

497i 

...18921 

2720i 

...  — 

....  427 

...  905 

....1505 

....1463 

....1639 

....  515 

515 

....  421 

....  441 

Total  in  Middle, 

W.  AS. States..  10,8141 


10,878i       21,693 


RAILWAY  PROGRESS  IN  THE  UNI- 
TED STATES. — The  extraordinary  progress 
of  the  United  States  in  railway  construction, 
strikes  every  one  interested  in  the  current  his- 
tory of  passing  events ;  and  the  success  of  this 
country  in  this  "element  of  national  greatness 
is  at  once  an  index  of  the  energy  and  intel- 
ligence of  the  people,  and  a  matter  of  admira- 
tion to  other  nations.  The  railway  is  compara- 
tively a  new  method  of  transit.  The  old  tram- 
roads  were,  in  some  degree,  in  use  in  the  coal 
mines  of  Great  Britain ;  but  the  first  regular 
railway  was  the  Stockton  andDarlington,which 
was  constructed  by  Mr.  Stephenson,  ana  finish- 
ed in  December,  1825.  Some  time  in  1826  Mr. 
Stephenson  commenced  operating  this  road 
by  the  locomotive.  Two  years  after  that,  in 
1827,  was  built  the  Quincy  railway,  in  Quiu- 
cy,  Massachusetts.  It  was  only  three  miles 
in  length,  and  was  used  only  for  the  transit 
of  granite  from  the  ledges  to  ti<lc-water.  In 
1829  there  was  constructed  some  twenty-five 
miles  of  railway  in  Pennsylvania,  for  coal 
purposes.  On  December  28,  1829,  thirteen 
miles  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  railway,  in 
Maryland,  were  opened.  In  1831  there  were 
six  miles  of  railway  in  South  Carolina.     In 

1832,  seventeen  miles  of  the  Mohawk  and 
Hudson  railway  were  opened.  In  1832  Ken- 
tucky had  six  miles  of  railway  constructed. 
In  1835  Virginia  bad  twelve  miles;  New- 
Jersey,  thirty-four  miles;  Delaware,  sixteen 
miles ;  Alabama,  forty -six  miles ;  and  Louisi- 
ana, forty  mile*.  The  total  number  of  miles 
of  railway  finished  in  the  United  States  in 
1832    was   one   hundred   and   tliirty-one ;  in 

1833,  five  hundred  and  seventy  six  miles. 
The  following  table  will  give  an  idea  of  the 
progress  from  year  to  year,  from  the  earliest 
period  mentioned  above,  throughout  the 
United  States : 


Year.  Miles. 

1828 3 

1829 28 

1830.    41 

1831 54 

1832 131 

1833 576 

1834 762 

1835 918 

1836 1,102 

1837 1,421 

1838 1,843 

1839 1,920 

1840 2,167 


Year.  Miles. 

1841 3,319 

1842 3,877 

1843 4,174 

1844 4,311 

1845 4,511 

1846 4,870 

1847 5,336 

1848 5,682 

1849 6,350 

1850 7,355 

1851 9,090 

1852 11,565 


RAILROAD  PROSPECTS  AND  PRO- 
GRESS.*— Position  of  Tennessee  in  ref- 
erence TO  Railroads — Duty  of  the  State 
IN  Constructing  Roads — Tntm  Influence, 
socially,  industrially  and  politically — 
What  the  South  should  do  to  regain  or 
retain  Power — Growth  of  the  Railroad 
System,  etc,  etc. — In  the  history  of  our 
country,  the  star  of  empire  has  been  west- 
ward. Population,  wealth,  refinement,  intel- 
ligence, have  all  been  sweeping  into  the  great 
western  valley.  The  crowning  achievements 
of  them  all,  the  telegraph  and  the  railroad, 
twin  sisters,  are  now  ready,  and  waiting  to 
perform  their  glorious  mission  in  elevating 
and  perfecting  our  civilization  and  our  pro- 
gress. 

I  stand  upon  the  soil  of  Tennessee,  and,  for 
the  first  time,  in  its  proud  capital.  Tennessee, 
the  first  growth  of  western  progress ;  Tennes- 
see, where  sleep  two  presidents  of  this  re- 
public, the  man  of  iron  will,  who  throttled 
the  British  lion,  and  he  Avhose  career  of  fame 
and  honor  has  just  now  ended  in  the  gloom 
of  death  !  a  state  with  a  million  of  inhabi- 
tants;  with  inexhaustible  agricultural,  mine- 
ral and  manufacturing  resources  in  embryo 
or  in  development;  with  public  credit  entirely 
unimpaireii,  and  with  none  of  the  trammels 
of  public  debt. 

Gentlemen,  should  Tennessee  sleep  in  this 
age  of  progress  i'  In  her  central  situation, 
with  her  wealth  and  her  resources,  and  a 
country  as  favored  as  any  upon  whicli  the 
light  of  God's  sun  has  ever  shone,  should 
Tennessee  sleep,  and  let  the  star  of  west- 
ward progress  pass  over  her,  leaving  her 
upon  the  horizon  rather  than  in  the  zenith  ? 
I  think  I  see  it  and  hear  it  in  every  thing 
around  me — never,  never!  You  are  pre- 
pared, then,  to  act,  gentlemen ;  the  south  de- 
mands it  from  you — the  southwest,  in  whose 
councils  you  are  destined  to  lead.  The  eyes 
of  all  the  states  are  upou  your  legislature, 
which  is  now  in  session,  and  which  I  am  in- 
formed, and  which  I  in  part  know,  is  one  of 
the  most  enlightened  and  liberal  that   has 


Speech  by  the  Eaitor  at  Nashville,  Tenn.,  1851. 


RAILROAD    PROSPECTS    AND    PROGRESS. 


479 


ever  met  in  your  capital.  All  their  public 
works  are  striking  for  your  state  to  radiate 
through  it,  aiul  to  project  to  the  north,  the 
east,  the  south  and  the  west,  making  Nash- 
ville, indeed,  a  queen  city — a  depot  of  travel 
and  of  freights  for  the  great  lakes  and  the 
gulf  of  Mexico — for  the  Atlantic  seaboard 
and  the  mighty  northwest. 

Gentlemen,  the  spirit  of  improvement  and 
progress  which  has  descended  upon  you,  is 
sweeping  down  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi, 
and  producing  its  wonderful  results  in  all  of 
(he  states  to  the  southward  of  your  limits. 
It  is  for  you,  legislators,  the  first  to  sit  during 
this  excitement  of  the  public  mind,  to  lead 
the  way  and  direct  the  spirit  of  the  times  to 
immediate  and  practical  results.  Indicate 
your  course  of  policy,  and  let  it  be  a  broad 
and  liberal  one,  something  worthy  of  a  great 
state  like  Tennessee;  and  believe  me,  when  I 
say  it,  that  Mississippi  and  Louisiana  will 
unite  upon  the  same  platform  of  improve- 
ment with  you,  and  that  Alabama  and  Ar- 
kansas and  Texas  will  respond  to  the  extent 
of  their  means  and  capacities.  These  states 
are  but  in  the  infancy  of  progress  aud  im- 
provement, and  are  now  looking  to  you  to 
pave  the  way  for  a  system  which  i)eucef<n-- 
ward  shall  emphatically  be  known  as  the 
southwestern  system.  With  your  resolutions 
and  acts  in  their  hands,  the  friends  of  im- 
provement may  walk  boldly,  and  I  believe 
triumphantly,  into  the  legislatures  of  Missis- 
sippi and  Louisiana,  which  are  soon  to  be  in 
session. 

Gentlemen,  with  all  your  wonderful  re- 
sources, you  are,  perhaps,  worse  off  than  any 
state  in  the  Union  with  regard  to  a  market. 
You  are  shut  in  by  mountains  on  the  one 
side,  and  on  the  other  shut  off  from  the  Mis- 
sissippi by  little  streams  whicli  you  call 
"rivers,"  which  drag  their  slow  length  along, 
and  approximate  to  John  Randolph's  idea  of 
the  Oliio,  a  river  which,  when  it  is  not  locked 
up  in  ice,  has  run  dry  of  water.  How  can 
such  a  state  work  out  a  high  destiny  ?  If  we 
must  be  dependent  upon  her  slow  wagons, 
though  they  run  upon  turnpikes,  her  beautiful 
Nashville  might  as  well  be  a  Timbuctoo, 
for  what  the  rest  of  the  world  shall  know 
of  it.  God  may  have  given  you  coal 
and  iron  sufficient  to  work  the  spindles  and 
navies  of  the  world ;  but  they  will  sleep  in 
your  everlasting  hills  until  the  trumpet  of 
Gabriel  shall  sound,  unless  you  cau  ilo  some- 
thing better  than  buikl  turnpikes.  You  may 
have  granaries  sufficiently  stocked  to  feed 
mankind,  but  mankind  will  starve  and  perish 
before  a  bushel  of  grain  can  reach  them. 

I  honor  the  spirit  which  has  given  to  your 
state,  in  her  turnpikes,  the  very  best  common 
roads  in  the  world.  Honor  to  Tennessee  for 
her  liberal  state  and  individual  contributions. 
These  turnpikes  were  a  great  march  in  ad- 
vance, and  are  but  the  pioneers  of  other  im- 


provements. They  are  a  step  in  progress; 
though  like  the  hand  loom  and  the  flat-boat, 
and  the  old-fashioned  spinning-wheel,  they 
have  become  ob^^olcte.  To  rest  upon  these 
turnpikes,  and  to  go  no  further,  would  be  aa 
reasonable  as  the  act  of  the  old  hand  loom 
weavers  who  conspired  against  steam,  or  the 
scribes  and  copyists  who  rebelled  against  the 
printing  press,  as  an  invention  of  the  devil 
aud  Dr.  Faustus. 

You  have  about  1,000  miles  of  turnpike, 
which  have  cost  on  an  average  83,000  per 
mile,  or  .^3,000,000.  These  are  now  paying 
but  small  money  dividends.  The  reason  is, 
that  turnpikes  are  very  costly  modes  of  com- 
munication, and  will  invite  no  other  trade 
than  that  which  of  necessity  belongs  to  them. 
Charles  Eilet,  Esq.,  of  the  Virginia  Public 
Works,  estimates  the  freights  on  turnpikes 
to  cost  15  and  20  cents  per  ton  per  mile; 
whilst  on  railroads  they  are  but  2^  cents,  and 
canals,  1  i  cents.  Yet,  gentlemen,  these  money 
dividends  are  but  a  small  consideration.  I 
am  told  by  intelligent  gentlemen  ahmg  the 
route  of  your  turnpikes,  that  land  has  ap- 
preciated in  value  from  ^2  to  $10  per  acre. 
If  this  be  the  case,  the  roads  have  more  than 
paid  for  themselves.  Take  a  road  of  100  miles, 
and  suppose  a  cost  of  $5,000  per  mile,  $500,- 
000,  and  suppose  land  on  each  side  for  five 
miles  back  to  be  raised  in  value  only  70  cents 
an  acre,  you  have  the  whole  of  the  invest- 
ment !  1  defy  the  proof  that  the  average 
advancement  has  not  reached  this  figure. 
If,  then,  with  this  imperfect  and  now  almost 
obsolete  mode  of  communication,  so  much 
has  been  added  to  the  value  of  your  landed 
pro])crty,  how  much  may  you  expect  from 
that  physically  perfect  mode  which  is  called 
a  railroad,  and  which  can  carry  oft"  the  sur- 
plus of  your  lands  at  one  fifth  the  present  cost 
of  doing  it,  as  well  as  increase  the  demand 
for  this  surplus. 

Do  you  ask  how  it  is  that  a  railroad  or  a 
canal  raises  the  price  of  land  ?  The  case  is 
simple.  I  will  take  for  illustration  that  of  a 
planter  having  to  do  fifty  miles  of  wagoning, 
and  thousands  of  bales  of  cotton  are  wagoned 
from  100  to  200  miles.  Suppose  the  wagon- 
ing be  to  Nashville  :  can  this  cost  less  than 
$2  per  bale  ? — commissions  at  Nashville,  (fee, 
50  cents — freight  by  the  river  to  New-Orleans, 
$1  50 — insurance,  50  cts. — total,  $4  50.  Now, 
suppose  a  railroad  direct  to  New-Orleans  from 
this  planter's  door,  and  2.^  cents  the  ton  per 
mile  be  charged,  say  550  miles,  we  have 
$3  50,  a  saving  of  $1  per  bale.  Now,  on  a 
tract  of  1,000  acres,  producing  500  bales,  we 
have  a  saving  of  $oU0,  or  50  cents  on  each 
acre,  to  say  nothing  of  saving  in  return 
freights,  travel,  ttc.  Fifty  cents  is  the  inter- 
est on  $10.  But  this,  gentlemen,  .^hows 
nothing  like  the  truth,  as  all  experience 
proves.  Proximity  to  market,  and  the  capa- 
city to  take  advantage  of  aU  its  phases,  con- 


480 


RAILROAD    PROSPECTS    AND    PROGRESS. 


venience  of  access  to  the  world,  the  general  j  as  it  is,  says  Mr.  Segar,  pay  much  more,  but 
comforts  and  safety   of   railroads,  the  new   that  it  is  compelled  to  take  up  much  of  the 


lands  whicli  they  brini^  iuto  cultivation,  and 
the  enhanced  demand  for  interior  products  of 
every  description  which  they  induce,  even 
down  to  tlie  smallest  ones  of  the  duiry  and 
the  Jarm-yard — all,  taken  together,  swell  the 
increase  in  the  value  of  land,  near  to  which 
a  railroad  passes,  from  S5  to  §10,  and  in  fa- 
vored spots  even  $20  an  acre. 

For  example,  suppose  a  railroad  running 
through  one  of  your  counties — Davidson,  for 
example — thirty  miles  long,  having  cost  §15,- 
000  the  mile,-S450,000,  ant!  suppose  the  lands 
on  each  side  for  fifteen  miles  back  to  be  raised 
in  value  but  $1.30  per  acre,  you  l)ave  the 
whole  of  the  investment  at  once  returned  to 
the  county  the  moment  the  road  is  finished. 
Will  not  the  increase  be  double  this  ? — to  say 
nothing  of  the  ordinary  dividends  on  roads, 
which  are  seldom  less  than  the  usual  per  cent- 
age  on  capital  and  industry. 

If  nothing  more  were  said,  would  not  the 
argument  be  irresistible  ? 

I  take  the  position  that  there  is  not  in  the 
world  iin  interest  more  promising  at  this  mo- 
ment than  that  of  railroads.  In  Enyfland  they 
are  paying  an  average  dividend  of  4|-  per 
oent.  on  the  present  value  of  shares,  being 
much  more  than  the  average  interest  of  mo- 
ney. In  the  United  States,  the  average  pro- 
fit is  stated  by  the  Railroad  Journal  at  5  per 
cent.  I  know  it  will  be  said  there  has  been 
a  depreciation  in  the  value  of  railroad  stocks 
in  both  countries,  and  that  in  England  hun- 
dreds of  millions  have  been  lost.  I  admit  it ; 
but  can  human  prudence  guard  against  occa- 
sional extravagances  in  every  branch  of  af- 
fairs, particularly  in  novel  ones  ?  Where  the 
touchstone  of  experience  cannot  be  supplied, 
profligacy  and  recklessness  will  result.  But 
this  period  has  gone  by;  and  it  is  fortunate 


original  superstructure. 

Well,  gentlemen,  if  railroads  produce  all 
of  these  results,  can  you  justify  yourselves  in 
remaining  without  them  ?  You  cannot,  and 
1  think  you  acknowledge  it.  What  then  is  to 
be  done,  and  where  are  you  to  begin  'i 

Without  doubt,  it  is  the  first  duty  of  the 
state  to  lead  off,  and  she  as  much  owes  this 
to  lier  people  as  she  does  the  duty  of  pro- 
tecting their  lives  and  their  property,  or  any 
other  act  of  government.  In  all  history, 
government  has  been  held  bound  to  construct 
and  keep  up  the  public  liighways  of  the 
country.  We  are  all  familiar  with  the  mag- 
nificent highways  of  old  Rome ;  the  ruins  of 
which  give  us  no  meagre  idea  of  the  magnifi- 
cence of  that  ancient  empire.  The  principle 
is,  that  communication  should  be  left  open 
and  free,  and  that  the  people,  with  their  pro- 
ducts, should  pass  easily  and  economically 
where  they  list;  and  that  this  is  the  duty  of 
government.  Now,  in  the  progress  of  science 
and  civilization,  it  has  been  discovered  that 
the  old  sixty-feet  road  cut  through  the  woods 
is  not  such  a  speedy  and  free  and  cheap  mode 
of  communication  as  is  adequate  to  the  wants 
of  a  people  who  are  advancing  in  the  modern 
ratio  of  civilization  and  improvement.  Is  the 
government  then  doing  its  duty  when  it  ad- 
heres to  these  roads?  Should  not  govern- 
ment be  progressive,  and  keep  pace  with  the 
wants  of  the  people  ?  If  they  ask  bread, 
should  it  give  them  a  stoae  ?  In  its  construc- 
tion of  roads,  government  should  avail  itself 
of  all  the  improvements  of  the  age.  The 
most  economical  and  best  road,  upon  the 
whole,  should  be  adopted  ;  be  this  cl.ay  road, 
Macadam  road,  or  turnpike.  You  have  ad- 
mitted the  argument  in  regard  to  turnpikes. 
Does  it  change  the  principle  to  go  a  step 


for  us  that  we  begin  with  all  the  experience  I  further?  Your  turnpike  grade  solidifies  the 
which  it  has  cost  the  world  hundreds  of  mil- 1  roads,  at  large  expense,  to  prepare  them  for 
lions  to  acquire.     If  these  occasional  disasters  |  the  ordinary  vehicles  of  travel     These  vehi- 


m  railroads  be  made  any  thing  of,  let  us  ask 
in  what  department  of  business  have  there 
been  fewer  disasters  ?  Certainly  not  in  com- 
•mercf,  for,  gentlemen,  in  the  item  of  banks 
alone,  the  country  lost  in  ten  years  .$  1 ,50,000,- 
000  ;  C('rtainly  not  in  innnufactiiri'i^,  for  we 
know  that  this  interest  continually  fluctuates, 
and  that  large  capitals  are  often  sunk  in  a 
few  years ;  not  even  in  axiricnlture,  for  you 
will  ail  remember  the  sliipwreck  which  came 
upon  the  planters  after  the  bursting  of  the 
banking  bubljle  in  1837.  The  Ma-saeluiselts 
and  th.-  (ieori^'ia  railroads  are  now  paying  8 
per  Cent.,  and  in  many  cases  10  and  12.  'I'he 
Georgia  railroad,  from  Atlanta  to  Augusta, 
paid  6  per  cent,  in  the  first  six  months  from 
the  time  of  its  com])letion ;  and  in  1847,  10 
per  cent,  on  a  capital  of  $2,200,000.  The 
Baltimore  and  Ohio  road,  on  a  cost  of  $."50.0110 
per  mile,  pays  6^  cents ;  and  would,  unfinished 


cles  are  getting  out  of  popular  use,  and  are 
being  substituted  by  a  dirt'erent  class,  which 
require  a  diilereut  description  of  road,  to 
wit:  a  road  of  jiarallel  sills,  with  iron  bars, 
to  resist  the  friction,  instead  of  rocks  and 
gravel.  Now,  gentlemen,  if  all  the  world  is 
adopting  this  ilescription  of  road,  and  if  the 
old  highways  are  clumsy  and  expensive,  and 
behind  the  times,  it  is  a  perfect  mockery  to 
say  that  government  must  adhere  to  them, 
and  is  doing  its  duty  in  going  no  further. 
Tlic  railroad  is  nothing  but  the  common  road 
made  prrfect.  The  cars,  the  engines,  etc.,  and 
the  woiking  of  them,  arc  a  ditferent  matter, 
and  these  may  be  left  to  individuals  as  we 
now  leave  them  to  work  their  own  carriages 
and  wagons.  Hence  I  interpret  the  duty  of 
government,  in  keeping  up  its  roads,  to  mean 
simply  that  the  roads  should  be  adequate  to 
the  requirements  of  the  kind  of  vehicle  most 


RAILROAD   rnosrECTS    AND    rROGRESS. 


461 


preferred  and  used,  whether  it  be  carriage, 
■wagon,  or  railroad  car.  To  accomniodato 
solely  and  provide  solely  for  one  class  of 
veliiclos,  and  tliat  the  meanest  and  the  worst, 
would  be  to  retain  the  old  trial  by  battle,  the 
fictions  of  John  Doe  and  Richard  Roe,  or  any 
other  of  the  legal  caprices  of  our  respectable 
ancestors.  But  if  this  argument  in  favor  of 
government's  building  railroads  be  not  grant- 
«{1,  let  us  suppose,  for  some  reason  or  other, 
say  from  inundations,  it  became  entirely  im- 
possible to  use  the  common  roads  or  turn- 
pikes at  any  time  for  travel,  would  govern- 
ment be  entirely  exonerated  from  the  duty  of 
giving  the  people  outlet  and  communication  ? 
Is  it  not  practically  impossible  now  for  the 
people  to  use  the  ordinary  highways,  and 
compete  in  industry  and  jjrogress  with  their 
neighbors  all  over  the  world  ? 

Yet,  I  would  not  stretch  the  argument  so 
far  as  to  say  that  government  should  exclu- 
sively construct  the  railroads  of  the  country ; 
uor  do  I  pretend  to  advocate  the  policy  of 
grading  and  laying  down  the  track  and  the  iron 
at  public  expense,  though  my  parallel  may 
have  carried  me  thus  far.  I  am  in  favor  of 
leaving  every  thing  possible  to  individual  en- 
terprise, because  I  believe  individuals  can 
operate  with  more  success  and  economy.  If 
inilividual  enterprise  were  adequate  to  the 
construction  of  railroads,  I  should  be  willing 
to  leave  the  matter  there ;  but  as  it  is  not, 
and  as  it  is  conceded  that  the  federal  govern- 
ment has  no  power,  the  necexxify  devolves 
upon  the  stales.  I  say  individual  enterprise 
is  not  adequate.  It  has  not  been  found  so  in 
comtnnnities  where  dense  population  and  ad- 
vanced industry  have  generated  enormous 
sur[)lus  capital;  how  much  less  must  it  be 
adequate  iu  the  sparse  population  and  meagre 
savings  of  a  country  like  the  southwest ! 
Massachusetts,  for  example,  has  granted  state 
aid  to  her  roads  to  the  extent  of  So, 500,000  ; 
Georgia,  A:j, 500,000  :  Virginia,  three  fifths  to 
all  roads;  Michigan,  $6,000,000  ;  North  Caro- 
lina, which  we  had  thought  fast  asleej), 
§2,000,000  to  a  single  road.  In  no  state  have 
railroads  succeeded  without  some  such  aid, 
and  where  they  have  been  extensively  adopt- 
ed, tills  state  aid  has  been  the  great  impulse. 
Without  it,  few  of  these  brilliant  results 
would  have  been  achieved.  Without  it,  we, 
in  particular,  should  linger  along  for  a  genera- 
tion in  effecting  what  others  have  done  in  four 
or  live  years.  We  have  no  time  to  lose. 
Every  day  increases  the  distance  between  our- 
selves and  our  enterprising  neiglibors,  and 
makes  the  contest  between  us  a  more  hope- 
less one. 

You  are  aware,  gentlemen,  that  the  state 
of  New-York  has  outstretched  her  hands 
to  the  extent  of  millions  in  aid  of  her  public 
works,  and  that  she  is  reaping  the  fruits 
in  ten  thousand  ways.  They  have  already 
repaid  their  cost  over  and  over  iu  the  en- 
VOL.    II. 


hancement  of  property  and  in  dividends.  In 
a  few  years  the  reveruic  of  these  works  will 
free  the  people  of  that  state  for  ever  from 
taxation.  A  single  act  of  legislation  has  ap- 
propriated Si  2,000,000  for  the  enlargement 
of  the  Krie  Canal. 

Pennsylvania,  it  was  thought,  had  bank- 
rupted herself  by  her  enormous  debt  contract- 
ed for  internal  im])rovements.  Her  example 
of  repudiation  was  pointed  to  as  a  striking 
example  of  the  impolicy  of  large  state  aid  to 
railroads.  But  what  is  the  fact  in  Peimsyl- 
vania  ?  Is  she  not  infinitely  richer  from  her 
public  works  j  Has  she  not  redeemed  her 
honor,  and  do  not  these  works  already  enable 
her  to  maintain  her  engagements  promptly  ? 
Gentlemen,  with  all  the  liberal  appropriations 
by  states  in  aid  of  railroads,  I  know  of  no  in- 
stance in  which  the  public  weal  or  credit  has 
permanently  suffered.  I  defy  a  single  ex- 
ample. Where  large  and  unproductive  debts 
have  been  created,  it  has  not  been  for  this 
purpose.  It  has  been  for  banks,  which  add 
nothing  permanent  to  wealth,  and  in  passing 
away  leave  no  traces  behind  them.  A  rail- 
road is  an  addition  to  the  wealth  of  the  com- 
munity— it  is  so  much  value  that  stands  there 
and  cannot  be  destroyed;  and  a  state  might 
as  soon  expect  to  bankrupt  herself  by  such  in- 
vestments, judiciously  made,  as  a  vender  of 
patent  medicines  bankrupt  himself  by  ex- 
travagant expenditures  in  advertisements. 

The  safe  and  sound  rule  is  for  the  legisla- 
ture to  meet  individual  enterprise  halfway  in 
the  matter  of  railroads,  and  stimulate  it  on- 
ward by  liberal  grants.  For  example,  let  the 
policy  be  a  permanent  one:  that  whenever 
a  company  has  paid  in  its  stock  and  com- 
pleted its  grading  and  its  woodwork,  and  is 
ready  for  the  iron,  that  the  state  will  furnish 
this  iron,  by  endorsing  the  bonds  of  the  com- 
pany. These  bonds  will  then  be  readily  ne- 
gotiable. It  will  not  be  creating  a  state 
debt;  for  who  can  doubt  that  the  roads  will 
be  able  to  pay  promptly  the  interest  on  the 
bonds  ?  If  the  railroad  pays  a  dividend  of 
but  two  to  three  per  cent,  per  annum,  (and 
what  railroad  in  the  United  States  is  not  pay- 
ing twice  as  much  ?)  it  can  redeem  these  out- 
standing bonds,  which  will  amount  to  only 
one  third  or  one  half  of  the  whole  ca[)ital  of 
the  road  ;  or  if  we  take  the  almost  impossible 
case  that  the  company  cannot  keep  down  the 
nterest,  the  state  has  its  lien  upon  all  its 
works,  and  can,  of  course,  sell  out  and  reim- 
burse herself  at  any  moment;  and  what  road 
will  not  sell  for  more  than  the  cost  of  the 
iron? 

This  system  will  work  well,  for  it  may 
properly  be  left  to  private  enterprise  to  select 
its  routes,  and  there  is  no  danger  that  these 
will  be  too  numerous.  Men  are  generally 
wide  awake  to  their  own  interest;  and  in  this 
enlightened  period,  when  there  is  so  much 
knowledge  and  experience  abroad  in  regard  to 
31 


482 


RAILBOAD    PROSPECTS    AND    PROGRESS. 


railroads,  errors  can  liarJly  happen.  Routes 
that  are  not  demauJud  or  likely  to  be  profit- 
able, will  scarcely  secure  the  investments  of 
shrewd  and  calculating  capitalists.  But  even 
if  the  state  were  to  sink  some  of  her  capital 
in  this  niaiiucr,  and  incur  some  permanent 
public  debt,  in  what  more  glorious  cause 
could  it  be  done  i  States  are  ever  ready  to 
bankrupt  themselves  with  debt  for  fleets, 
and  armies,  and  wars.  Ours  is  a  measure  of 
peace;  and  whatever  permanent  debt,  be  it 
remembered,  that  it  brings,  it  brings  at  the 
same  time,  in  the  increase  in  the  value  of 
every  description  of  property,  the  tax-pay- 
ing fund  to  meet  this  debt. 

Gentlemen,  it  is  high  time  that  the  south 
and  the  west  should  clo  something  to  gain  a 
position  in  this  confederacy  which  is  not  de- 
pendent and  degrading.  We  must  seek  for 
some  more  profitable  investments  of  our 
capital  than  those  we  have  relied  upon  in  the 
past.  "Why  are  we  for  ever  nerveless,  in  debt, 
and  without  surplus  for  any  purpose,  and 
must  run  off  to  the  north  whenever  we  would 
procure  a  little  capital  to  work  a  mill-site  or 
dam  a  river  \  We  invest  nearly  every  thing 
in  a  staple  which  is  for  ever  at  one  extreme 
or  the  other.  We  are  offered  large  prices 
when  we  have  none  to  sell ;  but  when  our 
warehouses  are  laden  with  it,  we  can  find  no- 
body willing  to  buy. 

The  construction  of  a  system  of  raih-oads 
at  the  south,  in  addition  to  its  other  advantages, 
will  have  this :  that  it  will  divert  a  large  slave 
force  into  more  profitable  channels  than  agri- 
culture. The  planters  will  find  inducements 
to  employ  a  portion  of  their  force  in  all  the 
works  of  grading,  embankments,  cutting  tim- 
ber and  fuel,  bridging,  etc.  Indeed,  by  the 
employiiient  almost  of  the  surplus  labor  of  the 
plantations,  railroads  might  in  many  cases  be 
constructed,  being  thus  almost  a  clear  gain  to 
the  wealth  of  the  country.  We  already  find 
these  work  subscriptions,  as  they  are  called, 
have  become  popular  in  the  south. 

But  not  only  will  this  division  of  labor  occur, 
which  will  be  very  great,  but  the  construction 
of  railroads,  in  leading  to  the  development  of 
the  mineral  resources  of  a  country,  in  giving 
them  an  outlet  and  in  promoting  manufactures, 
in  secuiing  them  an  expeditious  and  safe  ac- 
cess to  market — for  this  has  been  the  result 
every  where,  gentlemen,  throughout  I'ennsyl- 
vauia,  New- York  and  New-England — the  con- 
struction of  railroads  will  lead  to  other  diver- 
sions of  labor  and  capital,  which  must  be 
greatly  beneficial  to  the  south;  and  we  cannot 
hope  to  bring  about  these  diversions  by  any 
other  means. 

Upon  whom  are  we  dependent  for  our  man- 
ufacturing necessities  ? — the  shoes  on  our  foet, 
the  hat  on  our  head,  the  cloth  in  our  coat,  tlie 
shirt  that  we  wear,  down  to  the  very  i)in  and 
button  that  fastens  it  ? — answer,  the  north :  a 
people  who  are  becoming  ia  a  large  part  bos- 


tile  to  us  in  interest  and  in  feeling — who  have 
estimated  our  connection  by  the  dollars  that 
it  would  bring  them — who  have  excommuni- 
cated us  as  slaveholders  at  the  sacred  altar, 
and  thanked  God  they  were  not  like  us  poor 
publicans;  a  people  who  have  enticed  away 
our  slaves,  mobbeti  us  when  we  have  attempt- 
ed to  reclaim  them,  anil,  like  the  hard  Egyp- 
tian task-tnasters,  continued  to  exact  the  tale 
of  brick  after  they  have  taken  away  from  us 
the  .straw  with  which  we  could  make  it ;  for, 
gentlemen,  the  north  realizes  out  of  our  cotton 
fields  as  much  as  we  do  ourselves,  and,  in  the 
manufacturing  which  she  conducts  for  us, 
makes  a  clear  annual  profit  of  over  §40,000,- 
000  per  aimum. 

But  when  we  come  to  commerce — that  com- 
merce which  has  made  the  north  great  and 
powerful — how  much  of  it  is  the  result  of 
southern  labor?  The  whole  carrying  trade  of 
your  products  and  the  return  cargoes  are  en- 
tirely in  their  hands,  bringing  them  a  profit  of 
their  own  showing  of  .s40,000,000  more  per 
annum.  And  this,  too,  gentlemen,  when,  be- 
fore the  revolution  and  before  our  present 
government,  the  southern  colonies,  with  a  less 
]»pulation  than  New-England,  New-York  and 
Pennsylvania,  exported  abroad  dirccthj  nearly 
five  times  as  much  produce.  In  the  same 
period,  Carolina  and  Georgia  exported  twice 
the  value  of  New- York,  Pennsylvania  and 
New-England.  In  the  years  from  1821  to 
1830,  New- York  alone  exceeded  these  states. 
Here,  then,  are  eighty  millions  of  dollars 
taken  annually  from  us,  and  which  legitimate- 
ly should  have  been  retained  in  our  midst,  and 
which  will  yet  be  retained  here,  if  we  are  true 
to  ourselves. 

But  this  is  not  all ;  how  much  more  does 
the  north  receive  from  us  annually  in  the  sup- 
port of  her  schools  and  her  colleges,  her  edi- 
tors, her  authors  and  her  clergy,  her  Saratogas 
and  her  Newports,  her  allurements  of  various 
kinds? — and  more  than  all,  how  much  do  her 
citizens,  who  come  anK)ng  us  to  gather  wealth, 
return  home  with,  to  build  up  those  colossal 
interests  there  which  are  the  wonders  of  the 
world?  Is  there  any  reciprocity,  sirs  ?  Who 
of  the  north  "  reads  a  southern  book" — they 
have  said  this  themselves  sneeringly  —  who 
visits  a  southern  watering-place — attends  a 
southern  college  ?  I  think  it  wouhl  be  safe  to 
estimate  the  amount  which  is  lost  to  us  an- 
nually by  our  vassalage  to  the  north  at  -SlOO,- 
000,(100.  Great  God !  does  Ireland  sustain  a 
more  degrading  relation  to  Great  Britain? 
Will  we  not  throw  off  this  humiliating  de- 
pendence, and  act  for  ourselves?  What  a 
country  would  be  the  south,  could  we  retain 
this  money  at  home ;  what  ships  and  navies 
we  should  have — what  dense  metropolitan 
and  magnificent  cities — what  manufacturing 
establishments,  making  every  hill  and  valley 
vocal  with  the  whirl  of  machinery — what 
railroads,  radiating  to  every  village  and  town, 


RAILROAD   PROSPECTS   AND   PROGRESS. 


483 


like  tbe  arteries  from  the  human  heart — w  hat 
mineral  resources  developeil — what  wateriiij,'- 

E laces,  crowded  with  wealth  and  fashion  and 
eautj — what  schools  and  colle^^es,  in  which 
our  sons  should  be  reared  to  fidelity  to  their 
native  south — what  dense  population — what 
wealth  and  what  power! — and  yet  we  arc 
now  poor  and  scattered,  and  in  tliis  isolation 
and  dependence  of  our  condition,  afraid  almost 
of  our  very  shadows  upon  the  wall. 

Tlnow  off  this  yoke  of  bondage,  and  begin 
to  show  your  manhood  at  once.  We  are  poor 
and  suppliant,  whereas  we  should  be  rich  and 
great  In  a  question  between  the  north  and 
south,  I  prefer  the  south.  Charity  begins  at 
home.  Not  that  I  love  Caesar  less,  but  Rome 
more.  Whatever  divisions  exist  in  southern 
politics,  there  can  be  none  upon  this  of  Sout/i- 
ern  Industrial  Lulependaice.  Fire-eater  and 
compromiser  must  all  meet  here,  unless  they 
go  beyond  Scripture,  and  love  others  better 
than  themselves.  Here  is  a  separate  state  ac- 
tion upon  which  all  must  agree — that  of  loom, 
and  spindle,  and  locomotive.  This  is  the  extent 
of  my  " fire-eatiug."  "If  it  be  treason,  make 
the  most  of  it !" 

"  liCt  us  then  be  up  and  doin? 
Witli  a  heart  for  every  tale  ; 
Still  resolviiig,  still  pursuing, 
Learu  to  labor  aud  to  wait." 

Gentlemen,  I  am  among  you  as  a  delegate 
from  New-Orleans,  to  speak  to  you  upon  this 
subject  of  railroads,  aud  invoke  your  action 
with  hers.  I  wish  I  had  more  power  of  pop- 
ular oratory  to  speak  to  you  and  to  rouse  you 
into  action  ;  but  my  efforts  have  generally 
been  in  a  different  field,  and  one  in  which  I 
hope  I  have  been  able  to  do  the  south  some 
service.  I  have  never  once  faltered  in  that 
field,  and  I  trust  in  God  I  never  shall  in  any 
time  of  trial  and  of  difficulty. 

In  every  period  of  your  historj',  gentlemen, 
New-Orleans  has  been  your  commercial  centre 
— your  outlet  to  the  markets  of  the  world. 
You  are  as  familiar  with  its  highways  and  its 
by-ways  as  we  are  ourselves— its  places  of 
fashionable  resort  and  amusement.  Why,  al- 
most every  other  man  that  we  meet  in  our 
streets  in  'the  wiutry  season  is  a  Tennessean, 
and  half  the  witching  beauty  and  loveliness  of 
the  female  form,  which  makes  Chartres  street 
a  very  eastern  bazaar,  traces  its  origin  to  Ten- 
nessee. When  New-Orleans  was  in  the  hands 
of  the  Spanish  and  the  French,  you  vowed,  by 
all  the  powers,  she  should  be  yours,  and  you 
got  her.  When  New  Orl.ans  was  menaced 
by  an  insulting  foe,  whose  watchword  was 
booty  and  beauty,  the  glorious  chief  of  the 
Hermitage  swore  "  by  the  Eternal,"  she  should 
be  saved,  and  you  saved  her.  Tennessee  and 
Louisiana  have  ever  been  linked  together; 
and  whom  God  and  your  rifles  have  put  to- 
gether, let  no  man  put  asunder.  We  intend, 
gentlemen,  to  preserve  this  relationship  to  you. 


I  We  intend  that  you  shall  not  go  off  to  the  sea- 
board, to  Charleston,  Savannah  or  Ilichmond, 
;  dear  as  they  arc  to  us,  or  any  where  else,  but 
shall  stan*l  by  us,  and  we  will  stand  by  you, 
!  and  our  growth  and  our  power  shall  be  to- 
:  gefher.     You  may  set  that  down  ns  a  fact,  do 
!  what  you  please.     If  you  will  not  come  to  us, 
we  come  to  you.     "Mahomet  comes  to  the 
j  mountain,"  ifec,  Ac. 

Gentlemen,  let  me  give  you  a  history  of 
New-Orleans.  In  her  infancy  she  bid  fair  to 
1  be  a  very  Colossus,  and  to  outstride,  in  her 
march  to  commercial  greatness,  almost  every 
;  other  mart  upon  the  continent,  making  of  her- 
j  self  another  Tyre,  or  Sidon,  or  Venice,  of  whom 
it  has  been  said  in  poetry — 

"The  trade  and  commerce  of  the  city 
Consisteth  of  all  nations." 

New-Orleans  has  suffered  herself  to  sleep 
soundly  in  the  arms  of  all  the  prosperity 
which  the  God  of  nature  seemed  to  have 
showered  upon  her.  Like  Achilles  of  old, 
she  conceived  that  a  Deity  had  lent  her  armor, 
and,  as  the  pet  child  of  destiny,  she  must  be 
for  ever  invulnerable.  Bewildered  in  her 
dreams  of  eastern  magnificence  and  rank,  as 
she  contemplated  herself  at  the  very  foot  and 
receptacle  of  all  the  greatest  and  most  mag- 
nificent rivers  upon  earth,  which  rippled  in 
their  distant  sources  among  the  mighty  gorges 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 

"  VMiere  rolls  the  Oregon, 


And  hears  no  sound,  save  its  own  dashings  ;'^ 

with  fifteen  great  states  of  the  confederacy 
claimed  to  be  inalienably  tributary  to  her,  and 
as  many  more,  perhaps,  in  embryo ;  with  a 
position  which  looks  out  upon  the  beautiful 
and  glowing  islands  of  the  gulf,  or  over  equa- 
torial climes,  tracing  the  magnificent,  yet  un- 
developed empires  of  South  America ;  the 
connecting  link  between  two  great  continents, 
with  almost  the  control  of  that  isthmus-con- 
nection over  which  it  has  been  fondly  con- 
ceived the  rich  commerce  of  eastern  climes 
might  be  diverted,  New-Orleans,  like  a  pet 
child  of  destiny,  has  laughed  the  doubter  into 
scorn,  and  said  unto  herself,  "  Go  to — let  us 
take  our  rest — eat,  diink  and  be  merry ;"  and 
who  shall  gainsay  us  ?  Let  the  waves  beat ; 
we  are  upon  the  everlas  ing  rocks,  against 
which  their  fury  shall  be  expended  in  vain. 
We  shall  tithe  and  tax,  and  levy  contributions 
upon  the  world,  as  we  hold  the  keys  of  so 
much  of  its  wealth !  Shall  we  delve  and  spin 
who  are  Nature's  great  custom-house  officers, 
administering  her  tariffs  aud  her  revenues? 
Away  with  your  fears  and  your  admonitions ! 

"  We  care  not,  fortune,  what  you  us  deny  ; 
You  cannot  rob  us  of  free  nature's  grace. 
You  cannot  shut  the  windows  of  the  sky." 

This  was  New-Orleans;  but  what  is  New-Or- 
leans now  ?     Where  are  her  dreams  of  great- 


484 


RAILROAD    PROSPECTS    AND    PROGRESS. 


ness  and  of  glory  ?  Where  her  untold  wealth  ■ 
in  embryo?  Whilst  she  slept,  an  enemy  has 
soweil  tares  in  lur  most  prolific  fields.  Armed 
with  energv,  enterprise,  and  an  indomitable 
spirit,  that  enemy,  by  a  system  of  bold,  vigor- 
ous and  sustained  efforts,  has  succeeded  in  re- 
ver*ing  the  very  laws  of  nature  and  of  nature's 
Qod — rolled  back  the  mighty  tide  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi and  its  ten  thousand  tributary  streams, 
until  their  mouth,  practically  and  commercial- 
Iv,  is  more  at  New-York  and  Boston  than  at 
New-Orleans.  Thus  have  the  fates  mocked 
and  deceived  ns  in  promising  rank  and  great- 
ness 80  long  as  the  mouth  of  the  great  rivers 
should  remain  at  our  doors ;  and  well  might  we 
exclaim,  in  the  language  of  Macbeth  to  the 
weird  sisters — 

"  Accursed  be  the  fiends 
Tliat  palter  with  us  in  a  double  sense, 
That  Iceep  the  word  of  promise  to  the  ear, 
But  break  it  to  the  hope !" 

New-Orleans  is  now  the  prodigal,  who  has 
wasted  her  substance  in  riotous  living.  She 
has  come  to  herself.  Her  conversion  has  been 
sudden  and  little  less  tlian  miraculous.  What 
the  shock  of  all  the  north  could  not  effect, 
came  almost  from  her  very  doors.  It  was  to 
be  expected  the  north  would  steal  from  us: 
thrift  belongs  to  them ;  but  to  think  of  the 
presumption  of  a  little  neighbor,  whom  we 
had  a  long  time  been  intending  to  extinguish, 
some  convenient  day,  in  our  ovtrwhelminrf 
.greatness — Mobile — to  think  of  Mobile  coming 
in  for  a  share  of  spoils,  and  boasting  that, 
by  a  railroad,  she  could  strike  at  our  last  for- 
tress, and  leave  us  so  poor  that  none  might  do 
us  reverence,  by  emptying  the  Ohio  and  the 
Tennessee  into  her  basin! 

Gentlemen,  though  I  honor  and  respect  the 
energy  and  spirit  of  Mobile,  this  was  the  un- 
kindest  cut  of  all,  and  it  has  roused  the  dor- 
mant energies  of  New-Orleans.  Her  citizens 
stand  to  their  arms,  and  they  invoke  you  to 
stand  by  them.  They  have  determined  to  in- 
tercept their  trade,  which  is  about  stealing  off 
to  Mobile  and  Charleston,  and  to  bring  back 
the  fugitive  trade  that  has  already  gone  to  the 
north,  by  reviving  the  road  they  projected  to 
your  capital,  and  actually  commenced  fifteen 
years  ago,  and  they  would  strike  entirely 
through  your  state  for  the  Ohio  river. 

Gentlemen,  these  new  roads  are  commenced 
under  bright  auspices.     All  the  capital  and  i 
enterprise  of  Louisiana  and  of  New-Orleans  j 
are  pledged  to  the  completion  of  the  road  to  | 
Jackson,  in  the  state  of  Mississij)pi.     Already  I 
the  company  is  formed,  and  the  engineers  are  j 
in  the  field.      Louisiana  will   complete  tliis  ! 
road,  and  that  within  a  few  short  years.    Mis- 
sissippi has  resolved  that  the  work  shall  not 
be  stopped  there:  her  citizens  are  meeting  in  j 
county  assemblages  and  general  conventions,  j 
and  pledge  themselves  to  go  on  with  it.     I  | 
have  just  returned  from  a  tour  entirely  through 


the  state,  and  found  the  railroad  fever  only  a 
little  less  than  the  political.  The  planters  are 
out  of  debt,  and  have  the  means  to  subscribe 
largely,  and  the  state  has  a  large  surplus  in  her 
treasurj-,  which  she  will  appropriate.  There 
are  two  great  routes  advocated,  in  addition  to 
the  Mobile  and  Ohio  road,  which  passes 
through  the  state,  both  of  which  project  from 
the  neighborhood  of  her  capital.  One  of  them 
takes  the  direction  of  her  northeastern  coun- 
ties, and  will  strike  the  Tennessee  river  at 
some  point  which  shall  intersect  with  the 
road  you  are  proposing  from  Nashville  to  that 
point.  The  other  road  will  extend  due  north, 
enter  your  state,  and  strike  for  Jackson,  in 
Madison  county,  to  intersect  there  with  the 
Mobile  and  Ohio  road,  and  proceed  on  a  com- 
mon track  thence  to  tl  e  Ohio  river,  opposite 
Cairo,  where  the  Illinois  Cential  Railroad  will 
then  make  the  railroad  connection  complete 
and  almost  unbroken,  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
to  the  great  lakes.  Should  an  intersection 
not  be  practicable  with  the  Mobile  and  Ohio 
road,  the  New-Orleans  road  will  tiike  a  due 
northerly  course,  through  the  counties  of  Fay- 
ette, Heywood,  Gibson,  and  Weekly,  in  Ten- 
nessee, to  the  Kentucky  line,  and  thence  on- 
ward. 

It  is  in  behalf  of  these  improvements  I  am 
here  to  speak  to  you.  Gentlemen,  extend  them 
a  ready  help.  The  subject  is  high  above  all 
local  considerations  and  rivalries.  They  are 
magnificent  works.  You  cannot  be  content 
with  a  connection  with  Charleston  and  with 
Louisville.  These  roads  will  throw  you  at  once 
upon  the  Atlantic  and  the  gulf,  upon  the  great 
lakes  and  the  mighty'  northwest.  This  is  your 
destiny.  You  will  be  in  the  heart  of  the 
world.  Your  beautiful  capital  shall  become 
the  Athens,  as  New-Orleans  will  be  the  Car- 
thage or  the  Rome,  of  the  western  valley  ! 

Gentlemen,  the  people  of  New-Orleans  pro- 
pose to  hold,  on  the  first  Monday  in  January 
next,  a  great  convention  in  that  city  of  the 
people  of  all  the  southern  and  southwestern 
states,  for  the  purpose  of  concentrating  the 
strength  and  energy  of  them  all  upon  a  system 
of  railroads,  which  shall  radiate  through  all 
our  limits,  and  raise  us  to  a  level  in  this  par- 
ticular with  the  north.  A  committee  was  ap-  , 
pointed  to  prepare  and  issue  an  address  to  the  / 
people,  a  copy  of  which  I  hold  in  my  hand,  I 
and  to  visit  the  states  and  legislatures  for  the 
purpose  of  addressing  them.  I  have  the  honor 
to  be  included  in  that  committee.  We  invite 
you  to  this  convention,  and  trust  that  you  will 
be  represented  by  your  most  enlightened  and  ^ 
enterprising  citizens?.  Such  men,  coming  to- 
gether from  every  part  of  this  wide  region, 
must  exercise  hereafter  a  groat  influence  upon 
piiblic  opinion.  Much  valuable  information 
will  be  elicited,  and  great  practical  results  fol- 
low. Such  conventions  have  ever  been  found 
powerful  means  of  advancing  great  causes. 
They  are  the  potent  engines  of  popular  action. 


RAILROAD    PROSPECTS    AND    PROGRESS. 


485 


It  -was  but  the  other  day  a  Soutlieru  IMer- 
chants'  Convention  assembled  in  Kiclimond. 
Several  great  internal  improvement  conven- 
tions have  been  held  at  Memphis,  St.  Louis, 
and  Chicago.  The  extreme  southwest  has 
never  moved  until  now,  and  what  point  could 
be  more  interesting  and  important  for  the 
meeting  of  this  great  railroad  convention  than 
New-Orleans  ? 

And  indeed,  gentlemen,  if  there  were  want- 
ing other  considerations  to  induce  the  people 
of  the  southwest  to  enter  upon  the  construc- 
tion of  a  system  of  railroads,  extending  through 
every  part  of  their  limits,  it  would  be  easy  to 
find  them  in  the  peculiar  position  wliich  they 
sustain  with  relation  to  the  rest  of  the  world. 
They  have  an  interest  in  each  other's  prosper- 
ity, founded  upon  common  hopes,  and  fears, 
and  dangers.  Menaced,  as  they  are,  from  so 
many  quarters,  it  becomes  them  in  every  pos- 
sible way  to  strengthen  thtmselves  at  home. 
The  interests  ofMobile,  New-Orleans,  Charles- 
ton, or  Savannah,  in  each  other's  advancement, 
are  stronger  than  their  interest  in  the  advance- 
ment of  Boston  or  New-York.  These  interests 
should  ])reclude  all  jealousies  and  rivalries, 
and  induce  a  generous  cooper.ation  in  every 
instance  where  the  Ijenetit  of  the  whole  south 
is  at  issue.  Such  a  course  cannot  be  in 
conflict  with  the  individual  interests  of  any. 
By  opening  or  creating  new  avenues  of  trade 
and  jiroduction,  and  extending  our  operations 
at  home  and  abroad,  it  is  possible  for  tliese 
cities,  and  all  others  in  our  midst,  to  go  on  en- 
larging, and  increasing,  and  extending  their 
influences,  without  at  all  affecting  the  progress 
of  each  other.  In  so  wide  a  field  there  will  be 
room  for  all.  The  progress  of  Boston  has  not 
destroyed  New- York,  but  has  rather  diverted 
her  energies  into  new  and  profitable  channels. 
It  was  an  idea  of  the  middle  ages,  as  barbar- 
ous as  it  was  false,  that  one  community  could 
only  advance  at  the  expense  of  another.  The 
benefits  of  trade  are  reciprocal.  Light  up  the 
torches  of  industry  at  home,  said  Benjamin 
Franklin  to  his  countrymen,  on  finding  that 
all  hope  from  British  tyranny  had  fled.  This 
shall  be  our  salvation.  We  shall  be  feared 
and  respected  in  proportion  as  we  are  strong 
and  powerful.  We  shall  demand  and  receive 
our  rights,  and  not  entreat  and  compromise 
for  them,  as  we  are  often  foiced  to  do. 

It  luay  be  an  unwelcome  truth,  but  we 
cannot  disguise  it — the  institutions,  and,  of 
course,  the  very  existence  of  the  south,  are  in 
constant  danger.  The  hands  of  all  mankind 
seem  to  be  against  us.  All  the  great  powers 
of  Europe  menace  our  institutions.  If  we  had 
made  our  peace /or  ever  with  the  north,  look- 
ing into  the  distant  future,  the  danger  is  still 
pressing  and  great.  We  want  physical 
strength,  the  sinews  of  defenses  and  war. 
These  will  come  from  diversified  industry.  It 
was  this  that  enabled  Britain  to  resist  the 
shock  of  Napoleon,  and  of  all  the  world.  She 


VMS  the  workshop  of  the  world!  There  is  no 
hope  for  the  south  but  in  this.  She  cannot 
recede.  She  must  fight  for  her  slaves  or 
nr/ainst  them.  Even  cowardice  would  not 
save  her.  One  of  Homer's  heroes  thought  that 
cowardice  would  be  justified  if  men  might 
live  for  ever ;  but  even  in  that  deep  shall  we 
not  find  a  greater  deep  still  opening  to  de- 
vour ?  Let  us  do  our  parts  like  men,  and  the 
consequences  will  be  controlled  by  God. 

I  am  not  afraid  of  the  south  and  of  slave 
institutions.  All  spirit  is  not  yet  extinct.  In 
the  best  periods  of  the  history  of  the  country, 
the  south  was  the  controlling  power.  Her 
enterprise  "is  not  dead,  but  sleepeth."  I  can- 
not forget  the  early  commercial  history  of 
the  south.  I  cannot  forget  that  she  had  at 
one  time  the  longest  railroad  in  the  world,  or 
that  one  of  her  citizens,  Stephen  Elliott,  was 
the  first  to  project  a  great  railroad  connection 
from  theAtlantic  to  the  Mississippi  valley.  One 
of  her  citizens  died  in  the  service  of  this  wctk. 
Many  of  you  recollect  the  visit  of  Robert  Y. 
Hayne  to  your  capital,  and  the  hiurning  elo- 
quence with  which  he  spoke  to  you  upon  this 
suliject.  Yes,  gentlemen,  the  south  and  slave 
institutions  have,  in  all  the  brightest  periods 
of  history,  enacted  the  highest  parts  in  the 
drama.  The  Roman  slaveholder  carried  the 
eagle  and  the  legions  to  the  end  of  the  earth, 
and  made  Italy  the  theatre  of  the  world's 
glory.  The  Greek  slaveholder  penetrated  al- 
most to  the  frosty  Caucasus — 

'•'  Shook  the  ars'nal, 
And  fulmiued  over  Greece 
To  Macedon  and  Artaxerxes'  throne.'' 

All  the  civilization,  arts,  sciences,  literature, 
laws,  every  thing  that  was  glorious  and  great 
in  ancient  times,  sprung  from  the  southern 
states  of  Greece  and  Rome,  and  the  southern 
slaveholders,  whilst  the  Scythian  and  Scandi- 
navian barbarians  of  the  north  dwelt  beneath 
the  earth  in  their  mountain  fastnesses.  When 
our  own  continent  was  discovered,  it  was  only 
in  the  south,  in  Peru,  and  in  Mexico,  that  any 
civilization  or  arts  were  discovered.  May  it 
not — and  it  will  not,  if  we  are  true  to  our- 
selves— happen  again  that  southern  civiliza- 
tion shall  be  overthrown  and  crushed  out,  and 
trampled  under  foot,  by  the  powers  which 
shall  be  brought  against  it  ? 

I  will  detain  you  but  a  little  longer,  and 
that  will  be  with  my  legitimate  subject  of 
railroads.  When  Mr.  Stephenson,  of  England, 
in  1832,  was  advocating  the  Manchester  line, 
they  laughed  at  his  idea  that  an  eventual 
speed  of  twelve  miles  an  hour  might  be  at- 
tained. Soon  after,  the  London  Quarterly 
made  infinite  sport  of  the  proposition  that 
eighteen  or  twenty  miles  could  be  reached. 
We  should  as  soon  expect,  it  said,  the  people 
of  Woolwich  to  suffer  themselves  to  be  fired 
upon  by  one  of  Congreve's  ricochet  rockets, 
'as  trust  themselves  to  the  mercy  of  such  a 


486 


RAILROADS    BETWEEN    ATLANTIC    A>:D    PACIFIC    OCEANS. 


machine,  going  at  sucli  a  rate.  In  the  present 
year,  upon  tlie  Great  Western  Road  in  Eng- 
land, an  averay:t'  speed  of  forty-eight  miles 
per  hour  lias  been  attained  without  stoppages ; 
and  we  learn  that,  for  a  sliort  distance,  over 
seventy  miles  has  been  reached ;  and  that 
scientific  man,  Dr.  Lardner,  would  not  fix  the 
practical  limit  at  sliort  of  two  hundred  miles 
an  hour !  A  member  of  Parliament  declared, 
in  opposition  to  the  Manchester  road,  tliat  a 
railroad  could  not  enter  into  competition  with 
a  canal.  Even  with  the  best  locomotive  the 
average  rate  would  be  S^  miles  per  hour, 
which  was  slower  than  the  canal  conveyance. 
The  Buffalo  antl  Albany  road  runs  side  by 
side  with  the  great  canal  of  New- York,  a  dis- 
tance of  350  miles,  and  has  conducted  such 
extraordinary  freights  and  travel,  that  it  has 
been  ft)und  necessary  to  build  another  parallel 
road  of  greater  length,  from  Dunkirk  to  the 
city  of  New-York.  The  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
Railroad  transports  coal  and  iron  at  li  cents 
per  ton,  which  is  as  low  as  the  canals,  or,  all 
things  considered,  as  freights  on  western 
rivers.  When  Mr.  Clinton  was  advocating  the 
Erie  Canal,  a  member  of  the  legislature  asked, 
inquiringly,  where  the  water  was  to  come 
from  to  fill  up  tliis  great  ditch  ?  "You  need 
give  yourself  no  uneasiness,"  said  another; 
"  the  tears  of  the  people  will  fill  it."  And  yet 
railroads  are  in  their  infancy ;  for  only  twenty- 
two  years  ago  there  was  not  in  our  broad  land 
a  single  locomotive  engine,  says  the  Railroad 
Journal,  in  successful  operation.  In  this  pe- 
riod, freight  aud  travel  upon  them  have  been 
cheapened  one  half  to  two  thirds.  Cheaper 
modes  of  construction  and  management  are 
adopted  ;  and  if,  in  the  next  twenty  years, 
any  thing  like  the  same  progress  takes  place, 
river  navigation  will  be  entirely  abandoned, 
even  for  the  heaviest  and  least  valuaVjle  ]>ro- 
ducts,  and  the  old  father  of  waters  will  be- 
come, as  some  one  has  said,  useful  only  to 
water  cattle.  Time  is  every  thing — it  is 
mono}'.  Who  will  use  even  your  magnificent 
floating  palaces,  which  keep  us  seven  to  ten 
days  in  the  passage  to  New-Orleans,  when,  on 
the  wings  of  the  locomotive,  at  as  cheap  an 
expen.se,  (for  tliis  can  be  done  for  §^15,)  in 
tbirty-six  hours  we  may  light  upon  that  gay 
metropolis,  transact  our  business,  luulbe  com- 
fortably ;igain  on  the  way  liome  ?  This,  too, 
without  danger.  Why,  gentleuien,  our  float- 
ing palaces  are  but  floating  yEtnas.  We 
sleep  upon  the  crater  which  is  belching  forth 
the  elements  of  dismay  aud  death,  and  which. 
in  a  single  instant,  may  hurl  us  and  ours  into 
eternity.  Th(?  mortality  of  western  steamers 
is  frightful.  We  were  as  safe  among  the  can- 
non of  Buena  \'ista.  On  tlienortliern  railroads 
not  one  passenger  in  a  million  is  killed — on  the 
Enghsh,  not  one  in  five  millions — on  tlie  Ger- 
man, not  one  in  twenty  millions;  whilst  on 
the  western  rivers,  the  average  killed  will  al- 
most be  one  in  every  three  thousand !  I  would 


almost  take  the  bold  ground,  that  more  pas- 
sengers liave  been  destroyed  in  the  last  five 
years,  from  steamboat  accitlents  of  ever}'  sort 
in  the  west,  than  have  been  destroyed  on  all 
the  railroads  in  the  world  from  their  first  be- 
ginning up  to  the  present  moment. 

Glorious,  then,  have  been  the  results  of  this 
age  of  railroad  improvement.  In  the  period 
of  only  twenty  years,  nearly  three  thousand 
millions  of  dollars  have  been  expended  in  the 
world  in  their  construction — a  sum  twice  as 
great  as  the  value  of  the  whole  slave  popu- 
lationof  all  the  southern  states  together.  The 
annual  savings  from  industry,  which  it  requir- 
ed to  do  this,  amounts  to  ^140,000,000 — equal 
to  the  whole  foreign  export  nearly  of  all  the 
native  productions  and  wealth  of  our  republic. 

Gentlemen,  if  we  were  to  add  together  all  of 
these  great  works,  and  stretch  them  forward 
in  a  continuous  line,  it  would  have  a  length  of 
26,485  miles — more  than  sufficient  to  belt  this 
great  globe.  What  a  glorious  triumph  is  here 
of  huiuau  art  and  indu.stry  !  We  have  heard 
of  the  tap  of  the  British  drum  being  ans^rered 
from  British  fortification  to  British  fortification 
around  the  globe — of  the  Spanish  empire, 
on  which  the  sun  never  sets — of  the  car  of 
progress,  rolling  onward  througli  the  world, 
canyiug  with  it  all  nations  and  jieople.  Here 
we  have  a  more  glorious  realization  than 
either.  Stretch  out  the  links  of  your  magni- 
ficent railways.  Start  the  locomotive.  Vulcan 
has  seized,  as  it  were,  the  reins  of  the  chariot  of 
the  sun,  imitating  the  daring  rashness  of  Phae- 
ton of  old.  The  blazing,  burning,  and  restive 
steeds  prance  furious  onward  in  their  course 
— onward,  and  onward — yet  in  the  check  and 
control  of  the  master  charioteer.  A  speck 
upon  the  horizon,  it  roars  and  rushes  on  to 
become  a  speck  on  the  opposite  horizon. 
All  nations,  tongues,  and  kindreds  look  on 
and  wonder,  but  the  car  rushes  on  with  ter- 
rible and  resistless  energy.  Thus,  around  and 
around  this  great  globe  revolves  the  "car 
of  progress,"  carrying  with  it  light,  and  life 
and  civilization — warming  up  and  animating 
the  countless  millions  like  the  god  of  day 
himself  in  his  eternal  orbit.  This,  gentlemen, 
is  the  result  of  hiunan  skill,  and  enterprise, 
and  energy  !  Truly  may  we  exclaim  in  the 
language  of  Scripture,  "  God  made  man  per- 
fect, but  they  have  sought  out  many  inven- 
tions ;"  and  I  trust  there  will  be  no  show  of 
irreverence  when  I  say  of  him,  he  has  seized 
upon  one  of  the  attributes  of  Deity  in  this, 
that  "he  maketh  the  earth  his  footstool,  and 
walks  upon  the  wings  of  the  wind." 

RAILROAD  COMMUNICATION  BE- 
TWEEN THE  ATLANTIC  AND  PACIFIC 
OCEANS. — PuooRKss  ok  American  PoruL.v 

TION  AND  TeRRITOKIKS;  CALIFORNIA  AND  ORE- 
GON ;  Projected  Communications  across  the 
Continent  bv  Land  and  Water;  Panama 
.■vND  Tehuantepec  Canals  and  Railroads  ; 


KAILROADS    BETWEESi    ATLANTIC    AND    TACIFIC    OCEANS. 


48Y 


Trade  and  Commerce  of  the  East  ;  Rail- 
road FROM  TaMPICO  and  NaTCHEZ   TO   MaZAT- 

LAN ;  FROM  Vera  Cruz  to  Acavuixo  ;  from 
Galveston  to  San  Dikoo;  from  St.  Louis 
TO  San  Francisco  ;  from  Michigan  to  Ore- 
gon ;  FROM  Mejipiils  to  San  Diego  ;  Progrf.S3 
OF  Railroad  Entkri-rise.* — From  a  period 
almost  coeval  witli  the  first  settlement  of 
America,  we  fiud  the  idea  of  a  connection 
between  tlie  two  great  oceans  was^bing  its 
eastern  and  western  shores,  by  some  safe  and 
expeditious  passage,  either  over  the  peninsula 
or  tlirough  the  interior  of  the  continent,  con- 
tinually suggested,  and  receiving  various  de- 
grees of  consideration.  The  subject  has  as- 
sumed, in  the  present  day,  a  new  and  higher 
degree  of  interest  and  importance,  from  the 
fact,  so  little  to  have  been  anticipated,  that 
the  American  people,  with  the  e.vf;raordinary 
energy  of  their  democratic  institutions,  having 
filled  up  with  a  dense  population  all  the  ear- 
lier discovered  and  occupied  territories,  have, 
while  yet  scarce  "liardened  into  manhood," 
swept  across  the  "impassable"  mountains, 
overspread  the  great  valleys,  and  penetrated 
in  immense  numbers  through  the  wildernesses 
of  the  Oregon,  the  Sacramento,  and  the  Gila, 
to  the  very  shores  of  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The 
free  and  unconquerable  spirit  of  the  Puritan, 
the  Cavalier,  and  the  Huguenot,  creates  uew 
revolutions  in  the  regions  of  the  setting  sun. 

But  sixty  years  ago,  when  the  first  Ameri- 
can census  was  taken,  the  main  dope  of  the 
Apalachian  Mountains  Avas  found  to  be  the 
western  barrier,  confining  nine  tenths  of  the 
population  within  something  like  three  hun- 
dred thousand  square  miles  of  territory.  The 
four  millions  of  inhabitants  at  that  time  regis- 
tered, have  swelled  in  this  period  to  nearly 
twenty-three  millions,  and  the  three  hundred 
thousand  miles  of  inhabited  territory  to  two 
millions  of  miles,  excluding  the  late  acquisi- 
tions of  Oregon,  California,  and  New-Mexico, 
embracing,  by  the  estimation  of  the  Land 
Office,  eight  hundred  and  sixty-seven  thou- 
sand five  hundred  and  forty-one  additional 
souare  miles !  Thus  have  we  a  people,  blessed 
with  freedom  and  enterprise,  doubling  in  every 
generation  their  numbers,  and  occupying  an 
empire  three  millions  of  square  miles  in  ex- 
tent— scarcely  less  than  the  whole  of  Europe, 
including  Russia,  and  wantmg  oue  third  only 
of  the  great  Russian  empire,  extending  from 
the  Baltic,  over  three  continents,  to  the  west- 
ern spurs  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  The  sea- 
coasts  alone  of  this  enormous  republic  stretch 
out  five  thousand  ojie  hundred  and  twenty 
miles ;  or,  if  we  follow  the  irregularities  of 
the   bays  and   islands,  thirty-three  thousand 

*  Prepared  in  1849,  -when  the  question  before  the 
country  was  Whitney's  road  against  a  more  soutUern 
and  central  one.  Texas  and  Loui^iana  had  not  en- 
tered into  competition  for  the  route,  though  present- 
ing claims  of  the  very  highest  kind,  as  the  reader 
will  perceive  in  the  seq^uel. 


and  sixty-three  miles— greater,  by  one  third 
than  the  whole  circuit  of  the  earth  !* 

Frightful  as  have  been  the  wastes  to  be 
crossed  by  this  population,  the  "  feet  of  men, 
and  even  children  and  tender  women,  have  . 
been  beating  out  a  track,"  over  which  the 
heavy  wagon  has  rattled,  among  crags  and 
rocks,  in  dejiance  of  the  vain  obstacles  of  na- 
ture. 

Most  wonderful  of  all— in  the  depths  of 
the  valleys,  and  by  the  streams  of  the  rivers 
they  have  crossed,  has  been  discovered  a  re- 
gion that  realizes  the  fabled  El  Dorado,  for 
which  De  Soto  and  Cortez  and  Raleigh  so 
vainly  sighed — possessing  in  its  bowels  illimit- 
able treasures  of  virgin  gold,  so  rich  and  rare, 
as  to  promise  to  labor,  almost  without  effort 
untold  wealth,  and  to  the  world  a  supply  oP 
the  precious  metals  which  shall  exceed  all 
that  the  "  Orient  Ind,"  in  the  days  of  Solo- 
mon or  since,  has  yielded  from  its  prolific 
bowels,  or  has  been  searched  to  where  the 
"  sunny  fountains"  of  "  old  Afric" 

"Roll  down  their  golden  sands." 

Never  in  the  history  of  mankind — not  even 
when  Columbus  carried  to  Europe  the  tawny 
Indian,  or  when  extravagant  stories  of  the 
wealth  of  the  Mexicans  and  of  Peru  were 
wafted  across  the  ocean,  or  when  the  Crusa- 
ders were  marching  upon  the  East,  or  the 
'South  Sea  Bubble"  or  the  "Mississippi 
Scheme"'  were  at  their  height—never  has 
been  excitement  wound  up  to  a  higher  pitch, 
or  expectancy  been  upon  the  keener  alert. 
Men  of  all  ages— of  all  arts,  and  pursuits,  and 
professions,  from  all  classes  of  society,  even 
surrounded  with  the  greatest  comforts  and 
highest  allurements  of  home— have  forgotten 
their  legitimate  avocations,  thrown  aside  lu- 
crative posts  and  callings  as  utterly  worthless, 
and,  braving  the  ccean  for  thousands  and  tens 
of  thousands  of  miles,  or  inhospitable  climes, 
and  frightful  journeys  through  trackless  wil- 
dernesses, in  handfuls  or  in  vast  cavalcades, 
full  of  hope  and  enterprise,  taken  up  their 
extraordinary  pilgrimage  to  endure  the  fierce 
hardships  of  tlie  placers  of  the  Sacramento, 
and  the  mountain  gorges,  in  their  ceaseless 
search  for  gold  !  Wonderful,  wonderful  is 
this  great  passion  for  wealth,  which,  like  a 
despot,  rules  over  our  wills  and  controls  and 
masters  our  associations  and  affections,  and 
breaks  up,  with  remorseless  strokes,  every 
link  and  bond  and  sacred  connection  in  life ! 
God,  by  it,  works  out  the  destinies  of  MAN.f 


*  Report  Coast  Survey,  under  Prof.  B.-iche,  1848. 

+  The  iJpaiiiards  would  ajipear  to  have  been  on  this 
California  gold  traclcthre«  centuries  ago,  but  destiny 
reserved  the  prize  for  us.  We  quote  from  the 
"  American  Keview  :'' 

"  At  the  same  period, also,  while  De  Soto  worked  his 
weary  way  amidst  the  mountains  and  among  the 
reedy  marslica  of  the  east,  and  the  second  Pizarro 


488 


EA.ILROADS    BETWEEN    ATLAXTIC    AND    PACIFIC    OCEANS- 


But  we  Lave  not  time  for  these  reflections. 
It  is  now  computed  (1849)  tbat  the  whole 
number  of  persons  who  have  reached  Califor- 
nia, cannot  vary  far  from  twenty  thousand,* 
and  that  those  on  the  way,  and  to  start,  will, 
in  a  few  months  more,  swell  the  aggrci^ate  to 
at  least  fifty  or  sixty  thousand — sufficient  to 
form  a  state  government.  What  may  be  the 
future  population  of  this  region  it  is  now  im- 
possible to  argue;  though,  embracing,  as  it 
does,  an  area  of  five  hundred  and  twenty-six 
thousand  and  seventy-eight  square  miles,  if 
we  give  to  it  the  average  density  of  tivo  to  the 
square  mile,  the  density  of  the  Valley  of  the 
Mississippi  as  far  back  as  1810,  when  but  few 
states  had  been  formed,  we  would  have  one 
million  of  inhabitants ;  or,  adopting  the  pres- 
ent density  of  Pennsylvania,  there  would  be 
abundant  room  for  twenty  millions.  A  similar 
computation  being  made  for  Oregon,  which 
has  three  hundred  and  forty-one  thousand  four 
buudrel  and  sixty-three  square  miles,  would 
give  either  seven  hundred  thousand  or  fifteen 
millions.  It  would  not  be  an  unreasonable 
calculation,  we  think,  to  estimate  a  population 
west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  in  the  course  of 


searched  vainly  for  the  El  Dorado  of  the  south, 
Vasquez  Coroiiado  was  equally  indefatigable  in  his 
search  for  the  traditionary  gulden  cities  and  inex- 
haustible mines  of  New-Mexico  and  CaliloiDia.  In 
common  with  De  Soto  and  the  South  Amencan  ex- 
plorers, he  failed  in  the  primary  object  of  his  expedi- 
tion ;  failed,  too,  if  we  may  fully  credit  the  an- 
nounced discoveries  in  California,  when  the  coveted 
prize  of  his  toil  was  almost  within  his  grasp. 

The  expedition  by  Coronado  wasundertalcen  under 
an  implicit  belief  iu  the  existence  of  vast  treasures  in 
the  regions  north  of  Mexico,  falling  within  the  terri- 
tories known  as  New-Mexico  and  California,  and  now 
constituting  part  of  the  republic  of  the  United  States. 
This  belief  was  based  upon  accounts,  somewhat 
vague,  it  is  true,  but  all  concurring  in  substance,  and 
was  universally  entertained  by  the  Spaniards  of  that 
day.  The  sea  expedition  on  the  Pacific,  undertaken 
by  Ulloa  in  153'.),  under  the  direction  of  Cortez,  had 
for  its  object  not  less  the  discovery  of  the  golden  re- 
gion of  the  north  tlian  the  exploration  of  the  coast. 
And  when,  in  1540,  it  was  resolved  to  send  norlliwanl 
aland  expedition  upon  the  same  search,  the  right  of 
command  was  contested  between  Cortez,  as  Captain 
General  of  New-Spain,  and  Mendoza,  as  Viceroy  of 
Mexico.  The  latter  was  siiccessful,  and  Cortez,  dis- 
appointed and  disgusted,  returned  to  Spain.  This 
incident  will  show  how  high  w('rc  the  anticipations 
wliich  the  Spaniards  had  formed  of  the  riches  of  the 
Califomian  Kl  Dorado.  The  documents  of  that  pe- 
riod, which  have  been  recovered  from  the  rich  liisto- 
rical  depositories  of  .Spain,  present  us  with  some  sin- 
gular illustrations  of  the  extravagant  notions  then 
prevalent;  and,  although  to  a  great  extent  proved 
by  subsequent  events  to  be  unfounded,  arc,  never- 
theless, at  tills  time  not  without  their  interest." 

*  Tiio  number  which  left  the  T'nited  States  between 
December  14th  and  April  17th  last,  was,  according  to 
the  Herald : 

RECAPITULATION. 

Total  in  220  vessels,  via  Cape  Horn 14,101 

"  52  "        "    Chagres 3,54? 

"  11  «        «    Vera  Cruz G9H 

"  11  "        "    Brazos, 765 

"  3  "        "    <'orpu3  Christi lO.T 

"  '2  "        "    San  .Juan  Kiver IIH 

"  2  "        «   Tampico 87 

"  1  "        "    (;alveston 80 

"  1  «t       a   Lavaca IS'i 


Total  in  309       « 


19,717 


jone  century  from  this,  as  large  as  ihc  present 
population  of  the  Union.  There  are  causes 
at  work  to  indicate  tiiis. 

j  Three  years  ago,  as  if  impelled  by  a  vision 
of  this  western  progress,  so  soon  to  receive 
the  most  powerful  impetus,  the  people  of  the 
southwest  and  west  repaired  to  Memphis  in 
one  great  convention.  We  were  a  delegate 
to  that  body  from  South  Carolina,  and  well 
remember  the  enthusiasm  which  was  excited 
by  the  remark  of  her  great  statesman  who 
presided  on  the  occasion :  "  In  less  than  one 
generation,  the  west  will  be  engaged  in  de- 
liberations to  extend  its  connections  with  the 
Pacific,  as  it  is  now  with  the  Atlantic,  and 
that  connection  will  be  as  intimate  with  the 
one  as  the  other.  In  the  end,  we  will  com- 
mand the  commerce  of  both,  and  this  great 
valley  become  the  centre  of  the  commerce  of 
the  world."  Mr.  Calhoun  was  right,  though 
the  shadows  wore  cast  more  rapidly  than  even 
he  could  conceive.  jl/<e  hour  is  alreadi/  come  I 
A  second  great  western  conventiou  is  pro- 
posed, and  delegates  are  again  invited  from 
wide-spread  regions  to  Memphis,  on  the  Fourth 
of  July.  The  occasion  is  a  fitting  one  for  the 
investigation  and  discussion  we  now  propose. 

Until  the  late  explorations  conducted  by 
Col.  Fremont,  very  erroneous  ideas  have  pre- 
vailed in  regard  to  the  character  of  the  coun- 
try to  the  westward  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
It  was  customary  to  denounce  it  a  hopeless, 
sterile  waste,  where  the  arts  of  civilized  men 
could  never  prevail.  Imperfect  as  the  explo- 
rations have  been,  the  most  fruitful  and  abund- 
ant regions  have  been  already  found,  with  the 
finest  climates,  forests  and  streams.  Artifi- 
cial irrigation  is  regarded  practicable  where 
these  last  luive  been  wanting.  We  have  the 
valley  between  the  blue  and  far  west  moun- 
tains— the  beautiful  couutvy  of  the  Walla- 
Walla — the  regions  about  the  Columbia,  from 
the  straits  of  Fuca  to  the  waters  of  the  Ump- 
qua — the  much  abused  and  little  understood 
"  Great  Basin,"  where  Fremont  fmind  a  "  rick 
alluvion  soil" — the  valleys  of  the  Sacramento 
and  San  Joacj^uin — the  country  to  tlie  north- 
ward of  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco,  as  well  as 
toward  Monterey — the  valley  of  St.  Joseph 
and  to  the  southward  of  Point  Conception — 
Monterey  Bay,  Los  Angeles,  ttc,  itc.  "  I 
read,"  says  Mr.  Benton,  "  to  show  that  there 
is  good  country  in  the  mountains ;  but  I 
have  more  beautiful  yet  to  show — tlie  '  Three 
Parks,'  unsurpa'^scd  by  any  lling  in  Switzer- 
land, replete  with  all  the  beauty  of  the  most 
pictures(|ue  parts  of  Switzerland,  and  without 
glaciers." 

We  believe  that  tliis  whole  region  will 
eventually  be  one  of  tlourishing  empire.  Its 
most  unfavorable  sites  will  not  suffer  in  the  com- 
parison with  some  of  the  most  inhospitable  of 
prospcroiu%  New-Englaml.  The  improvements 
in  arts  have  made  the  desert  and  the  wilder- 
ness bloom.  As  yet,  imagination  cannot  even 
picture  the  treasures  in  gold  and  precious 
stones  which  are  concealed  among  the  moun 


RAILROADS    EETTVEEN    ATLANTIC    AND    PACIFIC    OCEANS. 


489 


tains  and  tliroiigli  the  beds  of  rivers.  These 
must  nece.ssanly  attract  a  large  populatiim, 
and  build  up  villages  and  great  cities.  Witii 
a  command  of  the  precious  metals,  the  in- 
habitants may  liave  the  command  of  com- 
merce. Tlie  East  is  before  them,  at  their  very 
doors ;  that  East  which  lias  furnished  rich 
products  from  all  antiquity,  and  held  out 
golden  visions  of  unlimited  trade  to  all  civil- 
ized nations ;  the  East  which  built  up  Alex- 
andria— which  caused  Venice  to  spring  from 
the  marshes  of  the  Adriatic,  and  the  "  abodes 
of  fishermen"  to  rival  in  splendor,  pomp  and 
magnificence,  all  the  world  had  hitherto  seen; 
the  East  that  enriched  the  Portuguese,  en- 
abled the  Dutch  to  compete  for  the  sover- 
eignty of  the  seas,  and  gave  at  last  to  their 
great  rival  across  the  channel,  as  it  were,  the 
very  trident  of  Neptune  himself.  There  is  no 
fancy  in  this.  Western  America  may  have 
her  high  destiny  too;  and  we,  and  all  the 
world  else,  may  seek  to  share  it  with  her,  by 
opening  channels  of  frequent  intercourse  and 
communicatiou. 

Neither  California  nor  Oregon  are  more 
distant  from  the  seats  of  eastern  commerce 
on  the  Pacific,  than  is  Europe  from  our  Atlan- 
tic coasts,  yet  already  have  we  an  annual 
commerce  with  Europe  of  about  two  hundred 
and  fifty  millions  of  dollars.  Is  not  western 
America,  in  the  progress  of  her  history,  capa- 
ble of  a  similar  trade  by  the  Pacific  ?     Her 


ports  and  harbors,  Fuca,  San  Francisco,  Mon- 
teiey,  San  Diego,  if  not  all  that  could  be  de- 
sired, are  at  least  sufficient. 

]Vestcrn  America  can  compete  witii  Europe 
in  the  eastern  trade,  being  several  months 
nearer — all  experience  showing  that  the 
amount  of  trade  increases  generally  in  a  ratio 
with  the  fecilities  and  rapidity  of  intercourse. 
She  can  compete  with  eastern  America  in 
tliis  same  trade  for  a  similar  reason.  Admit- 
ting a  dense  and  enterprising  population  be- 
yond the  mountains,  these  propositions  cannot 
be  disputed.  Tlie  great  question,  however, 
occurs,  and  this  will  determine  the  whole 
matter,  Ca7i  western  America  Itersclf  be 
brought  into  connection  with  tlie  Atlantic,  and 
thu-i  ivith  Europe,  so  as  to  enable  her  to  trade 
with  the  world  in  India  products,  on  such 
terms  as  will  secure  the  monopoly  ?  At  pres- 
ent she  has  no  such  connection,  but  is  isolated 
and  alone,  and  must  resort  to  the  seas  upon 
less  advantage  than  eastern  Asia.  Shall  she 
ever  remain  so  ? 

Let  us  see  what  has  been  proposed  since 
the  earliest  periods,  to  connect  the  .shores  and 
commerce  of  the  American  continent,  and 
whether  any  plan  is  practicable,  and  which. 
The  time  has  come  to  settle  this  question. 
But  first  it  is  well  to  determine  what  eastern 
America  has  to  gain  in  the  event  of  success,  or 
in  other  and  plainer  language — what  is  the 
value  of  eastern  commerce  .<?* 


*  Mr  T.  Butler  King,  in  his  able  report  iipoa  the  Panama  railroad,  adverts  to  one  great  cause  of  British 
commercial  supremacy,  that  "  she  uot  only  has  the  ports  of  the  continent  of  Europe  as  her  neigbborii, 
but  she  is  jiflcen  hundred  miles,  or  two  weeks,  nearer  than  we  are  to  alt  the  other  ports  of  the  world,  coccept 
the  Atlantic  ports  of  the  American  contivcvt  north  of  the  equator  and  the  West  Indies.  He  furuishes  the 
following  interesting  table  of  distances  to  be  saved  by  the  Panama  route  : 

New  route  |  Old  route 

PLACES. 


To  Calcutta,  via Capo  of  Good  Hope. , 

Cape  Horn 

Isthmus  of  Panama. . 
To  Canton,  via Cape  of  Good  Hope. , 

Cape  Horn, 

Isthmus  of  Panama. . 
To  Shanghae,  via Cape  of  Good  Hope. 

Cape  Horn 

Isthmus  of  Panama. 
To  Valparaiso,  via Cape  Horn 

Isthmus  of  Panama. 
To  Callao,  via Cape  E[orn 

Isthmus  of  Panama. , 
To  Guayaquil,  via Cape  Horn 

Isthmus  of  Panama. 
To  Panama,  via Cape  Horn 

Isthmus  of  Panama . 
To  San  Bias,  via Cape  Horn 

Isthnms  of  Panama. 
To  Mazatlan,  via Cape  Horn 

Isthmus  of  Panama. 
To  San  Diego,  via Cape  Horn 

Isthmus  of  Panama. 
To  San  Francisco,  via Cape  Horn 

Isthmus  of  Panama. 


from     I      from  From 

New-Vorlc.  New-York.  Liverpool. 


Miles. 


13,400 


10,600 


10,400 


3,800 


Miles. 

17,500 

23,000 

19,500 
21,500 

20,000 
22,000 


18,000 
20,000 


490 


RAILKOADS    BETWEEN'    ATLANTIC    AKD    PACIFIC    OCEANS. 


When  "\5enice  conducted  tbe  commerce  of 
the  East,  she  supplied  all  the  world  with  its 
products.  Tilt'  < I isad vantages  of  this  trade 
were  great,  land  carriage  as  well  as  sea,  and 
various  shipments  and  reshii)ments,  yet  the 
richness  of  the  trade  endured  them  all,  and 
made  hf-r  "  tiueen  of  cities — a  new  Tyre." 
The  Byzantians  had  long  before  conducted 
the  same  trade  by  voyages  up  the  Lulus, 
overland  communications  to  Oxus  and  down 
to  the  Caspian  Sea,  navigation  to  the  Volga, 
transportation  again  across  the  country  to  the 
Tanais,  thence  to  the  Euxine,  with  a  reship- 
ment  there.  Precious  indeed  must  be  the  trade 
which  can  flourish  amid  all  these  obstacles ! 


As  facilities  of  intercourse  with  the  East, 
however,  increased  after  the  discoveries  of 
the  Portuguese,  Spanisli,  Dutch,  and  Euglish, 
we  find  the  P^uropeau  trade  with  Asia  prodi- 
giously augmented.  lu  the  best  days  of  "\'e- 
iiice  (A.  D.  I40U)  this  trade  did  not  exceed 
20,000,000  ducats,  or  require  above  GOO  ships 
of  COO  tons  eacli.  Whereas,  including  America 
now,  according  to  a  report  made  to  Congress, 
by  Mr.  Preese,  and  adding  for  increase  since 
his  dates,  and  value  of  ships  engaged,  the 
whole  commerce  of  the  East  with  all  the 
world,  annually,  may  be  estimated  at  300,000,- 
000  of  dollars,  requiring  2,000  ships. 


Tai5i,e  I. — Statement  of  the  rmmber  of  vessels,  amount  of  tonnage  and  crctcs,  which  entered 
and  cleared  at  the  ports  of  the  following  cotintries  from  and  to  ports  beyond  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope  and  the  Pacific. 

, INWARD. \         r- 


Ships.  Tonnage,  Men. 

England,  1842 S77  3-2'.),40-t  10,098 

United  States,  184.5. 329  11 1,1  SO  0,998 

France,  1833 117  311,040  2,048 

Antwerp,  1839 7  2,860  125 

Bremen,  1841 6  1,800  100 

Hamburg,  1841 10  5,000  200 

Netherlands,  1840.. . ._ 188  97,231  5,150 

Russia,  with  China,  estimated  from 

the  commerce  now  overland,  to  \-  50  25,000  1,000 

require 


Ships. 

823 

307 

117 

1 

10 

221 


-OUTW.\RD.- 

Tonnagc. 

348,724 

125,582 

36,040 

272 

5,000 
113,802 


Men. 

18,468 
8,305 
2,038 

12 

200 
5,625 


50        25,000        1,000 


Total. 


.1,584       608,515      32,319      1,589       654,480      35,648 


Tadle  II. —  Value  of  trade  conducted  hy  above  shipping. 

IMrORTS. 

Great  Britain ^85,527,120 

France 10,310,295 

Antwerp,  no  statistics,  but  estimated  on  number  of  ships 700,000 

Hamburg,  "  "  «  500,000 

Bremen,  "  «  "  010,000 

The  Xetherlands 23,527^390 

United  States 11,438,403 

United  States  from  whale  fishery,  for  1845. 

157,700  bbls.  sperm  oil,  d  88 N4,37l,444 

272,809     "     whale  oil,  ffi  33a 2,864,495}-      8,300,957 

3,195,054  lbs.  bone,  a  33i 1,065,018 


8146,814,105 
Add  overland  Pussia  with  Cliina 12,048,055 


EXPORTS. 

$59,187,185 

8,238,050 

500,000 

400,000 

400,000 

4,702,000 

5,443,828 


878,871,063 
7,581,295 


Total 8158,802,220         886,452,358 


The  number  of  vessels  employed  in  trade 
beyond  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  is  estimated 
at  2,n00,  of  the  value  of  80o,OOO,()O().  Pas- 
sengers to  and  from  Bombay  and  iMigland  an- 
nually, about  4,000,  paying  from  5  to  900  dol- 
lars each,  and  occupying  from  40  to  50  days.* 

•  This  of  course  is  by  the  overland  routu  by  Gibral- 
tar, Aloxaiidria,  Cairo,  Suez,  the  Ked  Sen,  etc.  In  a 
late  number  oC  f  •/t«»«/;cr«'.s-  .i\tisccUany  is  described 
the  route,  thirty-nine  or  forty  days,  and  the  expense 
X120,  $600,  from  Southutrii)t.ou  to  Bombay. 


Extra  baggage  $15  per  hundred  pounds. 
English  mails  to  Bombay  and  China  82,000,- 
000,  making  84,00(i,0(i()  oxponded  annually  in 
jiassengers  and  mails  to  the  East. 

Now  there  can  be  liUlo  doubt  that  the 
trade  with  eastern  countries  is  usceptible  of 
almost  unlimited  extension,  were  their  dis- 
tance le.'^sened  one  lialf,  or  two  thirds,  and  the 
time  of  travel  reduced  in  a  similar  propor- 
tion. Many  new  ])roducts  would  then  endure 
transportatioa  which  are  now  too  perishable 


RAILROADS    BETWEEN    ATLAKTIC    AND    PACIFIC    OCEANS. 


401 


or  bulky.  The  travel  also  ■would  be  increased. 
lu  truth  there  would  be  added  millions  and 
hundreds  of  millions  of  eastern  consumers. 
The  Sandwich  Islands  are  but  in  their  infancy. 
There  are  a  millitni  and  one  half  Polynesian 
Islanders ;  Celebes  contains  3  millions ;  and 
Java  5  or  G  millions,  who  export  S;;>U,000,000 
annually  to  Holland.  Sumatra,  with  a  popula- 
tion of  2,000,(i(»0,  exports  30,()CiO,000  pounds 
spices.  Borneo,  with  3  to  4  millions,  exports 
gold,  tin,  antimony,  and  diamonds.  The  Phil- 
ippines have  3,500,000,  producing  sugar,  cof- 
fee, indigo,  hemp.  Singapore  is  the  centre  of 
Indian  trade;  India  contains  184,000,000  in- 
habitants, including  Cabul  and  Affghanistan, 
Calcutta,  Bombay,  Madras,  Ceylon,  etc.,  with 
a  commerce  of  8 150,000,000  annually.  Aus- 
tralia is  an  infant,  but  promising,  colony. 
Russian  America,  now  unimportant,  Manchoo 
Tartary,  and  the  great  Sanghalin  river,  4,000 
miles  long,  connecting  with  Pekin ;  Japan, 
with  50,000,000  people  and  the  richest  pro- 
ducts, now  almost  closed  to  commerce  ;  China, 
300,000,000  inhabitants,  on  the  coast  274,000- 
000,  with  its  Chang-hee,  or  Shang  hai,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  mighty  Yaug-tsee-lceang,  4,000 
miles  long,  the  Mississippi  of  China. 

Can  it  be  imagined  that  these  vast  regions, 
80  densely  populated,  have  already  reached 
the  acme  of  their  foreign  trade,  or  is  it  not 
plausible,  when  better  systems  of  intercourse 
are  opened,  jealousies  removed,  and  civiliza- 
tion extended,  that  trade  with  them  will  be 
augmented  two  or  three  fold,  reaching,  per- 
haps, in  the  aggregate,  five  to  eight  millions 
of  dollars  ?  Instead  of  two  thousand  travel- 
lers visiting  the  East,  per  annum,  in  such  a 
contingency,  would  not  the  number  reach 
nearer  twenty  thousand,  which,  at  half  the 
present  rates  of  travel,  would  realize  six  or 
eight  millions  of  dollars  ? 

The  question  occurs  again,  how  can  we 
connect  ourselves  with  the  Pacific  by  a  route 
so  advantageous,  in  every  respect,  as  will  en- 
able us  to  command,  if  not  to  monopolize,  its 
commerce,  and  augment  it  in  the  manner  indi- 
cated ?  And  this  brings  us  to  a  historical 
consideration  of  the  various  projects,  past  and 
j)resent,  looking  to  a  connection  between  the  At- 
lantic and  Pacific  Oceana. 

In  the  search  of  a  western  and  shorter  pas- 
sage to  India,  Columbus  discovered  the  Amer- 
ican continent,  as  the  Portuguese  hatl  skirted 
along  Africa  and  doubled  the  Cape  for  an 
eastern  passage.  The  Portuguese  rested  in 
their  brilliant  discoveries,  and  in  the  wealth 
which  they  brought.  Spain,  on  the  contrary, 
still  sought  the  nearer  route,  and  explored  the 
American  continent  in  the  hope  of  finding 
Bome  strait  or  channel  through  it  to  India. 
She  sought  in  vain  in  the  extreme  north ; 
about  the  Isthmus  of  Paniima ;  along  the  Mex- 
ican coasts,  and  throughout  the  extent  of  all 
South  America;  finding,  however,  the  Straits 
of  Magellan,  and  ultimately,  though  long  af- 


terward. Cape  Horn.  These  were  far  from 
presenting  the  much  desired  advantage. 

No  sooner  had  Cortez  been  securely  estab- 
lished in  Mexico,  than  he  commenced  anew 
the  search,  with  the  greatest  minuteness, 
throughout  all  the  coast.  He  wrote  to  the 
emperor:  "  I  have  received  information  as 
well  of  the  riches  of  the  country,  as  that,  in 
the  opinion  of  many  navigators,  there  exists  a 
strait  leading  to  the  opposite  sea."  He  writes 
again :  "  Should  we,  with  the  Divine  assist- 
ance, so  hit  upon  this  strait,  that  the  naviga- 
tion from  the  spice  countries  (the  East  Indies) 
to  the  kingdom  of  your  majesty  would  be- 
come excellent  and  shorter,  so  much  so  that 
it  would  be  two  thirds  less  than  the  jn-esent 
navigation,  and  without  any  danger  to  the 
ships  in  going  or  coming,"  etc.,  etc. 

The  Spaniards  appeared,  at  last,  satisfied 
in  this  quarter,  and  sent  out  expeditions  to 
northwest  of  America,  in  the  hope  of  greater 
success  there.  In  one  of  these  was  explored 
the  Gulf  of  California,  and  in  another  Friar 
Marcos  asserted  the  discovery  of  regions, 
which  no  one  afterward  could  find,  northwest 
of  Mexico,  beyond  35°  of  latitude,  abounding 
in  gold,  silver,  precious  stones,  and  a  civilized 
population  !^'  The  final  conclusion  was  that 
no  navigable  passage  existed  south  of  the 
latitude  of  40°,  and  soon,  says  Mr.  Greenhow, 
the  Spanish  policy  maintained,  "  the  discovery 
of  any  passage,  fixcilitatiug  the  entrance  of 
European  vessels  into  the  Pacific,  would  be 
deleterious  to  the  power  and  interest  of  Spain 
in  the  New  World."f 

About  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
a  direct  commerce  was  opened  between  the 
Spanish  East  India  possessions  and  Mexico. 
For  the  first  time  Europeans  crossed  the  Pa- 
cific in  direct  voyages  from  Asia  to  America. 
"Large  ships,  called  galleons,  sailed  annually 
from  Acapulco  to  Manilla  in  the  Philippines, 
and  to  Macao  and  China,  laden  with  precious 
metals  and  European  merchandise ;  in  return 
for  which  they  brought  back  silks,  spices  and 
porcelain,  for  consumption  in  America,  or  for 
transportation  over  the  Atlantic  to  Europe; 
while  an  extensive  trade,  in  articles  equally 
valuable,  was  carried  on  between  I'anama  and 
the  various  ports  of  Peru  and  Chili." 

The  English  now  appear  upon  the  theatre ; 
and,  jealous  of  the  lucrative  branch  of  com- 
merce which  has  sprung  up,  the  buccaniers, 
under  Drake  and  Cavendish,  infest  the  waters 
of  the  western  world.  To  this  period  may  be 
traced  the  ingenious  fictions  of  a  passage  to 
the  northwest,  through  the  continent,  so  long 
credited  and  known,  even  upon  the  maps,  as 
the  Straits  of  Aidan,  or  of  Fuca. 

Between  the  years  IGOO  and  17G0  the  search 
was  continued,  with  various  interest,  and  I'e- 
sulted  in  the  discovery  of  Baffin's  Bay  and 


*  Was  this  California  ? 
t  Vide  Spark's  La  Salle. 


492 


RAILROADS    BETWEEN    ATLANTIC    AND    PACIFIC    OCEANd. 


Hudson's  Straits.  Near  the  close  of  the  eight-  ( the  most  glowing  accounts  of  the  expedition, 
eeuth  century,  tho  Engliih,  Spanish  and  A  me- ;  the  scenery  ami  aspict  of  tlie  country,  even 
rican  naviijators  made    frequent    expeditions  j  from  tlie  pens  of  delicate  females.    The  rigors 


to  the  norliiwest,  anil  their  respective  discove- 
ries became  a  cjuestiou  of  keen  and  lively  in- 
terest and  discussion  but  lately,  in  the  settle- 
ment of  the  vcxata  (piestio  of  Oregon.  The 
Englisli  cliapter  exhibits  the  results  of  Alex- 
ander McKenzie,  one  of  her  citizens,  who  tra- 
versed I'ritish  America,  from  Canada  to  the 
Pacific,  being  in  search  of  au  inland  route 
across  tlie  continent. 

The  Sieur  de  la  Salle  entertained  the  idea, 
as  his  dispatches  will  show,  that,  by  following 
the  Mississippi  to  its  sources,  a  communication 
could  be  had  with  the  waters  of  the  Oregon 
and  the  Pacific,  and  the  commerce  of  the  East 
commanded  by  France,  through  her  province 
of  Louisiana.* 

Thomas  Jefferson,  two  hundred  years  later, 
and  soon  after  the  Louisiana  purchase,  follow- 
ing the  idea  of  La  Salle,  dispatched  Lewis 
and  Clarke  on  an  expedition  to  the  northwest, 
by  tho  way  of  the  Mississippi,  to  find,  if  pos- 
sible, a  route  of  commercial  communication  to 
the  Pacific.f 

So  much,  then,  for  the  history  of  this  inte- 
resting subject,  and  now  for  the  various  ])ro- 
jects  of  our  own  day,  toward  the  accomplish- 
ment of  the  same  great  end.   They  are  either, 

L  By  Cax.\l,  or 

IL  By  Railroad. 

Of  each  there  are  several  routes  proposed, 
with  various  degrees  of  merit,  which  it  is  our 
present  purpose  to  examine.  And  first,  as  to 
canals.     These  are, 

1.  By  the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  or  Darien. 

2.  By  the  Lake  of  Nicaragua. 

3.  By  the  River  Atrato,  from  the  Gulf  of 
Darien. 

4.  By  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec. 
Otliers,  less  jMaclicable,  were  proposed  by 

Humboldt,  but  we  .«hall  consider  now  only 
those  of  Panama,  Nicaragua,  and  Teliuantepec. 
\.  Panama.  This  is  the  narrow  neck  tif 
land  connecting  the  two  Americas ;  in  the  pro- 
vince of  New  Grenada ;  between  tiie  paral- 
lels of  S°  and  11°  north  latitude;  varying  m 
breadtli  from  twenty-eiglit  to  forty-eight  miles, 
and  witii  a  population  of  7,200.  Tlie  Andes 
afford  many  gaps,  or  ]iassnges,  and  the  countrv 
presents  no  insurniountable  obstacles  to  a  ca- 
nal, wiiich  it  is  estimated  may  be  built  for 
840,000,000.  The  late  conquest  of  California 
has  given  an  interest  to  Panama,  far  greater 
than  it  has  previously  had.  Lines  of  steam- 
ers couhtantly  ply  from  northein  poits  to  Clia- 
gres,  on  the  Atlantic,  and  other  lines  from  Pa- 
nama, on  the  Pacific,  to  San  Francisco  and 
Oregon.  Little  diflicnlty  is  found  by  passen- 
gers over  tlie  istlunus,  who  are  conveyed  more 
than  half  the  way  in  canoes.    We  have  seen 

•Vido  Sparks' La  Sallo. 

+  Lewis  unci  Clarke's  Kxpedition,  Vol.  I. 


of  the  climate  and  the  rainy  season  have  been 
greatly  exaggerated. 

2.  NicARAoiA.  This  lake  is  situated  be- 
tween 11°  and  12°  north  latitude;  its  extent 
is  large,  and  its  navigable  waters  are  carried 
to  the  Caribbean  sea  by  the  river  San  Juan — 
navigable  during  the  rains,  according  to 
McCullocii,  throughout  its  wliole  extent.  Four 
to  twelve  feet  water  is  always  afforded  in  the 
Rio  Juan,  and  it  is  proposed  to  improve  its 
navigation,  or  to  construct  a  canal  from  the 
Lake  Nicaragua,  which  is  adajited  to  ships  of 
largest  burthen,  to  tlie  Pacific,  fifteen  and 
three  fourths  miles,  through  a  country  elevated, 
in  general,  not  more  than  nineteen  feet.  Tho 
level  of  the  lake  is  one  humlred  and  thirty- 
four  feet  above  tlie  Pacific,  and  the  difference 
in  level  between  the  two  oceans  is  twenty  or 
twenty-two  feet.  For  a  canal,  tliere  must  be 
one  mile  of  tunnel,  and  two  miles  of  deep  cut- 
ting through  volcanic  rock,  and  also  a  great 
number  of  locks.  Mr.  Bailey,  under  direction 
of  the  state  of  Nicaragua,  made  a  survey  in 
1837-8,  and  estimated  the  cost  of  a  canal  at 
about  $;30,000,000. 

3.  Tkhuantepec.  The  Rio  Guascecualco 
has  its  mouth  in  the  Mexican  province  of  Vera 
Cruz,  seven  hundretl  miles  from  the  mouth  of 
the  Mississippi  river.  The  route  across  the 
isthmus  follows  tlie  course  of  the  river  as  far 
as  Tarifa,  at  which  town  a  canal  or  railroad 
will  begin,  ])as>ing  into  the  western  lakes 
which  are  dischaiged  into  the  Pacific.  The 
widtli  of  the  isthmus  in  this  part  is  one  hun- 
dreti  and  tliirty-five  miles,  and  its  central 
mountainous  cliain  exiiibits  a  depression  in  the 
line  of  the  route.  For  twenty-five  miles  a 
plain  is  formed,  whose  streams  flow  north 
and  soutli.  There  are  passes  or  gates  here, 
sudi  as  ChivoJa  and  Taril'a  The  noi  thwiu'd 
streams  enter  the  Guascecualco — tlie  southern, 
the  Chiapa,  which  is  discharged  in  the  lake 
east  of  Tehuante])ec,  on  tlie  Pacific.  We  have 
before  us  the  survey  and  charts  of  Moro,  ap- 
pointed in  1832  surveyor  under  Garay,  who 
had  obtained  the  ri;j;ht  of  way  from  Mexico, 
for  fifty  years,  :uid  the  property  in  all  the 
lands  lor  lliirty  miles  on  either  side — the  pas- 
sage to  be  opened  to  all  nations,  and  con^itlered 
neutral  ground.  The  Spanish  engineer  con- 
ceives the  wliole  extent  of  the  Guascecualco 
may  be  rendered  navignble  by  artificial  means, 
and  witliout  exorbitant  cost  He  proposes 
also  to  remove  the  bar  on  tlie  Pacific  entrance, 
anil  estimates  the  whole  exjiense  of  the  canal 
85,000,000  francs— less  tliau  ^20,000,000. 

The  late  ^'icc  Presitlent,  George  M.  Dallas, 
strongly  advocated  the  Teliuantepec  route,  in 
an  able  and  elaborate  paper,  and  suggested 
the  importance  of  a  clause  in  the  treaty  of 
peace  with  Mexico,  securing  to  us  for  ever  the 
right  of  way.   The  Mexicans,  it  is  understood, 


RAILROADS    BETWEEN    ATLANTIC    AND    PACIFIC    OCEANS. 


498 


■would  not  listen  to  this ;  thoui);h  it  is  likely,  as 
they  cati  never  hope  to  make  the  improve- 
ment tiiemselves,  they  would,  upon  some  more 
suitable  occasion,  readily  make  tlie  concession. 

In  regard  to  the  canal  communication  it  is 
difHcult  to  pronounce  an  opinion.  The  Ame- 
ricans would  never  undertake  it,  we  tliiuk, 
unless — which  is  hardly  to  be  expected,  at 
least  for  half  a  century — the  territories  were 
ours,  or  unless  an  overland  conununication 
across  our  present  possessions  were  found  im- 
practicable. Would  tlic  British  ?  And  this, 
too,  must  depend  upon  the  chances  of  our  rail- 
roati,  as  above  hinted  at.  If  that  succeeds,  of 
course  the  Isthmus  canal  would  be  unnecessary, 
and  we  opine  that  one  would  require  as  long 
to  build  as  the  other.  But  this  is  anticipating. 
When  the  American  continent  becomes  as 
densely  populous  as  Europe,  these,  and  many 
other  connections,  may  all  be  in  successful 
operation  together. 

Let  us  now  pass  to  the  various  projected 
I'ailroad  routes  across  tlie  continent.    They  are: 

1.  Across  Panama — the  Aspinwalls'. 

2.  Across  Tehuantepec— Mr.  Hargous'. 

3.  Tampico  to  Mazatlan. 

4.  Natchez  to  Mazatlan — Mr.  Patterson's. 

5.  Galveston  to  San  Diego — Gen.  Houston's. 

6.  ScLouis  to  San  Francisco—Mr.  Benton's.* 

7.  Lake  Micliigau  to  Oregon  and  San  Fran- 
cisco— Mr.  Wiiitney's. 

8.  Memphis  to  San  Diego,  Monterey,  or 
San  Francisco. 

Of  these,  the  first  four  are  either  wholly,  or 
in  part,  through  foreign  territory,  and  the  re- 
mainder entirely  through  our  own.  We  take 
them  in  order. 

L  Panama  Railroad. — At  the  last  session 
of  Congress  considerable  excitement  prevailed 
in  regard  to  the  proposition  of  Mr.  Aspinwall 
and  others  to  construct  this  road,  on  consider- 
ation of  a  contract  from  government,  to  carry 
the  mails,  troops,  and  government  stores,  for 
ten  years,  at  $250,000  per  annum.  The  road 
to  be  guaranteed  complete  in  three  years,  and 
to  charge  Americans  no  more  than  $8  each, 
for  passage,  and  $8  per  ton,  freight.  These 
rates  to  be  reduced  after  the  first  five  years  to 
§5  each,  and  three  fourths  of  the  road  to  be 
owned  by  citizens  of  the  United  States. 

Able  speeches  were  made  in  the  Senate,  by 
Messrs.  Benton,  Douglass,  Clayton,  Webster 
and  Dayton,  in  advocacy  of  the  scheme,  and 
by  Downs,  Niles,   Allen,  Butler,  Davis  and 


*  A  memorial  was  presented,  at  last  Congress,  to 
carry  the  mail  between  these  two  points  by  express, 
on  the  part  of  W.  A.  Bradley,  and  others,  and  report- 
ed on  by  Mr.  Bell  and  Senator  Kusk. 

We  read,  also,  in  the  Railroad  Journal,  the  memo- 
rial to  Congress,  of  Bayard,  praying  aid  in  construct- 
ing a  railroad  from  St.  Louis,  intersecting  the  Kio 
Grande,  Red  and  Gila  rivers  ;  and  one  from  Dennis 
Keenan,  Jr..  proposing  a  railroad  and  magnetic  tele- 
graph, from  Point  Isabel,  Texas,  to  the  i'acific.  Truly 
ie  this  an  age  of  enterprise. 


Foote,  in  opposition.  We  give  some  extracts 
from  tlie  debate,  as  possessing  great  interest. 
Mr.  Benton  said :  "  It  is  therefore  a  tempo- 
rary road  for  us — not  temporary  for  oilier  na- 
tions— but  for  us  it  is  a  temporary  road  across 
the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  as  a  step  toward  the 
accomplishment  of  this  great  design  wliich  Mr. 
Jefferson  conceived,  and  for  the  accomplish- 
ment of  wliich  I  have  been  collecting  informa- 
tion and  studying  details  for  thirty  years ;  and 
I  intend  at  a  projier  time  to  bring  in  a  bill, 
with  those  detads,  for  commencing  the  location 
and  construction  of  the  road.  With  this  ex- 
planation of  ray  views  of  the  projected  route 
across  the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  that  we  are  to 
use  .as  a  temporary  route,  it  will  be  seen  that 
the  first  thing  we  have  got  to  do  is  to  go  about 
it  at  once — to  do  it  immediately,  or  tlie  whole 
object  is  lost.  I  am  for  no  jiermanent  road 
outside  of  ray  country.  I  am  for  no  perma- 
nent  road  for  America,  either  across  the  Isth- 
mus of  Darien,  Tehuantepec,  or  any  where 
else.  I  am  only  for  a  temporary  measure, 
with  respect  to  any  route,  sir  ;  but  I  take  that 
one  which  can  be  got  first,  and  which  will  an- 
swer our  purposes  better  than  any  other.  If 
we  undertake  to  institute  comparisons  between 
different  routes,  even  if  we  have  a  legal  and 
political  right  to  do  so,  why,  sir,  the  very  ob- 
ject for  which  I  w.ant  a  road  outside  of  our 
country  is  lost.  I  want  it,  sir,  directly.  I 
want  it  for  present  use ;  and  if  we  have  to 
wait,  why,  sir,  we  may  as  well  throw  up  the 
whole,  and  wait  for  our  own.  I  have  no  idea, 
sir,  of  doing  any  thing  permanent  outside  of 
our  country — no  idea  of  going  into  expenses, 
or  bargains,  or  arrangements,  which  are  to 
keep  rae  outside  of  my  own  country  one  mo- 
ment beyond  the  time  that  we  are  able  to 
finish  our  road." 

Mr.  Webster  said :  "  I  have  a  strong  dis- 
position to  think  the  measure  is  a  proper  one. 
The  extraordinary  circumstances  of  the  coun- 
try call  for  it.  Tiiere  ia  nothing  in  those  circum- 
stances likely  to  make  tlieni  so  short-lived  and 
temporary,  .as  that  within  a  year  or  two,  or  any 
number  of  years,  we  may  justly  apprehend  .and 
consider  that  this  work  will  not  be  necess.ary ; 
and  I  repeat  again,  that  if  there  were  a  pro- 
position at  the  same  time  for  the  other  work, 
if  it  were  in  as  advanced  a  state  as  this,  and 
we  were  to  have  but  one,  I  should  give  the 
preference  to  the  other ;  and  I  fully  believe 
both  are  to  be  accomplished,  and  still  other 
modes  of  communication  .are  to  be  establish- 
ed across  our  own  territory,  without  any  oc- 
casion to  enter  the  territories  of  other  coun- 
tries." 

Mr.  Clayton  said :  "  This  is  to  be  .an  Ame- 
rican road.  It  will  h.ave  that  character 
abroad,  do  wh.at  you  may.  American  citi- 
zens are  intrusted  with  the  construction  of  it. 
Well,  if  this  work  is  to  be,  and  be  called  an 
American  work,  I  desire  that  it  should  be  a 
road  worthy  of  the  American  name ;  and,  in 


494 


RAILROADS    BETWEEN    ATLANTIC    AXD    rACIFIC    OCEANS. 


mv  opinion,  the  Amorio.in  government  should, 
■within  its  constitutional  sphere,  siid,  as  far  as 
it  can,  individual  enterprise  in  making  a  road 
worthy  of  the  American  character.  I  do  not 
want  a  road  attempted  there  Iw  individuals 
and  carrieil  an  by  piecemeal,  commencing  with 
a  railmad  of  a  few  miles,  and  perhaps  ending 
for  some  vears  to  come  with  a  plank  or  a  mule 
road.  I  "desire  that  the  improvement  should 
go  on  continuously  and  in  the  shortest  prac- 
ticable time.  And  now  allow^  me  one  general 
remark  in  regard  to  the  sum  to  be  expended. 
I  would  aid,  as  far  as  the  constitutional 
power  of  the  government  will  enable  us  to 
do  it,  in  making  a  road  from  the  Mississippi 
river  to  the  Pacific,  or  a  road  across  the  Isth- 
mus of  Tehuantepec,  as  I  design  to  aid  in 
the  constiuction  of  the  road  proposed  by  this 
bill ;  anil  whatever  the  cost  of  a  passage  by 
canal  or  railroad  across  to  the  Pacific  on 
either  istlnnus  may  be,  whether  two  millions, 
two  and  a  half  millions,  six  millions,  twenty 
millions,  or  even  fifty  millions,  I  say,  sir,  that 
the  wit  of  man  cannot  find  any  other  mode  of 
expending  the  same  amount  of  money  as 
much  for  the  benefit  of  this  country  and  of 
the  whole  human  family.  And  I  repeat  that 
I  do  think  that,  in  the  middle  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  it  is  a  disgrace  to  tiie  govern- 
ment that  nothing  has  yet  been  attempted 
with  success  to  save  our  commerce  the  dan- 
gerous navigation  of  nine  thousand  miles 
around  the  cape.  I  take  the  proposition  now 
before  us  because  it  is  practicable.  I  would 
not  delay  the  work  from  year  to  year  and 
from  day  to  day.  If  we  can,  by  expending 
the  !«uni  of  two  and  a  half  millions  of  dollars, 
or  less,  accomplish  so  great  an  oliject,  I  say, 
foi-  one,  that  I  am  willing  to  authorize  the 
expenditure." 

The  objections  to  the  bill  were  strongly 
urged — that  it  was  a  contribution  huiircctlt/ 
for  internal  improvements;  that  the  monopoly 
would  be  in  violation  of  the  treaty  with 
Grenada,  making  the  passage /^er ;  that  the 
amount  to  be  paid  by  government  would  it- 
self build  the  road;  that  the  consideration 
offered  by  the  company  was  inadequate ; 
that  it  would  be  unfortunate  for  the  govern- 
ment tfi  be  bound  down  so  long  a  time  to  a 
route  far  beyond  our  own  country ;  that  the 
steamers  to  Chagres  must  enter  the  Carib- 
bean, an  enemy's  sea,  perhaj^s,  and  have  tlu'ir 
coal  depots  at  .Jamaica;  that  it  is  far  less  de- 
sirable, and  not  more  practicable,  than  the 
Tehuantepec  route,  <tc.,  (fee* 

Mr.  Underwood  said  :  "  Now,  sir,  T  have 
given  you  these  speculations  and  tliesi!  data, 
nnd  if  there  be  any  thing  iu  them  at  all,  it  is 


*  It  was  undorstood  Hint  tliis  wns  a  nioro  question 
of  time,  and  tin;  Aspinwalls  would  tmild  tin'  roud  in 
ten  years,  wliether  they  had  the  govcrniiiont  con- 
tract or  not.  '    '•■ 


^  very  manifest  that  it  is  to  be  the  most  profit- 
j  able  route  for  the  investment  of  capital  on 
the  face  of  the  earth.  Tliere  is  to  be  nothing 
1  like  it.  It  is  to  transcend  every  other  rail 
i  road  that  has  been  constructed.  And  what, 
I  then,  are  ytui  doing  ?  It  is  a  contribution  ou 
I  the  part  of  tlie  government — a  departure 
from  all  the  principles  of  the  constitution— 
'  to  make  millionaires  of  the  members  of  this 
company.  That,  sir,  is  your  bill.  I  believe 
it  was  suggested  that  it  was  an  extraterri- 
torial  improvement.  So  much  the  worse  for 
me;  so  nmch  the  better  for  my  argument, 
but  worse  for  my  feelings.  I  want  to  im- 
prove my  own  country.  I  want  to  make  a 
railroad — one  or  two,  if  you  please — across 
the  villey  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  Pacific ; 
but  I  want  it  in  our  own  country,  it  I  can  get 
it.  I  will  not  object  to  this,  if  }0U  will  place 
it  ou  a  basis  by  which  I  can  see  that  we  get 
an  equivalent  for  the  money  which  we  pay: 
bnt  I  will  not  give  a  cent — I  am  too  demo- 
cratic for  that — by  way  of  exclusive  privi- 
leges to  a  favored  few.  With  the  views  I 
have  taken  of  this  matter,  based  on  the  fig- 
ures which  I  have  read,  and  looking  at  what 
the  government  will  give  under  this  act,  and 
what  individuals  must  pay,  it  must  be  the 
most  profitable  investment  on  the  face  of  the 
earth.  To  this  bill,  then,  sir,  I  am  altogether 
opposed.  I  am  further  opposed  to  it,  because 
we  have  not  the  data  upon  which  to  act,  and 
because  I  believe  that  this  thing  has  taken 
a  step  which  it  should  not  have  taken." 

•2.  Tehuan'tepec  RArLEo.M)  — This  was  a 
proposition  of  Mr.  Hargous,  of  New-York, 
who  has  a  grant  for  fifty  years  from  Mexico 
to  build  the  road — that  Republic  to  imjiose 
no  taxes  upon  travellers  or  imposts,  to  allow 
foreigners  to  acquire  real  estate  and  exercise 
all  trades,  except  mining,  for  fifty  leagues  on 
either  side  of  the  road.  But  we  adopt  the 
words  of  the  memorial : 

"  '  From  these  surveys  it  is  established  that 
tlu!  ciitiri'  distance  from  sea  to  sea  is  one 
hundred  and  thirty-five  miles,  in  a  straight 
line,  and  jiresents  a  witle  ])lain  from  the 
mouth  of  tlie  Guascecualco  to  the  port  of  the 
Meza  do  Tarifa,  a  tabh^  or  elevated  plain  on 
the  line  of  the  Andes,  which  ri.ses  to  the 
height  of  six  hundred  and  fifty  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  sea,  and  at  tiie  ilistance  of  five 
miles  again  ilesceiids  to  a  jilain  which  reaches 
the  Pacific.  The  sununit  level  to  be  over- 
come is  only  six  hundred  and  fifty  feet.  Tliirty 
miles  of  the  river  Coatzacoalcos  are  navigable 
for  ships  of  the  largest  class,  and  fifteen 
miles  bej'ond  this  for  vessels  of  light  draught, 
leaving  only  about  one  hundreil  and  fifteen 
miles  of  railroad  to  be  made.  It  would  oc- 
cupy too  much  space  to  emuuerate  all  the 
details  of  these  surveys,  and  which  go  to 
show  so  strongly  how  easily  a  railroad  can 
be  constructed  across  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuan- 
tejiec.     It  is  euilicieut  to  say  that  the  abao- 


RAILROADS    BETWEEN    ATLANTIC    AND    PACIFIC    OCEANS. 


495 


lute  practicability  has  been    clearly  ascer- 
tained.' 

'"  In  other  respects  it  affords  great  fiicilities 
for  construction.  '  The  entire  course  of  tlie 
Guascecunlco  is  bounded  by  fore.its,  wliicii 
can  supply  immense  quantities  of  the  proper 
kind  of  timber  suitable  for  tlie  construction 
of  a  railroad,  and  all  of  wiiich  i.s,  by  the 
terms  of  the  grant,  the  property  of  the  com- 
pany undertaking  the  construction  of  the 
road.  Limestone,  strong  chiy,  usj)haltum, 
and  building  stone  of  tlie  best  quality,  suit- 
able for  bridges  where  necessary,  are  placed 
as  if  purposely  by  nature,  all  along  the  direc- 
tion of  this  route.  The  Zapotecos  and  other 
Indians  can  be  found  in  quite  sufficient  num- 
bers to  carry  on  the  work,  and  at  those  points 
■where  foreign  labor  is  indispensable,  the  tem- 
perature is  sucli  as  to  allow  them  to  pursue 
their  labor  without  either  inconvenience  or 
injury  to  their  health.  The  c  limate,  though 
warm,  is  healthy.  The  natives  are  mild, 
submissive  and  tractable.  There  are  ample 
sources  whence  to  obtain  a  stock  of  domes- 
tic animals  and  beasts  of  burden.  Through- 
out the  whole  line  secured  by  the  grant,  as 
well  for  the  purposes  of  a  communication 
across  the  isthmus  as  for  the  settlement  of 
the  country  by  foreigners,  all  the  productions 
of  the  equatorial  and  temperate  regions  are 
found  in  the  greatest  abundance ;'  for  the 
valley  of  the  isthmus  produces  the  former, 
and  on  ascending  to  the  more  elevated  coun- 
try bordering  on  the  valley,  the  climate  of 
the  temperate  zone  is  found  there,  as  well  as 
its  productions.  At  each  end  of  the  railroad 
are  suitable  places  for  fine  harbors,  as 
well  as  to  depth,  size,  and  security  from 
storms.  It  is  true,  there  is  a  bar  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Guascecualco.  By  different 
navigators  the  water  h.as  been  sounded,  and 
from  twelve  to  eighteen  feet  have  been 
found  on  it  at  low  water.  Commodore  Perry, 
in  his  survey  in  1847,  found  twelve  feet. 
At  a  small  pass  at  the  entrance  of  the  ocean, 
on  the  Pacific  side,  there  is  at  low  water 
seven  feet.  Your  petitioner,  however,  is  con- 
vinced, from  the  character  of  the  obstruc- 
tions, that  they  can,  at  a  small  expense  of 
time  and  money,  be  removed  eat^ily.  and 
will  then  optu  an  entrance  for  vessels  of 
large  size  into  ports  equal  to  any  in  the 
world.  He  is  pi-epared  to  sliow  this  to  the 
satisfaction  of  your  honorable  body. 


"Such  are  some  of  the  physical  advan- 
tages connected  with  this  route.  There  are 
others,  however,  no  less  important.  The  dis- 
tance from  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  to 
San  Francisco  by  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuante- 
pec  is  3,294:  miles,  by  the  Isthmus  of  Panama 
5,000 — thus  showing  that  the  route  by  the 
Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec  is  I.TUG  miles  shorter 
than  by  Panama.  The  distance  from  New- 
York  by  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec  is  4,144: 
miles,  by  the  Isthmus  of  Panama  5,858— 
making  the  route  by  Tehuantepec  from  New- 
Yoik  to  San  Francisco  1,104  miles  shorter 
than  by  the  Isthmus  of  Panama." 

Mr.  Foote  offered  the  following  remarks 
and  table :  "  From  New- York  to  Chagres 
and  the  mouth  of  the  Guascecualco  rivei-,  the 
distance  will  be  about  the  same  for  steam 
vessels  ;  but  that  for  sail  vessels,  the  route 
to  Chagres  is  much  tlie  longest,  as  a  vessel 
might  have  to  go  outside  of  Cuba,  St.  Do- 
mingo, and  Jamaica,  in  order  to  get  into  the 
current  controlled  by  the  trade  winds;  that 
the  Panama  route  strikes  the  Pacific  ocean 
some  twelve  hundred  miles  (more  or  less) 
more  distant  from  California  than  the  termi- 
nus on  the  Pacific  of  the  Tehuantepec  route ; 
that  the  Tehuantepec  route  passes  through 
a  healthy  country,  whilst  the  Panama  route 
traverses  a  region  coufessedly  more  sickly 
than  any  in  North  America  besides;  that 
from  New-Orleans  it  is  650  miles  further  to 
Chagres  than  to  Guascecualco;  that  the 
marine  route  to  the  eastern  terminus  of  the 
Tehuantepec  route  is  altogether  in  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico,  whereas  the  Chagres  route  is  out- 
side of  all  the  West  India  islands  (a  highly  im- 
portant consideration  in  time  of  war) ;  that 
the  soundings  on  the  bar  at  Guascecualco  are, 
according  to  the  highest  authority,  at  most 
seasons  of  the  year,  from  18  to  20  feet,  and 
never  lower  than  12  feet  3  inches,  with  a  tide 
of  two  feet ;  that  distinguished  English  engi- 
neers have  reported  that  $3,000,1)00  will  be 
necessary  to  make  a  safe  and  convenient  port 
at  Tamon  bay  ;  that  at  Panama,  vessels  can- 
not approach  nearer  than  three  miles,  and  a 
pier  will  have  to  be  constructed  about  that 
distance;  whereas,  at  Boca  Barra,  where 
the  Tehuantepec  route  is  to  terminate  on  the 
Pacific,  there  is  a  fine  port ;  and,  finally,  that 
the  following  table  (which  I  request  to  be 
read)  may  be  fully  relied  on  in  all  respects ; 


496 


RAILROADS   BETWEEN    ATLANTIC    AXD    PACIFIC    OCEANS. 


New- York  to  Boca  Bana,  round  Cape  Horn,  crossing  the  line 
in  long.  26°  W.,  Rio  Janeiro,  A^alparaiso,  Callao,  and  Boca 
Barra 

New-York  to  Canton,  bj  the  Atlantic  and  Indian  oceans, 
crossing  the  line  in  long.  26°  W.,  going  to  lat.  41°  S.,  and 
eastward  to  long,  of  St.  Paul's,  and  thence  by  the  straits  of 
Sunda 

New-Orleans  to  Boca  Barra,  round  Cape  Horn,  to  St.  Thomas, 
Rio  Janeiro,  Valparaiso,  Callao,  and  Boca  Barra 

New-Orleans  to  Columbia  river,  round  Cape  Horn 

New-Orleans  to  Columbia  river,  inland  journey  up  the  Missis 
sippi,  up  the  Missouri,  and  across  the  Rock}-  Mountains. . . . 

[JS^'otr. — This  has  a  hind  journey  of  900  miles,  full  of  diffi- 
culties.] 

New- York  to  the  Columbia  river 


OS 


12,390 


15,540 

12,510 
14,830 

3,400 


c3  O  u 


Q 


3,330 

11,950 

900 
3,220 

3,220 
5,650 


9,060 


3,590 

11,610 
11,610 

180 


Mr.  Dayton,  in  opposition  to  the  road,  read 
a  letter  from  Col.  Abert,  of  the  Topograph- 
ical Engineers,  and  from  Lieut.  Maury.  We 
extract  first  from  Col.  Abert : 

"  It  is  supposed  that  the  railroad  of  this 
route  will  pass  through  Chevela  as  its  sum- 
mit pass,  about  700  feet  above  the  ocean 
on  either  side.  The  communication  with  the 
Pacific  on  the  southern  side  is  by  means  of 
two  small  lakes  called  the  Upper  and  Lower 
lake.  Tlio  railroad  landing  will,  probably,  be 
on  the  L^pper  lake,  ami  the  developed  length 
of  the  roaci  from  the  landing  to  Chevela  will 
not,  I  tliiak,  be  less  than  tbirty-five  miles.  The 
northern  terminus  of  the  road,  at  a  point 
■where  the  navigation  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
ceases,  will  be  at  the  lower  end  of  Tacami- 
chapa  island,  an  island  of  the  Guascecualco 
river.  A  straight  or  air  line  cannot  be  taken 
as  a  line  fur  the  lengdi  of  the  road,  which 
must  of  necessity  deviate  from  such  a  line 
and  occupy  the  valley  of  the  principal 
streams. 

"  From  information  derived  from  those 
much  interested  in  tliis  route,  I  am  induced 
to  believe  that  a  railroad  can  be  located  be- 
tween Clievela  and  the  point  on  the  Gua.sce 
cualco  before  designatwl  of  not  less  than  120 
miles.  This  would  make  the  whole  road  155 
miles  long. 

"  From  the  surveys  of  our  nav3%  when  on 
duty  in  tlie  gulf  during  tlie  late  war,  twelve 
feet  water  was  found  ovi-r  the  Guascecualco 
bar,  and  it  is  also  said  that  at  times  this 
depth  is  increased  to  fourteen  feet. 

'•  During  the  season  of  northers,  it  is  repre- 
sented as  a  dangerous,  if  not  impassiihle  bar, 
rarely  approached  din'ing  that  season,  as  the 
ailjaceiit  coast  affords  no  adeipiate  slielter. 
The  harbor  on  the  gulf  side  is  the  Guascecu- 


alco river,  a  safe  and  good  harbor  after  the 
bar  is  passed. 

"  The  harbor  on  the  Pacific  side  is  the  lakes 
or  lagoons  before  described;  for  Tehuautepec 
bay  is  an  open  roadstead,  without  protection 
or  shelter  of  any  kind,  and  this  bay  is  repre- 
sented as  being  liable  to  frequent  and  violent 
tempests.  The  entrance  to  these  lagoons  is 
through  a  narrow  passage  between  the  lower 
lagoon  and  the  Pacific,  called  the  Boca  Barra, 
It  cannot  be  made  by  sailing  vessels  with  an 
adverse  wind,  nor  by  steamers,  under  such 
circumstances,  without  great  difficulty  and 
danger.  The  inside  of  Boca  Barra  is  closed 
by  a  bar,  over  which  not  more  than  eight 
feet  of  water  has  been  found. 

"This  route  being  155  miles  (of  railroad), 
if  it  be  supposed  to  cost  as  much  as  the  Pa- 
nama route  (and  I  do  not  see  how  it  can  cost 
less),  the  total  cost  will  be  812,913,900." 

The  total  length  of  the  Tehuautepec  route 
can  be  stated  as  follows : 

155  miles  of  railroad. 
15  of  water,  through  the  two  lakes  to  the 

Pacific. 
80  (about)  of  river  navigation,  from  the 
fimt  of  Tacamichapa  island  to  the 

Gulf  of  Mexico, 

200  miles. 

Lieut.  Maury  remarks :  "  There  is  now  ia 
the  course  of  publication  at  this  office  a  chart 
j  of  the  mouth  and  bar  of  the  Guascecualco, 
from  a  very  accurate  survey  made  by  Lieut. 
Leigh,  by  order  of  Commodore  Perry,  in 
1848.  It  appears  by  that,  that  there  is  not 
more  than  12  V  feet  water  on  the  bar  at  the 
mouth  of  tliat  river. 

"  I  would  liere  remark  that  there  is  in  this 
office  also  a  manuscript  copy  of  Caj-etano 
Moro's  survey  of  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec, 


RAILROADS    BETWEEN    ATLANTIC    AND    PACIFIC    OCEANS. 


497 


under  the  Garay  grant.  The  original,  from  ( territorios.  A  far  better  road  is,  however, 
■which  tills  cop3'  was  taken,  was  found  by  proposed  by  the  Mexicans,  from  Vera  Cruz 
Commodore  Mackenzie  at  Mina-titlan  in  1817, ;  to  Acapulco,  passing  through  Jalapa,  Cordova, 
in  possession  of  one  of  the  assistants  on  that ;  Puebhi,  Cuernavaca  and  Mexico ;  the  entire 
survey,  and  the  copy  here  was  made  by  1  mule  route  being,  according  to  the  commoa 
Lieut.  May,  by  oriler  of  Commodore  Perry,  itineraries,  from  Vera  Cruz  to  Mexico,  252 
"  The  surveys  by  our  own  otHcers  diftVr  so  '  miles,  from  Mexico  to  Acapulco,  270  miles — in 
■widely,  and  in  such  essential  particulars,  from  j  all,  522  miles.  A  greater  difticulty  than  the 
the  Moro  survey,  that  they  \liscredit  it  in  j  length,  however,  is  the  immense  height  which 
some  of  its  most  important  features,  and  has  to  be  ascended  and  descended  in  the  pas- 
show  it  to  be  unworthy  of  confidence.  sage  between  the  two  seas.  Mexico  is  a  vast 
"  Lieut.  Leigh's  soundings  I  know  to  be  j  mountain  ridge,  or  plateau,  wide  at  the  north, 
correct.  His  chart  was  constructed  in  this  j  narrowing  rapidly  at  the  south,  but  still  pre- 
office  with  a  great  deal  of  care,  and  his  note- '  serving  throughout  its  general  height,  which 

averages  between  seven  and  eight  thousand 
feet,  or  about  one  mile  and  a  half  in  perpen- 
dicular altitude.     The  city  of  Mexico  itself  is 


books  are  here  on  file  for  reference.     Lieut, 
Leigh  makes  but  12.^  feet  on  the  bar,  Caye- 
tano  Moro  0.2  metres,  or   20^  feet  Euglish. 
"  Thi  okiuET  that  there  might  be  some  mis- 


no  less  than  some  seven  thousand  six  hundred 


take  in  the  matter,  which  Commodore  Perry  feet  above  the  sea.  Nor  is  this  the  worst; 
could  ex[)lain,  I  referred  the  Moro  survey  to  for  from  this  mountain  ridge  rise  the  minor 
Lim,  and  called  his  attention  to  this  discrep- !  ridges,  or  chains  of  mountains,  half  as  high 
ancy  as  to  the  depth  of  water  on  the  bar — a  j  again  almost,  which  require  to  be  chmbed. 
vital  feature  in  the  advantages  of  the  route.  Thus,  between  the  valley  of  Mexico  and  the 
By  letter  of  the  25th  ultimo  he  replies  with  ,  Gulf,  is  the  ridge  of  Rio  Frio,  upwards  of  ten 
regard  to  the  Moro  map:  'I  notice  on  a  side  |  thousand  feet  high  ;  and  on  the  west,  that  of 
sketch  of  the  bar  the  shoalest  water  marked  j  El  Marques,  of  about  the  same  altitude, 
at  6 . 2  metres.  This  is  certainlj'-  wrong,  as  I  Doubtless,  lower  depressions  in  these  ridges 
have  crossed  the  bar  several  times  myself, '  might  be  found ;  but  no  engineer  would  think 


sounding  both  ways,  and  the  average  depth 
in  the  channel  has  not  exceeded  12^  feet. 
With  regard  to  the  depth  of  water  on  the 
Pacific  side,  it  is  not  more,  however,  than  six 
or  eight  feet.  I  do  not  find  the  Boca  Barra 
recognized  by  any  chart  or  book  as  a  harbor 
or  port  into  which  vessels  may  enter.     Ven- 


lightly  of  the  task  of  locating  a  working  rail- 
road, free  from  planes  and  tunnels  through 
mountains  of  solid  porphyry,  over  such  ■» 
country  as  central  Mexico.'* 

4.  Natchez  and  Mazatlan  Railroad. — 
This  route  has  been  advocated  by  Mr.  Patter- 
son, of  Louisiana,  Colonel  Gadsden,  of  South 


toza  is  an  open  roadstead  about  twenty  miles    Carolina,  and  Professor  Forshay.     In  his  re 


west  of  Boca  Barra;  it  is  without  shelter, 
and  vessels  are  driven  out  to  sea  by  every 
gale  at  a  moment's  warning.' 

"  The  following  table  shows  the  shortest  na- 
vigable route  in  nautical  miles,  upon  arcs  of 


port  to  the  South  Carolina  Railroad  Company, 
in  18-16,  Colonel  Gadsden  says:  "In  connec- 
tion with  their  Atlantic  communications  with 
Vicksburg,  Grand  Gulf  and  Natchez,  crossing 
the  Mississippi  at  one  or  all  of  these  points. 


great  circles,  from  New- York  to  the  mouth  of  1  roads  are  already  projected  looking  further 


the  Guascecualco  and  Navy  Bay,  also  from 
New-Orleans  to  the  same  places : 

Guascecunlco.  Navy  Bay.* 

New-York,  via  Hole  in  the  Wall. . . .  l.SOO 

"  south  side  Cuba 2,870        1,920 

New-Orleans SOO        1,450 

"  On  account  of  winds  and  currents,  the 
average  time  under  canvas,  from  New- York, 
is  rather  less  to  Navy  Bay  than  to  Guascecu- 
alco by  either  route."f 

3.  Tampico  and  Maz.\tl.\.n  RailfvOAd. — We 
have  merely  seen  this  suggested,  and  believe 
no  survey  has  been  made.  The  distance 
would  not  exceed  seven  hundred  miles. 
Mexico,  it  is  not  likely,  will  ever  have  the 
means  of  constructing  such  a  road  across  her 


*  Near  the  Isthmus  of  Darien  and  forty-four  miles 
from  Panama,  by  sea. 

t  Seo  tlie  latest  information  and  surveys  upon 
this  subject  in  De  Bow's  Review,  vol.  xiii.,  July,  ltii>-i, 
VOL.  II. 


to  the  west,  which,  luiiting  on  a  common 
trunk,  in  the  rapid  progress  of  southwestern 
extension  and  emigration,  will  in  time  be 
made  to  course  through  the  newly  acquired 
territory  of  Texas,  and  by  the  Mexican  pro- 
vinces, to  a  terminus  at  Mazatlan  in  the  Bay 
of  California;  or,  taking  a  more  norihern  di- 
rection, by  the  valley  of  the  Red  and  Arkansas 
rivers,  may  easily  pass  by  the  southern  gorges 
in  the  Stony  Mountains,  and  find,  in  the  course 
of  events,  certain  though  slow,  a  more  impos- 
ing location  in  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco  on 
the  Pacific."  Colonel  Gadsden  published  at 
the  same  time  a  map  of  the  route. 

In  July,  1848,  Mr.  Forshay  published  in 
our  Review  a  paper  upon  this  railroad  and  a 
map,  entering  into  many  interesting  particu- 
lars and  details.  The  distances  and  expenses 
he  assumes  as  follows: 


32 


New-York  Courier  and  Enquirer. 


498 


RAILROADS    BETWEEN    ATLANTIC    AND   RACIFIC    OCEANS. 


Mile?. 

Natchez  to  Trinity 26  Level. 

Trinity  to  Aloxandiia 54  Le\rel — one  grade  twenty  feet  per  mile. 

Alexandria  to  Cotile 20  Level  without  obstacle. 

Cotile  to  Sabine 50  Undulating,  some  hills  and  rocks — 170  miles,  §1,500,000  cost. 

Sabine  to  Sau  Antonio. .  .400  Undulating  gently. 

Antonio  to  Rio  Grande..  .150  "  "      — 550  miles,  $5,500,000. 

Rio  Grande  to  Mountains.  100  One  hill,  not  steep. 

Mountains  to  Hot  Springs.  20  Hilly  between  mountains. 

Hot  Sprirjgs  to  Monclova..  50  Hills,  but  no  rocks— HO  miles,  $2,200,000. 

Monclova  to  13azan 80  Between  mountains. 

Bazan  to  La  Joya 14  Calcareous,  dusty  roads. 

La  Joya  to  Yeneditto. ...  34  Same — no  water — easy  pass,  &c. 

Veneditto  to  Sanceda 22  Barren— Sanceda,  finely  cultivated  road  between  mountains. 

Sanceda  to  Jarrol 16  Road  rough  and  broken,  no  mountains — cultivated  valley. 

Jarrol  to  Pastora 16  Dry,  barren,  but  not  rugged. 

Pastora  to  Tenago 8 

Tenago  to  Cienaga 20  Rough  and  difficult. 

Cienaga  to  Obaya 18  Splendid  valley. 

Obaya  to  Parras 5  "  "       —181  miles,  §2,800,000  cost. 

Parras  to  Durango 220  Table  lands. 

Durango  to  Rosario  River.  TO  Mountainous. 

Rosario  to  Mazatlan 130  Along  the  river— 420  miles,  ?10,000,000. 

Grand  total,  1.491  miles,  $22,000,000  cost. 


In  dismissing  these  roads  through  3Ie.vlcan 
territory,  we  may  be  allowed  to  express  our 
strong  preference  for  that  by  the  way  of  Nat- 
chez, through  Texas.  New-Orleans  and  the 
southwest  would  be  greatly  benefited  by  its 
'construction.  Our  preferences,  however,  will 
readily  yit;ld,  if  some  other  point  on  the 
Mis.sissippi,  not  greatly  more  distant,  and 
passing  altogether  through  o?<r  o;f'?i  territories, 
can  be  suggested.  We  are  sure  the  enlight- 
enment of  the  southwest  will  understand 
and  act  upon  this  principle  when  they  assem- 
ble in  convention. 

5.  Galveston  and  San  Diego  Railroad. — 
We  believe  this  is  advocated  by  Gen.  Hous- 
ton, and  was  proposed  by  a  public  meeting  in 
Texas.  The  route  runs  from  Galveston  I5ay 
northwest,  to  32°  latitude;  thence  westward, 
crossing  the  Rio  Grande  above  El  Paso ; 
thence  along  the  Gila  valley  to  the  Colorado,  1 
ic,  Ac.  Length  estimated  at  twelve  hundred 
miles,  tliough,  by  o!n- computation,  it  cannot 
fall  short  of  fourteen  hundred  miles.  It  will  | 
be  remembered  that  the  Santa  Pe  expedition, 
in  1841,  took  the  route  from  Austin  across 
the  valleys  of  the  Colorado  and  the  Brazos, 
due  north  to  the  latitude  32 1^,  or  what  is 
called  the  Cross  Timhrrs ;  thence  between 
the  valleys  of  the  Red  and  Brazos  rivers, 
west  to  101°  longitude  ;  thence  northwest  to 
the  Colorado,  and  passing  tlirough  tlie  Angos- 
turas to  San  Miguel.  AVe  sup])ose  this  route 
was  adopted  from  its  supplies  of  water,  and 
to  avoid  the  Camanchc  Indians.  Whatever 
advantage,  it  occurs  to  us,  in  distance,  a  road 
across  from  the  sea-coast  of  Texas  might 
possess,  and  that  would  not  be  considerable, 
it  is  attended  with  the  great  disadvantage  of 
being  too  far  southward  in  its  Atlantic  ter- 
minus to  be  central  or  to  interest  any  number 


of  states.  A  work  so  stupendous  must  be 
the  common  work  of  America,  and  for  this  it 
ought,  as  nearly  as  possible,  to  be  central. 
Besides,  the  harbors  in  Texas  have  not  suffi- 
cient capacity  or  depth  for  extensive  commerce 
in  the  largest  class  of  shipping.  Texas  her- 
self, as  well  as  Louisiana,  would  readily  yield 
her  claims  in  fovor  of  any  better  projection. 

6.  St.  Louis  and  San  Francisco  Road. — 
This  was  proposed,  at  the  last  session  of  (Con- 
gress, by  the  Hon.  Tliomas  Benton.  The  pro- 
visions of  the  bill  were,  that  three  fourths  in 
value  of  California  and  Oregon  land  sales, 
and  one  half  of  .all  other  land  sales,  be  ap- 
propriated by  Congress  for  the  construction 
of  tlie  road,  with  a  branch  to  the  Colum- 
bia river;  where  the  railroad  is  not  practica- 
ble, macadamized  road  to  be  used ;  track  of 
one  mile  breadth  from  the  Missouri  frontier 
to  San  Francisco,  to  be  reserved  for  this  road 
and  other  roads ;  track  of  one  thousand  feet 
width  to  the  Columbia ;  road  to  be  built  un- 
der directions  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States ;  road,  when  completed,  to  be  let  out 
by  contract,  by  government,  ifec,  etc.  In  de- 
fense of  this  stupendous  enterprise,  after 
quoting  from  Gibbon  to  prove  that  the  Ro- 
mans had  greater  ones,  Mr.  Benton  thus  elo- 
quently concludes : 

"  Such  was  the  extent  and  solidity  of  the 
Roman  roads — a  single  line  of  road  above 
four  thousand  Roman,  and  equal  to  three 
thousand  seven  Imndred  and  forty  English 
mile.s — and  the  four  thousand  cities  of  the 
empire  all  connected  with  roads  of  equal 
solidity  besides.  The  road  which  we  propose 
is  only  half  the  length  of  one  chain  of  theirs. 
I  mention  them  for  their  magnificence — their 
grandeur — and  as  presenting  an  example 
worthy  of  our  imitation.     The  road  I  propose 


RAILROADS    BETWEEN    ATLANTIC    AND    PACIFIC    OCEANS. 


490 


is  necessary  to  u^,  and  now^.  We  want  it 
now.  The  state  of  our  possessions  on  tlie 
Pacific  ^oniamls  it.  Tlie  time  to  begin  l)aa 
arrived.  All  the  necessary  information  is  on 
hand.  The  moans  arc  ready.  The  title  ■  to 
Oregon  is  settled,  and  a  government  estab- 
lished there,  and  population  is  growing  up. 
California  is  acquired:  people  are  tliere:  and 
.  a  government  must  follow.  We  have  a  fleet 
on  that  coa.-it — troops  there  and  going.  Streams 
of  population  are  concentrating  there.  Since 
the  discovery  of  the  Now  World  by  Colum- 
bus, there  has  not  boon  such  an  unsettling  of 
the  foundations  of  society.  Not  merely  indi- 
viduals and  companies,  but  communities  and 
nations  are  in  commotion,  all  bound  to  the 
setting  sun — to  the  gilded  horizon  of  western 
America.  For  want  of  an  American  road, 
they  seek  foreign  routes,  fixr  round,  by  sea 
and  land,  to  reach  by  an  immense  circuit  what 
is  a  part  of  their  own  land.  Until  we  can 
get  a  road  of  our  own,  we  must  use  and  sup- 
port a  foreign  route  ;  but  that  is  a  temporary 
resource,  demanded  by  the  exigency  of  the 
times,  and  until  we  can  get  our  own  ready. 
Never  did  so  great  an  object  present  itself  to 
the  acceptance  of  a  nation.  We  own  the 
country  from  sea  to  sea — from  the  Atlantic 
to  the  Pacific — and  npon  a  breadth  equal  to 
the  length  of  the  Mississippi — and  embracing 
the  whole  temperate  zone.  Three  thousand 
miles  across,  and  half  that  breadth,  is  the 
magnificent  parallelogram  of  our  domain. 
We  can  run  a  national  central  road,  through 
and  through,  the  whole  distance,  under  our 
flag  and  under  our  laws.  Military  reasons 
require  us  to  make  it :  for  troops  and  muni- 
tions must  go  there.  Political  reasons  require 
us  to  make  it :  it  will  be  a  chain  of  union  be- 
tween the  Atlantic  and  Mississippi  states. 
Commercial  reasons  demand  it  from  us :  and 
here  I  touch  a  boundless  field,  dazzling  and 
bewildering  the  imagination  from  its  vastness 
and  importance.  The  trade  of  the  Pacific 
ocean,  of  the  western  coast  of  North  Ame- 
rica, and  of  eastern  Asia,  will  all  take  its 
track;  and  not  only  for  ourselves,  but  for 
posterity.  That  trade  of  India  which  has 
been  shifting  its  channels  from  the  time  of  the 
Phoenicians  to  the  present,  is  destined  to  shift 
once  more,  and  to  realize  the  grand  idea  of 
Columbus.  The  American  road  to  India  will 
also  become  the  European  track  to  that  region. 
The  European  merchant,  as  well  as  the  Ame- 
rican, will  fly  across  our  continent  on  a  straight 
line  to  China.  The  rich  commerce  of  Asia 
■will  flow  through  our  centre.  And  where  has 
that  connnerce  ever  flowed  without  carrying 
wealth  and  dominion  with  it  ?  Look  at  its 
ancient  channels,  and  the  cities  which  it  raised 
into  kingdoms,  and  the  populations  wljich 
upon  its  treasures  became  resplendent  in 
science,  learning,  and  the  arts.  Tyre,  Sidon, 
Balbec,  Palmyra,  Alexandria,  among  its  an- 
cient  emporiums,  attest  the  power  of   this 


commerce  to  enrich,  to  aggrandize,  and  to 
enlighten  nations.  Constantinople,  in  the  mid- 
dle ages,  and  in  the  time  of  the  crusades,  was 
the  wonder  of  western  Europe ;  and  all  be- 
cause she  was  then  a  thoroughfare  of  Asiatic 
commerce.  Genoa  and  "S^enice,  mere  cities, 
in  later  time,  became  the  match  of  kingdoms, 
and  the  envy  of  the  kings,  from  the  mere 
divided  streams  of  this  trade  of  which  they 
became  the  thoroughfare.  Lisbon  had  her 
great  day,  and  Portugal  her  preeminence 
during  the  little  while  that  the  discovery  of 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  \nit  her  in  communi- 
cation with  the  East.  Amsterdam,  the  city  of 
a  little  territory  rescued  from  the  sea,  and  the 
seven  United  Provinces,  not  equal  in  extent 
to  one  of  our  lesser  states,  became  great  in 
arms,  in  letters,  in  wealth,  and  in  power ;  and 
all  upon  the  East  India  trade.  And,  London, 
what  makes  her  the  commercial  mistress  of 
the  world — what  makes  an  island,  no  larger 
than  one  of  our  first  class  states,  the  mistress 
of  possessions  in  the  four  quarters  of  the 
globe — a  match  for  half  of  Europe — and  dom- 
inant in  Asia?  What  makes  all  this,  or 
contributes  most  to  make  it,  but  this  same 
Asiatic  trade  ?  In  no  instance  has  it  failed  to 
carry  the  nation  or  the  people  which  possessed 
it  to  the  highest  pinnacle  of  wealth  and 
power,  and  with  it  the  highest  attainments  of 
letters,  arts,  and  sciences.  And  so  will  it  con- 
tinue to  be.  An  American  road  to  India, 
through  the  heart  of  our  country,  will  revive 
upon  its  line  all  the  wonders  of  which  we 
have  read — and  eclipse  them.  The  western 
wilderness,  from  the  Pacific  to  the  Mississippi, 
will  start  into  life  under  its  touch.  A  long 
line  of  cities  will  grow  up.  Existing  cities 
will  take  a  new  start.  The  state  of  the  world 
calls  for  a  new  road  to  India,  and  it  is  our 
destiny  to  give  it — the  last  and  greatest.  Let 
us  act  up  to  the  greatness  of  the  occasion,  and 
show  ourselves  worthy  of  the  extraordinary 
circumstances  in  which  we  are  placed,  by 
securing,  while  we  can,  an  American  road  to 
India — central  and  national — for  ourselves 
and  our  posterity — now,  and  hereafter,  for 
thousands  of  years  to  come." 

7.  Whitney's  Railroad. — The  enterprising 
gentleman  at  the  head  of  this  has,  for  four  or 
five  years,  given  it  almost  exclusive  attention, 
and  has  perhaps  more  than  any  other  man  in 
the  country  illustrated  the  importance  of  a 
connection  with  the  Pacific.  He  has  explored 
personally  a  short  portion  of  the  route,  and 
visited  nearly  every  state  in  the  Union,  to  in- 
duce their  legislatures  to  cooperate.  In  this 
manner  his  outlay  must  have  been  very  con- 
siderable. His  proposition  is  to  construct  the 
road  as  a  private  enterprise,  in  consideration 
of  a  grant  from  Congress  of  thirty  miles  on 
each  side  of  the  road,  from  its  eastern  termi- 
nus at  Lake  Michigan  to  the  vjestcrn  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Columbia,  or  at  Puget's  Sound, 
which  is'entered  from  the  Straits  of  Fuca. 


500 


RAILROADS    BETWEEN    ATLANTIC    AND    RACIFIC    OCEANS. 


Latterly,  he  has  proposed  a  branch  to  the  Bay 
of  San  Francisco.  The  sale  of  the  lands,  it  is 
argued,  will  build  the  road  in  a  period  of  about 
twenty  years.  The  road  after  a  certain  period 
is  to  revert  to  the  government. 

The  route  projects  from  Lake  Michigan, 
striking  the  Mississippi  above  the  mouth  of 
the  wTsconsin,  and  six  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
aioi'c  St.  Louis ;  thence  to  the  South  Pass,  42°, 
and  through  the  Columbia  valley  by  Lewis's 
branch  to  the  ocean.  The  Pass  is  seven  thou- 
sand nine  hundred  and  forty  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  Gulf.  The  mouth  of  the  Kansas, 
on  the  route,  is  elevated  seven  hundred  feet. 
In  the  next  five  hundred  miles,  an  elevation 
of  two  thousand  three  hundred  feet  more  must 
be  attained,  to  Republican  Fork ;  in  the  next 
one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  miles,  the  ele- 
vation climbed  is  one  thousand  and  four  feet ; 
in  the  next  one  hundi-cd  and  seven  miles, 
nine  hundred  and  sixty -three  feet ;  in  the  next 
eighty  miles,  one  thousand  two  hundred  and 
eighty  feet;  the  next  eighteen  miles,  seven 
hundred  and  fifty-sLx  feet,  or  forty-two  feet  to 
the  mile ;  the  next  eighty-nine  miles  to  the 
Pass,  two  hundred  andlwcuty-seven  feet.  "We 
question  if  this  road  to  the  mountains  be  as 
good  as  those  projected  to  the  southward. 

ESTIiUTED  COST  OF  EGAD. 

Grading,  bridging,  &.C.,  except 
bridges  across  the  Slississippi 
and  Missouri  rivers,  for  2,0o0 
miles,  at  $5,000 $13,150,000 

Bridges   across   Mississippi  and 

Missouri 800,000 

Superstructure,  single  track,  de- 
pots, turn-outs,  &,c.,  2,730  miles, 
at  $10,500 28,000,000 

Engines,  cars,  ttc,  &c 10,276,000 

Contingencies 2,000,000 

Eepairs  upon  road  until  complet- 
ed and  before  it  can  earsup- 
port 15,000,000 


From  New-York  to  Pacific,  3,000  miles 

by  railroad 5  days. 

From  Pacific  coast  to  Chang-hai,  the 
heart  of  Chinese  commerce,  5,400 
miles IG    " 

Total  (in  place  of  present  sea  voyages 
four  and  five  months) 31     " 

From  New-York  to  Australia 31  days. 

"  «  "  Manilla 24     " 

"  "  "  Java 25     " 

«  "  "  Singapore 2*7     " 

"  "  "  Calcutta 29     " 

In  reply  to  an  attack  from  Professor  For- 
shay,  Mr.  Whitney,  in  our  Review  for  October, 
1847,  stated  that"  a  canal  tlirough  the  Nicara- 
gua would  save  but  four  hundred  and  twenty- 
two  miles  in  the  passage  from  London  to 
Valparaiso,  whilst  to  Sidney  there  would  be 
one  thousand  miles  lost ;  to  Canton,  six  hun- 
dred and  eighteen ;  to  Singapore,  two  thou- 
sand two  hundred  and  twenty-eight,  in  com- 
parison with  present  ship  routes.  He  main- 
tains that  no  southern  pass  exists  in  the  moun- 
tain less  than  twelve  thousand  feet,  (clearly  a 
great  mistake  ;)  that  a  southern  road  to  the 
Pacific  must  pass  through  soft  bottom  lands, 
over  great  streams,  and  countries  subject  to 
overflow,  bad  climates,  tt-c.  None  of  which  is 
true,  for  some  of  the  southern  routes  proposed, 
in  any  greater  degree  than  for  his  own  route. 
His  objections  to  tlie  navigation  of  the  Ohio  are 
well  raised,  if  that  river  must  be  adopted 
as  part  of  the  line  of  travel ;  but  this  would 
not  be  necessary  in  a  southern  route.  His 
position  that  Charleston  is  nearer  to  China  by 
ins  route  than  by  a  more  central  or  southern 
one,  is  not  foirly  stated,  since  his  own  figures 
give — 

Charleston  to  Pacific — Whitney's  route,  2.919 
"  "        Southern  route.  .2.201 


Total  cost $69,226,600 

TIME    OF   TRAVEL. 

From  England  to  New- York 10  days. 


Less  distance 658 

And  this  saving  of  six  hundred  and  fifty-eight 
miles  in  lengtliofrailroatl  travel,  will  compen- 
sate for  much  more  than  the  loss  in  steamship 
navigation  uiii  111  the  Pacific.  Subject  to  this 
objection,  we  furnish  his  tabular  estimates : 


RAILROADS    EET-WEEN    ATLANTIC    AND    rACIFIC    OCEANS. 


501 


Table  of  distances  from  principal  Atlantic  cities,  tfcc,  to  Charleston,  VicTcshurg,  Mazatlan, 
and  (o  China,  bi/'tke  Southern  route  ;  aho  from  Prairie  du  Chien,  near  the  Mississippi, 
to  Orccfon,  t£v.,  tir.,  by  the  Korthcrn  route,  with  amount  of  differences,  6:c. 


Southern  Route. 

Northern  Route. 

Diff.  to  Pacific. 

rnoM 

1 

6 

a 

> 
o 

a 
a 

a 

a 

a 

S 
o 

3 

Q 
o 

EH 

% 

o 

o 

a 
13 

O 

1 

aj 

o 

1 

il 

Charleston 

Richmoud 

427 
554 
594 
709 
796 
996 

771 
1,198 
1,325 
1,365 
1,480 
1,567 
1,767 

415 
1,001 
1,132 
1,496 
1,588 
1,732 
1,863 
1,425 

803 

826 
1,208 
1,070 
1,279 

2,261 
2,688 
2,815 
2,855 
2,970 
3,057 
3,257 
1,905 
2,491 
2,622 
2,986 
3,078 
3,223 
3,353 
2,915 
2,293 
2,316 
1     2,698 
2,560 
2,761 

10,66ll 
11,085 
11,215' 
11,255 
11,770' 
11,457 
11,657 
10,305 
10,891 
11,022 
11,386 
11,478 
11,622 
11,755 
11,315 
10,693 
10,716 
11,098 
10,960 
11,161 

1,097 

950 

988 

948 

1,041 

1,141 

1,341 

830 

430 

450 

560 

610 

517 

803 

486 

30C 

27s 

6C 

21C 

2,912 
2,779 
2,810 
2,770 
2,863 
2,963 
3,163 
2,652 
2,252 
2  272 
2^382 
2,432 
2,339 
2,625 
2,308 
2,122 
2,097 
1,882 
2,03i 
1,822 

8,319 
8,172 
8,210 
8,170 
8,263 
8,363 
8,563 
8,052 
7,652 
7,672 
7,782 
7,832 
7,739 
8,025 
7,708 
7,522 
7,497 
7,282 
7,432 
7  222 

658 
84 

747 

5 

85 

107 

94 

94 

239 
350 
604 
646 
883 
728 
605 
171 
219 
816 
528 
939 

2,342 
2,917 

Washington 

Baltimore 

rhiladelphia 

New-York 

Boston 

3,005 
3,085 
3,570 
3,094 
3,094 

New-Orleans 

Louisville 

Cincinnati 

2,257 
3,239 
3,350 

Wheeling 

3,604 

Pittsburg 

3,646 

Cleveland 

Buffalo 

Detroit 

3,883 
3,730 
3,607 

St.  Louis 

3,171 

Alton 

Galena 

Chicago 

3,209 
3,816 
3,523 

Prairie  du  Chien 

3,939 

Mr.  Whitney  introduces  testimony  to  prove ' 
the  snows  on  his  route  are  unimportant,  pre- 
vail to  but  little  depth,  not  every  year,  are 
dry  and  do  not  stand  long ;  no  greater  cold 
than  in  New-England,  aud  no  greater  obstruc- 
tions than  upon  the  roads  there.  He  argues 
that  a  Fouthern  route  must  necessarily  earn 
dividends,  (a  7ion  scqiiitur  always,)  and  charge 
a  rate  of  freight  one  cent  per  ton  the  mile 
against  his  half  cent.  Upon  his  estimates  of 
one  cent  and  half  a  cent  is  constructed  a  table,* 
which  we  have  not  space  to  give,  but  which 
shows  a  rate  of  freight  varying  from  twenty- 
tlu'oe  to  fifty-three  dollars  a  ton  to  China,  ac- 
cording to  the  route  and  the  point  of  depart- 
ure, or  from  one  to  two  dollars  the  hundred 
weight. 

8.  Memphis  R.ulroad. — By  this  we  mean 
the  road  which  our  fellow-citizens  of  Tennessee 
and  Arkansas  are  uow  advocating,  aud  which 
they  propose  to  submit  to  a  convention  of  the 
southwestern  states.  The  road  would  leave 
the  Arkansas  shore,  opposite  Memphis,  and 


*  Mr.  Whitney's  objections  to  Jlazatlan  as  a  termi- 
nus have  greater  weight  than  tliey  could  have  to 
San  Diego  or  Francisco.    The  sailing  time  from  these 

Eorts  would  be  somewhat  longi-r  than  from  Colum- 
ia  river,  (.the  coal  depots  need  no(  be  in  Oregon,) 
but  this  would  be  coimterbalauced  bj'  other  advan- 
tages. 


strike  across  the  country,  perhaps  to  Van 
Buren,  with  branches  to  Little  Rock,  &c.  From 
here  it  would  follow  the  valley  of  the  Arkan- 
tas  river*  and  into  the  Indian  territory 
along  the  Canadian  branch  of  the  same  river. 
Having  left  the  valley  of  the  Canadian,  the 
route  would  be  almc  st  due  west  to  Santa 
Fe,  should  there  be  found  a  mountain  pass 
that  will  answer,  which  is  nearly  in  the  same 
parallel  of  latitude  as  Memphis.  We  know 
with  no  exactness  the  distance  from  Memphis 
to  Santa  Fe,  but  suppose  it  would  not  exceed 
nine  hundred  miles,  as  there  is  little  detour, 
which  is  about  the  distance  between  Santa 
Fe  and  St.  Louis.  Explorations  upon  this 
route,  with  the  view  of  a  railroad,  have  not 
yet  been  made,  though  the  expeditions  of  Mr 
Gregg  aud  others  have  given  us  many  inter- 
esting particulars. 

From  Santa  Fe  the  route  would  be  down 
the  valley  of  the  Del  Norte,  following  to  some 
extent,  perhaps,  that  pursued  by  General 
Kearney,  and  described  by  Major  Emory, 
which  crosses  somewhere  about  the  parallel  of 
34°  latitude  to  the  valley  of  the  Gila,  pursu- 


*  Tho  inundated  lauds  of  Arkansas,  five  millions 
of  acres,  according  to  Mr.  Borland's  report  in  the 
United  States  t-^enate,  one  seventh  of  the  state,  can  be 
readily  reclaimed. 


502 


RAILROADS    BETWEEN    ATLANTIC    AND    PACIFIC    OCEANS. 


ing  that  river  to  the  Colorado,  near  its  mouth 
in  the  CaUfornian  Gulf,  and  thence  across  the 
country  to  Sau  Diego.*  The  distance  between 
Santa  Fe  and  San  Diego  by  the  route  indi- 
cated is  also  about  nine  hundred  miles,  mak- 
ing the  whole  distance  from  Memphis  to  the 
Pacific  ocean  eighteen  hundred  miles.  Should 
San  Francisco  or  Monterey  be  selected  as  the 
western  terminus,  the  distance  would  be 
greater,  and  would  be  measured  to  some  ex- 
tent through  the  as  yet  unexplored  regions  of 
the  Utah  Lake.  The  distance  between  San 
Diego  and  San  Francisco  is  between  four  and 
five  hundred  miles,  and  the  two  harbors  will 
thus  compare : 

"  The  roiiT  of  San  Diego  is  the  most  south- 
ern in  the  territory  of  the  United  States,  and 
is  of  considerable  extent,  being  in  fact  an  arm 
of  the  sea;  in  length  ten  miles  and  in  breadth 
four  miles ;  from  being  land-locked  it  is  per- 
fectly secure  from  all  winds.  The  entrance  is 
narrow  and  easily  defended,  and  has  a  suffi- 
cient depth  of  water — twenty  feet  at  lowest 
tides — for  large  vessels.  The  tide  rises  five 
feet.  The  tongue  of  kelp,  three  miles  long  by 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  broad,  off  the  entrance  of 
the  bay,  must  be  avoided  by  large  vessels, 
but  small  vessels  may  pass  through  it  with  a 
strong  breeze.  The  bank  has  three  fathoms 
water  upon  it.  During  gales,  this  kelp  is  torn 
up  and  driven  into  the  bay,  where  it  is  "trouble- 
some to  vessels  by  the  pressure  it  brings  upon 
them,  either  causing  them  to  drag  their  an- 
chors or  part  their  cables.  There  are  many 
di'awbacks  to  tliis  harbor:  tlie  want  of  water 
is  one  of  tliem ;  the  river  wiiich  furnishes  the 
Mission  with  water  disappears  in  the  dry  sea- 
son before  reaching  the  bay,  and  the  sur- 
rounding country  may  be  called  a  barren 
"waste  of  sand  hills.  Tlie  town  of  Sau  Diego, 
consisting  of  a  few  adobe  houses,  is  situated 
on  the  north  side  of  the  bay  on  a  sand-flat,  two 
miles  wide.  The  mission  establishment  is 
seven  miles  from  the  town,  up  a  valley  to  the 
northeast,  and  here  there  is  a  good  supply  of 
water  the  year  round.  The  river  in  tlie  rainy 
season  discliarges  a  considerable  quantity  of 
water  into  the  bay,  bringing  with  it  much 
sand,  which  has  already  formed  a  bar  across 
False  bay,  rendering  it  useless;  and  well 
grounded  fears  may  be  entertained  that  it 
will  eventually  destroy  this  liarbor  also :  this 
occurrence,  however,  may  be  prevented  at 
slight  cost.  The  whole  country  around  San 
Diego  is  composed  of  volcanic  sand  and  mud 
mixed  with  scoria  ;  the  land  is  unfit  for  culti- 
vation, and  filled  with  cacti,  one  of  tlie  many 
evidences  of  the  poorness  of  the  soil  ;  this 
leaves  the  port  of  San  Diego  little  to  recom- 


*  Major  Cook,  in  184G,  left  Santa  Fe  coiisidKraWy 
to  the  north,  and  pursued  a  route  wliich  he  describep 
as  perfectly  level,  with  the  exception  only  of  seventy- 
three  miles.    We  have  uot  his  report  before  us. 


mend  it  but  the  uniform  climate,  good  ajichor- 

age,  and  securitg  from  all  winds."* 

The  Bat  ok  Sax  Francisco  is  thirty  miles 
in  length  by  an  average  of  six  in  width ;  a 
large  portion  of  its  southern,  eastern  and 
northern  shores  are  bordered  by  extensive 
and  wide  mud  flats,  preventing  the  landing 
at  low  water  of  even  a  boat;  so  much  so  that 
the  eastern  shore  may  be  said  to  be  inacces- 
sible ibr  a  distance  of  thirty  miles ;  and  this 
impediment  prevents  it  from  ever  becoming 
useful,  except  by  the  construction  of  exten- 
sive artificial  works "These 

obstructions  reduce  this  extensive  bay  very 
much  in  size,  and  it  becomes  still  more  re- 
duced when  the  safety  and  convenience  of 
vessels  are  taken  into  consideration  ;  indeed, 
with  the  deep  water,  cross  tides  and  exposed 
situations,  there  are  but  two  safe  anchorages, 
Yerba  Buena  and  SausaUto.  The  former 
lies  on  the  south  of  the  entrance,  between  the 
island  and  town  of  the  same  name,  and  is 
but  of  small  extent,  with  mud  flats,  bare  at 
low  water  to  the  channel ;  it  is  also  very  much 
exposed  to  the  prevailing  winds,  which  blow 
at  times  with  great  violence.  It  is  the  usual, 
but  by  no  means  the  best,  anchorage,  and  has 
but  a  scanty  supply  of  water — not  sufficient 
for  the  population  of  the  town  or  the  vessels 
that  frequent  it;  this,  added  to  the  rocky 
point  on  which  the  town  is  situated,  will  pre- 
vent it  from  ever  becoming  the  seat  of  trade. 
The  population  of  the  town  exceeds  five 
hundred  inhabitants  [several  thousand  now,] 
and  from  its  being  nearer  to  the  gold  mines 
than  Monterey,  has  become  of  late  the  most 
frequented.  The  bay  of  San  Francisco  is  well 
adapted  for  a  naval  depot,  or  for  a  place  for 
our  whalers  to  recruit.  Its  possession  insures 
to  us  the  command  of  the  northern  Pacific  and 
the  protection  of  our  large  and  extended  in- 
tere.-ts  there ;  but  I  know  of  no  place  where 
the  natural  site  of  a  town  can  be  found 
throughout  the  A\'hole  bay,  and  it  appears  to 
me  extremely  diflicult  to  select  one  where 
the  locality  would  permit  of  extensive  arti- 
ficial improvements. "f 

"  The  IIauhor  of  Monterev  is  said  to  re- 
semble the  beautiful  bay  of  Naples.  It  has 
water  and  capacities  for  the  combined  ships 
and  navies  of  the  world.  The  winds  here 
never  blow  iiome,  and  tlie  anchorage,  there- 
fore, is  perfectly  safe.":}: 

Major  Emory  thus  contrasts  the  two  po- 
sitions of  San  Francisco  and  San  Diego :  "At 
present  San  Diego  is,  all  things  considered, 


•  Charles  Wilkes's,  Commandant  of  Exploring  Ex- 
pedition, Report  to  the  National  Institute,  1S49.  Cap- 
tain Wilkes  gives  preference  to  tlie  harhor  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Columbia  river ;  but  it  i.i  said,  on  the 
authority  of  Lieut.  Ilowison  of  tlie  navy,  the  harbor 
has  entirely  clu'nged  since  Wilkes  exauiincdit. 

t  Oajit.  Wilkes,  of  "  Exploring  Expedition,''  &c. 

$  -Maury's  letter  to  Mr,  King. 


RAILROADS   BETWEEN   ATLANTIC    AND   PACIFIC    OCEANS. 


503 


perhaps  one  of  the  best  harbors  on  the  coast 
from  Callao  to  Puget's  SouiiJ,  with  a  single 
exception,  that  of  San  Francisco.  lu  the 
opinion  of  some  intelligent  navy  ofiiccrs,  it  is 
preferable  even  to  this.  The  harbt)r  of  Sun 
Francisco  has  more  water,  but  that  of  San 
Diego  has  a  more  uniform  climate,  better 
anchorage,  and  perfect  seciuity  from  winds 
in  any  direction.  However,  the  commercial 
metropolis  must  be  at  San  Francisco,  owing 
to  the  greater  extent  and  superiority  of  the 
country  adj;icent,  watered  by  the  rivers  Sacra- 
mento and  San  Joaquin,  mdcss,  indeed,  San 
Diego  should  be  made  the  tenidnus  of  a  rail- 
road, leading  bi/  the  route  of  the  Gila  to  the 
Del  JVorte,  and  thence  to  the  Mississippi  and 
the  Atlantic!'^ 

The  route  from  Memphis  to  San  Diego  has 
yet  been  scarcely  more  than  reconnoitered. 
Mr.  Gregg,  in  his  Commerce  of  the  Prairies, 
describes  a  journey  made  by  him,  with  laden 
•wagons,  from  Vim  Bureii,  on  the  frontier  of 
Arkansas,  to  Santa  Fe,  but  with  none  of  that 
minuteness  which  is  indispensable  in  forming 
our  judgment  with   regard   to   a   raiJroad.f 


*  Report  of  Major  Emory,  attached  to  Kearney's 
Expedition. 

T  Thfft'  have  appeared  lately  in  the  columns  of  t-lie 
National  Intelligencer,  a  series  of  ably  written  papers, 
signed  "  Opithlouo,"  upon  "  Trade  to  China,"  in 
which  eminent  justice  is  done  to  the  claims  of  south- 
ern cities,  and  the  full  advantages  of  eastern  trade 
are  enumerated.  We  extract  a  passai,'e  from  the 
writer,  in  which  he  affords  sume  interesting  particu- 
lars of  the  route  from  jMempliis  to  the  Pacifu:  : 
''  Beginning  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  at 
Memphis,  we  will  have  nearly  a  perfect  level  over 
the  alluvial  lands  to  the  bank  of  the  St.  Francis- 
In  the  construction  of  this  part,  it  may  be  best  and 
cheapest  to  place  it  on  piles,  five  or  six  feet  above 
the  annual  overflow.  From  the  west  bank  of  the 
St.  Francis  to  White  Kivor  will  be  over  lands  firm 
and  above  overflow;  likewise  from  thence  to  the 
Arkansas,  near  Little  Rock.  It  appears  that  Mem- 
phis is  only  about  nine  miles  north  of  the  35th  degree 
of  north  latitude,  and  Little  Rock  24  miles  south; 
but  by  p\irsuing  the  course  of  the  35th  degree,  we 
■would  cross  the  Arkansas  above  the  mouth,  and 
would  utterly  avoid  the  Fourche  de  Fave  pass,  near 
toDavillo,  on  Jojin  Creek  ;  and  in  our  due  west  course 
our  route  is  parallel  with  this  stream  to  its  head, 
across  llie  Portea  River,  a  small  stream  tliat  emptied 
into  the  Arkansas,  We  will  be  thrown  a  few  miles 
south  of  our  direction,  by  a  short  bend  in  the  Cana- 
dian Fork  of  the  Arkansas.  Wo  are  thea  ou  the 
plain  between  the  Arkansas  and  Red  River.  Wo 
will  not  have  a  stream  to  obstruct  our  direct  course 
until  we  arrive  at  the  False  W'ashita ;  by  crossing 
this  stream  sixty  miles  north  of  where  it  flows  into 
Red  River,  we  will  pass  through  the  southern  point 
of  the  groat  American  desert,  extending  north  three 
hundred  miles,  to  the  head  of  the  Platte  River,  with 
no  streams  in  our  course  until  we  reach  the  Rio 
■Grande,  about  twenty  miles  south  of  Santa  Fc — 
where,  from  its  being  near  its  head,  is  an  inconsid- 
erable stream.  And  in  the  lands  whicli  contain 
the  precious  metals  in  so  great  abundance  as  to  at- 
tract a  trade  in  wagons  from  Missouri  for  many  years, 
grading  the  road  will  develop  many  of  these  mineral 
resources. 

"From  this  stream,  (the  Rio  Grande,)  pursuing 
our  direct  course,  we  pass  the  heads  of  streams  on 
«ach  side,  none  of  which  approach  so  near  as  to  cross, 
and  arrive  at  the  Colorado,  which   discharges  its 


Major  Emory's  report  covers  the  ground  from 
Santa  Fe  to  the  San  Diego;  but  he,  too,  ad- 
mits the  hastiness  of  his  notes,  and  that  the 
best  route  was  not  always  pursued.  The  pur- 
poses of  that  expedition  besides  were  alto- 
gether niilitarij,  and  through  an  enemy's  coun- 
try, which  prevented  any  closeness  of  observa- 
tion. Col.  Fremont,  it  is  also  understood,  is 
now  upon  this  line  of  exploratioHj^or  a  part 
of  it,  with  a  view  of  facilitating  the  project 
of  the  St.  Louis  Railroad.  He  designed  cross- 
ing the  southeastern  projection,  or  ridge  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  above  Sante  Fe  and 
Spanish  Peaks,  and,  entering  the  valley  of  the 
Del  Norte,  trace  that  river  to  its  source ;  he 
would  then  cross  over  the  Rocky  Mountains 
at  some  pass  there  to  be  discovered,  and 
"survey  his  last  line  across  the  continent, 
complete  his  knowledge  of  the  country  be- 
tween the  Mississippi  and  the  Pacific,  and 
crown  the  labors  of  long  explorations,  by 
showing  the  comitry  between  the  great  river 
and  the  great  sea  to  be  inhabited  by  a  civil- 
ized people,  and  practicable  for  a  great  road, 
and  that  on  several  lines,  and  which  was  the 
best."  This  exploration  is  one  of  the  most 
important  yet,  and  will  be  necessary  before 
establishing  any  positive  opinion  in  regard  to 
a  route  to  San  Francisco  from  St.  Louis,  or 
indeed  from  any  other  jjoint,  through  some 
other  than  the  "  South  Pass,"  which  is  in 
a  latitude  fully  five  degrees  further  north 
than  San  Francisco  or  St.  Louis.  The  gov- 
ernment, too,  it  is  said,  are  now  about  dis- 
patching Captain  Stansley  into  the  Gila  val- 
ley, and  to  the  Great  Utah  Lake,  by  the  val- 
ley of  Arkansas,  with  the  view  of  a  full  and 
complete  exploration,  occupying  about  eight- 
een months."' 

The  road  from  Memphis  through  Arkansas, 
Van  Buren,  and  a  great  portion  of  the  Indian 
Territory,  judging  from  the  nature  of  the 
lands  through  which  it  must  pass,  is  of  the 
most  practicable  character,  and  involving  the 
smallest  expense.  The  danger  of  overflow  in 
eastern  Arkansas  can,  without  doubt,  be  ob- 
viated entirely,  by  proper  levees,  constructed 
in  the  northeastern  part  of  that  state.  Pleavily 
timbered  lands  abound  upon  many  ]i&xi&  of 
the  route.     Our  facts  are  too  meagre,  how- 


waters  into  the  head  of  the  Gulf  of  California — past- 
ing again  near  the  southern  extremity  of  the  Great 
Sandy  Desert,  cue  hundred  miles  in  length,  stretch- 
ing northwest,  which  would  bo  impassable,  but  is 
thus  fortunately  placed  out  of  our  way.  And  in  the 
further  pursuit  of  our  direct  course,  we  arrive  at  the 
head  of  Tule  River,  which  discharges  its  waters  into 
the  bay  of  San  Francisco,  the  termination  of  the 
Pacific  road.  Directly  on  our  left  is  the  river 
which  flows  to  Monterey.  The  road  will  probably  be 
constructed  on  the  plain  between  these  rivers,  and 
may,  with  scarcely  any  variation,  touch  Monterey 
in  its  course  to  San  Francisco,  which  is  destined  to 
be  one  of  the  great  cities  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  and  is  only  one  degree  north  of  the  course 
of  our  road." 

*  General  Worth  is  on  his  w'ay  from  San  Antonio- 
Texas,  by  the  route  of  El  Paso,  to  the  Gila  valley. 


504 


RAILROADS    BETWEEN    ATLAXTIC    AND    PACIFIC    OCEANS. 


ever,  to  venture  any  precise  calculation  of  ob- 1  "As  regards  the  t-wo  different  routes  io 
structions  and  expense.  We  knew  that  the  Sauta  Fe,  although  Missouri,  for  various  rea- 
Mempbis  Convention,  in  1S4G,  pressed  the  sons -which  it  is  needless  to  explain  here,  can 
completion  of  a  military  road  to  Fort  Gibson,  doubtless  retain  the  monopoly  of  the  Santa 
■which,  if  fully  explored,  -would  give  us  all  Fe  trade,  the  route  from  Arkansas  possesses 
the  facts  that  -we  want,  to  that  point  of  the  many  advantages.  Besides  its  being  some 
route.  There  are  also  good  lands  upon  a  days  travel  shorter,  it  is  less  intersected  with 
wreat  portion  of  the  -way,  and  to  us  it  is  per- 1  leneic  streams,  there  are  fewer  seinch/  stretches, 
fectly  clear,  from  all  the  facts  -we  can  gather,   atid  a  greater  variety  eif  v;ood-skirted  brooks. 


that  the  passage  from  Memphis  to  Santa  Fe 
presents,  to  say  the  least,  no  greater  ob- 
stacles than  that  from  St.  Louis  to  the  So2tth 
or  some  other  pass  in  the  mountaiua 

Mr.  Gregg  left  Van  Buren  in  1839, -with 
heavy  -wagons.  He  passed  along  the  south 
or  main  fork  of  the  Canadian  branch  of  the 
Arkansas,  -which,  near  its  sources,  in  the 
heights  about  Santa  Fe,  takes  the  name 
Colorado.  He  adhered  closely  to  the  river 
until  the  peaks  of  Angosturas  -were  reached, 
-when,  for  a  short  time,  the  valley  of  the  Pe- 
cos -was  before  him.  For  sixty  miles  before 
reaching  these  peaks  or  narrows,  the  party 
folio-wed  a  plain  road  every  -where  passable 
for  -wagons.  Abrupt  projecting  routes,  reach- 
ing even  in  height  2,000  feet,  added  great 
risk  to  the  passage  of  the  narrows.     A  better 


affording  throughout  tlie  journey,  very  agree- 
able camping  places.  Also,  the  grass  springs 
up  nearly  a  month  earlier  than  in  Upper 
Missouri,  ....  for  the  rigorous  winters 
of  Missouri  often  prove  fatal  to  the  unaccli- 
mated  Mexican  animals,  Ac."* 

We  extract  the  following  from  the  circular 
of  the  Fort  Smith,  Arkansas,  "  California  Emi- 
grating Company,"  which,  however,  like  other 
documents  of  the  sort,  must  always  be  taken 
with  "  many  grains  of  allowance :" 

"  The  route  up  the  north  fork  of  the  Cana- 
dian Kiver,  aslaid  down  by  Mr.  Josiah  Gregg, 
in  his  '  Commerce  of  the  Frairies,^  and  lately 
travelled  by  a  detachment  of  United  States 
dragoons,  under  the  command  of  Lieutenant 
Buford,  to  Santa  Fe,  leaving  Santa  Fe,  how- 
ever, to  the  north  some  distance,  and  going 


road  was  however  pointed  out,  passing  near   near  Albuquerque,  immediately  to  El  Paso, 


the  Cerro  ele  Tucumcari,  a  circular  mound 
visible  to  the  southward.  This,  on  examina- 
tion, was  found  to  be  all  that  was  desirable. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  Mr.  Gregg  took  no  ob- 
servations of  the  altitudes,  <fcc.,  of  the  route. 
Reviewing  the  whole  expedition,  he  says: 

"  If  we  take  a  retrospective  view  of  the 
country  over  which  we  travelled,  we  shall  find 
but  little  that  can  ever  present  attractions  to 
the  agriculturist.  Most  of  the  low  valleys  of 
the  Canadian,  for  a  distance  of  five  hundred 
miles,  are  too  sandy  or  too  marshy  for  culti- 
vation, and  the  upland  prairies  are,  in  many 
places,  but  little  else  than  sand  hills.  In  some 
parts,  it  is  true,  they  are  firm  and  fertile,  but 
wholly  destitute  of  timber,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  a  diminutive  branch  of  the  Cross 
Timbers,  which  occupies  a  portion  of  the  ridge 
between  the  Canadian  and  the  North  Fork. 
The  Canadian  River  itself  is  still  more  bare 
of  timber  than  the  Upper  Arkansas.  In  its 
whole  course  through  the  plains,  thei-e  is  but 
little  except  cotton  wood,  and  that  very  scan- 
tily scattered  along  its  banks ;  fijr  some 
places  for  leagues  together  not  a  stick  is  to  be 
seen.  Except  it  be  near  the  mountains, 
where  the  valleys  are  more  fertile,  it  is  only 
the  narrow  bottoms  which  skirt  many  of  its 
tributary  rivulets  that  indicate  any  amenity; 
some  of  these  are  rich  and  beautiful  in  the  ex- 
treme, timbered  with  walnut,  mulberry,  oak, 
elm,  hackbcrry,  and  occasionally  cedar."* 

Comparing  the  route  to  Santa  Fe,  through 
Arkansas,  with  that  of  Missouri,  he  remarks : 


and  perhaps  take  the  route  travelled  by  Major 
Cook,  United  Sates  army,  in  the  year  18-16. 
This  road  he  describes,  in  a  letter  to  Colonel 
Abert,  as  being  comparatively  level,  and  the 
water  and  range  good,  with  only  a  single  ex- 
ception of  a  distance  of  To  miles.  The  whole 
distance  from  Memphis  to  the  Pacific  is  esti- 
mated by  Lieut.  Maury,  of  the  United  States 
navy,  to  be  1,500  miles;  and  Fort  Smith 
being  COO  miles  nearer,  tlie  distance  will  be, 
according  to  his  estimate,  only  1,200  miles ; 
but  as  a  straight  road  has  not  yet  been  laid 
out,  we  cannot  give  any  correct  estimate  of 
the  distance  from  this  point  to  the  Pacific. 
However,  we  feel  certain  the  distance  is  much 
nearer  than  was  at  first  anticipated.  Wagons 
can  travel  on  this  route  with  ease  and  safety: 
the  plains  being  so  large,  the  ground  over  which 
the  company  will  have  to  pass  can  be  selected, 
and  bad  places  thereby  avoided.  Two  hun- 
dred miles  of  this  route  is  a  plain  wagon 
road;  and  for  that  distance  provisions  and 
forage  can  be  purchased  at  very  reasonable 
prices.  It  is  sujiposed  that  the  company  will 
arrive  at  the  point  of  destination  in  80  or  lOO 
days  from  the  time  of  starting.  We  would 
here  remark,  that  an  excellent  guide,  one 
well  acquainted  with  the  country,  and  who 
can  speak  the  Caraanchc  and  other  Indian 
languages,  will  accompany  the  expedition." 

We  have  constructed,  with  some  considera- 
ble pains  and  labor,  from  all  the  various  ex- 
plorations west  of  the  Rocky  Moimtams,  and 
charts,  a  diagram,  representing. 


•  Gregg's  Commerce  of  Prairies,  vol.  II.  54  :  but 
what  other  route  has  any  advauliige  in  timber  over 
this? 


*  Gregg's  Commerce  of  Prairies,  vol.  II.  55. 


RAILROADS    nET\VEEX    ATLANTIC    AND    PACIFIC    OCEANc 


505 


1.  The  nature  of  the  route  and  its  eleva- 
tions, selected  by  Mr.  Whitney,  after  the  Notes 
of  Fremont,  between  the  South  Pass  and  the 
mouth  of  tiie  Columbia. 

2.  Route,  itc,  from  South  Pass  to  San 
Francisco.    (Fremont's.) 

3.  Route,  itc,  from  Santa  Fe,  or  Paso  del 
Norte,  *200  miles  south  of  Santa  Fe,  to  San 
Diego.     (Emory's.) 

On  inspection  of  a  profile  view  of  the 
three  proposed  routes,  it  is  evident  that  the 
one  from  St.  Louis  to  San  Francisco,  by 
the  South  Pass,  framed  upon  the  very  la- 
test map  of  Col.  Fremont,  1S48,  is  so  moun- 
tainous, as  to  be  almost  impracticable.  The 
route  to  the  mouth  of  tlie  Columl)ia  is  as  bad, 
if  not  worse,  whilst  that  from  Santa  Fe  or 
the  vicinity,  to  San  Diego,  by  the  valley  of 
the  Gila,  is  a  most  beautiful  one,  presenting 
but  in  a  small  portion  any  serious  obstruction. 
The  profile  views  are  made  with  great  care 
from  actual  survey's  by  government  engineers; 
but  these  surveys  are  not  as  perfect  by  any 
means  as  they  should  be.  They  yet  indicate 
very  much.  From  the  vicinities  of  the  Del 
Norte,  another  route  is  suggested  by  Mr.  Le- 
roux,  to  the  southward  of  the  Gila,  and  inter- 
secting that  river  at  a  considerable  distance 
fi'om  its  source ;  the  road  is  supposed  to  be 
good — through  an  open  prairie— if  water  can 
be  had.     It  deserves  exploration. 

We  could  easily  show  that  there  are  no 
grades  on  the  San  Diego  route  too  considera- 
ble to  be  overcome  by  the  pre.sent  construc- 
tion of  railroads,  even  without  inclined  planes. 
This  we  may  show  hereafter.  But  it  is  re- 
markable, at  this  very  period,  two  important 
inventions  and  patents  are  noted  by  the  press, 
by  James  S.  French,  of  Virginia;  the  one  a 
brake  for  stopping  an  engine  and  cars  almost 
mstautly ;  the  other  for  the  easy  ascent  of 
any  grades,  without  the  use  of  inclined  planes 
or  levelling.  A  railroad  may  be  laid  down 
over  tiie  ordinary  undulations  of  the  earth, 
like  a  turnpike  road,  and  engines  and  cars  be 
so  constructed  that  they  can  go  over  it  with 
safety.  To  accomplish  this  object,  the  inven- 
tion enables  the  engineer,  by  mechanical 
means,  to  supply  any  degree  of  adhesion 
which  may  be  required,  at  any  instant,  and 
to  dispense  with  it  the  moment  he  ceases  to 
need  it.  And  to  do  this,  there  are  no  rack- 
rails,  or  cog-wheels,  or  centre-rail ;  nor  is  there, 
by  this  plan,  any  such  resistance  to  the  pro- 
gress of  the  train  as  would  be  caused  by  add- 
ing weight  to  the  engine,  in  order  to  produce 
the  requisite  adhesion. 

Havuig  now  gone  over  the  entire  field  of 
projections,  it  is  full  time  to  pass  to  some  gen- 
eral observations.  A  few  points  we  think 
abundantly  evident,  from  the  facts  that  have 
been  introduced  and  from  those  that  are  readily 
suggested : 

1.  That  no  connection  or  line  of  intercourse 
between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Oceans  is 


likely  to  be  popular  among  US|  or  succeed, 
wliich  does  not  pass  through  anti  intersect  in 
its  ichole  extent  our  oiini  territonj.  All  oth- 
ers depend  too  much  upon  the  wills  and  ca- 
prices and  jealousies  of  foreigners,  which  may 
at  any  moment  put  an  end  to  the  enterprise. 
Besides,  such  foreign  roads  do  not,  to  the 
same  extent,  benefit  and  extend  our  own  pop- 
ulation, and  conduct  their  persons  and  their 
property  from  location  to  location  in  the  march 
of  western  empire.  Any  such  roads  adopted 
by  us  must  be  temporary ;  and  with  reference 
to  canals,  the  great  facts  stand  out,  that  the 
sailing  distance  to  the  East  must  yet  be  very 
vast,  su]jposing  them  constructed;  that  their 
construction  involves  as  enormous  outlay,  all 
things  considered,  as  some  central  railroad; 
that  if  undertaken  by  a  single  nation,  the  jeal- 
ousies of  others  would  be  excited,  and  no 
union  of  nations  on  the  subject  could  be  ex- 
pected, from  the  almost  impossibility  of  keep- 
ing such  a  canal  neidral. 

2.  That  if  a  great  railroad  be  constructed 
through  the  possessions  of  the  United  States 
to  the  Pacific,  that  road  must  he  as  nearly  as 
can  be  central,  to  enlist  the  sympathies,  re- 
gards, and  co-operation  of  all  sections  of  the 
coiifederacy.  No  city  or  town  can  set  up  a 
special  claim.  The  object  is  national,  and 
tlie  American  people  should  speak.  Hence 
the  rivalries  of  the  lakes,  St.  Louis,  Memphis, 
Natchez  and  Galveston,  would  be  preposter- 
ous, and  defeat  the  best  concerted  scheme  of 
either.  Not  only  must  the  road  be  central 
to  command  a  sufficient  support  ever  to  start 
or  construct  it,  or  make  it  afterward  prosper- 
ous, but  it  must  be  upon  such  a  line  and  to 
such  a  port  as  shall  be  clearly  established  to 
be  the  best,  all  things  considered.  In  such  a 
spirit,  difficulties  and  obstructions  sink  down 
into  insignificance.  The  facts  are  yet  not  all 
before  us,  that  we  may  pronounce  authorita- 
tively and  decisively  which  is  that  Ime  and 
that  route. 

There  are  yet  reasons  and  facts  sufficiently 
cogent  to  determine  our  decided  preference,  in 
tlie  prcscrd  state  of  information  on  the  sub- 
ject, for  the  Memphis  terminus,  upon  the  Mis- 
sissippi, and  these  we  will  concisely  state. 

1.  Tills  route  to  the  Pacific,  ■whether  at 
San  Diego  or  San  Francisco,  equally  good 
harbors,  at  least  if  the  former  be  not  the  best, 
to  leave  Monterey  out  of  the  question,  is  as 
short,  very  nearly,  as  any  other  American 
route  proposed — much  shorter  than  the  road 
to  St.  Louis — many  hundred  miles  less  than 
that  proposed  by  Mr.  Whitney. 

2.  The  Memphis  road  is  more  nearly  in  the 
centre  of  the  continent,  (Natchez  being  that 
point  longitudinally,*)  is  nearer  the  mouth  of 


*  Dr.  Cartwright.  Wo  have  it  on  other  authority, 
that  the  lines  drawn  tlirough  the  extremities  of  Maine 
and  Texas,  i'lorida  and  Iowa,  iulursoct  eacli  other  at 
Memphis. 


306 


RAILROAD    TO    THE    PACIFIC    OCEA^^ 


the  Ohio,  nearer  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  is  at  a 
point  always  i^avigable,  and  is  as  easy  of  com- 
munication Avitli  every  other  section  of  the 
Uuion,  as  (we  maintain  much  easier  than)  any 
other  road. 

3.  The  route  from  Memphis  is  at  least  as 
good,  we  believe  better,  than  any  other,  so  far 
as  the  face  of  the  country  and  obstructions 
are  concerned.  It  is  not  so  far  so^dh  aa  to  be 
■within  the  regions  of  sultry  suns  and  disease, 
nor  j-et  so  far  north  as  to  be  among  continued 
snow  and  ice,  but  is  through  a  temperate,  and, 
for  a  large  part,  most  salubrious  cHmate. 

4.  It  is  at  a  point  where  the  Mississippi  is 
alioays  navigable. 

Notwithstanding  this  preference,  however, 
convince  us  of  a  better  American  route,  and 
■we  yield.  More  full  and23erfect  surveys  n.ay 
fix  us  iu  our  prepossessions  or  altogether  de 
Btroy  them.  Let  us  have  the  surveys  at  once. 
In  the,  spirit  of  compromise  between  the  north 
and  the  south  and  the  west,  sliould  rivalries 
arise,  they  might  perhaps  only  be  silenced  by 
the  selection  of  a  terminus  at  some  point  op- 
2)osite  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  River,  supposing 
that  surveys  should  establish  its  equal  practi- 
cability. 

For  ourselves,  we  declare  for  the  road — the 
road  as  early  as  possible — the  road  over  the 
best  route,  and  with  the  best  termini — the 
road  most  calculated  to  subserve  the  purposes 
of  the  whole  Union — and  we  do  not  intend 
that  any  idle  preferences  or  prejudices,  or, 
worse  still,  any  discreditable  and  unpatriotic 
rivalries  shall  attract  us  to  the  right  or  tlie  left 
in  the  pursuit  of  this  great  and  stupendous 
enterprise,  which  shall  mark  an  epoch  in  the 
history  of  mankind.  Here  indeed  the  object 
is  our  count ry,  and  man. 

Stupendous  as  appears  this  proposed  enter- 
prise, tiicre  ia  nothing  in  it  at  all  impracticable. 
For  a  nation  so  extraordinary  as  ours,  the  Jiat 
has  only  to  go  forth,  and  thejlecd  is  done! 

We  say  cot,  nor  pretend  to  say,  how  this 
road  shall  be  built ;  whether,  as  Mr.  Whitney 
proposes,  by  a  grant  of  the  land  on  either  side 
to  a  private  company,  making  of  it  the  great- 
est and  wealthiest  corporation  in  the  world ;  or, 
as  Mr.  Benton  would  have  it,  by  government 
appro])!  iutions  and  government  otlicers,  thus 
fearfully  increasing  executive  patronage,  and 
leaping  at  once  headlong  into  a  system  of  such 
prodigious  expenditures  ior  interned  imjyrove- 
ments,  by  the  federal  government,  as  shall  in 
a  few  years  make  it  lose  iha  federal  character 
altogether,  and  become,  unless  some  checks 
can  be  devised,  one  of  the  most  powerful  and 
irresistible  ccntralisms  on  earth;  or  yet  by 
state  appropriations  and  action  conjointly  with 
individuals,  as  Mr.  Callioun  perliaps  would 
have  it,  or  as  economy  and  expediency  might 
demand,  since  government  ever  pays  much 
and  gets  little,  if  indeed  the  means  of  states 
and  individuals  are  adequate  to  the  purpose. 
We  express  not  an  opinion  here.    Concert  of 


action,  counsel,  deliberation,  are  required. 
Wise  heads  must  be  called  upon  to  pronounce. 
We  see  difficulties,  vast  dilficulties  iu  either 
or  any  view,  but  our  faith  in  the  road,  and 
the  road  at  once,  is  iaishaken. 

It  is  demanded  by  our  wants.  Would  we 
be  witliout  this  great  link  to  bind  together 
our  continent,  extend  our  pressing  population, 
fill  up  our  interior  valleys  and  vast  wilderness 
with  an  enterprising  people,  secure  our  de- 
fences by  land  and  water,  and  bring  together 
our  merchants  and  manufacturers  from  every 
part  of  the  contiuent  in  common  marts  ? 

We  want  the  road  to  develop  our  mineral 
resources,  which  appear  to  be  inexliaustible. 
We  kuow  not  yet  the  treasures  which  are  be- 
yond the  Rocky  Mountains.  We  have  found 
virgin  gold  iu  quantities  to  bewilder  our  imag- 
inations and  astound  our  judgments,  yet  we 
know  scarcely  any  thing  yet  of  the  country. 
Are  there  other  precious  metals  ?  Is  there 
iron  ?  is  there  coal?  which  have  enriched  Penn- 
sylvania and  given  rise  to  her  public  works, 
the  most  extensive  in  the  Union.'*  We  kuow 
that  the  quantity  of  salt  is  altogether  inex- 
haustible on  the  route ;  and  is  this  article  so 
valueless  that  it  will  not  bear  a  transportation 
two  or  three  times  as  great  only  as  is  borne  by 
the  coal  of  Pennsylvania? 

We  want  the  road,  finally,  to  complete  for 
us  that  commcrcicd  empire  after  which  we 
have  sighed — which  has  been  indicated  for  us 
in  every  step  of  our  progress,  from  the  landing 
of  tlie  Pilgrim  Fathers,  and  which  ajijiears  to 
be  ours  by  a  manifest  and  inevitable  destiny. 
SJiall  we  not  then  have  it  ? 

RAILROAD  TO  THE  PACIFIC  OCEAN. 
— Address  of  the  jMempuis  Convention  to 
THE  People  of  the  United  States,  1850. — 
Felloio-Cilizens :  The  undersigned  have  been 
appointedacommittee  by  the  National  Conven- 
tiin,  which  assembled  at  Menqjhis,  Tennessee, 
on  the  23d  of  October  last,  to  prepare  an  ad- 
dress to  the  people  of  the  United  States  in  re- 
gard to  tlie  increase  of  liicilities  of  intercourse 
between  tlic  Atlantic  and  Pacific  oceans. 

The  settlement  of  the  Oregon  question,  and 
the  treaty  of  peace  with  the  Republic  of  Mex- 
ico, fix  and  quiet  us  in  the  possi  ssion  of  terri- 
tories between  the  lines  of  our  western  settle- 
ments and  the  Pacific  ocean,  extending  through 
17°  of  latitude  and  14°  of  longitude,  and  em- 
bracing an  area  of  very  nearly  900,000  square 
miles,  scarcely  less  than  one  half  the  whole 
previous  domain  of  the  republic. 

This  immense  empire  between  the  western 
tributaries  of  the  Mississippi,  the  Missouri  and 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and   the  Pacific  ocean, 


*  LiexU.  Maury,  in  bis  loiter  to  Mr.  King,  says  that 
Lieut.  Minor,  ol'  the  navy,  wlio  was  governor  of  San 
Diego,  inlonncd  liini  of  linving  found  bituminous 
coal  in  the  Solitlad  valley,  ahout  si.x  miles  from  the 
port.  Ilo  found  it  on  the  surface,  and  used  it  in  the 
i  forge,  though  it  was  impregnated  with  sulphur. 


RAILROAD   TO    THE   PACIFIC    OCEAN'. 


507 


aItlioun;h  sparsely  populated  in  parts,  is  yet 
an  unreclaimed  -wililerness,  unexplored  in  its 
greater  extent,  and  undescribed,  excei)t  upon 
particular  lines  and  by  hurried  reconnoissances. 
Tlio  trail  of  the  Indian,  the  narrow  path  of  the 
hunter  and  the  trnpper,  the  emigrant's  way 
over  which  his  wagons  have  toiled,  evidence 
the  only  interruptions  of  these  vast  and  un- 
broken solitudes. 

Embracing,  as  our  limited  knowledge  teach- 
es us  it  does,  a  wide  range  of  climates  and  a 
great  diversity  of  physical  characteristics,  this 
western  empire  is  destined  eventually  to  give 
habitation  to  millions  of  freemen,  and  to  ex- 
hibit all  the  highest  evidences  of  civilization 
aud  progress  in  arts  and  in  industry. 

If  nature  in  her  sternest  and  most  forbid- 
ding aspects  is  presented  in  much  of  its  ex- 
tent, frightful  mountain  ranges  and  deep 
gorges,  hopeless  deserts,  parched  and  sterile 
plains,  there  are  not  wanting  tracts  equalling 
in  extent  large  states  of  our  confederation, 
fruitful  in  agricultural  capacities,  and  ofleriug 
returns  to  labor  and  enterprise  as  high  as  in 
any  other  quarter  of  the  world. 

"Within  tliis  region  have  been  discovered  the 
most  valuable  mines  of  the  precious  metals, 
rivalling  in  extent  and  in  richness  those  of  a  fab- 
ulous antiquity,  and  seemingly,  from  every 
indication,  inexhaustible  for  ages  to  come. 

Its  western  limits  for  1,000  miles  are 
washed  by  the  waters  of  the  Pacific,  and  in- 
dented with  bays  and  harbors,  capacious  and 
safe,  and  adequate  for  every  commercial  want. 
This  beautiful  ocean,  which  floats  the  com- 
merce of  oriental  climes,  calm  as  a  lake,  sus- 
tains to  its  shores  almost  the  relation  of  the 
Mississippi  to  our  inland  states,  conducting 
with  equal  facility  their  coasting  trade,  in  ves- 
sels that  could  not  for  an  hour  endure  the  At- 
lantic gales. 

The  ports  and  harbors  of  western  America 
are  from  13,000  to  17,000  miles  in  sailing  dis- 
tance nearer  to  the  great  marts  of  Asiatic  or 
eastern  commerce  than  those  of  the  Atlantic 
cities  of  the  United  States  or  of  Europe. 

What  can  be  wanting  to  a  region  so  en- 
dowed and  circumstanced  to  command  the 
highest  influences  and  position,  but  the  pres- 
ence of  an  active  and  enterprising  population, 
who  shall  hasten  to  render  available  every 
advantage  of  nature  ?  Such  a  population,  it 
is  believed,  has  begun  its  rapid  advances. 

A  state  government  is  even  now  in  process 
of  organization  upon  the  Pacific  shores,  an- 
other in  the  almost  unexplored  regions  of  the 
Utah  lake;  whilst  a  third  and  a  fourth,  in 
hurried  succession,  may  be  expected  out  of 
the  territories  of  New-Mexico  and  Oregon. 
To  these  there  shall  be  added,  ere  long,  others 
to  demand  admission  in  the  great  confedera- 
tion. 

Admitting  the  possible  capacity  in  Oregon, 
California,  and  New-Mexico  to  support  a  pop- 
ulation to  the  square  mile  as  great  as  the  av- 


erage now  embraced  in  our  states  and  terri- 
tories, there  would  be  an  aggregat(!  there  of 
10,000,000  of  iuliabitants.  The  calculation 
will  not  be  regarded  wild  when  it  is  reflected 
how  sparsely  populated  and  almost  unre- 
claimed are  many  of  these  states  and  territo- 
ries. Not  one  half  of  A^ermont,  New-Jersey, 
Virginia,  Carolina,  Georgia,  or  Ohio,  being  in 
cultivation ;  not  one  fourth  of  Maine,  Maryland, 
Illinois;  not  one  fifth  of  Texas,  Wisconsin, 
Iowa,  &c.  If  but  one  half  tlie  country  were 
adequate  to  habitation  and  industry,  and  the 
present  density  of  Pennsylvania  were  at- 
tained, the  whole  amount  would  then  swell 
to  20,000,000,  or  to  very  nearly  the  existing 
strength  of  the  nation.  The  density  of  Penn- 
sylvania is  but  37  to  the  square  mile,  whilst 
that  of  some  of  the  New-England  states  is 
several  times  as  great,  and  of  many  European 
nations  immensely  larger. 

"Within  wliat  period  either  of  these  figures 
can  be  attained,  or  proportionally  high  ones, 
will  depend  upon  a  variety  of  circumstances 
impossible  to  be  taken  imo  the  calculation. 
In  the  most  favorable  view,  it  will  aid  us  to 
consider  that  the  United  States  have  gained 
in  sixty  years  almost  the  entire  amount  claimed 
upon  the  highest,  and  the  Mississippi  valley 
in  half  that  time  upon  the  lowest  basis,  and 
that  within  the  period  of  almost  a  single  year 
upward  of  60,000  emigrants  have  settled  in 
California. 

AVhatever  physical  or  other  advantages  pos- 
sessed by  a  country,  the  inducements  to  emi- 
gration and  settlement  must  be  greatly  coun- 
teracted or  controlled  by  the  expense  and  dif- 
ficulties of  access  and  of  intercommunication 
afterward.  In  the  case  before  us,  the  emi- 
grant's wagon  must  rattle  over  crags  aud 
mountains,  and  through  inhospitable  wilder- 
nesses, for  wearisome  months  and  with  innu- 
merable hardshijis,  after  the  frontiers  of  the 
states  are  passed.  Or  if  the  routes  by  the 
isthmus  or  of  Cape  Horn  be  selected,  then  a 
dangerous  and  protracted  navigation  of  the 
ocean  fur  5,0u0  or  18,000  miles  must  be  com- 
passed, equivalent  to  several  voyages  to  Eu- 
rope. Nothing  but  the  highest  and  most  al- 
luring stimulants  could  surmount  obstacles  such 
as  these.  Exile,  hopeless  exile,  and  the  sun- 
dering of  every  sacred  tie  are  involved.  Fairy 
dreams  of  treasures  as  precious  and  as  inex- 
haustible as  the  lamp  of  Aladdin  ever  re- 
vealed in  Eastern  fiction,  awaiting  the  hand 
that  shall  garner  them  without  an  elTort,  may 
be  such  a  stimulant ;  but  are  not  these  dreams 
necessarily  "  unreal,"  and  doomed,  as  all  ex- 
perience demonstrates,  to  be  eventually  dissi- 
pated ?  An  event  like  this  would  consign  the 
country,  however  otherwise  favored,  to  ages 
almost  of  wUderness  existence. 

History  evinces  every  where,  in  the  clear- 
est and  strongest  light,  the  extent  to  Mhich 
emigration  and  settlement  are  influenced 
by  natural  aud  artificial  facilities  of  inter- 


508 


RAILROAD    TO    THE    PACIFIC    OCEAN. 


course.  The  great  Mississippi  valley  may  em-  [ 
phatically  be  said  to  be  the  creation  of  the 
steam  engine,  for  without  its  magic  power,  of 
how  limited  avail  were  these  immense  water- 
courses that  mark  the  country,  and  wliat  cen- 
turies must  have  elapsed  l^efore  the  progress 
of  arts  and  of  enterprise  could  have  swept 
away  the  traces  of  savage  life ! 

Not  alone  must  there  be  furnished  to  the 
emigrant  a  passage  for  himself,  expeditious 
and  cheap,  but  equally  indispensable  is  it  that 
tlie  produce  of  liis  labor  and  his  enterprise 
command  a  market  by  similar  facilities. 

Restricted  to  the  Cumberland  road  across 
the  mountains,  or  to  the  flat  and  keelboat  nav- 
igation of  the  rivers,  with  their  attendant  un- 
certainties and  monthly  delays,  could  western 
produce  have  ever  sought  in  any  quantity 
eastern  markets,  or  would  there  have  been 
western  producers  ?  Since  the  dominion  of 
steam  has  been  established  upon  the  Missis- 
sippi, the  great  west  has  increased  from  a 
population  of  2,211,463  in  1820,  to  3,6'72,569 
in  1830,  5,302,913  in  1840,  and  10,000,000 
very  nearly  in  1850 ! 

If  all  of  this  were  not  too  evident  to  need 
illustration,  it  might  readily  be  shown  from 
the  home  trade  of  a  couutiy  as  compared  with 
the  foreign,  the  influences  of  near  and  easily 
accessible  markets  over  those  that  are  more 
remote.  Our  whole  foreign  trade,  with  the 
100,000,000  of  Europe  and  Asia,  reaches  in 
amount  but  §300,000,000,  whilst  among  the 
22,000,000  at  home  is  conducted  an  annual  com- 
merce in  purchases  and  sales  ofat  least -$1,500,- 
000,000  !  Trade,  which  seeks  exclusively  its 
own  advantage,  acknowledges  no  distinctions 
or  prejudices  between  the  native  and  foreign- 
er. Tarift's  and  restrictions  may  account  for 
many  of  its  phenomena,  but  vicinage  and 
transportation  furnish  the  more  constant  and 
reliable  solution. 

Confine  the  west  to  its  original  modes  of 
communication,  and  give  to  her  the  present 
population  she  supports,  the  extent  of  her  in- 
tercourse with  the  eastern  states,  it  may  be 
confidently  affirmed,  Avould  not  be  greater 
tlian  our  present  intercourse  with  France  or 
Germany,  the  facihties  in  either  case  being 
about  the  same. 

Nor  are  the  existence  of  means  of  easy, 
cheap,  and  expeditious  intercourse  between 
tlie  different  sections  of  a  country  important 
only  in  advancing  the  interests  of  its  trade 
and  population.  They  have  an  influence  still 
higher  and  more  marked  upon  its  political  in- 
stitutions. In  the  federative  element  of  our 
republican  system  they  constitute  an  import- 
ant basis.  A  dense  population,  widely  dif- 
fused over  an  immense  area,  and  separated  by 
phj'sical  barriers,  will,  from  the  absence  of  all 
intercourse,  engender  local  and  provincial  in- 
terests, fixed  prejudices,  and  even  hostilities. 
The  absorbing  and  controlUng  influences  of 
great  cities  begin  then  to  be  paramount,  and, 


as  in  Europe,  to  give  laws  to  the  state  or  the 
empire.  A  government  equal  in  its  benefits  and 
its  burden  upon  all  the  parts  becomes  impos- 
sible. The  remote  representative  will  occupy 
almost  the  entire  year  in  passing  from  the 
capital  to  his  constituents  and  back  again,  and 
revolution  after  revolution  change  tlie  whole 
face  of  government  before  these  constituents 
can  be  advised  of  the  danger  and  prepare  to 
counteract  it.  Strong  or  central  governments 
become  indispensable,  and  large  standing  ar- 
mies, whicli  are  at  war  witli  the  whole  theory 
of  federation  and  republicanism  itself. 

Tiie  authors  of  our  present  government 
seem  to  have  been  apprehensive  of  this  dan- 
ger, but  it  was  not  permitted  to  them  to  see 
the  great  remedy  which  the  progress  of  arts, 
sciences,  and  civilization  has  revealed.  They 
saw  how  problematical  was  the  political  con- 
nection of  the  west  and  east,  separated  by 
great  mountain  chains  and  barriers  occupying 
months  in  the  passage.  Hence  the  scope  for 
Spanish  intrigues,  the  machinations  of  ambi- 
tious demagogues,  and  half-fledged  treason 
itself.  Hence  the  anxious  movements  of  ex- 
ecutive power  and  of  Congress.  What  was 
but  incipient,  can  any  one  question,  had  there 
been  a  dense  and  crowded  population,  would 
liave  been  actual  and  triumphant  revolution, 
and  the  republic  of  the  Mississippi  before 
this  an  established  fact  ? 

How  much  stronger  then  the  apprehensions 
for  regions  as  remote  as  those  of  the  Pacific, 
more  distant  from  the  capital  at  Washington 
than  Great  Britain,  and  to  be  reached  by  com- 
munications more  hazardous,  protracted,  and 
expensive.  Js  it  not  infatuation  to  suppose 
that  states  so  remote  could  be  content  to  re- 
ceive their  laws  for  any  time  from  this  capital, 
or  would  tiiey  not  infinitely  prefer  to  it  a  sep- 
arate and  distinct  organization  ?  The  sound- 
est and  best  republicans  would  take  this  view. 
Not  otherwise  could  the  high  destinies  of  that 
country  be  achieved. 

The  problem  of  our  federative  system  be- 
comes impassible  of  solution,  where  the  num- 
ber of  states  and  tlie  extent  of  territories  have 
augmented  so  vastly,  unless  some  cohesive  in- 
fluences can  be  brought  to  operate.  It  has 
been  for  steam  and  niacpictism  to  supply  this 
cohesion,  annihilating  the  effects  of  time  and 
space,  and  presenting  the  greatest  security  for 
the  political  regeneration  of  man,  and  the 
eventual  triumph  of  our  free  institutions. 

The  highest  interests  of  the  United  States 
demand  that  her  vast  territorial  jiossessions 
be  peopled  in  the  shortest  period  of  time,  and 
that  every  legitimate  and  constitutional  en- 
couragement be  given,  come  in  what  shape  it 
may,  for  the  augmentation  of  the  resources, 
power,  and  unity  of  the  nation. 

The  convention  which  assembled  at  Mem- 
phis had  for  its  object  an  increase  of  the  fa- 
cilities of  intercourse  between  the  Atlantic 
shores  and  the  population  which  has  located, 


RAILROAD   TO    THE   rACIFIC    OCEAN. 


509 


or  may  locate  itself,  upon  the  Pacific,  or  in  the  i  almost  eveiy  objection  that  can  be  raised  from 
country  intermediate,  even  as'  an  earlier  con-  these  considerations !  It  is  four  times  the 
vention  at  the  same  city  looked  to  the  con- '  length,  on«  the  sliortest  route,  of  any  road  as 
nection  of  the  Atlantic  with  the  Mississippi '  yet  con>;tructed  in  tliis  or  any  other  country, 
valley.  Delegations  were  in  attendance  in  Its  path  is  interrupted  by  obstacles  of  the 
greater  or  less  strength  from  the  states  of  most  stupendous  character,  mountains,  gorges, 
New-York,  Pennsylvania,  "S'irginia,  South  Ca-  rivers,  deserts.  Immense  tracts  for  hundreds 
voHna,  Georgia,  Alabama,  Texas,  Louisiana,  of  miles  of  the  country  through  which  it  must 
Mississippi,  Arkansas,  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  pass  are  liopeless  and  sterile  wastes.  In 
Missouri,  Illinois  and  Ohio.  The  results  of  scarcely  any  portion  of  its  giant  length  have 
their  deUberations,  which  were  conducted  advanced  the  traces  of  civilization  or  even 
harmoniously,  have  been  given  to  the  world,  population.  Fatal  in  the  general  commercial 
Three  methods  of  increasing  the  facilities  view  must  be  the  weight  of  these  objections, 
of  intercourse  between  the  oceans  are  recom- !  unless  there  be  found  relief  in  the  character 
mended  to  the  nation  by  this  convention :        |  of  the  termini,  or  in  the  political  and  military 

1.  A    railroad   across    the   continent,   and  |  considerations  that  are  involved. 

through   the  states    and   territories  of   the  j      Combining  the  political  question  with  that 
Union.  I  of  the   termini,  which  cannot  otherwise   be 

2.  A  connection  by  ship-canal,  or  railway, '  considered  than  on  the  one  side  the  20,000,000 
though  some  one  or  more  of  the  points  that  of  enterprising  and  active  producers  of  the 
have  been  indicated,  far  to  the  southward  of  United  States,  and  on  the  other  the  700,000,- 
our  territories,  and  within  the  jurisdiction  of  000  inhabitants  of  Asia  and  the  Indian  seas, 
Mexico  and  Central  America.  i  do  these  relieve  the  matter  from  its  otherwise 

3.  A  military  road    along    the   Mexican  I  most  unpromising  attitude  ? 

frontier.  j      Political  considerations  have  nothing  at  all 

1.  A  railroad  across  the  Continent. — The  to  do  with  the  action  of  individuals  or  of 
convention  took  the  broad  ground  of  recom-  1  companies  pursuing  their  own  ends  and 
mending  to  Congress  explorations  and  surveys  I  devices,  and  in  the  conflict  of  opinion  which 
of  all  the  routes  designated  by  public  opinion,  1  exists  with  regard  to  the  extent  of  govem- 
and  a  selection  of  that  route  which  is  easiest  ment  power  in  constructing  internal  improve- 
of  access,  best  calculated  to  subserve  the  '  ments,  it  is  impossible  to  say  how  far  they 
purposes  of  national  defense,  most  conve-  i  may  be  admitted  by  it  to  influence  the  con- 
snient,  most  central,  and  which  can  be  con-  struction  of  the  road.  Could  such  considera- 
tructed  upon  the  cheapest  terms.  In  the  tions  induce  a  direct  appropriation  from  the 
present  limited  information  which  obtains,  national  cofters,  or  a  pledge  of  the  national 
it  was  impossible  to  go  further  and  commit  {  faith  ?  The  right  and  power  of  donating  the 
the  convention  to  any  one  of  these  routes  as  i  public  lands  in  such  a  cause  seems  to  have 
an  indispensable  condition.  A  marked  j)re- '  been  nowhere  denied  ;  but  would  such  dona- 
ference,  however,  was  expressed,  as  we  shall ,  tions  be   adequate  to  the  construction  and 


hereafter  see. 

The  action  and  force  of  the  body  was  con- 
centrated upon  the  road  itself,  as  necessary 
and  proper,  and  within  reach  of  the  mean: 


operation  of  the  road,  u'respective  of  its  com- 
mercial complexion  ? 

Taking  the  most  flivorable  case  that  can'  be 
presented :   that  population  will  follow   the 


and  enterprise  of  the  American  people.  Upon  line  of  the  road  in  a  broad  belt  of  from  50  to 
these  points  there  was  little,  if  any,  diversity  200  miles,  and  settlements  keep  pace  with 
of  opinion.  j  construction — that  no  portion  of  the  road  can 

jS'o  plan  of  construction  is  recommended,  be  through  a  wilderness,  since  it  can  be  said 
except  that  the  public  lands  of  the  United  ]  of  scarcely  any  part  of  the  country  to  be  tra- 
States  constitute  a  legitimate  and  proper  fund  versed,  it  is  incapable  of  supporting  popula- 
for  the  purpose.  tion  and  industry  in  any  of  its  employments 

Sufficient,  it  is  beUeved,  has  been  said  of  land  forms — that  hundreds  of  thousands  of  enii- 
the  necessity  and  propriety  of  greatly  in- '  grants  would  be  attracted  from  Europe  annu- 
creased  facilities  of  intercourse  with  the  Pa-  i  ally  as  operatives,  who  would  all  become  per- 
cific  shores  of  the  Union,  and  the  question  of  I  maneut  settlers  on  the  route — that  a  great 


a  railroad  must  stand  or  fall  on  its  own  merits 
of  practicabdity  and  consonance  with  the  en- 
terprise and  resources  of  the  nation. 

In  estimating  the  practicability  of  railroads, 
the  considerations  of  length,  natural  obstacles 
to  be  surmounted,  character  of  intermediate 
country,  population  and  productions  to  be 
commanded,  termini,  are  of  controlling  im- 
portance. 

A  road  to  the  Pacific  ocean  concentrates 
in  the  highest  possible  degree  upon  itself 


road  is  but  a  series  of  lesser  ones,  and  that 
each  of  these  last  being  necessary  to  the  trade 
and  travel  of  its  own  neighborhood,  and  capa- 
ble of  being  supported  by  it,  the  whole  must, 
for  an  obvious  reason,  be  capable  of  a  siiuilar 
support — that  the  most  which  can  be  said 
against  the  practicability  of  such  a  road  is,  it 
is  beyond  and  not  opposed  to  our  experience — 
that  indications  of  great  and  valuable  mineral 
resources  upon  the  lines  to  be  pursued  promise 
vast  contributions  to  the  enterprise— that  on 


610 


BAILROAD   TO   THE   PACIFIC   OCEA>% 


the  most  favorable  routes  projected  tlie  ob- 
stacles are  only  in  limited  sections,  whilst  the 
major  extent  may  be  constructed  with  less 
difficulty  and  expense  than  upon  the  average 
of  American  roads — that  all  experience  shows 
the  railroad  creates  the  trade  that  supports  it, 
and  augments  indefinitely  the  intercourse  of 
points  commanded — that  in  the  progress  of 
miprovement  the  cost  of  construction  aud  the 
rates  of  freight  have  progressively  and  regu- 
larly declined,  and  that  the  tendency  in  the 
same  direction  continues  undiminished,  &c. 

Giving  their  full  weight  to  considerations 
of  this  kind — and  to  many  of  them  we  shall 
recur  again — it  may  be  doubted,  upon  the 
whole,  whether  they  leave  the  matter  so  un- 
embarrassed that  the  practicability  of  a  Pa- 
cific railroad  within  two  or  three  generations 
cxn  be  demonstrated,  unless  the  possible  trade 
with  the  Pacific  ocean  and  the  East  give  a 
new  turn  to  the  discussion. 

From  the  earliest  periods  of  the  world's 
history  the  trade  of  the  oriental  seas  has 
enriched  the  nations  who  have  been  so  for- 
tunate as  to  control  it.  It  is  unnecessary  to 
dwell  upon  the  power  and  the  glory  and  the 
maritime  splendors  of  Tyre,  and  Alexandria, 
and  Venice,  and  finally  of  Britain,  who  has 
now  usurped  the  sceptre  of  them  all.  It  is  a 
trade  that  has  endured  and  triumphed  over 
every  character  of  obstacle,  aud  from  its  pre 
Clous  value  perennially  flourished.  Neither 
trackless  deserts,  nor  savage  man,  nor  fierce 
storms  aud  rude  navigation  of  the  deep  for 
tedious  months,  have  disturbed  its  course. 
Nations  have  warred  for  the  empire  in  its 
gift,  and  diplomacy  exhausted  upon  it  her 
highest  resources. 

g^Can  this  sceptre  be  wrested  into  our  hands 
through  the  instrumentality  of  the  states  upon 
the  Pacific  shores  of  the  Union  so  immediately 
proximate  to  the  very  gates  of  the  East,  and 
will  a  railroad  connection  between  these 
states  and  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  con- 
necting with  the  lines  that  already  strike  the 
Atlantic  coasts  effect  the  transfer  ? 

The  value  of  eastern  commerce  with  all  the 
world  was,  in  1841,  according  to  a  report 
made  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States, 
about  §250,000,000,  or,  to  be  more  specific,  in 
imports,  8158,866,980,  and  in  exports,  $86,- 
453,238,  tlie  balance  being  greatly  in  favor  of 
India.  The  number  of  ships  employed  was 
l,5Sl,of  an  aggregate  tonnage  6i)S,515.  The 
value  of  this  trade  has  been  greatly  increased, 
and  may  be  estimated  at  the  present  time 
nearer  8350,000,000,  requiring  about  2,000 
ships,  of  the  gross  value,  say,  $60,000,000. 
The  commodities  included  in  it  are,  in  the 
main,  of  the  most  valuable  character,  being 
silks,  teas,  spices,  the  finer  mauufactuics  of 
cotton  and  wool,  indigo,  opium,  drugs,  fancy 
ware,  precious  metals — anil  these  are  such  as 
are  capable  of  enduring  the  most  expensive 


transportations.  These  articles  might  be  in- 
definitely rnuHiplied  to  suit  the  wants  and 
even  the  caprices  of  the  respective  parties, 
could  there  be  any  considerable  reduction  in 
the  transit  expenses.  A  reduction  of  two 
thirds,  or  even  one  half  the  distance,  and  a 
similar  reduction  in  time,  would  lead  to  an 
almost  unlimited  extension.  Many  new  pro- 
ducts would  then  endure  transportation  which 
are  now  too  perishable  or  bulky.  The  travel 
would  also  be  immensely  increased.  New 
markets  would  be  opened  for  millions  aud 
hundreds  of  millions  of  eastern  consumers. 
The  Sandwich  Islands  are  but  now  in  the 
infancy  of  their  growth.  There  are  1,500,000 
Polynesians.  Celebes  contains  3,000,000,  and 
Java  5,000,000  or  6,000,000,  who  export  $30,- 
000,000  annually  to  Holland.  Sumatra,  with 
a  population  of  2,000,000,  exports  30,000,000 
pounds  spices.  Borneo,  with  3,000,000  or 
4,000,000,  exports  gold,  tin,  antimony  and 
diamonds.  The  Philippines  have  3,500,000 
producers  of  sugar,  cotfee,  indigo  and  hemp. 
Singapore  is  the  great  centre  of  Indian  trade. 
India  contains  184,000,000,  including  Cabul 
and  Affgbanistan,  Calcutta,  Bombay,  Madras, 
Ceylon,  ttc,  with  a  commerce  of  $150,000,000 
annually.  Australia  is  an  infant  but  most 
promising  colony.  Russian  America  is  not 
destitute  of  hope,  nor  the  Manchoo  Tartary. 
The  50,000,000  of  Japan  with  their  rich  pro- 
duce are  still  suffered  to  remain  almost  closed 
entirely  to  commerce.  The  empire  of  China, 
with  350,000,000  inhabitants,  we  scarcely  sees 
more  of  than  the  walls.  The  great  rivers 
Shanghalin  and  Yang-tsee  Keang,  the  Missis- 
sippi and  Missouri  of  the  eastern  continent, 
each  about  4,000  miles  in  length,  connect  the 
coasts  with  the  vast  and  densely  populous 
interior. 

Can  it  be  imagined,  then,  that  these  im- 
mense regions, so  thronged  with  human  beings, 
most  of  them  in  high  advancement,  have 
already  reached  the  acme  of  their  foreign 
trade — or  is  it  not  plausible,  that,  when  better 
systems  of  intercourse  are  opened,  jealousies 
removed,  andcivilization  extended,  the  amount 
of  trade  conducted  with  them  will  be  aug- 
mented several  fold,  reaching,  perhaps,  in  the 
annual  aggregate,  to  nearer  $500,000,000  or 
$800,000,000,  or  even  eventually  $1,000,000,- 
000?  Instead  of  2,000  travellers  aiumally 
visiting  the  East,  would  not  the  number  in 
such  a  contingency  swell  to  80,000,  or  even 
50,000  ? 

Will  this  great  trade  prefer  to  its  present 
routes  a  rival  one  across  the  Pacific  of  4,000 
or  5,000  miles,  for  example  to  Sau  Francisco, 
there  to  be  taken  2,000  miles  upon  a  rail- 
road to  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  thence 
700  to  1,000  miles  by  steamboat  or  continuous 
railroad  to  the  Atlantic  or  gulf  ports,  thence 
for  3,000  or  4,000  miles  to  Europe,  being  a 
total  distance  of   lO.-OOO    or   12,000   miles, 


RAILROAD   TO   THE    PACIFIC    OCEAN. 


511 


against  18,000  to  20,000  at  present,  requiring, 
in  the  one  instance,  from  25  to  37  days,  and 
in  the  other  110  to  100  days? 

Many  and  strong  doubts  may  bo  enter- 
tained even  by  the  most  sanguine,  and  it  is 
not  to  our  purpose  to  hazard  the  measure  by 
the  expression  of  any  degree  of  confidence 
■which  the  facts  will  not  conclusively  warrant. 

Upon  the  one  side  may  be  alleged  the 
high  rates  of  railroad  transportation  in  com- 
parison witlL  shipping,  tlie  greatly  increased 
cost  and  detriment  of  so  many  transhipments, 
&c.,  &c. ;  whilst  upon  the  other,  the  saving  in 
interest,  and  insurance,  and  distance  will  be 
pressed  with  equal  force.  These  savings 
would  amount,  upon  a  reasonable  estimate,  to 
the  following :  interest  upon  the  value  of  half 
the  shipping  discharged,  viz.,  upon  $80,000,- 
000,  $1,500,000  ;  three  months'  interest  in  time 
gained,  upon  $300,000,000  products,  $3,500,- 
000;  total,  $5,000,000. 

A  bonus  upon  this  showing  of  |5,000,000 
per  annum  is  offered  to  the  railroad,  which 
amount  may  be  reasonably  charged  upon  the 
present  shipping  receipts  of  eastern  com- 
merce. 

In  addition  to  this  consideration,  there  are 
many  others  which  should  be  kept  steadily  in 
view.  Railroad  enterprises  are  still  in  their 
infancy,  and  the  tariff  of  freights  they  have 
adopted  has  already  been  reduced  to  an  ex- 
tent which  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
within  the  contemplation  of  their  most  enthu- 
siastic advocates.  They  are  now  employed 
in  transporting,  for  hundreds  of  miles,  coal, 
iron  and  granite,  the  heaviest  and  least  valu- 
able, in  proportion  to  bulk,  of  all  known  com- 
modities. A  single  locomotive,  of  American 
construction,  will  haul  from  1,000  to  1,200 
tons,  at  the  rate  of  ten  miles  an  hour,  when 
twenty  tons  in  the  same  time  was  originally 
considered  the  ultimatum.  They  compete 
with  canals  and  run  parallel  with  the  banks 
of  considerable  water  courses.  Their  cost  of 
construction  has  been  undergoing  continual 
reduction,  and  is  now  from  one  third  to  one 
half  less  than  at  earlier  periods.  This  reduc- 
tion is  the  result  of  improvements  in  the 
manufacture  of  bar  iron,  which  sold  in  Liver- 
pool at  .€l-t  per  ton  in  1825,  and  is  worth,  in 
1849,  £5  5s.,  promising  even  greater  reduc- 
tions in  our  own  country  when  the  process  of 
Mr.  Salter,  of  New-Jersey,  lately  patented,  is 
set  into  successful  action ;  of  depreciation  in 
the  value  of  labor  and  the  interest  of  money ; 
of  more  economical  and  experienced  manage- 
ment and  rapidly  progressing  improvements 
in  the  power,  character,  and  cheapness  of 
machinery,  admitting  of  vastly  increased  work 
in  the  same  time ;  of  greatly  lower  require- 
ments in  the  extent,  etc.,  of  grading  operations 
and  amount  of  levelling  necessary — immense- 
ly carried  out  by  Mr.  French,  of  Virginia, 
■who,  by  supplying  adhesion  to  the  wheels,  and 
reducing  the  weight  of  the  engine,  enables  it 


to  ascend  and  descend  elevations  uwlhout  in- 
clined planes.  "With  the  reduction  of  all  these 
elements  of  railroad  economy  must  follow 
greater  and  greater  reductions  of  freight. 

The  average  rates  upon  railroads  in  the 
United  States  may  be  Aiirly  stated  at  three 
cents  per  ton  per  mile,  against  fully  six  cents 
at  a  period  twenty  years  ago.  This  average, 
for  the  reasons  above  hinted,  in  the  next  fif- 
teen or  twenty  years,  or  by  the  time  a  Pacific 
railroad  could  be  in  operation,  it  may  be  pre- 
sumed will  fall  in  an  equal  proportion,  or  to 
one  and  a  half  cent  per  ton  per  mile,  being  $45 
from  ocean  to  ocean.  One  cent  per  ton  is  the 
lowest  rate  at  which  freight  has  yet  been 
transported  upon  railroads  in  our  country,  and 
if  we  make  the  reduction  referred  to,  there 
would  be  for  similar  freight  a  charge  of  one 
half  cent  per  ton  per  mile,  or  $15  the  ton  from 
the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  3,000  miles.  Upon 
the  lowest  or  highest  of  these  rates  a  barrel 
of  ilour,  beef,  or  pork,  could  be  placed  upon 
the  Pacific  from  the  Mississippi  valley,  at 
from  $1  50  to  $3  00,  and  a  bushel  of  corn  or 
wheat  from  25  to50cents,  a  hogshead  of  sugar 
from  $7  to  $15. 

The  lower  rates  for  the  bulky  and  less  valu- 
able products,  and  the  higher  for  those  of  more 
precious  character,  would  be  a  fairer  estimate. 
It  is  known  to  be  the  custom  now  of  most  of 
our  roads  to  make  discriminations  of  the  kind, 
producing  their  dividends  from  passengers  and 
the  more  valuable  articles,  and  taxing  the 
heavier  with  nothing  but  the  wear  and  tear  of 
the  road,  and  the  actual  cost  and  labor  of 
transportation. 

These  facts  and  suggestions  are  presented 
for  what  they  are  worth.  If  freight  and  mer- 
chandise can  be  transported  over  the  route  at 
any  thing  like  the  cost  indicated  by  us,  then 
the  problem  of  the  eastern  trade  is  far  less 
difficult  of  solution  than  might  have  been 
imagined.  These  costs  can  be  demonstrated, 
all  things  considered,  about  the  same  as  are 
at  present  incurred,  including,  of  course,  the 
freight  from  either  terminus  to  Asia  or  to 
Europe. 

If,  on  the  contrary,  the  present  average  of 
freights  must  always  be  maintained,  theu  the 
case  against  the  railroad,  so  far  as  Europe  is 
concerned,  is  too  strong  perhaiw  to  be  resisted. 

In  regard  to  passengers,  a  different  ground 
may  be  taken.  The  saving  in  time  for  them 
will  be  from  twenty  to  thirty  days.  These 
passengers  now  pay  from  $000  to  $900.  This 
route  would  not  exceed  $250.  The  induce- 
ments to  such  travel  would,  of  necessity,  be 
vastly  augmented,  and  Europeans  might  all 
prefer  to  take  it. 

The  American  trade  with  the  East,  too,  will 
stand  upon  a  foundation  altogether  more  fiivor- 
able.  This  trade,  including  the  fisheries,  now 
reaches  $25,000,000  to  $30,000,000  annually. 
In  the  progress  of  our  population  and  industry 
it  is  rapidly  increasing,  and  must  reach  $50,- 


512 


RAILROAD   TO   THE  PACIFIC    OCEAX. 


OOO/iOO  or  8Yo,000,000.  A  road  will  give  to  it  |  selves  with  it  by  some  reflections,  and  see  how 
an  immense' stimulus.  We  are  becomiug  a  !  soon  it  loses  its  imposing  and  formidable  char- 
leadinc  manufacturing  as  well  as  agricultural  j  acter. 

people^  and  the  great  west,  from  the  Alle-  In  about  twenty  years  there  have  been  con- 
gbany  to  the  Pacific,  can  have  no  better  avenue  '  structed  nearly  7,000  miles  of  raih'oad  in  the 
of  trade  with  India  than  this,  if  any  so  good. '  United  States,  and  those  in  prof/rcs.s  willprob- 


It  is  believed  that  the  Atlantic  states  would 
find  an  equal  advantage. 

A.  railroad  is  therefore  presented  to  the 


ably  swell  the  amount  to  10,000  miles.  The 
amount  expended  already  reaches  8200,000,- 
000  Of  these  roads  1,000  miles  centre  at  the 
city  of  Boston,  and  required  an  outlay  of  §49,- 


people  with  a  bonus  as  previously  explained  .  . 

of  §5,000,000  per  annum  in  its  favor,  with  221,400.  Our  whole  public  works  constructed, 
sucli  carriage  of  freight  and  passengers  as  it  is  I  including  every  description  in  the  same  time, 
bound  to  monopolize,  through  an  immense  and  \  would  perhaps  reach  8500,000,000.  Great 
growing  region,  with  the  whole  trade  of  our  ^  Britain  meanwhile  has  built  5,000  miles,  at  a 
Pacific  "coasts  and  the  Atlantic  at  its  command, ,  cost  of  8550,000,000,  and  projects  4,000  addi- 
with  the  considerable  profits  of  mail  carriage  I  tional  miles,  swelling  the  aggregate  to  81,000,- 
and  o^overnment  stores,  with  a  large  part  of  000,000.  Her  great  Northwestern  road,_  428 
our  rapidly  gi'owing  trade  to  India,  and  as  !  miles  in  length,  exhausted  8104,000,000  in  its 
much  of  that  of  Europe  as  it  can  by  competi- 1  construction,  suflacient  to  build  our  way  from 
tion  induce,  and  superadded  to  all  with  incal-  \  ocean  to  ocean.  France  has  expended  8137,- 
culable  political  and  military  services  to  be  i  000,000,Germany  8168,000,000,  Holland  839,- 
conferred,  and  the  question  is  asked,  Can  such  !  OOO.OOu,  and  even  Russia,  despotic  Russia,  is 
a  road  be  regarded  expedient  and  proper  ?        on  her  way  with  three  stupendous  routes,  from 

A  final  question  remains  to  be  decided  :  Is  St.  Petersburg  to  Warsaw  and  Cracow,  to  Mos- 
it  within  the  reach  of  our  enterprise  ?  cow,  to  Odessa,  to  connect  the  Volga  and  the 

The  hio-hest  amount  which  has  ever  yet '  Duna !  The  passengers  increased  on  British 
been  assumed  for  the  road  is  $100,000,000.  j  roads  from  23,466,896  in  1843,  to  57,965,070 
The  interest  upon  this  amount,  at  five  per  ,  in  1848,  or  more  than  double,  and  the  receipts 
cent,  is  85,000,000  per  annum.  Wear  and  ]  from  them  in  the  last  period  was  £5,720,382, 
tear  of  the'road,  suppose  five  per  cent.,  or  an  |  or  about  830,000,000.  The  total  receipts  from 
entire  destruction  in  twenty  years,  85,000,000.  j  passengers  and  goods  had  augmented  in  six 
The  working  expenses  of  a  road  upon  the  1  years  from  £4,535,189  to  £9,933,551,  or  from 
gross  earnings  is  estimated  at  fifty  per  cent,  j  §20,000,000  to  850,000,000,  The  average 
Therefore  there  must  be  an  aggregate  earning  j  cost  per  mile  of  British  railways  is  £56,915, 


$50  000,000,  paying  in  the  last  instance  an  1  out  of  2,887,053  passengers  carried,  and  in 
avera"-e'  dividend  ol"  4.24  per  cent.  To  earn  !  1848,  1  in  0,428,000  ;  the  German  roads  giv- 
$20,000,000  would  require  100,000  passengers,  j  ing  only  1  in  25,000,000  ! 
or  50.000  either  way,  at  8100,  $10,000,000;  |  When  railroads  were  first  suggested  in  our 
mail  and  military  service  82,000,000,  freights  j  country,  their  originators  were  regarded  as  the 
$8  000  000.  most  desperate  and  chimerical  of  men,  and 

But  this  is  putting  the  case  in  the  worst  the  most  ruinous  failure  predicted  to  every 
possible  light,  since  iqion  no  calculation  is  it  j  scheme.  We  have  lately  had  the  privilege  of 
proposed  that  the  road  shall  piij  interest  upon  \  inspecting  a  chart  made  by  one  of  these  mad- 
its  cost,  that  cost  coming  entirely  out  of  the   men,  which  fell  still-born,  and  was  soon  for- 


donation  of  government  lands  to  the  contract 
ors.  There  would  then  be  but  the  cost  of 
repairs  and  working  expenses  to  provide  for. 
The  sum  of  8100,000,000,  too,  is  based  upon 
the  estimate  of  2,000  miles,  and  an  average 
cost  of  850,000  per  mile;  whereas,  upon  the 
shortest  "projected  route,  the  distance  may  not 
exceed  1,500  miles,  reducing  the  sum  to  875,- 
000,000. '  Fifty  thousand  dollars  the  mile  is 
double  the  average  of  roads  already  built,  anci 
five  times  the  minimum.  The  avcrar/e  would 
give,  upon  the  shortest  line,  less  than  840,000,- 
000.  This  is  the  most  favorable  possible  view. 
But  admitting  the  gross  figure  of  8 100,000,- 
000,  and  the  high  estimate  of  2,000  miles,  is 
there  any  thing'  in  the  idea  to  stagLjer  the 


gotten,  but  which  sketches,  twenty  years  ago, 
when  there  were  not  200  miles  of  successful 
railroads  in  the  country,  several  thousand  miles 
of  routes,  in  various  directions,  and  even  across 
the  mountains  to  the  Mississippi  valley,  nearly 
every  one  of  which  has  already  been  built, 
and  is  in  succcssl'ul  operation,  or  in  course  of 
construction.  A  road  of  2,000  miles  is  a  no 
greater  project  than  tiiose  of  400  miles  made 
by  this  7nad  author  on  his  chart  twenty  years 
ago,  if  half  so  great. 

Obstacles  to  be  overcome  are  nothing  in  the 
progress  of  modern  enterprise,  and  the  rule  of 
faith  seems  to  have  been  adopted,  "This  is  im- 
possible— it  is  therefore  true  !" 

Is  there  any  thing  that  shall  unfit  a  nation 


American  mind  ?     We  shall  familiarize  our- 1  like  ours  for  vast  and  stupendous  enterprise  ? 


RAILROAD   TO   THE    PACIFIC    OCEAN. 


513 


Our  territorial  oxtont  lias  increased  in  twenty 
years,  from  1,700,000  to  3,000,000  square 
miles;  our  population  in  fifty  years,  from  4,- 
000,000  to  23,000,000— is  doubling  itself  in 
every  generation,  and  at  the  close  of  the  cen- 
tury mu^t  reach  70,000,000  or  80,000,000, 
equal  almost  to  tlie  present  strength  of  Grent 
Britain,  France,  and  Germany  combined.  From 
the  island  of  Brazos,  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  to 
the  Straits  of  Fuca,  on  the  northern  Pacific — 
from  the  Aroostook  valley  to  the  bay  of  San 
Diego,  tlie  Union  extends  its  leviathan  pro- 
portions. The  inhabitants  of  these  extreme 
points,  more  distant  apart  than  tJie  shores  of 
the  old  and  new  world  on  the  usual  routes  of 
travel,  are  brothers  and  fellow-citizens,  under 
common  laws  and  with  a  common  destiny.  It 
is  as  though  the  Shetland  Islands  and  the 
Bosphorus,  Siberia  and  the  Gates  of  Hercules, 
•were  made  the  outposts  of  an  empire  which 
embraced  the  whole  of  Europe.  For  such  an 
empire  Alexander  and  Ca?sar  died  in  vain,  and 
Napoleon  deluged  Europe  in  blood. 

The  statistics  of  the  Union,  collected  by 
our  public  officers,  show  an  annual  income,  re- 
alized from  all  branches  of  industry,  amounting 
in  1848  to  $2,323,564,756.  If  we  were  to 
build  the  road  in  ten  years,  not  perhaps  an 
impossibility,  and  the  income  of  the  nation 
were  not  augmented,  an  utter  impossibility, 
the  amount  annually  expended  upon  the  road 
would  be  about  one  third  of  one  per  cent,  upon 
the  annual  income  of  the  country.  Our  very 
grass  crop,  in  a  single  year,  would  stretch  the 
iron  cracks  from  ocean  to  ocean.  We  sunk  in 
the  Mexican  war,  which  seems  not  in  any  ap- 
preciable degree  to  have  disturbed  our  general 
wealth  and  prosperity,  an  amount  altogether 
adequate. 

The  expense  of  this  road  will  not  in  any 
case,  however,  be  a  tax  upon  the  resources 
of  the  nation:  since  very  nearly  the  whole 
amount  required,  and  eventually  much  more, 
must  be  realized  from  the  sale  of  public  lands 
upon  its  route,  not  otherwise  capable  of  being 
brought  into  market  for  generations  to  come. 
It  will  be  so  much  invited  into  the  country 
or  contributed  to  its  wealth  by  the  foreign 
emigrants  seeking  our  soil. 

The^a^  of  the  nation  appears  to  have  gone 
forth,  in  any  view  of  the  matter,  for  the  road, 
and  for  the  road  at  once.  The  public  mind 
has  been  aroused,  and,  with  high  thoughts, 
approaches  a  subject  but  a  few  years  agt)  uni- 
versally regarded  chimerical  and  impossible. 
Every  day  the  number  of  skeptics,  still  large, 
continues  to  decrease.  Committees  in  both  the 
Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
Union  have  reported  elaborately  in  favor  of 
the  road.  The  Legislatures  of  nineteen  or 
twenty  states  have  pronounced  a  similar  judg- 
ment. Chambers  of  commerce  and  public 
meetings  in  all  our  leading  cities  have  united 
in  the  movement.  Leading  statesmen  endorse 
it  by  speeches  and  con-espondence.  To  crown 
VOL.  II. 


the  whole,  two  conventions  at  St.  Louis  and 
Memphis,  the  largest  ever  held  in  the  Missis- 
sippi valley,  embracing  delegations  from  nearly 
every  state  in  the  Union,  unite  almost  unani- 
mously m  the  commendation. 

Under  the  main  point  of  agreement,  there 
are,  to  be  sure,  some  diversities  of  sentiment 
regarding  the  route  to  be  pursued,  and  the 
mode  of  construction  to  be  adopted.  It  will 
be  for  the  general  government  to  say  how  far, 
under  the  provision  of  the  constitution,  it  can 
go  in  ^^ providing  "  for  such  a  road,  whether  by 
donations  of  public  lands  and  contracts  for  mail 
and  military  service,  or  by  any  other  legitimate 
and  proper  aid.  Does  the  power  of  the  general 
government  regarding  the  construction  of  rail- 
roads through  the  territorities  stand  upon  other 
ground  than  in  the  states  ?  Is  there  power  to 
build  such  a  road  through  the  territories  by 
direct  appropriations,  and  if  so,  is  not  all  ex- 
perience clear  against  the  policy  of  exercising 
it  ?  Can  government  contract  for  and  execute 
great  public  works  upon  terms  in  any  degree 
jis  favorable  as  individuals  or  companies  ?  Are 
there  not  frauds  in  its  agents,  speculations, 
ofiicial  patronage,  and  party  proscriptions  and 
inconstancies  to  be  provided  against,  and  which 
are  capable  of  protracting  and  indefinitely 
postponing  the  execution  of  the  work,  and 
augmenting,  without  limit,  its  expense  ?  Or 
if  the  power  and  its  exercise  be  left  to  individ- 
uals or  companies,  can  there  be  any  guarantee 
that  the  country  shall  not  suffer  by  such  stu- 
pendous rights  and  monopolies  in  their  bands, 
and  that  the  road  will  eventually  and  cer- 
tainly be  built  ?  These  matters  must  be  left 
to  the  wisdom  of  Congress. 

"With  regard  to  routes,  the  most  prominent 
before  the  country  are: 

1.  That  projected  by  Mr.  Whitney  from 
Lake  Michigan  through  the  South  Pass  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Columbia,  with  a  branch  to  San 
Francisco. 

2.  Mr.  Benton's  project  from  St.  Louis  to 
San  Francisco,  through  some  pass  to  be  dis- 
covered in  the  mountains  south  of  the  South 
Pass,  and  near  the  sources  of  the  Arkansas 
river. 

8.  The  route  of  the  St.  Louis  Convention , 
as  announced  in  their  official  publications,  and 
extending  from  that  city  through  the  South 
Pass,  (fee. 

4.  The  Texas  route,  from  some  of  her  sea- 
ports to  the  Paso  del  Norte,  and  thence  along 
the  Mexican  boundary. 

5.  The  route  indicated  and  specially  re- 
commended for  survey  by  the  Memphis  Con- 
vention, under  the  following  resolution : 

"  Resolved,  That  in  the  present  state  of  our 
knowledge,  we  fetl  warranted  in  recommend- 
ing lo  the  particular  attention  of  the  general 
government  for  examination,  as  possessing 
special  advantages,  the  route  commencing  at 
San  Diego,  on  the  Pacific  ocean,  crossing  the 
Colorado  on  the  west,  running  along  the  Gila 

33 


514 


RAILROAD   TO    THE    PACIFIC    OCEAJT. 


river,  or  near  it,  in  a  direction  to  the  Paso, 
del  Korte,  and  thence  across  the  state  of 
Texas  to  its  northeastern  boundary,  between 
the  32d  and  33d*  degrees  of  nortli  latitude, 
terminating  at  some  point  on  the  Mississippi, 
between  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  river  and  the 
mouth  of  the  Red  river." 

This  route  intercepts  in  its  course  the  fertile 
regions  upon  Red  river,  the  -whole  of  northeni 
Texas,  Chihuahua.  Coahuila,  Ac,  now  almost 
entirely  without  a  market.  It  leaves  the 
Mississippi  at  a  point  always  navigable  by 
large  vessels  from  the  ocean,  and  is  very 
nearly  central  to  the  whole  Union,  Memphis 
being  about  that  central  point.  It  is  south  of 
the  Ohio  river,  and  its  tributaries  from  Penn- 
sylvania, Virginia,  Kentucky,  Ohio,  Indiana, 
Illinois  and  Tennessee,  and,  on  that  account, 
within  easy  control  of  the  immense  tlatboat 
commerce  of  these  regions.  The  great  Mo- 
bile railroad,  the  Georgia,  Carolina  and  Vir- 
ginia railroads,  all  strike  for  the  Mississippi 
valley  near  these  points.  It  is  in  a  medium 
climate  throughout,  nor  likely  to  be  disturbed 
by  the  frosts  and  snows  of  northern  regions. 
It  is  several  hundred  miles  shorter  than  any 
other  route,  and  can  be  built  for  greatly  less 
expense.  It  has  less  physical  obstructions, 
and,  for  the  most  of  the  way  to  the  Paso,  is 
through  a  level  country,  supplied  with  every 
variety  and  abundance  of  timber,  fertile  in 
soil  but  without  access  to  market,  peopled  in 
half  its  extent,  and  capable  of  dense  popula- 
tion for  three  fourths  of  the  whole  distance 
It  is  through  a  healthy  region  after  leaving 
Red  river,  and  connects  Texas  with  the  heart 
of  the  Union. 

Should  the  road  in  any  part  of  its  course 
necessarily  cross  the  Gila  river,  the  case  is 
provided  for  in  our  treaty  of  purchase  from 
Mexico. 

The  western  terminus  of  the  road  is  at  San 
Diego,  described  by  Captain  Wilkes  as  an 
arm  of  the  sea  ten  miles  in  length,  four  miles 
in  width,  perfectly  secure  from  all  winds, 
with  an  entrance  narrow  and  easily  defended, 
and  with  a  sufficient  depth  of  water — twenty 
feet  at  lowest  tides — for  large  vessels.  Major 
Emory  is  of  the  same  opinion :  "  San  Diego 
is,  all  things  considered,  perhaps  one  of  the 
best  harbors  on  the  coast,"  <fec.  "  The  liarbor 
of  San  Francisco  has  more  water,  but  San 
Diego  a  more  uniform  climate,  better  an- 
chorage, and  perfect  security  from  winds  in 
every  direction,"  <fec. 

It  is  worthy  of  i-emark  that  this  route  has 
been  advocated  with  great  power  and  ability 
by  the  present  chief  of  the  Topographical 
Engineers,  Col.  Abert,  and  that  Col.  Hughes, 
of  the  army,  in  his  late  able  and  elaborate 


•  The  author  of  the  resolution  states  the  33d  de- 
gree was  a  mistake  niuje  by  bim  and  by  the  commit- 
tee, 34lh  Uogreo  having  bocu  inteuded, 


letter  to  the  Secretary  of  State,^  Mr.  Clayton, 
written  at  his  particular  request,  acknow- 
ledges a  simihir  preference.     He  says : 

"  It  is  to  commence  at  San  Diego  on  the 
Pacific,  and  to  strike  thence  to  the  Colorado, 
following  up  its  affluent,  the  Gila,  to  near  its 
source;  then  passing  into  the  valley  of  the 
Rio  Grande  del  Norte,  keeping  within  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  United  States.  From  this 
point  the  line  would  pass  through  Texas  to 
Nacogdoches,  where  Col.  Abert  proposes  a 
bifurcation  of  the  road — the  one  branch  near- 
ly direct  to  the  Mississippi,  ahove  the  mouth 
of  Red  river.  A  slight  deflection  from  Na- 
cogdoches would  carry  it  to  Vicksburg,  or  to 
Memphis,  as  might  be  deemed  most  expe- 
dient. '  The  northern  branch  will  probably 
find  its  better  course  to  cross  the  Red  river  at 
the  great  bend,  or  its  vicinity ;  then  crossing 
the  Arkansas  at  Little  Rock,  pursue  its  course 
to  St.  Louis ;  then,  crossing  the  river,  to  pur- 
sue the  most  direct  favorable  course  which 
can  be  obtained  south  of  the  great  lakes  to 
Pittsburg.'  These  two  lines,  when  actually 
traced,  and  the  work  finished,  would  probably 
exceed  two  thousand  miles.  This  route,  with 
its  bifurcations  and  adaptability  to  further  la- 
teral improvements  and  extensions,  is,  I  think, 
much  superior  to  all  others,  and  is  certainly 
less  open  to  some  of  the  objections  which  I 
have  urged  against  them." 

It  is  clear  that  a  branch  of  this  road  would 
very  soon  connect  with  New-Orleans  and  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico. 

If  this  route  be  practicable,  and  it  is  to  de- 
termine the  point  we  call  upon  government 
to  make  the  necessary  surveys,  it  is  in  every 
respect  the  American  one.  The  north  must 
be  more  benefited  by  a  route  extending  south- 
ward than  by  one  through  her  own  latitudes, 
and  by  her  own  peculiar  productions.  Her 
cities  might  prefer  the  latter,  but  the  great 
interest  of  the  people  will  be  promoted  by 
the  former.  What  does  the  north,  it  has  well 
been  asked,  want  with  a  road  to  the  north  ? 
"  No  one  can  suppose  that  the  people  of  Iowa 
would  exchange  flour  and  pork  with  the 
people  of  Oregon,  or  swap  horses  or  cattle 
with  them.  But  let  them  look  to  the  south, 
and  how  different  the  prospect !  Along  the 
Mississippi  river,  at  every  remove,  they  would 
find  the  condition  of  barter  existing  all  the 
way  to  New-Orleans,  and  tIii"oughout  the 
West  Indies  and  eastern  slope  of  South 
America.  Or,  if  they  preferred  to  take  the 
railroad  at  Memphis,  they  would  daily  and 
hourly  find  a  market  through  southern  climes, 
and,  when  they  had  reached  San  Diego,  if  any 
thing  remained  to  be  so  sold  or  purchased, 
there  would  be  China,  at  last,  quite  as  conve- 
nient as  if  they  were  at  Francisco  or  Astoria. 
More  convenient  would  be  Australasia,  and 
Polynesia  with  its  thousand  isles;  and  still 
more  convenient,  and  in  a  climate  still  more 
different  from  their  own  than  any  yet  merv- 


RAILROAD   TO    THE   PACIFIC   OCEAK. 


)15 


tioned,  the   western  coasts  of  Central   and 
South  America." 

From  the  earliest  periods  the  problem  of 
reaching  the  East  by  shorter  means  of  com- 
munication has  engaged  the  attention  of 
statesmen  and  of  nations.  In  the  searcli  our 
continent  was  discovered.  The  northern 
coasts  of  Europe,  the  western  coasts  of  Ame- 
rica, have  been  explored  times  without  num- 
ber, with  the  same  end.  Every  nook  and 
corner  of  the  continent  has  been  examined. 
The  Spaniards  were  among  the  most  active 
of  these  explorers,  and  Cortez  even  went  so 
far  as  to  write  to  the  home  government,  "  If 
we  should  so  hit  upon  this  strait,  (in  the  vicin 
ity  of  the  isthmus,)  the  distance  to  the  Indies 
would  be  two  thirds  less  than  the  present 
navigation."  Soon  after  was  hivented  the 
fiction  of  the  Straits  of  Anian,  or  of  Fuca,  on 
the  northwest  of  America.  McKenzie  and 
Carver  traversed  the  British  dominions  from 
Canada  to  tlie  river  of  Oregon  and  tlie  Arctic 
sea.  La  Salle  proposed  to  the  French  a  pos- 
sible communication  from  the  sources  of  the 
Mi.-^sissippi  to  those  of  the  Oregon,  and  Mr. 
Jefferson  dispatched  Lewis  and  Clarke  to 
these  regions  in  search  of  a  "  route  of  commer- 
cial communication  with  the  Pacific." 

2.  In  regard  to  the  isthmus  routes  of  com- 
munication, the  following  resolution  was  unan- 
imously adopted  by  the  convention  : 

"Resolved,  That  while  the  contemplated 
railroad  across  the  continent  is  being  con- 
structed, a  present  communication  between 
the  states  of  this  Union  and  the  American  and 
Asiatic  coasts  of  the  Pacific  ocean,  of  vast  im- 
portance to  every  portion  of  this  community, 
can  be  obtained  by  ship  canal  or  railroad 
across  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec,  Nicaragua, 
or  across  them  all, — which  railroads  or  canals 
may  be  constructed  by  private  enterprise, 
and  this  convention,  in  order  to  encourage  tne 
undertaking  and  completion  of  such  works, 
recommends  the  passage  of  a  law  by  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States,  directing  the 
Postmaster  General,  Secretary  of  War  and 
Secretary  of  the  Navy,  to  make  annual  con- 
tracts for  the  transportation  of  the  mails, 
troops,  and  military  stores  of  the  government 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  ports  of  the 
country,  by  the  shortest,  speediest  and  cheap- 
est route." 

It  will  be  perceived  that  these  routes  are 
considered  as  vjhoUy  matters  of  private  en- 
terprise, and  in  their  character  temporary,  or 
at  least  inadequate  to  meet  all  the  requisi- 
tions of  the  country.  It  will  not  be  necessary 
for  us  to  go  into  detail  upon  any  of  these 
matters,  since  they  have  been  sufficiently  long 
before  the  country  to  be  very  generally  un- 
derstooil.  Different  preferences  were  ex- 
pressed by  members  of  the  convention,  but 
the  body  itself  ventured  no  opinion  upon  the 
merits  of  either  one  of  the  routes.  Several 
of  the  delegations,  and  more  especially  those 


of  Alabama,  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Louisi- 
ana, and  Mississippi,  were  prepared,  it  is  true, 
with  cogent  reasonings  in  hwor  oi  2\]iuanlcpcc, 
which  they  represented  as  more  immediately 
within  the  control  of  our  navy,  with  harbors 
upon  either  side,  of  suffipient  depth  and  capa- 
city, or  capable  of  being  made  so  without 
great  expense,  and  in  distance  less  than  the 
Panama  route  from  New- York  or  New  Or- 
leans to  San  Francisco  by  1,200  or  1,700 
miles.  As  this  matter  is  now  in  the  hands  of 
a  company  prepared  for  immediate  action, 
and  as  a  committee,  under  instructions  from  a 
mass  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  New-Orleans, 
are  prosecuting  surveys  and  collecting  infor- 
mation for  an  elaborate  report,  further  re- 
marks at  this  time  would  be  premature.  No- 
thing is  asked  but  that  the  various  routes 
shall  have  an  equal  hearing  and  consideration, 
and  stand  upon  their  respective  merits.  In 
the  result  they  may  all  be  proved  practicable 
and  adopted,  since  it  has  been  found,  in  the 
experience  of  the  eastern  and  western  states, 
that  innumerable  communications  can  be 
opened  to  advantage  where  population  and 
wealth  are  upon  the  rapid  increase. 

3.  A  military  road  along  the  Mexican  fron- 
tier.— This  is  set  forth  in  the  following  resolu- 
tion : 

"  Resolved,  That,  as  an  important  means,  a 
necessary  preliminary  to  the  construction  of  a 
railroad,  it  is  the  first  duty  of  Congress  to  take 
measures  for  the  establishment  of  military 
posts  from  the  western  confines  of  our  states, 
along  the  southern  boundaries  of  our  republic 
and  our  Indian  frontier,  to  the  Pacific  ocean. 
That  these  posts  should  be  established  in  all 
proper  places,  not  far  distant  from  each  other, 
and  that  civilized  and  productive  settlements 
should  be  encouraged  around  them  by  sales 
and  grants  of  pre-emption  rights  of  the  public 
lands  to  actual  settlers,  and  by  such  encour- 
agement as  may  be  deemed  necessary,  so 
that  by  these  means  ample  opportunities  may 
be  afforded  to  our  engineers  for  the  inmiediate 
survey  and  reconnoissance  of  our  possessions, 
lying  between  our  western  and  southwestern 
states  and  the  Pacific  ocean,  and  so  also  that 
by  these  means  safe,  practical  roads,  one  or 
more,  with  facilities  of  travel,  may  be  imme- 
diately formed  for  our  citizens,  and  for  the 
transportation  of  troops  and  munitions  of  war, 
itc,  across  our  own  territories,  from  the  At- 
lantic to  the  Pacific  shores,  and  in  order  that 
our  government  may  fulfil  its  recent  treaty 
stipulations  with  Mexico." 

Our  government  is  bound  by  the  treaty 
with  Mexico  to  defend  the  frontier  by  mili- 
tary posts-  These  would  extend  from  Paso 
del  Norte  to  San  Diego,  and  should  be  con- 
tinued through  northern  Texas  for  the  protec- 
tion of  emigrants  from  the  Camanche  Indians, 
a  distance  of  200  or  300  miles.  Justice  and 
expediency  seem  to  demand  such  a  road  and 
such  outposts  in  the  speediest  possible  time, 


516 


EAILROAD    TO    THE    PACIFIC    OCEAN. 


and  it  ia  not  reasonable  to  suppose  that  their 
claims  will  be  postponed. 

Fellow-citizens,  the  age  in  which  we  live  is 
one  of  great  achievements  in  arts  and  sci- 
ences and  in  human  progress.  The  nations 
of  the  world  are  engaged  in  the  great  race 
for  position  and  for  empire.  It  becomes  our 
country  to  aim  as  high,  and  to  realize  as  soon 
as  may  be  that  bright  and  glorious  destiny  for 
which  God  and  nature  seem  to  have  reserved 
her. 


J.  D.  B.  DeBow,  of  Louisiana, 

Abs.\lom  Fowler,  of  Arkansas, 

James  C.  Jonls,  of  Tennessee, 

J.  R.  Strother,  of  Missouri, 

J.  F.  G.  MrfTAG,  of  South  Carolina, 

C.  C.  Mills,  of  Texas, 

G.  S.  Yerger,  of  Mississippi,         J 


o 


RAILROAD  TO  THE  PACIFIC  OCEAN. 

— I  have  received  your  letter,  inviting  me 
to  attend  the  Railroad  Convention  which  is 
to  meet  in  Xew-Orleans,  on  the  first  Mon- 
day in  January  next.  It  will  not  be  in  my 
power  to  attend.  Official  duties  oblige  me 
at  that  time  to  be  at  my  post  at  Washing- 
ton. 

But  I  send  you  three  reports  in  reference 
to  the  trade  of  the  lakes  and  western  rivers, 
which  may  be  of  service  to  your  delibera- 
tions.* 

Allow  me  to  draw  your  attention  to  a  few 
of  the  facts  of  these  reports. 

The  system  of  harbor  and  river  improve- 
ments may  be  considered  as  having  been 
commenced  in  1806,  and  as  having  been 
continued  without  interruption,  up  to,  and 
including  the  year  1845  ;  and,  by  reference 
to  the  table,  page  24,  report  No.  1,  it  will 
be  perceived  that  the  whole  appropriations 
on  these  accounts  are  not  more  than  about 
seventeen  millions  of  dollars. 

A  second  table,  on  the  same  page  of  the 
same  report,  exhibits  the  years  through 
which  this  amount  has  been  distributed. 
The  first  table  on  the  same  page  names  the 
states  in  which  the  expenditures  were  made ; 
and  previous  pages  of  the  same  report  name 
the  particular  work  which  was  the  object 
of  expenditure.  The  facts  of  this  report 
will  remove  all  that  class  of  objections  to 
the  system  which  depend  upon  the  suppo- 
sition that  the  system  has  been  for  the  ex- 
clusive benefit  of  a  few  localities,  and  of 
that  class  of  objections  in  whioli  so  much 
imagination  has  been  indulged,  in  reference 
to  the  amount  expended. 


*  These  reports  were  made  by  Col.  Abert,  of  the 
dates  December,  1846,  January,  1848,  May,  1850. 


GOVEUNMEN'T  Ari'ROPKIATIONS  FOR  INTERNAL 
IMPROVEMENTS. 

Slates  and  Territories.  Amount. 

Maine $2'76,574  12 

New-Hampshire 10.000  00 

Massachusetts 526,148  22 

Vermont 101,000  00 

Rhode  Island 32,000  00 

Connecticut 160,407   26 

Kew-York 1,6;V2.115  80 

New-Jersey 28,963  00 

Pennsylvania 207,981  23 

Pennsylvania  and  Delaware.  38,413  00 

Delaware 2,038,356  00 

Maryland,  Pennsylvania,  and 

Virginia 1,901,227  81 

Maryland 55,000  00 

Virginia 25.000  00 

North  Carolina 370,377  00 

Georgia 243,043  06 

Florida 287,712  72 

Alabama 204,997  60 

Mississippi 46,500  00 

Louisiana 717,200  00 

Tennessee 11,920  00 

Kentucky  and  Tennessee 155,000  00 

Arkansas 486,065  00 

Missouri  and  Arkansas 100,000  00 

Missouri _- 75,000  00 

States    through     which    the 

western    rivers    pass,    (the 

Ohio,  Mississippi,  Missouri, 

and  Arkansas,) 1,698,000  00 

Indiana 1,270,733  59 

Illinois 993.601   00 

Ohio 2,617,661   37 

Michigan 645,724  83 

Wisconsin  Territory 167,500  00 

Iowa  Territory 75,000  00 


17,199,223  21 

AMOVNTS  APPROPEIATED  IN  EACO  YEAR. 

Year.  Amount. 

1806 $48,400  00 

1810 60,000  00 

1811 50,000  00 

1812 30,800  00 

1815 100,000  00 

1816 10,000  00 

1817 4,000  00 

1818 317,989  60 

1823 32,920  00 

1824 175,000  00 

1825 176,712  00 

1826 284,253  00 

1827 398,541  45 

1828 1,020,120  56 

1829 6(18,560  25 

1830 672,506  03 

1831 926,311  84 

18.S2 1,225,008  43 

1833 1,159,451  82 


RAILROAD    TO    THE    PACIFIC    OCEAN. 


51Y 


1834 1,641,621   52 

1835 1,352,243  61 

1836 1,837,620  31 

1837 1,768.218  63 

1838* 2,087,044  16 


1839. 
1841. 
1842. 
1843. 
1844. 
1845. 


60,500  00 

75,000  00 

10(),()()0  00 

230,000  00 

696,500  00 

50,000  00 


17,199,223  21 

It  will  appear  that  these  expenditures 
have  been  ditfused  over  nearly  every  state ; 
not  to  the  same  amount  in  each,  because,  as 
must  be  evident  to  every  reflecting  mind,  it 
is  not  every  state  which  has,  within  its 
limits,  harbors  or  rivers  wiiicli  require  im- 
provement, or  which  admit  of  being  im- 
proved. But  every  state  must  experience 
the  benefit  of  improved  harbors  and  rivers 
of  an  adjoining  state. 

Much  misconception  has  arisen  in  refer- 
ence to  amounts  which  have  been  appropri- 
ated for  these  harbors  and  rivers.  Allow 
me  to  call  your  attention  to  page  25  of  the 
report,  marked  No.  2.  It  is  there  stated, 
that  the  whole  amounts  appropriated  (from 
1806  to  1845)  are, 

For  lake  harbors $2,790,500 

For  the  western  rivers  .   2,758,800 

By  which  it  will  be  perceived,  that  the 
whole  amount  appropriated  and  expended 
on  these  two  interesting  and  important 
parts  of  the  system,  does  not  exceed  ^5,549,- 
300. 

These  facts  are  adapted  to  dissipate  many 
erroneous  impi'essions,  and  to  correct  many 
errors. 

Now,  if  it  be  desirable  to  know  how  the 
balance  of  the  seventeen  millions  over  and 
above  the  amount  for  lake  harbors  and  for 
western  rivers  has  been  expended,  the  in- 
formation will  be  found  in  the  report  mark- 
ed No.  1. 

By  referring  to  the  facts  of  the  report 
marked  No.  3,  it  will  be  perceived  that 

The  net  commerce  of  the  lakes 

was,  for  1848 $93,242,633 

And  for  the  western  rivers,  for 

the  year  1849 256,233,820 

As  the  "  exports "  of  one  place  are  pre- 
sumed to  be  tlae  "imports"  of  another,  the 
"net  commerce"  is  taken  to  be  one  half  of 
"  exports  and  imports."  These  latter  con 
stituiing  what  may  be    called  the   "gross 


*  The  appropriation  law  of  1833  directed  that  but 
a  portion  (not  exceedinc;  one  half)  of  amounts  ap- 
propriated should  be  expended  in  that  year. 


commerce,"  which  last  would  be  double  the 
amounts  stated. 

This  idea  is  not  rigidly  correct.    Without 
doubt^  the  "  net  commerce "  is  more  than 
half  of  the  "gross  commerce."     But  yet  it 
was  considered  the  safe  rule  to  adopt.  Rea- 
soning upon  such  a  sublet,  to  obtain  credit, 
should  exhibit  the  desire  of  avoiding  exag- 
geration, or  of  assuming  conjecture  as  aba- 
sis  of  the  reasoning. 
The  passenger  trade  on  the  lakes, 
(see  page  5  of  the  report  No. 
3,)  can  be  stated  for  the  year 

1849,  at,  passengers 356,000 

And,  supposing  the  passengers  to 
have  a  direct  relation  to  ton- 
nage and  amount  of  trade,  the 
passenger  trade  on  the  western 
waters  may  be  safely  stated,  for 
the  same  year,  at,  passengers. .  1,500,000 

From  these  facts  can  be  inferred  sound 
reasons  why  so  many  railroads  are  well 
supported,  and  why  so  many  are  required, 
as,  without  this  immense  internal  trade, 
and  the  consequent  number  of  passengers, 
these  railroads  would  be  without  support. 

It  is  considered  that  the  lake  trade  alone 
has  made  necessary  the  railroad  from  Buf- 
falo to  Albany;  the  railroad  from  Dunkirk 
to  New-York;  the  railroad  from  Albany  to 
Boston,  and  the  railroad  from  Albany  to 
New-York.  The  various  branches  to  these 
great  roads  derive  their  chief  support  from 
the  same  causes,  the  vast  amount  of  inter- 
nal trade  and  the  passenger  trade  which  it 
generates.  The  same  reasoning  and  causes 
are  applicable  to  the  southern  railroads. 
How  few  of  these  would  exist,  if  local  pa- 
tronage were  their  sole  support ! 

We  are  indebted  to  Europe  for  many  of 
the  most  useful  mechanic  arts ;  but  Europe 
is  indebted  to  us  for  the  great  moral  me- 
chanics which  best  develop  the  energies  and 
resources  of  a  people,  and  which  bring  into 
profitable  activity  the  industry  and  capaci- 
ty of  every  member  of  the  great  body  poli- 
tic. 

Referring  effects  to  adequate  and  palpa- 
ble causes,  I  believe  it  is  to  be  demonstrated, 
that  this  rai)id  and  immense  development 
of  internal  trade,  this  better  than  the  mines 
of  California,  diffusing  employment,  wealth, 
and  happiness  throughout  our  vastly  ex- 
tended country,  is  owing  chiefly  to  the  very 
limited  patronage  which  has,  as  yet,  been 
extended  by  the  general  government  to  our 
lake  harbor  and  western  river  improve- 
ments. This  patronage  has  populated  those 
regions,  and  has  thrown  a  vast  amount  of 
wild  land  into  useful  cultivation  ;  because 
it  has  furnished  the  means  by  which  the 
products  of  the  soil  can  find  a  market,  ex- 
empt from  consuming  charges  of  transporta- 
tion, and  in  return,  by  increasing  the  means, 


518 


RAILROAD    TO    THE    PACIFIC    ON   THE    SOUTHERN   ROUTE. 


has  increased  the  wants  of  the  cultivator 
and  liis  ability  to  supply  them. 

Tiie  propriety  of  any  particular  railroad 
project  is  to  be  decided  by  reference  to  this 
great  trade,  in  the  benetits  of  which  it  will 
participate;  and  there  can  hardly  be  a  pro- 
ject of  a  road,  whi^-h  shall  form  a  link  in 
the  connection  between  the  western  rivers 
or  the  lake  harbors  and  the  Atlantic,  which 
will  not  partake  of  these  as  well  as  of  local 
benetits. 

But  it  appears  to  me  that  this  great  chain 
will  be  incomplete,  and  its  benetits  be  but 
partially  enjoyed,  unless  the  connection  be 
formed  between  the  Mississippi  and  the  Pa- 
cific. Of  ihe  railroad  to  insure  this  connec- 
tion I  have  written  several  letters,  but  prob- 
ably the  last  is  all  that  you  would  desire 
to  read.     I  send  a  copy  of  this. 

It  appears  to  me  that  such  a  road,  con- 
necting with  the  Mississippi  at  some  point 
so  far  south  as  to  be  exempt  from  interrup- 
tion from  ice,  would  make  New-Orleans  the 
great  emporium  for  the  Pacific  trade. 

The  connection  between  the  Mississippi 
end  of  the  road  and  New-Orleans,  as  well 
as  with  other  points  on  that  river,  would 
probably  be  best  accomplished  by  steam- 
boat. And  by  means  of  this  river  and  the 
Ohio,  there  is  no  town  on  the  shores  of 
either  which  would  not  derive  benefit  from 
the  road.  Then  by  the  lakes,  by  railroads, 
and  by  canals,  links  already  exist  to  com- 
plete the  conneetiou  inland  with  the  Atlan- 
tic. 

The  subject  Is  a  vast  one.  It  fills  the 
imagination  ;  and  unless  I  am  much  mis- 
taken, it  would  also  fill  the  pockets  of  our 
people. 

iJic  various  isthmus  routes  with  the  Pa- 
cific have  occupied  nuich  attention.  Allow 
me  to  send  an  interesting  printed  letter  on 
this  subject,  frona  Brevet  Colonel  Hughes, 
of  the  Corps.* 

But  these  several  routes  have  always  ap- 
peared to  me  open  to  serious  objections. 

1st.  From  the  time  they  require. 

2d.  From  interruptions  in  the  continuity 
of  the  voyage,  by  frequent  changes  from 
land  to  sea,  and  the  consequent  different 
modes  of  transportation. 

3d.  They  would  of  necessity  become  pro- 
lific sources  of  maritime  wais,  and  of  con- 
sequent interruptions  in  the  trade. 

4th.  They  are  out  of  our  jurisdiction  and 
control. 

5tli.  The  money  required  in  the  construc- 
tion of  parts  would  be  for  the  benefit  of  a 
foreign  people  and  of  foreign  soil. 

6tli.  In  all  suspensions  of  the  trade  from 
war  or  other  durable  cause,  the  inland  parts 


Auncxed, 


would  necessaril}^  become  dilapidated  or 
destroyed ;  and  when  these  causes  of  inter- 
ruption had  subsided,  there  is  no  telling 
how  much  time  and  how  much  mouey 
would  be  re([uired  to  restore  the  way  to 
use,  and  to  l)ring  commerce  back  again  to 
those  channels,  which  the  interruption  had 
forced  to  be  changed. 

7  th.  Expenses  on  these  routes  must  ne- 
cessarily be  great. 

8th.  The  armed  fleets  which  the  protec- 
tion of  the  commerce  on  these  routes  would 
require,  would  involve  most  serious  national 
expenses.  The  nation  could  better  aftord 
to  give  half  the  cost  of  a  continuous  rail- 
road from  the  Mississippi. 

A  war  of  one  year,  with  its  cost,  and  con- 
sequent losses  of  all  kinds — a  war  resulting 
from  circumstances  necessarily  attending 
any  one  of  these  isthmus  routes,  would  prob- 
ably amount  to  more  than  the  making  of 
the  entire  road  from  the  Mississippi. 

These  isthmus  routes  are  good  temporary 
expedients;  but  the  durable  and  really  val- 
uable route  is,  in  my  opinion,  to  be  found 
only  in  a  continuous  railroad  route  from  the 
Mississippi  to  the  Pacific  within  our  own 
jurisdiction.   {By  Cul.  Alert,  Top.  Utigineers.) 


RAILROAD  TO  THE  PACIFIC  ON  THE 
SOUTHERN  ROUTE.— I  have  at  last  been 
able  to  have  those  letters  copied,  about  the 
road,  and  now  send  them  to  you.  In  reference 
to  probable  cost,  recent  information  induces  me 
to  believe,  that  a  road  from  the  Mississippi  to 
the  Rio  Grande,  passing  at  the  head  of  sea 
navigation  of  all  the  principal  rivers  of  Texas 
which  communicate  with  the  gulf,  could  be 
made  for  less  than  I  formerly  supposed. 

If  we  take  this  distance  at  850  miles,  and 
the  average  cost  of  each  mile,  to  make  the 
railroad  complete,  and  bring  it  into  use,  at 
$40,000  the  mile,  it  will  make  the  cost  of  that 
part  of  the  road  834,000,000. 

If  this  part  alone  of  the  road  was  made,  it 
would  conuuand  all  the  travel.  For,  from  the 
Rio  Grande  to  San  Diego,  is  a  frontier  line  of 
the  United  States,  on  which  military  posts 
will  have  to  be  established,  and  roads  con- 
necting with  these  posts  will  have  lo  be  made, 
which  will  make  that  route  passable  and  safe, 
and  will  occasion  it  gradually  to  become  set- 
tled, and  sooner  or  later  to  be  turned  into  a 
railroad.  But  we  will  suppose  the  whole  to 
be  a  railroad,  and  endeavor  to  estimate  its 
probable  cost  and  probable  profits. 

From  the  Paso  to  San  Diego  on  the  Pacific, 
is  about  850  miles.  If  it  be  supposed  that 
this  part  of  the  route  will  cost  50  per  cent, 
more  than  the  average  cost  per  mile  from  the 
Mississippi  to  Piiso,  it  will  make  the  average 
of  this  part  of  the  road  $00,000  the  mile,  and 
bring  the   total  cost  of  these  850  miles  to 


RAILROADS   FOR   ARKANSAS. 


519 


$51,000,000.    Tlieu  the  whole  road  will  cost 
as  follows : 

850  miles  from  the  Mississippi 

10  Paso $34,000,000 

850  miles  from  Paso  to  San  Di- 
ego,        51,000,000 


Total,   $85,000,000 

Twelve  per  cent,  upon  such  an  outlay  would 
require  an  income  of  $10,200,000.  This 
would  be  a  gross  inconip,  out  of  which  all 
expenses  for  repairs,  attendance,  etc.,  Ac ,  <fec., 
•would  have  to  be  taken.  Taking  these  at 
half  the  gross  income,  it  would  leave  $5,100,- 
000  to  be  divided,  in  order  to  yield  an  income 
upon  the  stock  of  G  per  cent  per  annum. 

The  question  now  occurs,  from  what  .sources 
will  this  road  derive  such  an  income  ?  We 
will  consider  two  sources  only — travellers  and 
freight. 

Ist.  Travellers, — In  my  letter  of  the  24th 
September,  1849,  I  take  these  at  50  eacli 
way  per  day,  for  350  days,  and  at  a  charge 
of  "$68  for  a  through  passage. 

An  extremely  judicious  friend,  who  has 
given  much  attention  to  these  matters,  says, 
that  I  am  seriously  wrong  in  both  tliese  items 
— seriously  below  the  reality  in  reference  to 
the  number  of  travellers,  and  equally  below 
what  would  be  considered  a  cheap  charge  for 
the  distance. 

In  his  opinion  100  passengers  each  way 
would  yet  be  much  below  the  reality,  and 
$150  for  each  passenger  vastly  below  what 
each  has  now  to  pay.  And  at  these  rates,  and 
with  the  time  saved,  the  road  would,  without 
doubt,  command  tlie  travel  of  the  world  from 
the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.  Taking  these 
rates,  the  income  from  passengers  would  be 
$10,500,000. 

2d.  Freight. — The  same  friend  has  remark- 
ed, that  the  road  should  be  viewed  in  refer- 
ence to  the  commerce  it  would  generate  and 
command,  and  not  in  reference  to  any  profit 
from  freight.  That,  except  for  passengers,  it 
should  be  a  free  road,  making  no  charge  for 
freight,  thereby  enabling  it  to  command  the 
commerce  of  the  world  with  the  Pacific ;  and 
fi-om  this  monopoly  of  commerce,  vastly  more 
wealth  would  be  secured  to  the  country  than 
could  possibly  be  from  any  profit  by  a  charge 
of  freight  and  a  consequently  restricted  com- 
merce. 

Freight  is  unquestionably  a  serious  tax  upon 
commerce ;  and  tlie  more  freights  are  reduced, 
the  more  profitable  commerce  must  be,  and  the 
more  extensive  its  range.  But  the  argument 
of  my  friend  is,  I  think,  in  a  case  like  this, 
pushed  to  an  extreme;  and,  in  my  opinion, 
the  whole  commerce  between  tde  Atlantic 
and  Pacific  may  be  monopolized  and  com- 
manded by  a  moderate  freight  cliarge,  making 
it  vastly  the  cheaper  of  any  route. 

It  is  considered  &  good  passage  from  New- 


York  to  San  Francisco,  by  Cape  Horn,  if  it 
occupy  no  more  than  5  months,  or  \r,Q  days. 
Now,  by  tlie  railroad  route,  as  exhibited  in 
my  letter  of  the  24lh  September,  1849,  a  pas- 
senger train  would  move  over  this  distance,  at 
a  rate  of  20  miles  the  hour,  in  11  days ;  and 
to  San  Diego  in  8  days.  At  15  miles  the 
hour,  it  would  require  to  San  Francisco,  13 
days;  to  San  Diego,  10  days.  And  at  the 
slow  rate  of  10  miles  the  hour,  the  time  to 
reach  San  Francisco  would  be  17  days;  to 
San  Diego,  14  days. 

Take  any  of  these  rates,  and  compare  them 
with  the  150  days  of  the  usual  sea  voyage, 
and  the  difference  is  so  vastly  in  favor  of  the 
road,  as  to  insure  to  it  the  monopoly  of  the 
whole  trade.  The  point  then  to  be  guarded 
against  is,  not  to  destroy  this  decided  and  im- 
portant advantage  in  time  by  an  exorbitant 
freight  charge. 

Suppose,  then,  that  no  higher  freight  were 
charged  on  the  road  than  is  charged  on  the 
sea  voyage ;  theu,  the  moneyed  charge  would 
be  the  same  on  the  road  as  on  the  sea  voyage, 
and  all  the  difference  of  time  would  he  gained 
by  the  shipper,  a  difference  so  vastly  in  his 
favor,  that  it  must  prevent  all  shipments  by 
sea,  and  insure  the  whole  trade  to  the  road ; 
and  not  only  is  there  this  difference  in  time  in 
favor  of  the  road,  but  the  difference  of  inte- 
rest upon  the  freight/  saved  by  time  to  the 
shipper,  which  would  frequently  be  more  thaa 
equivalent  to  the  road  freight  charge,  and 
make  the  railroad  tantamount  to  a  free  road. 

These  considerations  fulfil  all  the  conditions 
of  my  friend's  reasoning,  in  reference  to  the 
advantages  of  a  free  road,  and  yet  justify  a 
charge  for  wear,  tear,  and  repaii-s,  and  for 
freight  trains. 

The  average  shipping  freight  charge  is  $25* 
the  ton,  which,  on  150,000  tons,  would  yield 
$3,750,000. 

By  the  passenger  trade  we  have  $10,500,000 
And  by  the  freight,  as  above,...        3,750,000 

Making  a  total  of  $14,250,000 
But  the  income  required  to  insure  6  per 
cent,  upon  the  stock  (after  paying  all  annual 
expenses)  is  $10,200,000:  we  have  therefore 
from  these  two  considerations  (piissengers 
and  freight)  an  excess  of  four  millions,  which 
would  justify  a  reduction  of  the  charge  per 
passenger  to  $100  each;  or  it  will  justify  a 
serious  reduction  of  our  supposition  in  refer- 
ence to  amount  of  freight  trade.— (2)y  Col. 
Abert.) 

RAILROADS  FOR  ARKANSAS.— Ar- 
kansas, in  i^oiiit  of  territorial  extent,  is  larger 
than  any  southern  state,  Texas  alone  except- 
ed, embracing  m  its  hmits  an  area  of  over 
50,000  square  miles,  or  33,000,000  of  acres. 

I     •  With  very  fast  sailing  vessels,  as  high  as  $40  the 
I  ton  has  been  paid. 


520 


RAILROADS    FOR   ARKANSAS. 


Her  soil  is  one  of  unsurpassed  fertility;  the 
northern  portion  of  the  state,  from  its  climate, 
being  admirably  adapted  to  the  production  of 
provisions,  with  the  capacity  to  produce  them 
to  an  unlimited  extent ;  also  embracing  a  belt 
of  mineral  region,  rich  in  anthracite  and  bitu- 
minous coal,  lead,  zinc,  copper,  gypsum,  man- 
ganese, silver,  and  gold — needing  only  an  out- 
let by  i-ailroad  to  the  Mississippi  river,  to 
make  it  a  more  profitable  mining  district  than 
California  itself,  while  the  southern  part  of 
the  state  is  safer  for  heavy  crops  of  cotton 
than  any  other  portion  of  the  south.  This  is 
established  beyond  all  question,  by  years  of 
experience ; — further  soulli,  the  crop  has  be- 
come a  precarious  one,  from  casualty  produced 
by  the  caterpillar,  boll  worm,  grub,  or  cut 
worm.  West,  there  is  not  rain  enough  more 
than  one  year  in  four,  and  in  other  states  of 
the  same  parallel  east,  the  soil  is  exhausted. 

But  Arkansas,  with  all  that  nature  has  done 
for  her,  is  far  behind  her  neighbors  in  im- 
provements, population,  and  general  prosper- 
ity. It  is  a  source  of  humiliation  to  your 
committee  to  make  these  acknowledgments ; 
but  the  truth  should  be  told,  "  though  the 
heavens  fall." 

The  cause  of  this  state  of  things,  to  the  in- 
telligent resident  of  Arkansas,  who  has  under- 
stood her  general  state  policy,  is  no  mystery. 
She  was  admitted  into  the  Union  prematurely, 
before  she  had  the  basis  of  wealth  and  popu- 
lation upon  which  to  raise  a  revenue  to  sup- 
port a  state  government;  consequently  she 
was  forced  to  resort  to  some  financial  scheme 
to  raise  the  deficit  The  state  and  real 
estate  banks  were  chartered,  and  the  en- 
dorsement of  the  state  placed  on  $3,500,000 
of  their  bonds ;  they  both  suspendetl  in  the 
general  crash  of  1837  ;  and  since  then  have 
not  more  than  managed  to  keep  the  debt 
down  to  the  original  amount.  This  constitutes 
the  state  debt  of  Arkansas,  and  the  whole  is 
set  down  as  state  liability.  The  state  is  un- 
doubtedly liable  for  the  entire  debt ;  but  there 
is  still  a  valuable  asset  in  the  banks,  consist- 
ing in  notes,  and  in  bonds  and  mortgages  on 
large  tracts  of  the  most  valuable  lands  in  the 
state  ;  and  should  these  lands  be  affected  by 
railroads,  as  lands  have  been  every  where  else, 
there  is  but  little  doubt  that  before  the  ma- 
turity of  the  bonds  in  1862,  the  debt  will  be 
paid  by  the  bank  asset.  At  present  valuation 
they  would  pay  the  debt  down  to  81,500,000. 
This,  tlien,  is  the  actual  debt  of  the  state — 
an  amount  for  which  she  is  at  present  unable 
to  provide,  but  insignificant  when  viewed 
prospectively,  and  can  easily  be  provided  for, 
after  a  correct  system  of  railoads  sliall  have 
developed  our  vast  natural  resources. 

As  yet,  private  enterprise  has  done  nothing 
efiScient  towards  a  system  of  railroad  ;  anil  the 
state,  as  shown  above,  is  not  in  a  condition 
that  her  credit  can  be  made  available,  as  in 
other  states,  to  assist  in  projects  of  improve- 


ment. But  an  awakening  spirit  on  this  sub- 
ject has  recently  manifested  itself;  and  the 
important  inquiry  is  heard  on  every  hand,  can- 
not Arkansas  do  something  towards  a  general 
system  of  railroad  improvement? 

Private  enterprise  and  capital  stand  ready 
to  act  to  the  full  extent  of  their  ability ;  yet 
in  the  present  advancement  of  Arkansas  this 
is  not  sufficient,  at  least  so  far  as  capital  is 
concerned,  to  prosecute  to  completion  the  sys- 
tem necessary.  The  only  resources  we  have 
in  addition  are  from  capitalists  in  other  states, 
and  the  liberality  of  the  general  government 
in  making  donations  of  lands  for  railroad  pur- 
poses. We  think  we  present  more  than  ordi- 
nary claims  on  the  government,  in  our  propo- 
sition to  point  our  improvements  toward  the 
Indian  country.  These  Indian  tribes  are  under 
the  protection  of  the  government ;  large  quan- 
tities of  specie,  to  the  amount  of  millions,  have 
annually  to  be  transported  at  great  risk,  and 
frequently  at  heavy  expense,  (land  carriage 
having  to  be  used,)  to  pay  the  Indian  annuities 
— besides,  troops  and  munitions  of  war  have  to 
be  sent  there  to  keep  in  proper  subjection  the 
turbulent  spirit  of  the  various  tribes.  Be 
sides,  a  direct  line  of  railroad,  penetrating  the 
Indian  country,  would  do  more  to  civilize  and 
Christianize  them,  than  millions  spent  in  the 
usual  missionary  efforts.  With  this  view  we 
see  the  general  government  is  directly  pecuni- 
arily interested  in  our  railroads,  as  well  as 
philanthropically,  and  possesses  the  same  in- 
terest in  ours  that  she  does  in  the  roads  run- 
ning through  other  new  states.  A  donation 
for  so  much  land  on  each  side  of  the  road,  with 
the  privilege  of  floating  for  it.  would  enable 
Arkansas  to  do  much  towards  completing  her 
roads. 

In  the  selection  of  a  starting  point  on  the 
Mississippi  river,  we  find  central  on  the  east- 
ern border  of  the  state  the  high  lands  touch 
the  Mississippi  at  Helena ;  and  it  is  a  fact  that 
may  not  be  generally  known,  that  this  is  the 
only  point  from  Cape  Jeridon  to  the  Balize, 
where  the  high  lands  touch  the  Mississippi  on 
its  western  bank.  And  by  reference  to  the 
operations  of  the  states  on  the  east  bank  of 
the  Mississippi,  we  find  that  all  their  railroads 
point  to  the  bluffs  for  their  termini :  instance 
Memphis,  Yicksburg,  Natchez,  and  other 
places.  This,  of  itself,  is  conclusive  that  high 
land  points  ought  to  be  selected  for  our  ter- 
mini, in  preference  to  swamp  and  overflowed 
ones,  when  they  can  be  had. 

Then,  if  we  adopt  Helena  (the  only  practi- 
cable place)  as  the  starting  point  of  our  sys- 
tem, we  find  the  projected  road  from  there  to 
Little  Rock  to  pass  over  a  plain  country, 
already  a  grade  above  overflow,  (with  the  ex- 
ception of  four  miles  of  White  river  bottom,) 
rich  and  fertile,  with  timber  of  the  best  kind 
for  the  superstructure,  and  with  no  cost  for 
the  right  of  way.  Taking  this  as  the  first  sec- 
tion of  the  main  trunk  for  the  system  for  Ar- 


RAILROADS    IN    GEORGIA. 


521 


kansas,  we  know  of  no  road,  in  the  south  or 
west,  that  offers  such  inducements  to  capital- 
ists for  safe  and  profitable  investment.  This 
road,  a  distance  of  110  miles,  can  be  construct- 
ed with  a  T  rail  of  58  lbs.  to  the  yard,  at  a  cost 
of  81,000,000. 

AVe  think  we  risk  nothing,  when  we  base 
an  estimate  on  30,000  through  passengers  the 
first  year  ;  this,  at  §6  each,  gives  us  8180,000, 
with  the  certainty  of  an  annual  increase  to  an 
ultimate  extent  that  now  baffles  calculation. 

When  we  take  into  consideration  the  large 
extent  of  country  that  will  send  its  produce  to 
market  over  this  road,  and  receive  in  return  its 
merchandise,  we  at  once  set  down  the  freight 
receipts  as  more  than  sufficient  to  pay  the  ex- 
penses and  repairs  ;  giving  the  receipts  from 
passengers  as  profitj  making  18  per  cent,  on 
the  investment.  And  when  the  contemplated 
extensions  and  laterals  are  constructed,  it  will 
pay  to  an  extent  that  ought  to  satisfy  the 
most  avaricious.  It  will  also  possess  the  ad- 
vantage that,  for  years  at  least,  it  can  have  no 
rival.  The  enormous  cost,  and  uncertainty 
in  investment,  over  an  overflowed  bottom,  will 
prevent  any  rival  route  from  being  construct- 
ed, giving  to  this  the  benefits  of  all  the  trade 
and  travel  of  northern,  western,  and  southern 
Arkansas ;  also,  of  south  Missouri,  northeastern 
Texas,  and  the  Indian  country,  without  saying 
any  thing  of  its  being  a  part  and  parcel  of  the 
great  Southern  Pacific  Railroad. 

From  Little  Rock  an  extension  should  be 
made  to  some  point  on  Red  river  to  meet  the 
Texas  roads  pointing  east— also,  another  from 
the  same  place,  by  way  of  Van  Buren  to  Fort 
Smith,  to  be  ultimately  extended  into  the  In- 
dian country — a  country  of  vast  extent,  and 
possessing,  according  to  the  report  of  Lieut. 
Marcy,  the  elements  to  make  it,  in  proper 
hands,  one  of  the  finest  agricultural  countries 
that  God  ever  made.  And  however  much 
the  philanthropist  may  regret  it,  he  can  but  see 
that  this  vast  region  must  ultimately  be  pos- 
sessed by  the  white  race  ! — be  brought  into 
cultivation,  and  made  to  play  its  part  in  sup- 
port of  civilization.  The  Indians  will  be 
forced  to  retire  to  the  vast  plain  country  of 
the  west— a  country  peculiarly  adapted  to 
their  migratory,  hunting  dispositions. 

At  some  point,  a  few  miles  west  of  White 
river,  a  branch  ought  to  leave  the  main  trunk, 
and  following  up  the  waters  of  the  White 
river,  and  crossing  it  at  or  near  Batesville,  con- 
tinue a  north  course,  running  through  the  fine 
agricultural  and  mineral  region  of  north  Ar- 
kansas and  southern  Missouri.  This  will  con- 
stitute the  system  of  main  trunk  roads  for  the 
state.  So  soon  as  they  are  completed,  branch- 
es will  be  run  out  at  various  points,  tapping 
the  different  basins,  and  giving  to  each  section 
of  the  state  facilities  of  direct  railroad  com- 
munication with  the  Mississippi  river. 

Objections  have  been  urged  against  Helena 
as  the  eastern  terminus,  for  the  system  for  Ar- 


kansas, because  it  does  not  communicate  di- 
rectly with  the  roads  now  in  process  of  con- 
struction from  Memphis  to  the  southern 
Atlantic  cities.  This  objection  is  found,  on 
investigation,  to  be  trivial  in  it-f  character,  for 
to  all  those  wishing  to  communicate  with 
Memphis  they  are  offe.  ed  an  uninterrupted 
navigation,  for  first  class  steamers,  from 
Helena  to  Memphis,  which  can  be  run  in  five 
hours,  making  a  difference  of  time  between 
Little  Rock  direct  to  Memphis,  and  by  way 
of  Helena  and  the  river,  of  not  more  than 
three  hours. 

By  way  of  New  Orleans  is  the  natural  out- 
let for  Arkansas  products;  and  when  other 
things  are  equal,  her  artificial  lines  of  commu- 
nication (as  her  rivers  do)  ought  to  point  to 
New-Orleans.  With  her  Arkansas  is  allied 
by  contiguity,  association,  and  similarity  of  in- 
stitutions, and  nothing  but  the  most  perfect 
apathy  on  the  part  of  New-Orleans  can  dis- 
sever this  unity  of  interest ;  but  without  New- 
Orleans  will  take  hold  and  act  liberally,  the 
southern  Atlantic  cities  will  unite  Arkansas 
with  them  by  iron  bonds,  and  then  hold  her 
as  with  hooks  of  steel.  Memphis,  Nashville, 
Charleston,  and  Savannah  ;  and  last,  though 
not  least.  Mobile,  is  beginning  to  bid  for  Ar- 
kjinsas  trade,  by  proposing  the  construction  of 
roads  to  cross  the  Mississippi  at  Memphis, 
and  even  100  miles  above  these  ;  and  if  New- 
Orleans  sleeps  on  a  few  years  longer,  she  may 
awake,  but  it  will  be  with  a  spasmodic  effort, 
and  she  will  quickly  relapse  again  into  the 
sleep  of  death,  as  in  that  time  all  the  elements 
of  her  vitality  will  be  taken  from  her  by  her 
more  enterprising  sisters,  Mobile,  Savannah, 
and  Charleston, 

Should  it  be  found  necessary  at  any  future 
day  to  connect  the  Arkansas  roads  directly 
with  the  roads  east  of  the  Mississippi,  it  can 
be  done  at  much  less  expense  by  crossing  the 
river  at  Helena  than  at  any  other  point,  and 
connect  with  the  New-Orleans  and  Nashville 
road  at  Holly  Springs,  Helena  being  on  nearly 
an  air  line  from  Little  Rock  to  Holly  Springs. 
The  difficulties  of  crossing  the  bottom  oppo- 
site Helena  are  less  than  at  any  other  point 
in  the  knowledge  of  your  committee. — {By 
John  Martin.) 

^RAILROADS  IN  GEORGIA.— Georgia 
Railroad  Enterprise. — We  take  the  follow- 
ing from  the  Savannah  Republican : 

"  The  enterprise  of  the  people  of  Georgia, 
unostentatiously  displayed  in  constructing  the 
splendid  lines  of  railway  now  in  operation,  has 
astonished  our  brethren  of  the  northern  and 
southwestern  portions  of  the  Union.  In  rail- 
road reports,  in  the  public  journals,  in  the  let- 
ters of  intelligent  travellers,  every  where  do 
we  find  the  high  estimation  in  which  our  state 
is  held.  We  would  not  boast  at  this  state  of 
things;  rather  would  we  seek  to  show  what 
yet  is  wanting  to  perfect  the  system  of  inter- 


522 


RAILROADS    IN    FLORIDA,  1852. 


nal  communication,  so  tLat  the  people  of  every 
quarter  of  our  domain  could  have  the  same 
advantages  which  the  railways  novt^  in  use 
aflford. 

"  We  propose,  in  a  few  brief  articles,  to  give 
a  succinct  account  of  the  roads  now  in  opera- 
tion— how  built,  and  at  what  cost — to  show 
what  lines  are  projected  and  being  constructed, 
and  what  will  probably  be  their  influence — 
and  then  to  exhibit  a  plan  by  which  the  state 
can,  at  a  very  trifling  expense,  complete  a  sys- 
tem of  so  general  benefit,  that,  for  a  generation 
yet  to  come,  no  further  outlay  of  capital  will 
be  necessary. 

"The  Macon  and  "Western  Railroad,  the 
phoenix  of  the  old  Monroe  road,  first  claims 
our  notice.  The  Monroe  road  was  projected 
to  run  from  Macon  to  Forsyth,  and  afterward 
the  project  was  extended  to  Atlanta,  Georgia. 
It  was  a  bold  movement  in  its  inception,  but 
hazardous  in  the  extreme ;  for,  when  its  au- 
thors started,  there  was  no  prospect  of  a  road 
below  Macon  or  above  Forsyth.  When  it 
was  determined  to  build  the  Western  and  At- 
lantic and  Central  roads,  the  Monroe  company 
was  to  form  the  connecting  link  between  them, 
and  thus  was  a  way  looked  for  from  the  Ten- 
nessee river  to  the  city  of  Savannah.  After 
many  struggles,  and  the  establishment  of  the 
present  flourishing  town  of  Griffin,  the  com- 
pany failed — its  affairs  went  into  chancery, 
and  the  road  was  sold.  It  is  now  in  new 
hands — has  been  completed  and  in  operation 
for  near  three  years,  and  is  doing  a  splendid 
business.  A  million  of  dollars  was  lost  to  the 
people  by  the  old  company ;  but  the  new  com- 
pany has  finished  a  road,  worth  over  a  million 
of  dollars,  on  an  outlay  of  not  much  over  half 
a  million.  We  shall  consider  the  cost  of  the 
road,  one  hundred  and  one  miles  in  length,  at 
$1,500,000. 

"  The  Georgia  Railroad,  from  Augusta  to 
Atlanta,  one  hundred  and  seventy-one  miles, 
was  finished  about  three  years  ago.  It  has  a 
branch,  of  forty  miles  in  length,  to  Athens. 
It  has  cost,  in  round  numbers,  with  all  its 
equipments,  $3,500,000. 

"  The  Central  road,  from  Savannah  to  Ma- 
con, one  hundred  and  ninety-one  and  a  quar- 
ter miles,  was  finished  five  years  ago.  Its 
cost,  from  first  to  last,  with  its  equipments, 
may  be  placed  at  $3,000,000. 

"  The  Memphis  Branch  Railroad,  seventeen 
miles  long,  from  Kingston,  on  the  Western 
and  Atlantic  Railroad,  to  Rome,  at  the  head 
of  the  Coosa  river,  has  been  finished  within 
the  last  year.  We  do  not  know  its  cost,  but 
it  may  be  fairly  put  down  at  $130,000. 

"  These  four  roads,  together  five  hundred 
and  twenty  miles  in  length,  were  built  entire- 
ly by  individual  and  city  corporation  subscrip 
tions.  Not  a  dollar  was  ever  advanced,  to 
either  of  the  corporations,  by  the  state. 

"  The  Western  and  Atlantic  road,  one  hun- 
dred and  forty  miles  in  length,  fi-om  Atlanta 


to  Chattanooga,  on  the  Tennessee  river,  in  the 
tate  of  Tennessee,  was  opened  to  Dalton,  one 
hundred  miles,  about  two  years  ago,  and  will 
be  opened  to  Chattanooga  on  or  about  the  first 
day  of  November  next.  Then  will  Georgia 
have  a  line  of  railroad  from  Savannah  to  the 
Tennessee  river,  of  four  hundred  and  thirty- 
two  miles — and  a  line  from  Augusta  to  Atlan- 
ta of  one  hundred  and  seventy-one  miles,  be- 
sides the  branches  to  Athens  and  Rome. 
These  lines  will,  in  a  brief  period,  be  extend- 
ed through  the  Nashville  and  Chattanooga 
road  to  Nashville. 

"  The  Western  and  Atlantic  road  has  been 
built  by  the  state  out  of  the  public  treasury. 
All  the  citizens  of  the  state,  therefore,  have 
contributed  in  equal  proportions  to  the  erec- 
tion of  this  great  road — an  everlasting  monu- 
ment of  the  wisdom  and  liberality  of  the  state 
legislature.  Its  cost,  with  equipments,  when 
completed,  may  be  placed  at  the  sum  of 
$■4,000,000. 

"  Thus  have  six  hundred  and  sixty  miles  of 
railroad  been  constructed  and  equipped  with- 
in the  last  fifteen  years  at  a  cost  of  about 
$12,000,000,  two  thirds  of  which  amount  have 
been  furnished  by  individual  enterprise  and 
exertion,  and  one  third  by  the  state. 

"  Of  the  skill  and  perseverance  displayed 
in  these  truly  great  works,  or  of  the  effects  of 
the  roads  on  the  prosperity  of  the  people,  we 
need  not  say  a  word.  The  roads  shall  speak 
for  themselves."    (1850.)    (See  Geoegia.) 

RAILROADS  IN  FLORIDA,  1852.— 
Whereas  Georgia,  with  her  vast  system  of  in- 
ternal improvements,  has  already  stretched  her 
iron  linos  to  within  a  short  distance  of  the  Chat- 
tahoochee— and  a  bill  is  now  before  the  legis- 
lature of  that  state  to  insure  the  completion 
of  the  Southwestern  Railroad  from  Macon  to 
Eufaula,  Fort  Gaines,  or  other  point  on  said 
river ;  it  is  therefore  expedient  that,  to  com- 
plete the  chain  of  roads  from  the  seaboard  of 
the  Atlantic  to  the  Gulf,  a  line  commencing 
at  the  point  at  which  the  Southwestern  road 
will  terminate,  running  thence  to  the  waters 
of  Pensacola  Bay,  should  be  established. 

The  distance  of  this  proposed  railway  is 
about  one  hundred  and  forty  miles,  passing 
through  the  counties  of  Barbour,  Pike,  Coving- 
ton, and  Conecuh,  in  Alabama,  and  Santa  Rosa 
in  Florida,  over  a  country  admkably  adapt- 
ed for  tlie  purpose. 

There  are  no  lai-ge  streams  to  cross,  and 
the  lands,  for  a  great  portion  of  the  way,  re- 
quire but  little  grading ;  it  can,  therefore,  be 
built  at  less  than  the  ordinary  cost  of  roads 
in  the  south.  The  advantages  to  be  derived 
by  New-Orleans  and  the  states  bordering  on 
the  Gulf,  from  the  completion  of  this  road,  are 
great. 

A.  daily  line  of  steamers,  from  the  terminus 
to  the  city,  would  bring  a  great  portion  of  the 
Atlantic  and  Pacific  travel  hither ;  the  cotton- 


RAILROADS MISSISSIPri    ROUTES. 


523 


gi"Owing  regions  of  Alabama,  Florida,  and 
Georgia,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  route,  would 
make  this  their  great  mart;  in  return,  they 
would  receive  the  products  of  Louisiana,  and 
those  of  the  broad  west ;  therefore,  New-Or- 
leans would  be  benefited  by  this  route,  and 
the  roads  which  she  proposes  strengthened  by 
the  connection.  The  link,  to  complete  the 
chain,  coukl  be  made  ;  and  the  states  border- 
ing on  the  Gulf  would  feel  the  benefits  of  its 
influence,  before  other  more  extended  routes 
can  be  completed.  It  would  open  a  district 
of  country,  where  lauils  are  now  comparative- 
ly valueless,  which  would  be  of  great  advan- 
tage to  our  national  government. 

Government,  having  spent  millions  for  the 
naval  station  at  Pensiicola,  should  encourage 
this  enterprise,  as  it  will  be  found  necessary 
to  secure  every  facility  for  her  great  improve- 
ments. The  power  possessing  the  harbor  of 
Pensacola,  as  a  rendezvous  in  time  of  war, 
holds  complete  control  over  the  trade  and  com- 
merce of  tlie  Gulf  Hence,  a  vast  amount 
has  been  wisely  expended  in  constructing  for- 
tifications at  the  entrance  of  the  bay,  and  that 
point  must  ever  be  one  of  great  importance 
in  time  of  war.  And  as  tlie  Southwestern 
Railroad  of  Georgia  have  determined  to  seek 
a  continuation  of  their  line  to  some  point  on 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico — 

Therefore,  be  it  Resolved,  That  the  project- 
ed road  from  the  terminus  of  the  Southwest- 
ern road  of  Geoi-gia,  to  the  waters  of  Pensa- 
cola Bay,  would  greatly  promote  the  interests 
of  the  south,  and  receive  the  cordial  sanction 
of  this  convention. 

2d.  Resolved,  That  we  earnestly  recom- 
mend to  the  favorable  consideration  of  the  na- 
tional government,  this  railway,  as  one  which 
will  be  highly  important  to  the  naval  station 
at  Pensacola,  and  to  the  security  of  the  in- 
creasing commerce  of  the  southwest. 

3d.  Resolved,  That  the  members  in  Con- 
gress, from  the  several  states,  are  solicited  to 
use  their  efforts  to  obtain  suitable  grants  of 
the  public  domain  for  this  connecting  link  be- 
tween the  Atlantic  and  the  Gulf,  and  for  all 
similar  purposes  of  public  enterprise  and  im- 
provement. 

RAILROADS.— Mississippi  Routes.— The 
undersigned  begs  leave  to  submit  to  the 
General  Committee  on  Routes  the  following 
report  in  support  of  the  resolutions  offered  by 
him  to  the  convention  in  relation  to  a  system 
of  railway  running  from  the  city  of  New- 
Orleans  through  the  state  of  Mississippi.  It 
cannot  be  doubted,  that  the  system  proposed 
by  the  resolutions,  when  completed,  would 
not  only  be  of  incalculable  benefit  to  the  citi- 
zens of  Mississippi  and  Louisiana,  but  would 
also  afford  to  the  city  of  New-Orleans  a  full 
and  complete  communication  with  all  the 
railroads  east  of  the  Mississippi  river.  The 
undersigned  believes  that  he  cannot  do  greater 


justice  to  the  present  condition  and  general 
unportance  of  the  Brandon  and  Muntgumery 
Railroad,  than  was  done  it  in  a  report  made 
upon  the  subject,  by  a  delegation  of  the  citi- 
zeiw  of  Vicksburg,  at  the  11.  R.  Convention, 
belli  in  this  city  in  April  last.  That  delega- 
tion stated,  "that  this  road  is  to  extend  from 
Jackson,  Mississippi,  to  Montgomery,  and  will 
connect  at  Selma  with  the  Alabama  and  Ten- 
nessee River  Railroad,  by  which,  and  the 
roads  now  under  contract,  and  in  contempla- 
tion, a  continuous  railway  communication  will 
be  opened  through  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  and 
Oliio,  with  the  lakes;  and  through  Tennessee 
and  Virginia,  with  the  Atlantic  and  northern 
states,  and  at  Montgomery  will  connect  with 
the  railroads  running  east  through  Alabama, 
Georgia,  and  South  Carolina.  It  will  pass  in 
the  state  of  Mississippi  entirely  through  the 
counties  of  Rankin,  Scott,  Newton,  and  Lau- 
derdale; and  in  Alabama,  before  it  reaches 
Selma,  one  of  the  termini  of  the  Alabama 
and  Tennessee  River  Railroad,  it  will  pass 
through  Sumter,  Marengo,  Perry,  and  Dallas 
counties.  Nearly  all  these,  and  the  contigu- 
ous counties,  both  north  and  south,  now  haul 
in  wagons  their  cotton  and  other  articles  of 
export  to  the  Tombiglieeand  Alabama  rivers, 
and  ship  thence  to  Mobile.  The  counties  of 
Sumter,  Marengo,  Green,  Perry,  and  Dallas, 
produce  annually  about  150,000  bales  of  cot- 
ton, all  of  which  now  goes  to  Mobile,  but 
much  of  which  will  probably  be  turned  to 
New-Orleans  by  means  of  this  road.  In  fact, 
nearly  all  the  products  of  east  Mississippi 
aud  western  Alabama,  and  their  supplies  for 
that  region  of  country,  will  probably  find 
their  way  on  this  road,  and  the  branch  ex- 
tending through  the  northeastern  part  of  Miss- 
issippi. The  southern  route  then  will  become 
the  great  thoroughfare  of  northern  and  east- 
ern travel.  It  will  develop  the  mineral  re- 
sources of  north  Alabama.  Its  rich  and 
inexhaustible  mines  of  iron  are  now  worked 
in  spite  of  the  difficulties  of  getting  to  a 
market ;  and  it  will  create  aud  open  a  way 
to  trade,  the  vast  extent  of  which  cannot  be 
too  highly  estimated.  We  think  it  within 
bounds  to  assert,  that  200,000  bales  of  cotton 
will  come  over  this  road,  and  the  branch  ex- 
tending through  the  northeastern  portion  of 
Mississippi,  to  New-Orleans,  not  one  bale  of 
which  now  ever  reaches  it.  Detailed  esti- 
mates, made  by  an  engineer  who  has  surveyed 
the  route  from  Brandon  to  the  Alabama  fine, 
of  the  amount  required  for  the  completion  of 
the  road  that  far,  are  in  our  possession,  and 
may  be  set  down  in  round  numbers  at  one 
million  of  dollars.  If  New-Orleans  were  to 
pay  the  whole  cost  of  building  the  road  that 
far,  it  would  return  to  her  in  the  increase  of 
trade  alone,  without  estimating  the  other  ad- 
vantages, a  handsome  profit  upon  the  invest- 
ment. But  there  are  inducements  to  render 
the  stock  of  this  road  yaluable,  that  are  not 


524 


RAILROADS MISSISSIPPI   ROUTES. 


presented  to  any  other  railroad  in  the  United 
States.     From  Jackson  to  Brandon — fourteen 
miles  and  a  half — the  road  is  completed  and 
in  profitable  operation.     These  fourteen  and 
a  half  miles,  with  the  cars,  locomotives,  fix- 
tures, depots,  town  lots,  &c.,  attached  to  the 
road ;  si.xty  choice  and  picked  negroes ;  the 
two  per  cent,  fund  now  on  hand,  being  about 
§12,000,  and  that  which  may  hereafter  be 
received,  now  the  property  of  the  state  of 
Mississippi,  and  valued  on  a  careful  estimate 
by  the  President  of  the  Southern  Railroad, 
including  the  grading   east  of   Brandon,  at 
?37 8,000,  are  all  offered  by  a  recent  act  of 
the  legislature,  as  a  bonus  for  the  organization 
of  this  company,  and  the  completion  of  the 
road  to  the  Alabama  line  in  six  years.     This 
act  was  passed  in  1850,  and  provides  that  the 
whole  property  shall  come  into  possession  of 
the  company  so  soon  as  twenty  miles  of  the 
road  beyond  Brandon  shnll  be  finished.     To 
organize  the  company  requires  a  subscription 
of  $500,000  of  stock,  with  a  cash  payment 
of    $50,000,    immediately   upon   -which    the 
company  becomes  the  owner  of  nearly  half  a 
million  of  valuable  and  active  property.   This 
statement  shows  of  itself  a  conclusive  induce- 
ment to  take  stock  in  this  road,  and  renders 
it  absolutely  certain  that  it  will  be  valuable." 
Your   undersigned    fully   concurs    in    the 
opinion  expressed  in  the  foregoing  report,  that 
this   road   is  of  incalculable   importance   to 
New  Orleans.     By  it,  so  soon  as  the  Jackson 
and  New- Orleans  Railroad  is  completed,  an 
inland  highway  of  commerce  and  travel  is  at 
once  effected  between  New-Orleans  and  the 
whole   of    the   southeastern   portion   of    the 
United  States;  Vjy  it  an  immediate  junction 
is  effected  with  the  great  system  of  railroads 
in  Alabama,  Georgia,    and   South  Carolina. 
By  this  road,  in  connection  with  the  Selma, 
the  Hiwassee,  and  South  Valley  railroads, 
New-Orleans  will  find  her  most  direct  and 
speedy  route  to  the  whole  of  the  northeastern 
and  eastern  portion  of  the  republic.     By  it  a 
connection  is  made  with  the  Nashville  and 
Chattanooga  Railroad,  and  thus  will  New- 
Orleans  be  placed  in  immediate  contact  with 
Louisville,  Cincinnati,  and  the  lakes.     Your 
undersigned  does  not  deem  it  necessary  to 
add  more  upon  this  subject,  than  simply  to 
say,  that  a  large  portion  of  the  stock  in  this 
road  has  already  been  taken  by  citizens  of 
Mississippi,  and  that  a  little  assistance  from 
New-Orleans  will,  in  a  short  time,  place  the 
•work,  throughout  its  whole  length,  in  process 
of  construction. 

In  reference  to  the  New-Orleans  and  Nash- 
ville road,  the  undersigned  can  add  but  little, 
if  any  thing,  to  what  has  already  been  said  or 
written  in  its  favor.  For  nearly  twenty  years 
this  road  has  been  the  favored  project  of 
New-Orleans,  Nashville,  and  the  intermediate 
points.  It  has  enlisted  to  its  support  the 
talent  and  ability  of  the  states  of  Louisiana, 


Tennessee,  and  Mississippi.    But  its  advocates 
might  now  find  in  this  convention  the  most 
forcible  and  visible  argument  in  its  favor  that 
could  possibly  be  presented.     The  seats  pre- 
pared for  the  delegates  from  Nashville,  Cin- 
cinnati, Pittsburg,  and    St.  Louis,   are   now 
vacant.    They  speak  in  mute  eloquence  to 
the  reason  and  judgment  of  this  convention. 
They  seem  cold  and  cheerless,  like  the  icy 
chains   that  hold  back  their   occupants-     A 
warning  whisper  is  heard  from  them  to  this 
city,  and  they  tell  her  that  the  greatest  ex- 
porting  commercial  emporium  of  the  New 
World  may  well  fear  for  her  future  destiny, 
when   the   winter's    frost   or    the    summer's 
drought  can  bar  her  from  the  sources  of  her 
wealth  and  power.     New-Orleans  has  listened 
to  this  warning,  and  she  is  sensible  of  the  im- 
portance  of   this  work.      This  road   would 
bring  to  this  city,  for  the  present,  more  com- 
merce and  traffic  than  any  other  branch  of 
her  contemplated   system   of   railways.     II 
penetrates  one  of  the  most  extensive,  rich,  and 
fertile  portions   of  the   state  of  Mississippi. 
The   commerce    of   the    Tombigbee   valley, 
along  which  this  road  will  run  for  a  consider- 
able distance,  is  worth  more  than  ten  million 
of  dollars  annually.     This  valley,  with  all  its 
wealth,  population,  and  resources,  is  now  the 
forced  tributary  of  Mobile.     The  construction 
of  this  road  will  give  to  that  commerce  a  new 
direction,  and  place  it  upon  the  wharves  of 
New-Orleans.     Not  only  is  the  commerce  of 
this  section  of  country  considerable,  but  it 
presents  inducements  for  the  construction  of  a 
road  that  can  scarcely  be  found  in  combination 
on  any  other  route.   Its  population  is  wealthy, 
industrious,    and  public-spirited.     Its  prairie 
surface  is  so  level,  that  grading  would  scarcely 
be  required  for  some  seventy  miles.     Nature 
seems  almost  to   have  prepared   it  for  the 
superstructure  of  the  railway.     New-Orleans 
must  certainly  be  false  to  her  best  interests, 
if  she  neglects  this  road  thus  piercing  a  coun- 
try  presenting    an   inviting   surface    for  its 
track,  wealth  to  construct,  and  commerce  to 
support  it.    What  has  been  said  of  Mississippi 
may  with  equal  propriety  be  applied  to  Ten- 
nessee.      This    road    would    penetrate    the 
wealthiest   section   of   the    latter   state.     It 
would  call  back  to  this  city  the  highly  valu- 
able commerce  of  middle  Tennessee,  which 
is  now  seeking  a  market  at  Charleston.     The 
cotton,  wheat,  tobacco,  provisions,  and  mineral 
products  of  that  section  of  the  country,  would 
be  transported  over  this  road,  and  with  the 
cotton  and  trade  from  Mississippi,  would  ac- 
tually add  to  the  commerce  of  New-Orleans, 
in  value,  not  less  than  twenty  millions  of  dol- 
lars annually.     Much  of  the  light  but  valu- 
able commerce  of  Nashville,  about  to  pass  by 
Chattanooga  to  Charleston,  will  be  retained 
tor  your  city.     The  mercliant  and  citizen  of 
Nashville  must  find  a  more  speedy  and  certain 
route  to  his  exporting  and  importing  city  than 


UAILROADS — MISSISSIPPI   ROUTES. 


626 


tliat  afFoidcd  by  the  uncertain  navigation  of 
the  Cumberland  River.  If  this  road  is  not 
constructed,  Nashville  will  inevitably  turn 
her  attention  to  Charleston.  The  construction 
of  tlie  Nashville  and  Louisville  Railroad  will 
complete  the  link  in  this  great  chain  that  will 
place  the  commercial  tributaries  of  Lake  Erie 
■within  the  influence  of  New  Orleans.  By  this 
road,  and  the  Mississippi  and  Ohio  rivers,  New- 
Orleans  can  become  the  successful  rival  of 
Ne<v-York  and  Boston,  and  call  back  the  rail- 
lions  of  commerce  that  has  left  her  for  these 
cities. 

This  road  will  pass  through  the  eastern 
portion  of  the  manufacturing  country  of  the 
central  west,  and  bear  over  its  track  a  large 

{)ortion  of  the  products  of  the  spindles  and 
ooms  that  must  soon  be  found  there.  Whilst 
the  undersigned  believes  that  the  commerce 
of  this  road  would  be  highly  valuable  as  a 
source  of  revenue  to  the  road,  he  is  satisfied 
that  the  travel  upon  the  road  would  be  not 
only  an  inexhaustible  source  of  revenue,  but 
would  contribute  greatly  to  the  wealth  of 
New-Oi  leans.  Ohio,  Indiana,  Kentucky,  large 
portions  of  Tennessee  and  Mississippi,  would 
Bend  their  population  over  this  road  to  this 
city.  The  man  of  business  or  pleasure,  from 
the  eastern  and  northeastern  Atlantic  sea- 
board, whilst  in  the  west,  would  find  here  his 
speediest  and  safest  route  to  New-Orleans. 
By  means  of  the  railways  extending  to  and 
circling  Lake  Erie,  Boston  and  New-York 
would  be  placed  within  some  three  days' 
journey  of  the  wharves  of  this  city.  By  this 
road,  and  the  railways  projected  and  con- 
structed across  the  mountains,  our  citizens 
would  be  speedily  and  safely  transported  to 
Washington,  Baltimore,  and  Philadelphia. 
What  would  be  the  effect  of  all  this  upon 
New-Orleans  ?  Her  now  vacant  houses  would 
be  fiUtd  with  active  tenants.  Her  shops 
would  be  crowded  with  the  talent  and  beauty 
of  other  states,  who  would  spend  millions  in 
the  city,  and  give  to  her  additional  thousands 
of  active  and  industrious  citizens.  New- 
Orleans  would  cease  to  be  the  mere  distributor 
of  the  wealth  and  commerce  of  other  ports. 
She  would  become  a  prodnchit/  city ;  and  the 
manufacturer,  the  meclianic,  and  the  artisan, 
would  join  with  the  merchant  aud  the  banker 
to  enrich  and  populate  the  city  of  his  adop- 
tion. 

In  reference  to  the  railroad  proposed  in  the 
resolutions,  running  from  Canton  northwardly 
and  centrally  through  the  state  of  Mississippi, 
the  undersigned  will  give  some  deductions 
made  by  him  from  reliable  statistical  informa- 
tion now  before  him.  The  citizens  of  Mis- 
sissippi, living  upon  the  line  of  this  road,  have 
evinced  during  the  past  year  a  deep  interest 
in  its  construction.  They  hare  ascertained 
the  length  of  the  road  to  be  about  173  miles, 
and  that  the  cost  of  its  construction  and 
equipment  will  not  exceed  one  million  seven 


hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars.  The 
number  of  bales  of  cotton  grown  in  the  coun- 
ties through  which  the  road  pa.sses  was,  in 
1850,  one  hundred  and  fifty-seven  thousand 
four  hundred  and  eighty-eight  bales.  The 
population  of  the  counties  amounts  to  124,231. 
It  is  estimated  that  not  less  than  93,031  bales 
of  cotton  will  pass  annually  over  the  road. 
The  income  derived  to  the  road  from  this 
source  alone,  at  an  average  cost  of  95  cents 
for  transporting  each  bale,  is  $88,379,  which, 
with  a  return  freight  of  like  amount,  would 
yield  annually  to  the  road  $176,758,  for 
freights  alone.  This  estimate  is  based  alone 
upon  the  conveyance  of  cotton  and  return 
freights,  exclusive  of  the  products  of  the 
dairy,  the  farm-yard,  the  orchard,  and  the  in- 
finite variety  of  commercial  products,  which 
would  be  raised  in  a  section  of  country  so 
highly  favored  by  nature  as  central  Missis- 
sippi. At  some  point  on  the  northern  bound- 
ary line  of  Mississippi  this  road  would  cross 
the  Memphis  and  Charleston  Railroad ;  and 
whenever  this  is  effected,  the  number  of  pas- 
sengers that  would  annually  pass  over  the 
road  could  not  fall  short  of  60,000.  The  un- 
dersigned is  satisfied  from  the  statistics  be- 
fore him,  that  this  road  would  yield  a  net 
revenue,  derivable  from  the  sources  above 
indicated,  of  not  less  than  thirteen  per  cent, 
upon  the  capital  invested.  Such  would  be 
the  results  from  this  road,  were  it  never  ex- 
tended beyond  the  connection  with  the  Mem- 
phis and  Charleston  road.  It  is  not,  however, 
designed  by  the  friends  of  this  measure  that 
it  shall  stop  short  of  some  point  on  the  Ohio 
River  near  Cairo.  Who  can  then  estimate  its 
importance  aud  value  ?  It  is  estimated  that 
in  50  years  one  hundred  millions  of  souls  will 
people  the  Mississippi  valley.  To  the  heart 
of  this  great  empire  this  road  is  to  penetrate. 
It  will  there  connect,  intersect,  or  cross  all  the 
arteries  and  trunks  of  that  stupendous  system 
of  railway,  extending  from  the  Atlantic  sea- 
board to  the  great  west.  Every  important 
city  of  our  republic  is  stretching  forth  its  iron 
arms  to  this  point,  and  to  this  point  is  this 
road  to  be  directed.  It  will  rob  the  Mississippi 
of  the  half  million  of  human  beings  that  are 
annually  borne  on  its  surface.  At  the  mouth 
of  the  Ohio  will  be  given  the  traveller  a 
choice  as  to  the  mode  of  his  transit  to  yom* 
city.  Who  can  doubt  as  to  his  choice  between 
the  "floating  palace"  aud  "the  flying  car?" 
The  expense  will  be  the  same,  but  expedition, 
safety,  and  comfort  will  all  range  themselves 
with  the  locomotive. 

Not  only  will  the  travel  over  this  road  be 
great,  but  the  commerce  upon  it  will  be  al- 
most invaluable.  But  little  is  yet  known  of 
the  resources  and  wealth  of  the  central  west, 
but  that  little  promises  a  complete  revolution 
in  the  manufacturing  world.  On  the  banks 
of  the  Ohio,  the  Wabash,  and  the  Illinois,  will 
be   found  the  spindle   and  the   loom,   that 


526 


RAILROADS    IN   TENNESSEE. 


will  rob  Manchester  and  Lowell  of  their 
strength.  Food  is  found  there  in  the  greatest 
abundance,  and  cheaper  than  any  point  in  the 
known  world.  The  coal  bed  of  the  central 
west  will  yield  inexhaustible  quantities  of 
fuel,  at  a  price  of  half  the  cost  of  the  same 
article  at  Manchester  or  Lowell.  Water  for 
dying  is  found  as  pure  as  that  of  the  Mersey 
or  the  IMerrimack ;  madder,  the  principal  in- 
gredient for  coloring  purposes,  can  be  grown 
there  as  cheaply  and  abundantly  as  any  point 
in  the  world ;  quercitron  and  sumac  are 
abundant ;  fine  clay  and  stone  for  building  is 
inexhaustible  ;  and  last,  but  not  least,  cotton 
can  be  delivered  there  at  15  per  cent,  less 
cost  than  at  either  Liverpool  or  Boston.  These 
are  not  the  only  advantages  which  this  re- 
gion will  possess.  In  a  few  years  an  imme- 
diate and  direct  communication  will  be  opened 
by  railway  with  every  important  city  on  the 
Atlantic  seaboard,  giving  her  facilities  of  plac- 
ing in  her  factories  the  few  light  articles  not 
found  there,  and  of  sending  to  all  parts  of  the 
country  the  products  of  her  spindles  and  her 
looms.  How  can  Lowell  meet  and  vanquish 
this  competition  ?  She  obtains  her  cotton 
from  the  interior  of  the  Mississippi  valley, 
through  New-Orleans.  Her  coal  is  dug  out 
of  the  mountains  of  Pennsylvania.  Her  food 
and  tlour  are  carried  from  the  great  grain 
fields  of  the  north  and  central  west  Her 
dye-stuifs  are  imported  from  Europe  and 
South  America,  and  then  the  product  of  her 
looms  are  sent  for  distribution  to  the  very 
points  from  which  she  draws  her  cotton  and 
her  food,  her  flour  and  her  coals.  England 
and  New-England,  the  mother  and  the  daugh- 
ter, must  yield  for  ever  the  sceptre  of  manu- 
factures to  the  sons  of  the  central  west.  From 
this  point,  over  this  road,  through  New-Orleans 
and  across  the  Isthmus,  must  pass  the  fabrics 
that  will  clothe  the  milions  of  Asia.  Who 
can  doubt,  then,  the  importance  of  this  road 
to  New-Orleans  ? 

The  undersigned  does  not  deem  it  necessary 
to  say  any  thing  in  relation  to  the  benefits  which 
would  be  conferred  upon  the  sections  of  coun- 
try through  which  these  roads  would  respect- 
ively run.  This  point  is  dady  discussed  by 
both  people  and  press,  and  the  benefits  to  all 
classes  of  citizens  fully  understood.  In  the 
construction  of  the  system  of  roads  presented 
by  the  resolutions,  the  state  of  Mississippi  is 
deeply  and  vitally  interested,  and  iiid  Irom 
her  will  be  necessary  for  their  cotnph'tion.  It 
is  believed  that  aid  will  be  furnished  fioni  her 
ample  internal  imjjrovemeut  fund.— (//.  W 
Walter.) 

RAILROADS  IN  MISSOURL  1852.— 
The  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Railroad,  (being  a 
continuation  of  the  railroads  from  Boston,  New- 
York,  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  and  other  cities 
on  the  Atlantic  coast,  westward  through  the 
states  of  New- York,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  In- 


diana, and  Illinois,)  commencing  at  St.  Louis, 
on  the  Mississippi  river,  and  running  thence 
southwestwardly  to  the  western  limit  of  the 
state  of  Missouri,  with  the  expectation  that 
the  same  will  be  continued  across  the  plains 
to  California  and  the  Pacific  ocean. 

The  Hannibal  and  St.  Joseph  Railroad, 
connecting  with  Chicago  and  the  great  lakes, 
commencing  at  Hannibal,  on  the  Mississippi 
river,  and  terminating  at  the  town  of  St.  Jo- 
seph, on  the  Missouri  river,  with  the  expecta- 
tion that  the  same  will  be  extended  so  as  to 
intersect  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Railroad. 

These  two  roads  have  been  commenced  un- 
der very  favorable  auspices,  and  are  now  in 
progress  of  erection. 

The  Missouri  Central  Railroad,  commencing 
at  St.  Louis,  and  running  northwestwardly  to 
Jefferson  City,  Boonville,  and  Lexington,  on 
the  Missouri  river,  and  extending  to  the  town 
of  Kansas,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kansas  river, 
with  the  expectation  that  the  same  will  inter- 
sect the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Railroatl. 

The  Iron  Mountain  Railroad,  commencing  at 
the  city  of  St.  Louis,  thence  to  the  Iron  Moun- 
tain, in  a  southern  direction,  and  continuing  in 
that  course  to  intersect  like  improvements  in 
the  state  of  Arkansas,  in  order  to  connect  with 
the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad. 

The  Southwestern  Railroad,  commencing  at 
the  city  of  Cape  Girardeau,  on  the  Mississippi 
river,  to  the  city  of  Boonville,  on  the  Missouri 
river, 

RAILROADS  IN  TENNESSEE.— Ten- 
nessee Railroad. — .Sir  :  You  request  my 
opinion  as  to  the  plan  of  improvement  best  to 
be  adopted  by  the  state  and  people  of  Ten- 
nessee. 

Controlled  as  this  must  be  by  the  shape  of 
the  state,  the  directions  of  the  mountains  and 
rivers,  and  the  manner  in  which  the  improve- 
ments of  adjoining  states  approach  us,  there 
\S  but  one  general  system  to  be  adopted,  and 
fortunately,  1  think,  public  attention  lias  been 
directed  to  it ;  which  is  to  start  at  the  terminus 
of  the  Lynchburg  and  Tennessee  Railroad,  on 
the  Virginia  line,  and  pass  down  the  Tennes- 
see river,  (for  you  can  go  no  other  way  to  or 
near  Knoxville,)  and  on  down  Calhoun  or 
Cleveland,  and  there  with  a  soutliern  branch 
meet  directly  the  Georgia  improvements. 
From  the  point  of  divergence  at  Calhoun  or 
Cleveland  proceed  directly  to  Chattanooga, 
there  to  meet  the  Nashville  and  Chattanooga 
load,  and  possibly  the  Selma  and  Tennessee 
road  from  Alabama. 

Thence  to  Nashville  by  the  Nashville  and 
Chattanooga  road,  or  on  or  near  the  route  re- 
ccntly  examined  and  reported  upon  by  Mr. 
Hazelhurst,  civil  engineer,  to  the  Mississippi 
river,  at  or  near  the  uijjier  part  of  Madrid 
B.-nd,  bordering  upon  the  Kentucky  line.  This 
route  would  be  nearly  GOO  miles  long,  from 
one  extreme  to  the  other  of  our  state. 


RAlLROAnS   IN   TENNESSEE. 


527 


I  tliink  it  i3  the  most  iniportaut  for  the 
state  iit  large,  as  it  connects  directly  all  di- 
visions, and  will  obliterate  all  sectional  feel- 
ings. 

The  road  will  run  in  a  proper  direction  also 
to  meet  and  transport  the  products  of  the  val- 
leys of  the  upper  Mississippi,  Missouri,  and 
their  tributaries,  to  the  Atlantic,  by  the  short- 
est route  that  can  be  made  to  Charleston  or 
Savannah,  and  the  next  shortest  to  Richmond, 
Virginia,  and  over  routes  that  can  carry  the 
trade  cheaper  than  any  other  connecting  the 
Mississippi  and  Atlantic,  as  it  will  be  the 
shortest  and  much  the  most  economical  of  con- 
struction. This  trunk  line  will  be  composed 
of  the  following  roads  : 

MILES. 

The  East  Tennessee  and  Virginia  road, 
from  Knoxville  to  the  line 130 

That  part  of  the  East  Tennessee  and 
Georgia  road  lying  between  Cleve- 
land or  Calhoun  and  Knoxville 80 

Chattanooga  and  Cleveland,  or  Calhoun, 


say. 


Nashville  and  Chattanooga  Railroad. 
JNashville  and  Mississippi  Railroad. . . 


40 
151 
170 


Making  whole  length  from  Mississippi 
river  to  Virginia 571 

The  next  most  important  line  of  improve- 
ments fur  our  state  is  the  one  from  Louisville, 
Kentucky,  crossing  into  Tennessee,  in  a  direc- 
tion to  Nashville,  as  now  contemplated,  by 
Louisville,  and  passing  southwestwardly  to 
the  big  bend  of  the  Teinessee  river,  at  or  near 
Hamburg,  where  it  will  at  no  distant  day  be 
met  by  the  Mobile  and  Ohio  road,  and  the 
New-Orleans  and  Jackson  road,  and  from 
thence  on  or  within  the  state  to  Memphis. 
This  route  will  connect  the  extremes  of  lati 
tude,  and  reap  a  rich  reward  from  carrying 
the  products  in  exchange  from  south  to  north, 
and  north  to  south,  as  well  as  the  travel  each 
way.  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  is  also  reaching  out, 
and  will  connect  finally  with  this  line,  in  Ten- 
nessee, probably  in  Sumner  county.  The 
means  are  already  provided  to  come  from 
Cincinnati  by  Lexington  to  Danville,  Ken- 
tucky. 

MILES. 

Length  of  this  line  from  Kentucky  line 
to  Nashville 45 

Nashville  to  Tennessee  river,  at  or  near 
Hamburg 125 

From)  Hamburg  to  Memphis 125 

Making  the  total  length  from  Kentucky 
line  to  Memphis 295 

The  third  and  next  most  important  mad  for 
the  state  is  the  Mobile  and  Ohio  road,  passing 
from  the  point  at  or  near  Hamburg  across 
West  Tennessee  by  Jackson,  and  in  a  direc- 
tion towards  Cairo,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio, 
and  this  line  will  pass  centrally  through  West 


Tennessee,  and  accommodate  all  the  counties 
not  convenient  to  the  Tennessee  and  Missis- 
sippi rivers. 

Length  of  the  line  across  the  state  ]  35  miles. 
Add  the  lines  from  Kentucky  line 

to  Memphis 295     " 

Virginia  line  to  Madrid  Bend 571     " 

1,001  miles. 

Of  these  lines  of  improvement,  the  follow- 
ing parts,  it  is  thought,  the  means  for   the 
construction  is  provided  : 
Nashville     and    Chattanooga 

Railroad 151 

East  Tennessee  and  Georgia, 

between  Calhoun  and  the 

place  of  crossing  Tennessee 

river 40 

191  miles. 

Leaving  to  provide  for,  wholly  or 

in  part 810  miles. 

This  will  make  up,  when  completed,  a  most 
complete  and  comprehensive  system  of  im- 
provement, on  which  all  short  roads  can  con- 
centrate and  make  a  perfect  network.  These 
artery  lines  it  is  expected  the  state  will  aid, 
by  loaning  her  bonds  to  such  companies  as 
have  finished  sections  of  10  or  20  miles,  as 
may  be  required,  to  an  extent  sufficient  to  buy 
and  lay  down  the  iron,  and  build  the  depots 
and  station-houses,  and  equip  the  road,  when 
the  grading,  bridging,  and  tenders  have  been 
prepared  ready  for  the  iron.  The  state  to 
take  a  clear  mortgage  to  cover  her  outlay  of 
say  88,000  per  mile,  which  completes  the  road 
for  full  service. 

The  state,  of  course,  would  require  the  road 
so  prepared  to  be  accessible  to  some  other 
road  or  to  some  navigable  water-course,  and 
to  be  a  part  of  this  great  system.  810  miles 
of  road,  at  8S,000  per  mile,  make  $6,480,000, 
most  of  which  would  nut  be  called  fur  very 
soon,  as  it  could  only  be  demanded  as  the 
work  was  finished,  the  people's  money  havin" 
to  go  at  the  bottom. 

There  are  other  railroads  building  and 
starting  that  do  not  come  within  this  system. 
One  done,  or  at  least  that  part  of  the  East 
Tennessee  and  Georgia  Railroad  lying  below 
Calhoun,  which  is  finished.... 40  miles  in  lengtL 
The  Winchester  and  Hunts- 

ville  Railroad  is  now  be- 
ing located,  with  means 

to  build  it  provided.....  28  miles  long. 
The  McMinneville  branch 

road,  partly  provided  for,  30  miles. 
And  the  Shelby  ville  branch 

nearly  done,  and  means 

to  finish  it 8  miles  long. 

Making  in  all lOG  miles  of  branch 

roads,  or  roads  outside  of  these  trunk  lines, 


528 


RAILROADS    IN   ALABAMA. 


and  68  miles  of  them  growing  directly  out  of 
the  Nashville  and  Chattanooga  Road. 
Your  obedient  servant, 

V.  K.  Stephenson. 

RAILROADS  IN  ALABAMA— Their 
Value  and  Profits  ;  Public  Lands  and 
Projected  Railroads  of  the  State  of 
Alabama,  <fcc. — Address  of  the  State  In- 
ternal Improvement  Convention  to  the 
People  of  Alabama. — In  fulfilling  the  duty 
assigned  them  by  the  State  Internal  Improve 
ment  Convention,  held  at  Mobile,  on  29lh 
May  last,  the  undersigned  committee  feel 
persuaded  that  no  question  can  be  presented 
to  the  people  of  Alabama,  at  this  time,  of 
higher  importance,  or  more  worthy  of  the 
earnest  and  profound  consideration  of  every 
citizen,  than  the  subject  upon  which  they 
have  been  appointed  to  address  you. 

The  age  in  which  we  live — marked  as  it 
has  been  by  brilliant  discoveries  and  valu- 
able inventions,  in  nearly  every  department 
of  industry — witnesses,  in  the  creation  of  the 
railway  and  the  locomotive,  the  most  power- 
ful instrument  of  human  progress  the  world 
ever  saw.  Scarcely  twenty  years  have 
elapsed  since  the  first  locomotive  traversed 
its  iron  track  upon  a  short  road  in  Great 
Britain.  To-day,  five  thousand  miles  of  rail- 
way exist  in  that  kingdom  alone ;  to  provide 
which  has  cost  the  nation  an  enormous  ex- 
penditure—over twelve  hundred  millions  of 
dollars.  In  America,  the  astonishing  results 
that  followed  the  completion  of  the  Erie 
Canal  prepared  the  public  mind  to  under- 
take further  improvements,  and  the  states  of 
the  north  and  east,  with  the  sagacity  and 
foresight  which  have  ever  directed  their  local 
legislation,  have  been  foremost  to  provide  a 
complete  and  extended  system  of  railway 
communication,  convei'ging  to  their  principal 
commercial  ports.  From  1834  to  1851 — 
only  seventeen  years — the  states  of  New- 
England  and  New- York  have  constructed 
and  put  in  operation  more  than  four  thou- 
sand miles  of  railway,  costing  one  hundred 
and  sixty-six  millions,  or  an  average  of  about 
forty  thousand  dolhu'S  per  mile.  In  the 
earlier  stages  of  railway  experience  it  was 
supposed  that  railroads  could  be  sustained 
only  in  thickly  settled  and  compact  districts, 
or  connecting  populous  commercial  towns. 
But,  as  the  immense  creative  power  of  rail- 
roads became  manifest  by  the  rajtid  growth 
in  population  and  wealth  of  those  districts 
into  which  they  had  been  extended,  confi- 
dence in  their  adaptation  to  the  wants  of  the 
country  increased,  and  the  New  York  and 
Erie  railway — the  most  magnificent  under- 
taking of  modern  times — has  been  finally 
comjileted  within  the  present  year ;  seven 
eighths  of  its  whole  length  of  467  miles 
having  been  constructed  since  1845.  The 
country  through  which  that  great  work  was 


projected,  presented  formidable  obstacles  to 
the  engineer,  from  its  rugged  and  mountain- 
ous surface :  and,  being  sparsely  settled — 
containing  at  that  period  only  257,000  inhab- 
itants— gave  little  assurance  of  profit  from 
local  traffic.  Yet,  in  1849,  less  than  half,  or 
214  miles,  of  the  road  having  been  opened, 
through  a  region  which  numbered  in  1840  a 
population  of  less  than  136,000  souls,  more 
than  132,000,000  pounds  of  freight  were 
transported  over  it,  furnished  by  the  country 
along  its  line.  Immense  as  was  the  sum  re- 
quired to  build  the  New-York  and  Erie  Rail- 
road, (?23,000  000,)  the  benefits  already  de- 
rived from  its  construction  have  exceeded 
the  warmest  anticipations  of  its  advocates, 
and  would  have  justified  a  much  greater  ex- 
penditure. It  is  computed  that  the  real  es- 
tate of  the  counties  contiguous  to  the  line  of 
that  road  has  been  enhanced  upwards  of 
twenty-five  millions  of  dollars  in  value,  or 
two  millions  more  than  the  entire  cost  of  the 
work,  and  within  twelve  months  of  its  final 
completion. 

In  1850,  the  total  length  of  railways  in  th(' 
L^nited  States  exceeded  8,200  miles,  costing 
$205,000,000.  Of  this,  5,462  miles,  costing 
140  millions,  have  been  built  since  1840,  and 
new  lines  are  progressing  in  various  parts  of 
the  L^nion,  at  the  rate  of  about  2,000  miles 
per  annum.  Four  thousand  miles  now  in  op- 
eration are.  as  we  have  seen,  situated  in  the 
New-England  states  and  in  New- York.  Of 
the  remainder,  about  1,000  miles  are  connect- 
ing or  tributary  lines  in  other  states,  converg- 
ing to  the  two  great  commercial  cities,  New- 
York  and  Boston.  Tiie  latter  has  developed, 
perhaps  more  fully  than  any  other  city,  the  wis- 
dom of  liberal  expenditures  for  purposes  of 
internal  improvement.  The  people  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, through  private  subscription  and 
reasonable  state  aid,  were  enabled,  between 
1835  and  1850,  to  contribute  53,364,000  dol- 
lars to  perfect  a  railway  system  within  her 
borders,  wliicli,  in  1850,  yielded  a  net  in- 
come of  .$3,480,000  ;  being  six  per  cent,  upon 
the  cost,  $45,000  per  mile.  Aside  from  this 
tlirect  profit  upon  the  capital  invested,  a  re- 
markable illustration  of  the  collateral  advan- 
tages of  railways  is  afforded  by  a  compari- 
son between  Boston  in  1840,  and  the  same 
city  in  1850. 

In  1840,  Boston  and  towns  adjacent,  em 
bracing  a  district  of  about  nine  miles  in 
breadth  by  sixteen  miles  long,  contained  a 
p  pulation  of  172,000. 

In  1850,  the  same  district  contained  293,- 
000,  siiowing  an  increase  of  121,000,  or  70 
per  cent,  in  ten  years,  while  for  the  previous 
decade  the  ratio  of  increase  was  less  than  45 
per  cent. 

Tlie  assessed  valuation  of  property  in  this 
district  in  1840  was  $120,000,000;  and  in 
1850,  $266,500,000,  an  increase  of  $140,500,- 
000,  or  122  per  cent,  in  ten  years  of  actual. 


RAILROADS    IN    ALABAMA. 


629 


"wonlth  in  a  single  district  of  the  state,  created 
bj  an  outlay  of  a  little  more  than  52  mil- 
lions of  dollars. 

That  tills  is  not  an  inflated  or  speculative 
increase,  but  a  healthy  aud  substantial  im- 
provement in  value,  is  evident  when  we  ex- 
amine the  sources  from  which  such  unparal- 
leled prosperity  has  arisen. 

The  freight  earnings  of  railroads  leading 
into  Boston  were — 

For  1839 $287,000 

For  18-19 1,238,000 

The  number  of  vessels  clearing  from  Bos- 
ton for  foreign  countries,  in  18-10,  was  1,571, 
makmg  225,-llG  tons. 

Tiie  number  of  vessels  arriving  from  for- 
eign countries,  in  1840,  was  1,719,  equal  to 
28G,36G  tons. 

Tiie  number  of  clearances  from  same  port 
for  foreign  countries  in  1850,  was  2,839,  or 
437,700  tons. 

The  number  of  vessels  arriving  from  for- 
eign countries  in  1850,  2,872,  or  478,859 
tons. 

Tims,  while  the  tide  of  produce  rolling 
into  Boston  over  her  "  iron  ways"  has  swol- 
len 332  per  cent,  in  ten  years,  her  foreign 
commerce  has  nearly  doubled  itself  in  the 
same  period.  Tlio  state  at  large  has  likewise 
participated  in  the  upward  movement.  Tiie 
assessed  valuation  of  property  in  Massachu 
setts,  for  1840,  was  .$299,879,000,  and,  in 
1850,  reached  $590,532,000,  being  an  in- 
crease of  ?!290,653,000,  or  nearly  100  per 
cent,  added  to  her  taxable  property  in  the 
last  decade ;  an  amount  equal  to  five  and  a 
half  times  the  cost  of  all  the  railroads  in  the 
state.  From  1840  to  1850  she  has  also  gain- 
ed 256,000  in  population,  an  increase  of  35^ 
percent.;  while  from  1830  to  1840  the  in- 
crease was  but  21  per  cent.,  making  a  gain  of 
131^  per  cent,  in  the  ratio  over  that  decade. 

In  the  otlier  New-England  states,  property 
and  ]iopulation  have  steadily  and  uniformly 
kept  pace  with  railway  extension.  Pennsyl- 
vania, Maryland,  aud  Virginia,  stimulated  by 
the  successful  enterprise  of  their  more  north- 
ern neighbors,  are  cutting  through  the  Alle- 
glianies  to  draw  nearer  to  themselves  the  fer- 
tile regions  of  the  western  valley.  The  states 
of  the  west,  meanwhile,  directing  their  eyes 
to  tlie  Atlantic  coast,  are  spreading  a  net  of 
railways,  pointing  always  eastward,  to  meet 
the  advance  from  that  quarter.  Such  is  the 
energy  with  which  these  improvements  are 
prosecuted,  that,  within  three  years,  five  par- 
allel lines  of  railway  will  bi-  in  active  opera- 
tion in  the  north,  stretching  in  a  continuous 
chain  from  the  Atlantic  cities  to  the  banks  of 
the  Mississippi,  and  only  pausing  there  until 
the  new  station  west  of  that  river  shall  gather 
strengtii  to  carry  them  onward  still  further 
towards  the  Pacific.  Every  additional  mile 
VOL.  II. 


thus  opened  for  traffic  expands  the  area  of 
eastern  commerce,  and  moves  further  south 
the  dividing  line  from  whence  the  valley- 
seeks  an  outlet  for  its  produce  by  the  Missis- 
sipjii  to  the  Gulf 

While  the  enterprise  of  the  north  and  west 
has  furni-hed  thus  far  6,000  miles  of  railway 
in  addition  to  the  numerous  facilities  for  in- 
land transportation  previously  existing,  the 
states  of  the  south  have  embarked  slowly, 
and  with  extreme  caution,  in  similar  improve- 
ments, and  up  to  1851,  have  put  in  operation 
about  2,000  miles  of  railway,  900  miles  of 
which,  or  nearly  one  half,  are  within  the 
limits  of  Georgia,  and  about  85  miles  in 
Alabama. 

Georgia,  the  only  southern  state  which 
can  be  said  to  have  a  complete  railroad  sys- 
tem, presents  an  example  full  of  wisdom 
and  instruction  to  her  sister  states — a  lesson 
by  which  many  of  them  are  endeavoiing  to 
profit.  Before  the  conimencement  of  her 
railroads,  Georgia  suffered  a  large  and  an 
increasing  drain,  from  the  emigration  of  her 
people  with  their  proj)erty  to  the  new  states. 
With  a  soil  nearly  exhausted  by  improvident 
culture,  and  steadily  depreciating  in  value 
— her  towns  and  villages  participating  in  the 
general  decay,  and  every  interest  languishing 
— her  future  prospects  seemed  gloomy  in- 
deed. But  as  her  lines  of  improvement, 
penetrated  the  interior,  providing  speedy 
channels  of  communication  with  the  princi- 
pal markets,  the  efflux  of  population  was 
arrested,  a  general  spirit  of  enterprise  began 
to  pervade  all  classes,  and  this  noble  state  at 
once  started  forward  upon  a  new  and  unex- 
ampled career  of  prosperity.  Every  pursuit 
has  felt  the  revivifying  influence,  and  all 
branches  of  manufacturing  and  mechanical 
industry  flourish  to  a  degree  hitherto  un- 
known among  us.  This  revolution  has  fol- 
lowed the  expenditure  of  fourteen  millions  of 
dollars,  upon  judiciously  located  railways, 
which  are  earning  from  eight  to  sixteen  per 
cent,  per  annum  profit  to  the  stocklhjlders 
upon  their  cost,  while  the  taxable  property 
of  the  state  has  increased  in  1850  to  upwards 
of  $335,600,000,  being*  almost  double  the 
valuation  befure  the  commencement  of  her 
public  improvements,  and  §143,000,000  more 
than  the  taxable  property  of  Alabama  in 
1849. 

It  was  impossible  that  Georgia  should  reap 
this  abundant  harvest  from  her  enterprise, 
without  exciting  the  emulation  of  her  sister 
states;  and  accordingly  we  find  that,  with 
the  exception  of  the  Gulf  states,  the  entire 
south  is  benefiting  by  her  experience  ;  and 
where  individual  effort  is  found  too  feeble, 
the  strong  arm  of  state  is  readily  put  forth 
in  aid  of  purposes  so  important  to  the  com- 
mon weal. 

Such  beiug  the  present  position  of  railway 
enterprise  in  this  country,  it  remains  for  us 
34 


530 


RAILROADS    IN    ALABAMA. 


to  inquire  in  what  manner  Alabama  is  to  he 
affected  by  tlie  improvements  of  her  neigh- 
bors, and  what  will  be  their  bearing  upon 
her  future  prosperity. 

Ahibama  contains  an  area  of  50,000  -quaro 
miles:,  or  32,500,000  acres,  being  equal  in 
size  to  the  state  of  New-York,  and  embrac- 
ing an  unusual  proportion  of  fertile  and  ex- 
celK'nt  soil.  Her  pf>pdation  in  1820.  the 
year  of  her  admission  into  the  Union,  was 
only  128,000.  After  that  period,  however, 
the  attractions  of  the  new  state  induced  a 
large  immigration  from  the  older  states,  and 
her  most  accessible  lands  were  rapidly  set- 
tled. Erom  1820  to  '30,  the  census  returns 
show  a  positive  increase  of  181,000,  or  142 
per  cent,  in  ten  years. 

From  1830  to  1840,  the  positive  increase 
was  282,000,  or  about  91  per  cent,  for  the 
decade. 

The  quantity  of  public  lands  entered  by 
private  occupants  during  ten  years,  from 
1820  to  1830,  was  1,544,000  acres— and  from 
1830  to  1840,  was  7,048,500  acres. 

As  snon  as  that  portion  of  the  state  most 
desirable  from  its  contiguity  to  the  rivers  which 
furnished  the  only  outlet  to  market,  was  fully 
occupied,  the  sales  of  public  lands  began  to  de- 
cline, and  for  the  ten  years  from  1840  to  1850 
only  888,000  acres  passed  into  private  hands 
and  became  subject  to  taxation.  The  same 
cause  served  to  check  ihe  flow  of  population 
from  abroad  ;  and,  by  the  census  of  1850,  it 
is  found  that  the  ratio  of  increase  for  the  pre- 
vious ten  years  had  fallen  from  91  per  cent, 
to  about  3()f  per  cent,  the  actual  gain  since 
1840  being  1^0,500  souls,  which  is  101,500 
less  than  for  the  previous  decade,  and  500 
below  the  increase  from  1820  to  1830. 

Of  32  500,000  acres  comprising  the  terri- 
tories of  Alabama,  but  15,000,000  acres  were 
in  the  possession  of  individual  owners  in 
1850;  the  residue,  11.500.000  acres — more 
than  half  the  area  of  the  state— being  still 
in  the  hands  of  the  general  government. 
The  comptroller's  report  for  1849  makes 
knowti  the  fict,  that  12,000.000  acres  only  of 
the  15,000,000  acres  of  private  lands  are  as 
sessed  for  taxes,  having  an  average  value  of 
$3.98  per  acre;  thus  showing  that  nearly 
two  thirds  of  the  lands  of  the  state  fiiil  to 
yield  any  revenue  whatever  to  the  govern- 
ment. 

The  average  quantity  of  public  lands  ab- 
sorbed in  Alabama,  during  the  last  five 
years,  has  been  about  80,000  acres  |)er  an 
nuin,  and  this  average  is  continually  dimin- 
ishing. Supposing,  however,  these  lands 
should  be  taken  up  hereafter  at  the  same 
rate,  220  years  would  expire  before  the  fede- 
ral tile  of  the  lands  now  remaining  unsold 
would  be  finally  extingui-^hed.  But  as  15 
millions  of  acres  of  these  lands  have  already 
been  twenty  years  in  market  without  finding 
purchasers,  the  prospect  of  their  cultivation 


under  present   circumstances  is  exceedingly 
remote. 

This,  then,  is  the  condition  of  Alabama  in 
1851.  Rea.soning  from  the  statistics  here 
presented,  there  is  good  cause  to  apprehend 
that  our  state  has  reached,  if  she  has  not 
yet  passed,  her  culminating  point.  The  south 
Atlantic  states,  which  have  hitherto  greatly 
contributed  to  swell  the  population  and 
wealth  of  Alabama  by  emigration,  are  not 
only  retaining  their  people  at  home,  by  the 
superior  facilities  of  intercommunication  which 
they  have  jirovided,  but  are  thcmstdves,  in 
turn,  becoming  recipients  of  the  emigration 
from  less  favored  districts. 

On  the  west,  Texas,  with  her  boundless 
acres  of  rich  and  productive  soil,  suited  to 
all  the  varied  products  of  southern  agricul- 
ture, invites  settlement  at  a  trifling  cost;  and 
our  most  valuable  citizens  are  daily  leaving 
Alabama  with  their  families  and  property,  to 
seek  homes  in  the  valleys  of  the  Brazos, 
Trinity,  or  Colorado.  Without  some  power- 
ful counteracting  agency,  this  evil  must  con- 
tinue to  increase,  eventually  impoverishing 
the  state  and  diminishing  her  population. 

A  few  years  ago  Georgia  sought  a  remedy 
against  depopulation  through  the  establish- 
ment of  railways,  with  such  complete  success, 
that  she  enjoys  today  the  proud  distinction 
of  being  considered  the  "  Empire  State  of  the 
South."  Alabama  has  attained  the  period  in 
her  history  when  it  becomes  necessary  for 
her  also  to  guard  against  a  similar  evil.  The 
rapid  progress  of  improvements  in  adjoining 
states,  not  only  increases  the  magnitude  ot 
the  danger,  but  renders  the  necessity  for  ex- 
ertion on  the  part  of  our  state  doubly  urgent, 
lest  that  portion  of  herproduce  which  now  finds 
an  outlet  at  her  only  commercial  port,  Mo- 
bile, shall  be  divided  among  themsnlves  by 
our  enterprising  neighbors,  and  contribute  to 
swell  the  tide  of  their  prosperity  at  the  ex- 
pense of  our  own.  As  has  been  already 
stated,  "the  question  is  now  settled,  that  a 
state  without  railways  will  not  only  fail  to 
increase  in  corresponding  ratio  with  other 
states  possessing  these  improvements,  but 
she  must  actually  retrograde  in  proportion  to 
the  inducements  held  out  by  her  neighboring 
states  to  attract  population  to  themselves." 

The  experience  acquired  by  the  practical 
openition  of  exti^nsive  railway  lines  in  various 
portions  of  the  country,  during  the  last  ten 
years,  furnishes  a  safe  guide  in  examining 
the  prospects  of  projected  enterprises,  and 
estimating  their  probable  success.  Although, 
save  the  application  of  a  portion  of  the  Internal 
Improvement  Fund  appropriated  by  Congress 
for  the  purpose,  this  state  lias  given  no  en- 
couragement to  the  construction  of  railways 
within  her  borders,  yet  individual  efforts 
have  not  been  wanting.  The  Montgomery 
I  and  West  Point  Railroad — the  pioneer  im- 
!  provement  of  Alabama — extending  85  miles 


RAILROADS    IN    ALABAMA, 


631 


to  the  Opoi-f^'ia  line,  after  encountering  nume- 1  from  that  city,  and  accommodating  a  rich  and 
roiis  (liflficultios,  is  now,  tlirougli  the  well-  populous  section  of  the  state, 
directed  (i)ergies  of  \U  managers,  in  success-  East  of  the  Alabama  river,  the  G.irard  and 
ful  operation,  and  earning  an  income  of  9  per]  Mo\)ile  Company  has  been  organized, to  build 
cent,  (in  its  capital.  In  1848,  the  cause  of  a  railway  from  Columbus,  Georgia,  to  Mobile 
improvi'iiient  received  a  new  impetus  in  the  !  bay.  Another  very  feasible  plan  for  making 
organization  of  the  Mobile  .;nd  Oi.io  Railroad  i  this  de-irable  connection  is  now  spoken  of, 
Company,  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  rail-  \  by  con-^tructing  a  branch  of  30  miles  from 
■way  connectiim  between  the  gulf  at  Mobile  |  Columbus  to  Opelika,  and  using  the  West 
and  the  Mississippi  valley  at  the  mouth  of ,  Point  Railroad  to  Montgomery,  from  thence 
Ohio  river.  This  stupendous  work,  the  long  building  a  road  to  some  point  on  Mobile  river, 
est  in  the  Union  under  a  single  charier,  will  a  few  miles  above  the  city — thus  saving  a 
be  521  miles  in  length  when  completed,  traver-s-  considerable  expenditure,  and  periec  tingthe 
inji;  four  states,  and  cr<)ssin<^  six  di-{,'rees  of  lati-  \  railway  chain  between  Charleston,  Savannah, 


tuiie  in  its  course  to  the  Oliio,  where  it  will 
connect,  by  the  Cairo  aud  Cliicago  road,  with 
a  series  of  intersecting  lines,  embracing  over 
two  thousand  miles  of  road  already  complet- 
ed or  in  progress,  extendinj^  to  all  the  states 
of  the  northwi-st.  Opt-rations  were  com- 
menced in  October,  1848,  at  the  Mobile  ter- 


and  Mobile.  Whichever  of  these  two  routes 
be  ilecided  upon,  a  large  busmess  will  be  ob- 
tained from  through  travel,  and  a  valuable 
part  of  the  state  opened  to  cnltivation  and 
improvement. 

These  five  principal  lines,  if  promptly  car- 
ried forward,  would  constitute  for  Alabama 


minus,    and    thirty-three    miles    of   the  road    as  good  a  railway  system,  perhaps,  as  could 


■will  be  in  operation  in  December  next 

The  Alabama  aud  Tennessee  River  Rail- 
road, another  work  of  eminent  value  to  the 
state,  was  revived  under  favorable  auspices 
in  1849.  and   is  now  being   prosecuted  with 


well  be  devised.  A  large  proportion  of  the 
vacant  lands  in  the  state  would  be  traversed 
by  them,  and,  in  conseauence,  be  eagerly 
purchased  and  brought  into  cultivation.  Her 
ron,  coal,  and  marble  -would  remain  impris- 


nntii  inn  zeal  and  energy.    This  road,  extend     oned  in  their  native  beds  no  longer,  but  the 
about    200    miles    through  a   section  of  |  smoke  of  a  thousand  forges  would  arise  from 


Alabama  rich  in  undeveloped  mineral  wealth, 
and  isolateil  from  m,u-ket,  will  have  its  north- 
ern terminus  at  Gunter's  Landing,  on  the  Ten- 
nessee river,  an<l  its  southern  terminus  at  Sel- 
ma,  on  the  Alabama.  It  will  open,  for  the 
first  time,  to  the  inhabitants  of  North  Ala 
baina,  the  means  of  commercial  intercourse 
■with  their  own  seaport.  In  addition  to  its 
local  imp  irtance,  this  road  possesses  other 
pruiniufiit  aJvantiiges.  In  the  language  of 
tlie  chief  engineer,  "  It  is  a  link  in  the  great 
chain  of  railroa<ls  now  constructing  and  pro- 
jected on  the  most  direct  and  expeditious 
route  which  can  be  selected  to  connect  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico  with  the  middle  and  north- 
eastern Atlantic  states;  a  route  which  -will 
present  one  continuuis  line  of  railroads,  pass- 
ing through  oue  of  the  most  healthy  and  pic 
turesque  sections  of  the  Union."  A  shoit 
brancli  will  also  place  this  road  in  connec- 
tion with  the  railway  systems  of  Georgia  aud 
Carolin.i. 

Tiie  Memphis  and  Charleston  Railroad,  on 
the  route  surveyed  through  north  Alabama, 
■will  connect  with  the  Sidma  road  by  a  short 
hraneh  from  Huut-ville,  and  intersect  the 
Mobile  an.)  Ohio  Railroad  in  east  Mississippi, 
about,  "00  miles  north  of  Mobile,  thus  giving 
the  valley  of  the  Tennessee  abundant  and 
ea.sy  access  to  the  gulf  by  a  journey  of  twenty 
Louis. 

A  line,  to  pass  through  Perry,  Marengo, 
and  Sumter  counties,  has  likewise  been  pro- 
jectcil  ;  which  will  make  a  valuable  connec- 
tion between  Selma  aud  Mobile,  striking  the 
Mobile  and  Ohio  Railroad  about  120  miles 


the  wilderness,  furnishing  profitable  employ- 
ment to  a  numerous  population.  Her  bound- 
less forests  of  valuable  timber  would  be 
transported  to  the  sea  and  converted  into 
gold.  The  remotest  corners  of  the  state 
would  be  brought  into  convenient  neighbor- 
hood, and  a  complete  revolution  etfecied  in 
her  commercial  and  social  iutercourse. 

The  estimated  cost  of  these  railways,  with 
ample  equipments  for  their  probable  busi- 
ness, is  nearly  as  follows : 

Alabama  division  Mobile  and  Ohio 
Railroad  from  Mobile  to  south 
line  Kemper  county,  Mississippi 
—164  miles $3,062,000 

Alabama  and  Tennessee  River  Rail- 
road, from  Selma  to  Gunter's 
Ljinding— about  2U0  miles 3,500,000 

Alabama  and  Mississippi  Railroad, 
from  Selma  to  intersection  Mo- 
bile and  Ohio  Railroad — 100 
miles 1,500,000 

Memphis  and  Charleston  Railroad, 
from  Chattanooga  Railniad  to  in- 
tersection with  Mobile  and  Ohio 
Railroad— 150  miles 2,000,000 

Giranl  and  Mobile  Railroad — 230 

miles 3,000,000 


Making  a  total  of  864  miles,  requir- 
ing an  expenditure  in  Alabama, 
to  place  them  in  active  opera- 
tion, of $13,062,000 

Only  Gl  miles  of  the  Alabama  divisioa  of 


532 


RAILROADS    IS    ALABAMA. 


the  Mobile  and  Ohio  Railroad  are  -within  the 
state,  "yet,"  to  employ  the  words  of  their 
report,  "its  soutliern  terminus  being  at  her 
chief  commercial  city  and  only  seaport,  Ala- 
bama will  be  the  largest  reci]7ient  of  the  im- 
mense bemfits  which  will  fl>>\v  from  its  com- 
pletion. The  effect  of  such  a  highway  as 
this  upon  the  advancement  of  its  Gulf  ter- 
minus, Mobile,  cannot  be  over-eslimated. 
Her  foreign  and  domestic  trade  would  rap- 
idly increase — capital  Avould  flow  in  from 
abroad — her  exports  would  be  diversified — ■ 
her  harbor  would  be  whitened  with  th»^  can- 
vas of  every  nation,  and  she  would  enter  at 
once  upon  a  career  of  solid  and  enduring 
prosperity.  In  whatever  advancement  takes 
place  in  Mobile,  the  state  at  large  partici- 
pates, m^re  or  less.  To  the  planter,  seeking 
a  market  for  the  srele  of  his  produce,  it  offers 
increased  competition  and  abundant  means 
among  purchasers,  enabling  him  at  all  times 
to  make  ready  sales,  and  realize  the  highest 
prices  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  it  furnishes 
him  with  the  largest,  cheapest,  and  most 
Taried  market  for  every  thing  he  wishes  to 
buy.  It  throws  into  his  immediate  neighbor- 
hood a  large  class  of  consumers  for  the  minor 
products  of  Lis  plantation,  for  which  he  has 
at  present  no  sale.  To  the  inhabitants  of  the 
coal  and  iron  districts  of  Alabama,  it  becomes 
a  great  mart  from  whence  the  products  of 
their  industry  can  be  distributed  through  a 
large  extent  <)f  country."  While  this  great 
trunk  line  will  intercept  and  gather  into  it- 
self a  vast  traffic  from  all  parts  of  the  north- 
west, by  means  of  the  many  intersecting 
lines  with  which  it  will  be  united,  the  Selma 
and  Tennessee  road  will  fulfil  similar  con- 
ditions, in  regard  to  the  various  railways  of 
the  northeast ;  and  thus,  by  a  comparatively 
moderate  outlay,  the  state  of  Ahvbama  will 
be  placed  in  ])rofitable  connection  M'ith  all 
the  grand  railways  through  all  parts  of  the 
Union. 

From  her  geographical  location  on  the 
Gulf,  Alabama  is  in  an  admirable  position  to 
take  a- 1  vantage  of  tlie  railways  constructing 
in  other  states, and  to  turn  the  immense  trade 
and  travel  which  will  pour  over  them  into 
her  own  seaport,  by  the  early  completion  of 
these  two  north  and  south  lines,  and  the  two 
cross  lines  intersecting  then>.  Should  she 
seize  the  golden  opportunity,  it  needs  no  pro- 
phetic ken  to  foresee  for  the  state  an  increase 
of  wealth  as  great  and  as  rapid  as  has  been 
realize<l,  in  the  last  ten  years,  in  either  Geor- 
gia or  Ma.s9achusetts. 

A  considerable  portior*  of  the  cstiinated 
cost  of  these  roads  has  been,  or  will  be,  ob- 
tained by  private  subscriptions;  but,  unfor- 
tunately, the  large  area  of  public  lands,  with- 
out population,  over  wliich  they  must  be  car- 
ried, while  it  increases  the  n<^cessity  of  their 
construction,  will  i)lace  the  accomplishment 
beyond  limit  of  individual  means,  or  seriously 


retard  their  progress.  Most  of  the  state? 
have  recognized  tlie  wisdom  of  the  policy  of 
contributing  to  as-^ist  the  completion  of  their 
railway  improvements,  and  the  results  have 
fully  vin-Mcated  the  propriety  of  their  de- 
cision. The  amount  of  aid  furni.shed  by  dif- 
ferent states  for  works  of  internal  improve- 
ment is  as  follows : 

In  Georgia — the  Western  and  At- 
lantic Railroad,  140  miles  long, 
built  by  the  state $3,500,000 

In  Virginia — by  state  subsCT'iption 
of  from  two  to  three  fifths  of  the 
capital  stock  of  various  railroad 
companies,  amounting  to 8,000,000 

In  Maryland — by  loan  of  state 
bonds  to  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
and  other  railroad  companies. . .   5,050,000 

In  Pennsylvania — Philadelphia  and 
Columbia  Railroad,  built  by  the 
state,  in  addition  to  expensive 
canals 4,200,800 

In  New-York — in  addition  to  the 
construction  of  the  Erie  and  other 
canals,  a  bonus  to  the  New-York 
and  Erie  Railroad  Company  of.    3,000,000 

Id  Massachusetts — by  subscription 
of  stock,  and  loan  of  state  bonds 
to  Boston  and  Albany  Railroad.   5,400,000 

In  Tennessee — by  loan  of  state 
bonds  to  Chattanooga  and  other 
railroad  companies,  about 1,300,000 

In  Missouri— by  aid  granted  to  the 
St.  Louis  and  Pacific  Railroad, 
about 2,000,000 

In  South  Carolina — liberal  assistance  haa 
been  extended  by  the  state  to  her  various 
railroad  companies,  the  amount  of  which  ia 
not  correctly  ascertained. 

In  all  these  states,  save  Tennessee  and 
Missouri — where  the  railways  are  yet  in  pro- 
gress to  which  they  have  contributed — the 
results  have  been  successful,  and  the  same 
policy  is  continued  as  a  permanent  feature  of 
legislation.  Wilhcut  this  aid,  but  few  of  the 
great  railways  vi-hich  now  span  those  states 
would  be  in  operation.  The  sums  contributed 
by  the  several  states,  as  above  stated,  have 
been  employed  mostly  in  the  purchase  of  iron 
and  equipments,  the  preparation  of  the  road- 
bed having  been  provided  for  from  private 
stock  subscriptions.  To  that  extent  tlie 
roads  now  projected  in  our  own  state  can  be 
carried  by  iiulivitlual  effort;  and  it  is  only  at 
this  point,  when  private  resources  have  been 
exhausted,  that  the  propiiety  of  state  legisla- 
tion in  their  behalf  becomes  apparent. 

If,  however,  the  arguments  thus  far  ad- 
duced be  deemed  insufficient,  there  is  still 
another  most  important  relation  -which  rail- 
waj's  bear  to  the  state  that  should  arrest  the 
attention  of  our  .statesmen  antl  legislators. 
A  few  years  more,  and  the  Mississippi  Valley 


RAILROAD THE    MOBILE    AND    OHIO    KOAT), 


53« 


"R-iU  control  the  political  destinies  of  the  j  fully  instructed  as  to  the  -wishes  of  their  con- 
country.  The  northern  states  possess  five  stituents.  Let  it  not  be  forgotten,  tliat  what- 
great  railway  avenues  leadini^  i,.to  that,  val-   ever  is  done  for  the  cause  of  improvement  ia 


ley,  and  tlie  south  7wt  one.  These  arteries  of 
commerce,  ever  pulsatin;^  east  and  we-t,  are 
daily  bearing  immense  multitudes  back  and 
fortli  between  tlie  Mi-sissippi  and  tlic  Atlan- 
tic. Tlie  extremes  of  the  Republic  are  thus 
brought  near  to  each  other  and  continually 
intermingle  together.  Counnercial  interests 
awaken  mutual  sympathies,  and  they  become 
united  by  tlie  strongest  ties.  How  could  it 
be  otherwise  than  that  a  people  thus  brought 
into  frequent  communion,  sheuld  represent  in 
the  national  councils  the  interests  of  those 
■with  whom  they  fraternize  *  By  pushing  on 
our  railways,  we  n  it  only  develop  the  local 
resources  of  our  own  state  to  the  utmost,  but 
we  also  reach  the  heart  of  the  great  west, 
and  make  a  highway  from  the  gulf  to  the 
lakes,  upon  which  an  immense  traffic  would 
Gpring  up,  removing  old  prejudices  and  crea- 
ting new  sympathie-^ — making  the  south  and 
west  bettijr  acquainted — opening  a  thousand 
avenues  of  good  feeling  and  brotherhood,  and 
causing  our  institutions  to  be  better  under- 
stood and  our  rights  to  be  fully  respected. 
A  smaller  sum,  in  proportion,  than  has  been 
contributed  by  mo~t  of  her  sister  states,  would, 
if  judiciously  distributed  among  the  five  linee 
now  contemplated  aud  in  progress  in  Ala- 
bama, be  sufficient,  in  aduition  to  private 
subscriptions,  to  carry  them  forward  to  early 
completion,  and  enable  our  people  immedi- 
ately to  realize  their  benefits.  Should  this 
amount  be  given  by  the  states  as  a  bonus  for 
the  construction  of  these  railways,  there  can 
be  no  question  that  it  would  be  a  wise  and 
profitable  expenditure  of  public  funds,  from 
which   she  would  reap,  pecuniarily,  a  tenfold 


Alabama,  for  at  least  two  years  to  come,  must 
be  done  at  the  next  Legislature. 


Francis  B.  Claek, 
P.  PaiLLirs, 
J.  R.  John, 
James  L.  Puice, 
J.  W.  Lapsley, 
E.  Pickens, 
NiCH.  Davis, 
James  Abercuombie, 
J.  M.  Stannaud, 

A.  E.  l^IlLLS,  J 


Committee. 


RAILROAD. — The  Mobile  and  Ohio 
Road. — The  Mobile  and  Ohio  Road  has  beea 
located  entirely  free  of  such  derangements, 
consulting  first  of  all  the  general  good. 
3,500  miles  of  surveyed  line  have  been  run  to 
determine  the  shortest  route,  lowest  grades 
and  least  cost : 

Miles. 

Its  leugth  in  Alabama  is 62  J- 

"         Mississippi  is 273 

"         Tennessee  is 119^ 

"         Kentucky  is 39^ 

Total  mail  line. .494^ 

Length  of  branch  to  Tennessee  Riv- 
er in  Mississippi.  ^ 15 

Length  of  branch  to  Tennessee  Riv- 
er ia  Tennessee 8 

Total  mail  line  and  branch 51*7^ 

The   main  line  passes  4  miles  west 
ofPurdy,  and   through  McNairy 

county ...34  7-1® 

return.     But  when  it  is  cou'^itlered  that  these  ',  Corner  of  Henderson  county 1  8-10 

improvements   may   be   effected   by  a  loan!  "       Madison,  (near  Jackson,). . .   31f 

only  of  her  credit,  for  the  payment  of  which  "        Gibson,  (near  Trenton,).. . .   29 

she  would  at  all  times  hold  ample  and  sub-  «        Obion  county 22^ 

stantial  security ;  that  railways  less  favorably  !  Length  from  Mobile  to  Tennessee  Riv- 

located,  elsewhere,  are  yielding  fair  incomes  j      er .- 346 

upon  the  capital  invested  ;  that  a  great  and  |  Length  estimated,  Tennessee  River  to 

rapid  increase  of  property  invariably  follows  i      Columbia 92 

tlu'ir  construction,  aud  that  no  possible  risk  |  Length  from  Columbia  to  Nashville..  42 
of  loss  would  be  incurred  by  the  state  ;  it  is  ,  Total  length,  Mobile  to  Nashville. .  .480 
unreasonable  to  suppose  that  ehe  wiU  fail  to 


meet  the  expectations  of  her  citizens  by  re 
fusing  to  extend  a  helping  hand  to  the  enter 
prises  whicli  they  have  undertaken 


Thirty-tlM-ee  miles  of  the  Mobile  end  of  the 
road  will  be  in  compkte  operation  by  the 
15th  of  February  next.     Forty -nine  acres  ^of 


In  conclusion,' the  committee  would  most  \  ground  for  depots  have  been  obtained  at  Mo- 
carnestly  impress  upou  their  fellow-citirens  of  bile,  witli  two  wharves  and  right  to  run 
Alabama  the  importance  of  giving  expres-  \  tracks  through  the  commercial  streets,  that 
sion  to  their  views  up(ja  this  momentous  the  cars  may  run  to  the  warehouses,  or  vesr- 
question.  In  August,  the  election  for  state  sels  of  consignees.  A^essels  drawing  10  feet 
officers  will  take  place,  and  the  next  Legisla- :  water  are  the  largest  that  ordmanly  come  up 
ture  will  convene  in  November.  Meanwhile, !  to  the  city.  All  larger  vessels  anchor  IG  to 
let  the  subject  be  agitated  through  the  length  I  25  miles  below  in  the  bay,  where  there  is  30 
and  breadth  of  the  state,  so  that  the  senti- '  square  miles  of  water,  2  to  9  fathoms  deep, 
ments  of  our  people  may  be  made  known.  On  the  bar  between  this  anchorage  ground 
aj2d  our  legislators  may  go  up  to  the  Capitol  1  and  the  gulf;  there  is  203  feet  water  at  meaa 


534 


RAILROAD — THE    MOBILE    AND    OHIO    ROAD. 


low  tide.     On  the  bar  at  the  southeast  pass 
of  the  Mississippi  River,  there  is  at  mean  low 
tide  15i  feet.     Diffen-rice  in  favor  of  Mobile 
bay  4 j  feet.     The  Mobile  and  Ohio  road  will 
be  extended  to  this  deep  water,  and  thns  the  j 
cars  brought  alongside  of  vessels  of  40  per 
cent,  greater  capacity  than  can  get  to  New- 1 
Orleans.     The  export  and  import  freights  by  ; 
these  large  vessels  will  be  cheaper,  and  re-  j 
lieved  from  all  charges  for  lighterage  oy  tow- 
age.    Vessels  from  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  the ' 
West   India  island.?,  or  the   Caribbean  Sea, 
will  generally  make  Mobile  bay  a  day  sooner 
than  New-Orleans ;  and  the  exchange  trade ' 
of  Tennessee  and  Kentucky,  with  the  south- 
ern and  western  portions  of  tlie  globe,  will  j 
thus  prosper  at  Mobile  bay,  via  the  two  arms  [ 
of  the  Mobile  and  Ohio  Road.     Whilst  the 
same  trade  with  Europe,  and  the  North  At-  \ 
lantic  states  of  our  own  country,  will,  for  like  ! 
reasons,  thrive  at  Charleston  and  Savannah, 
via  the  Nashville  and  Chattanooga  Road.  The 
great  oiRce  of  railroads  is  to  liberate   men, 
whenever  desirable,  from  the  obstructed  natu- 
ral channels  of  commerce;  and  by  equalizing  ' 
prices,  supply  and   demand,   break   up   the  I 
spirit  of  monopoly,  domination  and  specula- 
tion of  such  cities  as  New- York  and  New- 1 
Orleans.  j 

The  Obion  River  in  West  Tennessee  is  the 
largest  stream  crossed  by  the  Mobile  and 
Ohio  Road.  None  of  them  are  navigable.  At 
the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  it  will  connect  with 
all  the  steamboats  of  the  Mississippi  and  Ohio 
rivers,  also  with  1,440  miles  of  railroads,  at  the 
bend  of  Tennessee,  with  the  boats  of  that  river, 
and  thence  by  a  central  line  of  road,  via  Nash- 
ville, to  Louisville  and  Cincinnati,  with  1,523 
miles  of  railroads  at  Louisville,  and  3,500 
miles  of  railroads  at  Cincinnati.  Thus  forming 
two  great  routes  from  the  gulf  to  the  lakes  ; 
one  ending  at  Chicago,  the  other  at  Cleve- 
land, and  connecting  thence  by  railways  with 
Baltimore,  Philadelphia,  New- York  and  Bos- 
ton. These  two  routes  traverse  10 J  degrees 
of  latitude,  and  connecting  with  steamers  to 
Lake  Superior  on  the  north,  to  the  Caribbean 
Sea  on  the  south,  will  form  a  quick  transit  for 
passengers  and  for  the  interchange  of  the 
various  products  of  S8  degrees  of  latitude; 
from  Chagres  and  Trinidad  to  the  north  shore 
of  Lake  Superinr,  and  thus  create  and  stimu- 
late an  external  and  internal  commerce  far 
greater  than  can  be  promoted  by  the  river 
channels  alone. 

The  middle  ground  of  this  internal  com- 
merce will' be  central  ■,,  and  western  Tennessee, 
where  are  combined  the  staple  products  of 
the  south  and  north,  with  a  temperate  and 
healthy  climate,  water  ]iower,  rich  soils,  iron, 
coal,  beautiful  marbles,  limestone,  and  a 
variety  of  valuable  timbers;,  all  that  can  be 
needful  for  the  prosecution  of  the  mechanic 
arts  atid  manuficturcs,  except  a  system  of 
railways,    by    which    the    products    of    all 


branches  of  industry  within  the  state  can  be 
distributed  north,  east,  south  and  west,  and 
spread  broadcast  for  general  consumption. 
The  first  class  roads  that  will  most  perfectly 
form  this  system,  are  the  two  north  and  south 
routes  above  named — the  Nashville,  Chat- 
tanooga, and  western,  the  Charleston  and 
Memphis,  and  the  Eastern  Tennessee  and 
Virginia  lines.  These  five  roads  severally 
invite  the  aid  of  the  states  to  the  extent  of 
furnishhig  the  iron  and  machinery  when  the 
peoj)le  shall  have  provided  for  or  executed 
the  local  work  of  grading,  ttc.  They  are  all 
long  lines,  (050  to  1,000  miles,  )drawing  the 
trade  of  other  states  into  and  through  Tennes- 
see, and  cannot  fail  to  be  eminently  success- 
ful ;  while  second  class  short  roads,  for  local 
purposes,  as  branches  to  these  long  lines,  or 
as  tributaries  to  rivers,  may  fail  to  bo  profit- 
able, and  should  be  let  alone  until  the  long: 
lines  are  completed ;  they  will  then,  by  the 
increasing  prosperity  of  the  people,  and  the 
aid  of  the  long  lines,  come  into  existence  as 
naturally  and  fruitfully  as  branches  grow  from 
trees. 

New- York,  Massachusetts,  Pennsylvania, 
Maryland,  Virginia,  North  Carolina  and 
Georgia,  have  severally  assisted  their  citizens 
in  building  long  first  class  routes,  either  by  a 
subscription  of  stock,  a  bonus,  a  loan  of  credit, 
or  by  separately  building  the  more  difficult 
portion  of  the  work,  and  with  satisfactory 
results. 

By  the  road  from  Mobile  to  the  Tennessee 
and  Ohio  rivers,  and  by  the  other  railroads 
connecting  therewith,  the  following  distances 
and  starting  time  of  trains  will  be  found 
nearly  coirect.     From  Mobile : 

HOURS   OF    TIME. 

Mile.s.  i'reiglit.  Puss'g, 

To  Jackson,  Miss 221  20  9 

"  Vicksburg " 268  23  11 

"  Bend  of  Ten.  River.   346  29  15 

"Memphis,  Ten 428  36  1& 

"  Jackson,       "      384  32  16 

"  Trenton,      "      409  34  17 

"  Columbiix,   "      432  36  18 

"  Nashville,  "      480  40  20 

"  Huiitsville,  Ala 460  38  19 

"  Mouth  of  Ohio  R....  494  41  20iJ 

"  St.  Louis,  Mo 775  65  33 

"  Louisville,  Ky 700  59  30^ 

"  Cin<;inuati,  Ohio 800  68  34 

"Cleveland,      "    1056  90  45. 

"  Chicago,  Illinois 875  74  86-i- 

"  Baltimore,  Md.,  via 
Nashville  and  Cin- 
cinnati.  ..1445  144  6a 

The  total  estimated  cost  of  the  Mobile  and 
Ohio  Railroad,  iucluding  the  branch  to  Ten- 
nessee River,  is  ten  millions  of  dollars,  of 
whieh  five  nullious  is  for  local  works,  and  five 
millions  for  iron  rails,  chairs,  spikes,  cars  and 
engines.  The  local  work  on  127  J  miles  ir> 
Teuuessee  is  one  milli-ou  and  sixiy  thousaad 


RAILROAD THE    MODILE    AND    OHIO    ROAD. 


535 


dollars  ;  for  iron  rails,  &c.,  as  above,  ouo  mill  per  mile ;  for  cotton  from  Tennessee  to  Mo 


lion  tliirty-five  tliousaud  doUai's. 

Average  cost  per  mile  of  local  work.  .$8,313 
"              "        of  rails,  itc,  at 
the  present  prices  of  iron 8,120 

To  build  the  \vhi>le  road  in  three  years,  the 
present  subscription  of  Mobile  furnishes — 

For  local  work ^fiOO.OOO 

The  new  tax  law  do 1,100,000 

Present  subscription  of  Miss.  do. . .  .1,000,000 
To  bt»  obtained  in  Mississippi  this 
winter,  after  the  county  law  is 
altered,  dividing  the  stock  among 

the  tax  payers '740,000 

Present  subscription  in  Tenn 150,000 

To  be  obtained  in  Tennessee 910,0(i0 

Kentucky 500,uOO 

Total 85,000,000 

la  this  sum  are  included  $50,000  and 
SlOt),000,frespectively,  for  depots  at  the  Ten- 
nes>ee  and  Ohio  rivers. 

The  lands  granted  to  this  road  by  Congress 
are  about  1,200,000  acres,  which  are  esti- 
mated to  be  worth,  after  the  road  is  done, 
three  dollars  per  acre — mortgaged  with  the 
road  to  the  state  of  Tennessee  and  foreign 
capitalists  for  a  loan  of  five  millions  of  dol- 
lars, for  the  term  of  twenty-five  or  thirty 
years ;  they  can  be  sold  within  fifteen  years 
after  the  road  shall  be  completed,  and  the 
money  invested  in  a  sinking  fund  for  the  re- 
demption of  the  bonds  at  maturity.  It  is 
calculated  and  believed  that  at  the  end  of  the 
twenty-five  or  thirty  years,  this  fund  will  be 
sufficient  to  pay  at  least  four  fifths  of  the 
wliole  loan  ;  the  interest  being  paid  semi  an- 
nually from  the  earnings  of  the  road.  It  is 
therefore  respectfully  requested  that  the  pres 
ent  legislature  of  the  state  of  Tennessee  will 
assist  the  Mobile  and  Ohio  Railroad  Company 
to  obtain  this  loan  of  five  millions  of  dollars 
on  the  best  possible  terms,  by  furnishing  there- 
for state  bonds  to  the  amount  of  $1,035,000. 

The  organization  of  the  company  embraces 
two  financial  and  local  agents,  one  a  citizen 
of  Mississippi  for  that  state,  and  one  for  Ten 
nessce  and  Kentucky,  to  be  a  citizen  of  Ten 
nessee,  whose  duty  it  will  be  respectively  to 
obtain  the  subscriptions  for  the  stock  before 
contracts  are  made,  and  afterwards  collect 
the  instalments,  and  pay  the  contractors  from 
time  to  time  for  work  done  in  their  respec- 
tive districts. 

The  rate  of  charges  for  passengers  and 
freights  on  the  Mobile  road  will  incline  to 
the  low  fare  system.  For  passengers  2  to  3 
cents  per  mile;  for  heavy,  low-priced  pro- 
ducts of  fields,  forests  and  mines,  and  gro- 
ceries, li  to  3  cents  per  ton  per  mile;  for 
mercliandise  generally,  3  to  5  cents  per  ton 


bile,  $1  50  to  $2  50  per  bale. 

With  fixed  rates  of  transportation,  and  the 
prices  current  received  each  day  by  the  pas- 
senger trains  from  Charleston,  Mobile  and 
New-Orleans,  the  merchants  of  the  interior 
can  buy  the  entire  crops  of  the  country  with- 
out risk ;  sending  on  one  purchase  after  another 
for  quick  sale— import  their  own  goods — 
and,  in  buying  and  .selling  constantly,  in  both 
directions,  turn  a  profit  on  their  capital  twelve 
times  a  year.  Tidal  railways  are  the  virtual 
extension  of  the  city  wharves  throughout  the 
land,  and  enable  the  merchants  (of  Nashville, 
for  instiuice)  to  import  and  export  for  the 
country  around  with  great  facility. 

By  the  time  the  Mobile  road  can  be  com- 
pleted to  the  Tennessee  and  Ohio  rivers,  low 
pressure  steam  packets,  built  for  passengers 
alone,  will  be  prepared  to  run  in  connection 
with  the  road  from  New-Orleans  to  Mobile, 
and  from  St.  Louis  and  Louisville  to  the 
Ohio  terminus.  The  latter  will  be  long, 
light  and  swift,  drawing  .so  little  water  as  to 
run  in  the  lowest  stages  I'f  the  rivers.  By 
such  packets,  and  the  railroad,  passengers 
cau  be  conveyed  in  safety  from  St.  Louis  to 
Mobile  in  36  hours  for  $12;  from  Louisville 
to  Mobile  in  47  hours,  for  $13;  and  from  Mo- 
bile to  or  from  New-Orleans,  in  12  hours,  for 

"VVheu  the  route  from  the  bend  of  the  Ten- 
nessee to  Louisville  and  Cincinnati  shall  be 
completed,  connecting  with  the  Chattanoo- 
ga road  at  Nasliville,  the  southern  travel  of 
Louisville  and  Cincinnati,  and  of  the  5,000 
miles  of  northern  and  eastern  railroads  which 
centre  at  those  cities,  will  come  via  Nash- 
ville. But  before  this  shall  be  done,  the  Mo- 
bile road  cannot  fail,  by  its  junctions  with 
the  Tennessee,  Ohio  and  Mississippi  rivers, 
with  the  central  Illinois  road,  and,  thereby, 
with  the  traffic  of  the  railroads  and  lakes  of 
the  north,  to  have  an  immense  business.  The 
ease  and  safety  it  will  afford  for  people  to 
escape  in  winter,  in  a  few  hours,  from  the  cold 
blasts  of  the  north  to  the  temperate  breezes 
of  the  south,  or  in  summer,  from  the  heat  and 
sickness  of  the  south  to  the  bracing  airs  of  the 
north,  will  enlarge  its  travel,  both  through 
and  ^va>/,  beyond  any  present  calculation. 
Based,  however,  upon  low  rates,  upon  one 
third  of  the  passengers  that  now  pass  annu- 
ally up  and  down  the  Mississippi  River  to 
and  from  the  northern  states,  and  upon  carry- 
ing way  passengers  equal  to  one  third  of  the 
white  population  of  the  country  adjoining  the 
route,  which  is  the  first  year's  average  ex- 
perience of  other  railroads  of  our  country,  we 
shall  have  the  following  direct  income,  viz.: 
From  125,000  through  passengers, 

at  $8 $1,000,000 

From'  1 10,000  way  pass'gers,  at  $2      220,000 
I  From  t,hrough  freights  of  merchan- 


536 


RAILROADS    IN    LOUISIANA. 


dise,  live  stock,  bread  stuffs,  <fec. .      842,000 

From  way  freights  of  do 738,000 

From  Uuited  States  maiU 90,000 

Total  income $2,890,000 

From  wliicli  deduct  all  expenses 
for  depreciation  of  tracks,  repairs, 
and  working  the  roads 1,445,000 

Total  net  earnings $1,445,000 

From  which  pay  interest  on  five 
millions  loan,  7  per  cent.,  includ- 
ing exchange 350,000 

Pay  for  additional  cars,  engines, 
side  tracks,  and  buildings  for  in- 
creasing business 200,000 

Pay  15  per  cent,  dividend  on  stock 

for  local  work  of  §5,000,000. . .       750,000 

Total  for  interest,  construction  and 

dividend 81,300,000 

Leaving  a  surplus  for  contingencies 

or  sinking  fund  of 145,000 

In  relation  to  the  revenue  of  railways,  it 
must  be  borne  in  mind  that  long  lines,  leading 
in  the  most  direct  and  shortest  course  to  tide 
■water,  from  and  through  productive  and  well 
settled  countries,  with  low  gradients,  and 
without  breaks  of  track  or  gauge,  or  the 
delay  of  transhipments,  are  the  ""most  protit- 
able  to  the  stockholders  and  the  country  at 
large ;  but  short  and  local  roads  are  every 
where,  especially  in  thinly  settled  countries, 
of  very  doubtful  success,  until  favorably  con- 
nected witti  tidal  lines.  Any  general  system, 
therefore,  by  a  state  to  aid  the  construction 
of  short  and  local  line-^,  as  well  as  the  long 
and  profitable  ones,  will  chvert  much  of  the 
labor  and  means  of  the  people  from  the  latter 
to  the  former  ;  introduce  and  encourage  many 
speculative  enterprises ;  protract  the  com- 
pletion of  the  tidal  lines  ;  and  greatly  increase 
the  state  ilebt  for  private  niDre  than  for  pub- 
lic good. —  Col.  Cliilde,  Engineer. 

RAILROADS  IN  LOUISIANA.-Suii- 
VEYs  OF  JArKso.\  (Miss.)  RoAD. — The  Com- 
mittee on  Surveys  have  the  honor  to  report 
to  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  New-Orleans, 
Jackson,  and  Northern  Railroad  Company, 
that,  agreeably  with  instructions  of  the  15th 
May,  immediate  mea-ures  were  taken  to 
organize  a  corps  of  topographical  engineers, 
to  survey  caret'ully  the  several  routes  wiiich 
had  been  suggcst(;d  as  most  suitable  fur  a  rail- 
road from  New-Orleans  to  Jackson,  Miss. 

The  extensive  surveys  and  very  complete 
information  obtained  by  tlie  old  New-Orleans 
and  Nashville  Railroad  Company,  rendered 
the  duties  of  the  committee  comparatively 
easy.  The  location  of  that  railroad  along  th.j 
valley  of  tlie  Tangejiahoa  was  taken  as  a 
base  line,  from  wliich  our  operatious  were 
made. 


A  party,  fully  equipped  for  field  opera- 
tions, under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Henry  Wal- 
ler, civil  engineer,  a  gentleman  of  much  expe- 
rience and  professional  skill,  left  New-Orleans 
for  the  state  line  on  the  12th  of  July,  and 
commenced  their  surveys  at  the  junction  of 
McGee's  creek  and  the  Bogue  Cliitto,  about 
two  and  a  half  miles  north  of  the  state  line. 
From  this  point,  a  line  in  a  southwesterly^  di- 
rection was  traced,  connecting  with  the  old 
Nashville  line,  which  crossed  Pass  Manchac, 
and  an  extension,  connecting  also  witli  the 
survey  of  Mr.  Phelps  around  Lake  Maurepas. 
These  surveys  were  made  to  enable  the  Board 
of  Directors  to  assure  the  stockholdei-s  and 
the  public,  both  of  Louisiana  and  Mississippi, 
that  the  idea  of  building  a  railroad  across  the 
valley  and  intervening  ridges  of  the  Taugepa- 
hoa,  Chappiipela,  Chefuncte  and  Bogue  Chitto, 
to  Pearl  river,  approaching  Jackson  by  the 
valley  of  said  river,  was  inexpedient  when 
viewed  either  with  reference  to  cost  or  mechan- 
ical efEciencj'. 

The  committee  beg  leave  to  state,  that  It  is 
the  unquaHfied  opinion  of  their  engineers,  that 
the  best  line  of  railroad  from  New-Orleans  to 
Jackson,  must  be  located  west  of  the  Tange- 
pahoa,  and  approach  the  last  named  city  after 
entering  the  state  of  Mississippi,  between  the 
Tangepahoa  and  Tickfaw,  to  the  common  sum- 
mit of  those  streams  and  the  Bogue  Chitto ; 
and  thence  descending  the  western  slope  of 
the  valley  of  Pearl  river,  to  the  city  of  Jack- 
son. A  copy  of  the  lithographic  map  of  Maj. 
Ranney,  which  is  herewith  presented,  exhibits 
the  line  described. 

Having  carefully  surveyed  every  probable 
route  east  of  the  Tangepahoa,  our  engineers 
were  ordered  westward  to  examine  the  ridge 
between  the  Tangepahoa  and  the  Tickfaw  ; 
also  the  valley  of  the  Tickfaw.  The  result  of 
these  investigations  leads  us,  without  doubt,  to 
the  conclusion  that,  after  reaching  the  high 
lands  on  the  north  side  of  the  lakes,  the  true 
route  of  the  radroad  will  be  found,  as  formerly 
located,  along  the  valley  of  the  Tangepahoa. 
Whether  the  railroad  shall  pass  from  New- 
Orleans  to  high  land  by  the  oUl  Nashville  lo- 
cation, between  Lakes  Pontchartrain  and  Mau- 
repas, or  whether  a  line  shall  be  adopted 
around  the  head  of  Lake  Maurepas,  is  still  re- 
garded by  the  committee  as  a  doubtful  ques- 
tion, to  be  decided  after  very  mature  refleciion. 
The  line  between  the  lakes  is  seven  miles  and 
a  half  shorter  than  the  lirie  around  Lake  ^lau- 
repas;  will  require  one  drawbridge,  but  passes 
over  more  swamp  lanil,  and  does  not  atlbrd 
the  same  amount  of  local  accommodation. 
The  line  around  Lake  Maurepas  is  more  ex- 
posed to  the  influence  of  crevasses ;  will  re- 
quire three  draw-bridges ;  is  on  better  ground; 
but  increases  the  distance,  as  before  stated, 
seven  miles  and  a  half  The  committee,  how- 
ever, feel  autliorized  to  assure  the  Board  of 
Directors,  that  no  serious  difficulties  exist  on 


UAILROADS    IN    LOUISIANA. 


537 


eitlier  lino.  Tlie  bridges  may  be  constiuctcd 
on  piles;  ami  tiiose  pi>rlion3  of  the  mad  wliicli 
pass  over  low  swamps  may,  in  tlie  first  iu 
stance,  be  also  constructed  on  piles  and  tres- 
tles, ;ind  afterwards  filled  up  with  sand  and 
clay,  to  be  transported  on  the  rails,  at  a  mod- 
erate cost,  from  the  north  shore  of  the  lakes. 

The  Committee  on  Surveys  have  also  ])ro- 
cured  from  the  General  Land  Offiee  a  copy 
of  the  United  St^ites  Land  Surveys,  embraced 
between, and  including,  ranges  five  and  eleven, 
from  the  state  line  to  the  ^Mississippi  River. 
The  government  plans  have  been  reduced  to 
a  scale  of  one  inch  to  a  mile  by  an  accurate 
instrument,  and  embodied  in  a  map  of  conve- 
nient size,  on  which  is  distinctly  shown  every 
section  and  fractional  section  of  land,  wliL'ther 
vacant  or  occupied.  Tlie  map  also  embraces 
the  surveys  which  have  been  made  for  rail- 
roads, including  profiles  of  several  of  the 
prineipal  routes.  Profiles  and  plans,  on  a 
workiug  scale,  of  the  surveys  made  by  Mr. 
Waller,  have  been  deposited  by  him  with  the 
chairman  of  the  committee;  also,  books  con- 
taining all  his  fiehl  notes.  The  committee 
take  great  pleasure  in  acknowledging  the 
skill  and  fidelity  with  which  Mr.  "Waller,  and 
the  gentlemen  under  his  command,  have  dis- 
charged their  duties.  During  the  summer 
mouths,  much  sickness  prevailed,  both  among 
officers  and  men  ;  but  the  surveys  were  never 
suspended  ;  and  during  the  autumn  mouths  our 
operations  were  retarded  by  heavy  rains,  and 
the  miserable  condition  of  the  swamps  between 
the  lakes  and  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi 
River. 

The  committee  beg  leave  to  acknowledge 
their  obligations  to  Maj.  Ranney,  fur  a  large 
amount  of  valuable  information  connected  with 
the  duties  as-signed  them.  He  lias  placed  at 
the  disposal  of  the  committee  liis  finished 
maps  of  the  location  of  the  old  NaNhviUe  rail- 
road to  the  state  line,  and  also  his  maps  and 
notes  of  experimental  surveys  reaching  to  the 
Tennessee  River.  These  survey's  were  made 
under  the  personal  direction  of  Major  Ran- 
ney, in  1835,  aided  by  a  large  and  most  effi- 
cient corps  of  assistants ;  aud  the  committee 
find  great  satisfaction  in  stating  to  the  Board, 
after  a  careful  examination  of  tliese  docu- 
ments by  their  chairman,  that  a  continuous 
line  of  railroad  from  New-Orleans  to  the  Ten- 
nessee River  may  be  constructed  with  less  la- 
bor, and  with  superior  mechanical  efficiency, 
than  any  other  railroad  of  the  same  length 
either  in  America  or  elsewhere.  The  line 
will  be  very  direct ;  and  where  deflections  are 
required,  the  curves  may  be  made  so  gentle  as 
to  be  regarded,  f(jr  jiractical  purposes,  s/ra/r//t/ 
lines;  the  dividing  ridge,  or,  more  properly, 
the  table  land,  between  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
and  the  Tennessee  River,  may  be  crossetl  by 
grades  not  exceeding,  in  any  instance,  sixteen 
feet  to  the  mile ;  while  three  fourths  of  the 


line  will  be  level,  or  with  grades  within  ten 
feet  to  the  mile. 

The  superiority  of  this  line  will  give  to  the 
trade  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  a  vast  advan- 
tage, in  comparison  with  that  which  passes  to 
the  Atlantic  over  the  high  grades  and  strong 
curves  necessarily  encountered  in  winding  a 
way  from  the  western  to  the  eastern  side  of 
the  Alleghanies.  An  engine  will  transport 
more  than  double  the  freight  from  the  Ten- 
nessee to  Xew-Orleans  or  Mobile,  and  at  a 
higher  velocity,  both  for  freight  and  passen- 
gers, than  can  be  effected  on  any  line  of  rail- 
road leading  from  the  great  valley  to  the 
Atlantic.  Tlie  length  of  our  road  should  be 
a  subject  of  congratulation;  for  while,  at  its 
farthest  point,  we  may  compete  succfSsfuUy 
with  any  other  commercial  community,  we 
budd  up  and  secure  an  immense  intermediate 
trade  peculiarly  our  own,  and  which  none  can 
ever  divert  from  us. 

The  Committee  on  Surveys  present  to  the 
Board  of  Directors  this  hasty  report,  embody- 
ing only  general  facts,  in  order  that  the  Board 
may  be  made  acquainted  with  the  satisfactory 
results  which  have  attended  our  investigations. 
Our  surveyors  only  returned  to  the  city  on  the 
23(1  of  December,  after  five  months'  absence 
on  field  duty.  It  will  require  a  short  time  to 
bring  up  their  office  work,  when  the  commit- 
tee will  present  a  report  in  detail.  The  Com- 
mittee on  Surveys  cannot  close  this  report, 
without  acknowledging  the  satisfaction  they 
experienced  in  the  belief  that  there  is  no  dif- 
ficulty of  a  serious  character  to  be  encoun 
tered  in  the  construction  of  a  great  trunk 
railroad  from  N(!W-Orleans  to  the  Tennessee 
River,  where  we  will  engraft  on  our  stem  the 
vast  system  of  branches  now  being  extended 
throughout  the  land. — Campbell's  Rtport. 

RAILROADS  IN  LOUISIANX.— Baton 
Rouge  Project. — Whereas,  at  the  Southwest- 
ern Railroad  Convention,  held  in  the  city  of 
New-Orleans  in  the  month  of  April.  1851,  a 
report  was  made  by  the  committee  on  plans 
and  projects,  in  which  it  is  stated  that  "  the 
distance  from  New-Orleans  to  Jackson  via 
Pontchartrain  Railroad,  Lake  Pontchartrain, 
and  Madisonville,  is  173  miles,  of  which  dis- 
tance about  30  miles  will  be  steam  ferry.  By 
the  located  line  of  the  old  Nashville  Railroad, 
the  distance  is  192  miles.  By  a  route  recently 
surveyed  by  Mr.  Phelps,  pas-ing  above  Lake 
Maurepas,  the  distance  will  be  about  200  miles; 
and  by  a  proposed  line  up  the  river  to  the 
vicinity  of  Baton  Rouge,  the  distance  from 
New-Orleans  to  Jackson  will  be  about  213 
miles.  The  latter  route  avoids  difficult  swamps, 
extensive  draw  -  bridges  across  navigable 
streams,  and  passes  through  a  fertile  and 
Well  improved  country.  The  majority  of  the 
committee  are  of  opinion  that  the  road  via 
Baton  Rouge  may  be  constructed  iu  the  most 


538 


RAILROADS    IN    LOUISIANA. 


substantial  manner  fiona New-Orleans  to  Jack- 
son for  two  n;illions  of  dollars,  and  that  the 
shorter  lines  -would  not  cost  materially  les<. 
The  cost  of  the  road  from  the  state  line  of 
Louisiana  to  the  town  of  Jackson  will  be  the 
Bame  on  either  route,  and  may  be  estimated 
separately  at  one  million  of  dollars!" 

Ami  whereas  the  said  proposed  route  pre- 
sents advantages,  certainly  not  to  be  over- 
look (^d,  in  enteiing  upon  a  vast  system  of  in- 
ternal improvements,  in  which  it  iscnnfidetitly 
expected  all  the  energies  of  tlie  state  and  of 
the  people  of  the  state  will  be  promptly  and 
eflSciently  enlisted: 

These  advantages  being — 

1st.  That  throughout  its  whole  course  such 
road  will  pass  through  a  densely  populated 
and  fertile  country,  the  inhabitants  whereof 
are  not  only  able  but  willing  to  contribute 
liberally  for  the  formation  of  the  road. 

2d.  That  by  touching  the  Missis3i]>pi  at  the 
city  of  Baton  Rouge,  easy  and  speedy  com- 
munication can  at  all  seasons  of  the  year,  and 
under  all  circumstances,  be  had  with  the  city 
of  New-Orleans. 

3d.  That  in  the  event  of  an  overflow  of  the 
river  Mississippi  at  any  point  between  the 
cities  of  New-Orleans  and  Baton  Rouge,  a  rail- 
road, whether  passing  the  latter  place,  or 
diverging  from  the  river  Mississippi,  so  as  to 
cross  the  river  Amite  near  its  entrance  into 
lake  Maurepas,  or  to  cross  the  pass  between 
lakes  Maurepas  and  Pontchartrain,  must  be 
liable  to  destruction,  or  at  least  to  great  dam 
age  ;  and  therefore  it  is  highly  desirable  that 
the  road  now  proposed  to  be  constructed  should 
touch  the  river  Mississippi  at  a  point  not  liable 
to  inundation,  in  order  that  there  may,  under 
no  circumstances,  be  any  delay  or  interruption 
in  tlie  transportation  of  passengers  and  freights 
to  New  Orleans. 

4th.  That  by  extending  the  road  from  New- 
Orleans  to  Baton  Rouge,  along  or  near  the 
bank  of  the  river  Mississippi  to  Baton  Rouge, 
it  will  have  the  advantage  of  passing  over  the 
highest  lands,  avoiding  swamps,  and  not  liable 
to  any  obstruction  or  damage  from  overflows, 
not  common  to  the  other  routes  proposed. 

5th.  That  the  route  via  Baton  Rouge,  pass- 
ing from  that  place  towards  the  city  of  Jack- 
son, Mississippi,  over  a  comparatively  high 
country,  free  from  swamps,  not  traversed  by 
large  streams,  and  at  the  same  time  not  re- 
quiring excavations  or  embankments  to  any 
considerable  extent,  can  be  constructed  at  less 
expense  than  one  passing  through  a  low 
country,  where  many  and  extensive  swamps 
must  be  encountered,  and  several  navigable 
streams  must  be  bridged. 

6th.  That  the  corporation  now  proposed  to 
be  created,  can  avail  itself  of  the  work  done 
by  the  Baton  Rouge  and  Clinton  Rai!roa<l 
Company,  which  consists  in  opening  the  pro- 
posed route  about  thirty  miles  or  upwards, 
cutting  off  the  timber  a  widlli  of  one  hundred 


and  twenty  feet,  preparing  the  road  for  laying 
the  superstructure  for  about  fourteen  miles, 
digging  out  all  stumps  and  roots,  cutting 
ditches  on  each  side  of  the  road,  and  ihinwing 
the  earth  into  the  centre,  so  that  at  the  pre- 
sent time  the  superstructure  can  be  laid  for 
that  distance  without  any  considerable  ex- 
pense, and  the  course  of  said  road  being  on  a 
direct  line  towards  Jackson,  Mississippi. 

'Zth.  That  passing  through  the  populous,  fer- 
tile, and  productive  parishes  of  East  Baton 
Rouge,  and  East  Feliciana,  in  Louisiana,  and 
the  county  of  Amite,  Mississippi,  each  mile  of 
the  road  would  produce  revenue  as  scon  as  it 
is  constructed. 

8th.  That  the  inhabitants  of  the  parishes  of 
East  Baton  Rouge  and  East  Feliciana  will 
promptly  and  cheerfully  contribute  a  sum  suf- 
ficient to  construct  such  road  thr<jugh  their 
borders,  the  evidence  of  which  is  the  fact  that, 
after  the  adjournment  of  the  Convention,  held 
in  April  last,  near  one  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars was  subscribed  by  the  inhabitants  of 
Baton  Rouge  and  its  vicinity  in  three  days, 
and  no  doubt  thrice  that  amount  can  readily 
be  obtained,  should  the  road  take  the  course 
indicated. 

9th.  That  there  being  no  obstruction  to  nav- 
igation between  the  cities  of  New-Orleans  and 
Baton  Rouge  at  any  season  of  the  year,  the 
passengers  and  the  produce  of  the  counties 
through  which  a  road  is  proposed  to  pass, 
would  at  all  times  reach  the  great  commercial 
metropolis  of  the  southwest  without  detention, 
and  without  any  additional  expense. 

10th.  That  the  difference  in  distance  be- 
tween the  route  passing  to  the  west  of  Lake 
Maurepas,  and  that  passing  by  the  city  of 
Baton  Rouge,  will  not  exceed  twenty  miles, 
and  the  expense  of  construction  will  not  exceed 
that  of  the  shorter  lines. 

One  othfr  view,  we  conceive,  may  with  pro- 
priety be  presented  to  your  conaideratiou.  By 
taking  the  route  we  propose,  the  road  will 
reach  a  point  on  the  river  Mississippi  opposite 
the  Bayou  La  Fourche,  and  from  tlience  may 
be  constructed  the  great  road  leading  through 
the  parishes  situated  on  that  Bayou,  and  thence 
through  the  counties  of  Attakapas  and  Ope- 
lousas  to  the  Sabine  river,  at  such  point  as 
may  meet  the  desires  of  Texas.  By  so 
domg  we  will  avoid  the  interruptions  that 
may  occur  by  breaches  in  the  levee  on  the 
west  bank  of  the  river  below  the  Lafouiche, 
and  save  the  expense  of  constructing  many 
miles  of  road.  If  to  this  it  is  objected,  that  all 
passengers  and  freights  must  lie  transported 
across  the  river  at  Donaldsonville.the  reply  is, 
that  if  the  road  is  continued  on  the  west  bank 
of  the  river  to  Algiers,  still  you  must  cross  it 
to  reach  New-Orleans,  ami  the  expense  and 
delay  of  crossing  at  the  one  point  cannot  be 
greater  than  at  the  other.  We  all  concede 
that  New-Orleans  is,  and  of  necessity  mtistbe, 
the  great  commercial  mart  of  the  southwest 


KAILROADS    IN    LOUISIANA. 


639 


and  west.  "Wo  do  not,  therefore,  seek  to 
supplant  her.  We  seek  to  enter  into  no  in- 
vidious rivahy  with  her,  hut  we  do  seek  to 
conduce  aa  much  as  possihle  to  iier  advance- 
ment, considering  that  by  doing  so,  we  advo- 
cate our  own  best  interests. 

Therefore  be  it  resolved, 

1st.  Tliat  the  Committee  on  Routes  be  in- 
structed to  take  the  said  route  into  considera- 
tion, and  report  thereon. 

'2d.  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  convention, 
it  is  of  vital  importance  to  construct  a  road  by 
which  the  river  Mississippi  can  be  reached  at 
a  point,  between  which  and  the  city  of  New- 
Orleans  there  are  no  obstructions  to  navigation, 
and  which  would  insure  a  safe,  speedy,  and 
cheap  transportation  of  passengers  and  pro- 
ducts to  the  city  of  New- Orleans  at  all  sea- 
sons of  the  year,  and  without  danger  of  delay 
from  inundations  of  the  alluvial  country,  by 
the  breaking  of  levees,  or  the  opening  of  the 
Bayou  Manchac. 

3d.  That  it  will  be  the  true  policy  of  the 
state  of  Louisiana  and  of  the  city  of  New  Or- 
leans to  construct  the  proposed  railroad  through 
a  country  practicable,  populous,  fertile,  and 
wealthy,  rather  than  through  a  difficult,  sparse- 
ly populated,  and  unprotluclive  part  of  the 
couutry,even  although  the  distance  and  expense 
may  be  somewhat  increased. — T.  G.  Morgan. 

RA.TLROADSIN  LOUISIANA— Survey 

FROM  New-Orle.\ns  TO  Thibodeauxville. 1 

have  the  honor  to  submit  herewiih  a  report 
of  so  much  of  the  survey  of  the  route  of  the 
railroad  to  Opelousas  as  the  limited  time 
I  have  had  would  permit. 

After  having  received  the  appointment  as 
chief  of  the  survey,  I  prepared  to  go  to  work 
at  once.  But,  as  not  only  the  importance  of 
the  work,  but  the  unknown  nature  of  the 
country  between  Algiers  and  Thibodeauxville, 
required  a  reconnoissance  before  determining 
where  the  surveys  should  pass,  I  proceeded 
from  Algiers  to  Thibodeauxville,  in  company 
with  W.  T.  Thompson,  Esq.,  assistant  engi- 
neer. 

Our  route  was  up  the  river  to  the  Barrata- 
ria  canal ;  down  the  canal  through  Lake 
Washa;  up  the  Bayou  des  AllemandstoLake 
des  AUemands  ;  through  the  lake,  down  Bayou 
Bo3uf,  six  miles,  to  its  juncture  with  Bayou 
Cabanosa  orChegbee;  up  Bayou  Chegbee  to 
Laforests  and  Scuddy's  plantation,  anil  from 
thence  to  Thibodeauxville.  This  route  crossed 
the  direct  line  on  the  Bayou  des  AUemands, 
passing  south  of  it  on  the  eastern  portion,  and 
north  of  it  on  the  western  portion,  leaving  the 
other  sides  for  a  future  reconnoissance.  The 
result  of  our  observations  and  inquiries  was, 
that  a  line  could  be  run  in  nearly  a  straight 
course  between  Algiers  and  Thibodeauxville. 
A  party  was  organized  by  Mr.  Thompson,  and 
the  survey  commenced.  lie  has  betn  untiring 
in  his  efforts  to  get  through ;  but  such  havebeen 


the  numerous  and  various  difficulties  with 
which  he  has  had  to  contend,  and  which  will 
be  detailed  in  his  report,  that  he  has  not  been 
able  to  finish  the  survey.  Anothtr  party, 
under  Mr.  T.  (JiUespie,  was  afterwards  formed, 
in  order  to  exjjedite  the  work,  and  the  sur- 
vey commenced  from  Bayou  des  AUemands 
towards  Thibodeauxville.  During  this  time, 
I  was  engaged  in  a  reconnoissance  of  Bayou 
Bccuf  and  the  adjacent  country,  as  far  down 
as  Lake  Bceuf.  I  then  proceeded  with  Mr, 
Gillespie  to  meet  Mr.Thompson  on  the  prairie, 
by  way  of  Lake  Washa,  Lake  Catawasha,  and 
Lanoux's  canal.  My  object  was  to  reconnoitre 
the  prairie  in  its  broadest  part,  which  was 
effectually  done,  although  with  much  personal 
inconvenience  in  getting  through  the  prairie. 

The  line  determined  upon  for  the  survey  was 
decided  upon  after  the  first  reconnoissance, 
after  mature  deliberation,  and  for  reasons 
which  I  shall  briefly  explain  in  the  subsequent 
part  of  this  report.  Its  direction  is  as  follows : 
Commencing  at  Algiers,  on  the  river  bank,  at 
Verret's  canal,  where  the  levee  is  very  small, 
and  down  the  canal  until  opposite  the  com- 
mencement of  the  bend  of  the  river ;  thence 
round  the  bend,  at  the  distance  of  4,000  feet, 
to  the  railroad  on  Millaudon's  plantation,  oa 
the  ridge  of  the  Bayou  des  Families  ;  thence, 
in  a  direction  south,  '78|  degrees  west,  to  the 
Bayou  des  AUemands ,  thence  due  west,  cross- 
ing Bayou  Boeuf,  between  Bayous  Tortue  and 
Baton  Pilon,  to  a  point  one  mile  from  Bayou 
Lafourche,  and  opposite  the  point  of  starting 
of  the  second  division ;  and  thence  to  the  Bayou 
Lafourche.  Tlie  curves  in  this  line  are,  beside 
that  from  Gretna  to  Millaudon's,  the  one  join- 
ing this  curve  to  the  straight  line  to  Bayou  des 
AUemands,  another  at  the  Bayou,  and  another 
at  Bayou  Lafourche,  and  are  so  easy  as  hardly 
to  be  noticed.  It  will  be  seen,  by  referring 
to  La  Tourette's  map,  that  a  right  line  from 
Algiers  to  Thibodeauxville  would  be  impossi- 
ble, without  crossing  the  river.  By  commenc- 
ing at  Verret's  canal,  and  passing  as  above 
described,  it  runs  on  the  best  route,  without 
interfering  seriously  with  any  of  the  planta- 
tions. 

The  straight  line  from  Millaudon's  to  Bayou 
des  AUemands  was  chosen,  as  being  the 
most  favorable  ground,  and  as  running  to  the 
best  point  for  crossing  the  Bayou— there  being 
three  islands  there ;  from  thence  to  Thibo- 
deauxville is  an  experimental  line,  and  subse- 
quent surveys  may  possibly  cause  the  route  to 
pass  a  mile  or  two  further  north.  The  dis- 
tances have  not  all  yet  been  measured ;  the 
aggregate  will  not  vary  far  from  51  miles.  The 
nature  of  the  country  is,  from  Verret's  canal 
to  Millaudon's,  cypress  swamp,  good  founda- 
tion, with  marks  of  crevasse  water  from  no- 
thing to  three  feet.  From  Millaudon's  to 
Bayou  des  AUemands,  except  the  first  two 
miles,  may  be  called  the  Gnat  Prairie.  It  is 
twenty  miles  long,  and  is  a  low,  marshy  prai- 


540 


RAILROADS    IN    LOUISIANA. 


rie,  interspersed  with  narrow  ridges,  of  a  few  ■ 
inches  higii,  and  its  nortiiern  border  pierced  I 
by  ridges  not  subject  to  overflow.  A  detailed 
survey  of  this  country  is  required  to  connect 
these  ridges,  so  as  to  determine  whether  a 
deflexion  of  the  line  would  be  advisable.  The 
growth  upon  the  prairie  is  reed  grass,  from 
ten  to  twelve  feet  liigh,  and  saw  grass  nearly 
as  high — and  both  so  luxuriant  as  to  be  very 
difficult  to  pass  through.  I  was  eight  hours 
going  six  miles  through  it,witli  two  stout  men  1 
to  beat  it  down  before  me ;  and  the  survey- 
ing parties  cannot  go  over  tln-ee  or  four  miles 
per  da}'.  The  ridges,  on  the  border,  are  well ; 
wooded ;  and  the  cypress  bottoms  also  extenil  ' 
some  distance  beyond  the  line,  at  several ; 
points.  The  soil  is  generally  moist,  but  firm 
enough  to  bear  up  men  at  all  times,  and  cattle 
in  dry  weather.  The  soundings  gave  me  hard 
clay  bottom  at  ten  feet  depth  ;  this  is  a  gene- 
ral feature  of  the  prairie,  in  its  whole  extent 
— but  there  are  some  places  which  appear  to 
be  the  beds  of  bayous  choked  up,  which  are 
very  boggy,  and  impossible  t  >  cross  on  foot, 
but  can  be  got  over  by  crawling,  or  by  light 
bridges.  There  are  portions  of  the  prairie 
called  "trembling  or  floating  prairies,"  but 
not  to  any  great  extent  on  the  line,  or  near  to 
where  it  should  pass.  They  are  principally 
in  the  southwest  portion  of  the  prairie,  between 
Lakes  Washa,  Catawasha,  and  Little  Lake 
des  Allemands.  They  are,  in  my  opinion, 
small  ponds,  which,  being  protected  from  the 
winds  by  the  rank  grass  of  the  prairie,  have 
been  overgrown  with  weeds,  until  sufficiently 
firm  to  bear  a  man's  weight.  The  thickness 
of  the  crust  is  about  eighteen  inches,  and  the 
water  underneath  about  ten  feet  deep,  with 
hard  bottom,  corresponding  with  the  firm 
foundation  of  the  prau-ie.  The  prairie  is  kept 
wet  by  the  water  from  the  lakes  being  driven 
upon  it  by  high  winds.  Its  luxuriant  vege- 
tation indicates  its  richness  ;  and,  if  properly 
leveed  and  drained,  it  would  be  most  valuable 
farming  land.  In  its  present  condition,  it  is 
only  a  hunting  ground  for  the  planters  and 
others. 

The  route  of  the  line  is  intersected  by  nu- 
merous bayous,  some  of  which  run  into  the 
lakes,  and  others  lose  themselves  in  the  prai- 
rie. Up  to  this  time,  the  "  prairie"  has  been 
a  terra  incognita  to  most  people,  and  repre- 
sented as  impassable  in  every  direction.  Al- 
though I  have  been  around,  and  across,  and 
even  under  it,  I  am  not  prepared  to  give  a 
full  map  of  its  surface,  showing  all  the  canals, 
bayous,  ponds,  floating  ])rairies,  and  forests; 
and  much  more  elaborate  surveys  should  be 
made,  to  make  such  a  map  as  is  required.  The 
best  time  for  such  a  survey  is  in  the  winter  or 
spring,  when  the  reeds  are  burned  o(f,  and  the 
mosquitoes  are  less  abundant — and  with  men 
of  iron  nerves  and  constitution.  The  prairi(;, 
on  the  west  side  of  Bayou  des  Allemands,  is 
only  four  miles  wide,  and  ia  of  the  same  cha- 


racter as  on  the  east  side.  Bayou  des  Alle- 
mands, .it  the  points  of  crossing,  is  above 
three  hundred  feet  wide,  in  the  eastern  shoot, 
with  twenty  foet  deepest  sounding;  and  two 
hundred  and  filty  feet  in  the  western  shoot, 
with  fifteen  feet  deepest  sounding.  The  island 
is  one  hundred  and  ninety-six  feet  wide — 
firm  laud,  without  timber.  The  current  is 
afl^t'Cted  by  the  winds,  which  cause  a  rise  or 
fall  of  about  two  feet.  From  Bayou  dts  Al- 
lemands to  Bayou  Boeuf,  is  cypress  swamp,  on 
each  bayou,  with  the  prairie  between.  From 
Bayou  Bceuf  west,  is  four  miles  of  cypress, 
gum,  ash,  and  maple  swamp,  with  good  bot- 
tom ;  thence  to  Bayou  Lafourche,  liij;h  forest 
land,  with  occasional  bayous.  Bayou  Boeuf 
is  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  wide,  with 
a  depth  of  seven  to  ten  feet.  Its  current  is 
gentle,  but  constantly  towards  Lake  des  Alle- 
mands. The  waters  of  Lake  Boeuf  pass  into 
this  bayou  by  a  canal,  which  imperfectly 
drains  it.  Bayou  Lafourche,  at  Thibodeaux- 
ville,  is  230  feet  wide  at  sm-face  of  levee,  and 
twenty-six  feet  deep. 

Throughout  the  route,  I  found  marks  of 
crevasse  water,  in  some  places  over  four  feet, 
and  over  five  in  some  bayous  in  the  cypress 
swamps.  It  is  the  mark  of  the  Fortier  cre- 
vasse, and  extends  to  the  high  lands  of  the 
Lafourche.  There,  the  Cantrelle  crevasse 
came  up  to  the  clearings  of  the  plantations. 
It  becomes,  therefore,  an  important  question 
as  to  the  natui  e  of  the  railway  ;  ami,  after 
careful  inquiries  and  examinations,  I  have 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  an  embankment 
cannot  be  considered,  because,  not  only  that 
it  would  block  up  the  waters  of  a  crevasse  on 
to  the  river  plantations,  but  that  it  couhl  not 
stand.  I  have  particularly  examined  the 
banks  of  the  Barrataria  and  of  Lanou.v's  canals, 
with  a  view  to  this  subject.  They  are  now 
very  near  the  level  of  the  prairie,  although 
built  about  six  feet  high.  The  earth  is  melted 
away,  or  sinks  down  by  its  weight  ;  and  it  is 
further  destroyed  by  water  rats,  otters,  and 
alligators,  which  abound ;  so  that  unless 
those  causes  can  be  destroyed,  by  complete 
drainage,  no  levee  can  be  built  which  would 
endure  long,  as  required  for  a  railroad.  The 
foundation  must,  therefore,  be  a  frame-work 
of  iron  or  wood,  six  feet  above  the  general 
level  of  the  route. 

Iron  is  too  expensive  for  the  present,  and 
must  therefore  be  replaced  by  cyjjress,  which, 
if  properly  chosen  from  the  low  lands,  will  last 

The  expense  of  constructing  this  portion  of 
the  road  will  be  much  heavier  than  farther 
west ;  and  must  be  estimated,  at  least,  815,000 
a  mile.  This  estimate  wouUl  have  to  be  made 
at  the  same  rate  to  go  up  the  river,  as  the  na- 
ture of  the  country  betvveen  the  points  of  the 
river  is  the  same  as  a  portion  of  the  straight 
line— namely,  cypress  swamp  and  prairie; 
and  the  distimce  between  the  points,  in  the 


KAILROADS   IN   LOUISIANA. 


641 


aggresrate,  would  be  nearly  or  quite  equal  to 
the  straight  line  route.  I  aissume,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  course,  tliat  a  straight  line  is  the  line  to 
be  chosen,  if  practicable.  Antl  I  liave  not 
Taricd  from  it,  except  for  good  reasons. 

Time  has  not  been  sufficient  to  make  such 
a  (Iftaileil  survey  as  the  niagnituile  of  the 
"work  requires;  but  when  it  is  considered  that 
since  the  2d  of  December,  thore  has  been  at 
least  25  miles  measured  out  of  50,  on  which 
the  line  runs;  and  considering  tlie  difficulties 
of  .supplying  the  surveying  parties  with  pro- 
visions, I  hope  that  the  committee  will  see 
that  the  work  has  been  puslied.  Out  of  27 
days,  I  have  been  20  days  actively  engaged 
in  the  field,  and  at  all  times  engaged  in  the 
business  of  the  survey.  Mr.  Tlii>mp^on  has 
not  lost  a  day  since  the  2d  of  December,  ex- 
cept by  circuin'^tances  unavoidable;  and  he 
is  still  in  the  field,  I  beg  leave  to  recom- 
mend him  and  Mr.  Gillespie  to  your  favorable 
notice,  for  perseverance  and  energy. 

I  have  been  brief  in  this  report,  as  I  only 
arrived  in  the  city  this  evening;  and.  of 
course,  cannot  be  expected  to  make  a  full  re- 
port, or  prepare  a  map;  but,  if  deoired,  I  will 
make  them  at  a  later  period. 

To  fully  sati-fy  the  mind  of  the  public,  seve- 
ral routes  ought  to  be  exploied.  For  instance, 
one  around  the  head  of  Lake  des  Allemands, 
which  would  be  seven  or  eight  miles  longer 
than  the  straight  line.  Another  route  up  the 
river,  to  a  ri()ge  about  twenty  miles  above  ihe 
city ;  and  along  this  ridge  to  the  point  on  the 
Bayou  lies  Allemands  where  the  straight  line 
crosses.  This  will  avoid  much  of  the  prairie, 
but  lengthens  the  road  about  four  miles.  And 
another  along  the  ridge  of  tbe  Bayou  des  Fa- 
milies, the  shores  of  Lake  Washa,  and  along 
the  Barrataria  canal,  to  the  eastern  riilge  of 
Lafouiche,  which  would  also  be  longer,  but 
would  facilitate  more  country. 

I  deem  it  proper  to  remark,  that  as  the  con- 
vention decided  that  a  railroad  should  be  built 
from  Algiers  to  Opelousa'^,  and  my  instruc- 
tions Were  to  run  a  portion  of  tliis  line,  I  have 
not  referred  to  a  plan  of  a  road  to  end  on  the 
river  above  New-Orleans,  or  to  cross  over  to 
meet  the  Jackson  Railroad,  but  would  merely 
suggest  tliat  the  expense  and  delay  of  such 
a  road  would  be  greater  than  by  a.  direct 
route  to  Algiers.  The  Mis-issippi  is  too  un- 
certain in  its  action  on  its  banks,  and  its  rise 
and  tall  too  great,  to  per.mit  us  to  think  of 
any  construction  to  pass  a  railroad  across  it, 
or  re-ship  freight  short  of  New  Oileau-^. 
Travellers  from  or  to  the  west  would  also 
prefer  to  make  but  one  cro-^sing,  or  change  of 
conveyance.  The  road  must  be  looked  at  on 
a  grand  scale  as  the  great  route  to  the  "great 
west,"  and,  if  po-;sible,  must  be  kept  in  that 
direcnon.  leaving  the  neighborhoods  to  join  it 
by  plank-roads  or  branch  railroads. 

For  this  occasion,  I  beg  leave  merely  to 
state  that,  in  my  opinion,  (founded  upon  per- 


sonal examination,  and  from  information  de- 
riv(;d  from  every  source — planter-!,  liuntcrs, 
fishermen,  travellers,  and  which  all  verify  my 
own  observation,)  a  railroad,  elevated  above 
crevasse  water,  can  be  built  from  Algiers  to 
Thibodeauxville,  in  nearly  a  direct  line,  for 
about  $15,000  a  mile  ;  or,  in  round  numbers, 
for  the  whole  distance  of  fifty-one  miles,  for 
$300,000 ;  and  I  congratulate  you,  sir,  on  the 
favorable  result  of  this  important  survey. — 
Blanchard's  Survey. 


RAILROADS   IN    LOUISIANA.— Ope- 

i.ousAs  RoAo  SuavEY   KKOM   Thii!odti:aux. 

Agreeably  to  your  request  and  instructions, 
[  liave,wilh  the  assistance  of  Dr.  W.  S.  Smith, 
surveyed  that  portion  of  the  route  o(  the  con- 
templated New-Orleans  and  Opelousas  Rail- 
ri  lad,  lying  between  Thibodeaux  and  Berwick's 
Bay,  and  submit  to  you  this,  my  report: 

We  first  fixeii  on  a  point  supposed  to  be 
the  most  ebgible  for  crossing  Bayou  La- 
tourche,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  above  the 
corp(»rate  limits  of  the  town  of  Thibodeaux, 
which  point  is  15  chains  and  70  links  below 
the  upper  line  of  the  plantation  of  Judge 
(xuiiin. 

From  thence,  for  nearly  five  miles,  we 
directed  our  course  so  as  to  follow  a  ridge  of 
high  land,  ktiowu  as  the  Pointe  aux  Chcnes; 
at  this  distance  tlie  ridge  turns  so  much  west- 
ward as  to  be  no  longer  available.  We  then 
turned  the  course  a  few  degrees  to  the  right 
hand,  running  through  a  cypress  swamp  two 
miles  and  a  half  across,  striking  tlie  nearest 
point  of  high  land  on  the  Chucahoula  ridge, 
riiis  last  mentioned  swamp  has  a  firm,  liard 
clay  bottom,  with  crevasse  watermarks  vary- 
ing from  three  to  four  feet,  and  in  a  few 
sloughs,  five  feet  water-mark.  In  the  sum- 
mer season  this  swamp  becomes  entirely  dry, 
but  now  has  on  it  water  averaging  one  foot  in 
depth.  It  is  my  opinion  this  swamp  might 
be  drained  and  kept  moat  generally  dry,  by 
making  a  sufficiently  large  canal  across  the 
Chucahoula  Ridge  into  Bayou  Tiger,  at  a 
point  where  the  distance  would  be  but  about 
oni!  half  a  mile  in  length. 

Tiietice  our  line  curves  still  more  to  the 
right  hand,  running  along  the  Chucahoula 
Ridge  about  four  miles,  and  enters  a  cypress 
swani])  similar  to  the  one  last  described.  This 
swamp  it  crosses  in  a  distance  of  three  eighths 
of  a  mile,  striking  a  low  and  narrow  ritlge  of 
land  on  the  Bayou  Tiger.  Following  this 
ridge,  twice  crossing  the  Bayou  Tiger,  at  13 
miles  from  Lufourche,  we  arrived  at  a  point 
on  the  right  bank  of  Bayou  Black,  opposite 
the  town  of  Tigerville. 

It  will  bo  observed,  also,  by  referring  to  the 
annexi'd  sketch,  that  the  line  Huh  far  crosses 
the.  Bayou  Chucahoula  four  times ;  but  this 
bayou,  as  well  as  the  Bayou  I'Ours,  hereafter 
referred  to,  is  very  small  and  hardly  observ- 


642 


RAILROADS    IN    LOUISIANA. 


able,  being  what  is  generally  termed  a  dry 
bayou. 

Tlicnce  from  opposite  Tigerville,  crossing  a 
little  to  the  left,  the  line  runs  along  the  high 
lands  of  Bayou  Black  two  miles  and  a  half, 
thence  curving  slightly  to  the  right  across  the 
high  lands  of  Bayou  I'Ours  one  mile  and  a  ] 
half,  and  enters  a  cypress  and  tupelo  gum 
swamp,  lying  between  the  high  lands  of 
Bayou  rOurs  and  Bayou  Boauf. 

This  swamp  has  crevasse  water-marks  from 
three  to  four  feet,  and  is  less  firm  on  the  sur- 
face tlian  those  previously  crossed  on  our  line. 
At  a  depth  of  from  six  to  twelve  inches  below 
the  surface  the  ground  is  tolerably  firm,  being 
clayey,  or  what  is  here  generally  termed 
*'  terre  gras."  The  line  across  this  swamp  is 
a  little  more  than  two  miles  in  length,  and 
that  near  the  middle  crosses  a  small  draining 
bayou,  the  bottom  of  which  is  bogi^y. 

Leaving  this  last  mentioned  swamp,  and 
passing  over  cultivated  laud,  at  19  j  miles  from 
Lafourche,  we  arrived  on  the  cast  bank  of 
Bayou  Bccuf.  This  bayou  is  590  feet  in  width, 
banks  8  feet  above  tide-water,  and  has  a 
gentle  current  each  way  according  to  the 
tide;  difference  between  ordinary  high  and 
low  tides  about  18  inches. 

The  soundings  across  Bayou  Boeuf,  on  our 
line  from  the  east  bank,  and  taken  at  a  mode- 
rately low  tide,  and  at  nenrly  equal  horizontal 
distances,  were  as  follows:  4  feet,  7+  feet,  12.^ 
feet,  15  feet,  15  leet,  15  feet,  15  feet,  15  feet, 
14  feet.  10  feet ;  the  two  extremes  being  about 
50  feet  from  the  banks. 

Thence  the  line  continues  in  the  same  direc- 
tion over  cultivated  land  a  little  more  than 
half  a  mile,  and  enters  a  palmetto,  ash,  and 
cypress  swamp,  having  on  it  but  little  surface 
water,  with  a  very  firm  clayey  bottom,  and 
three  feet  crevasse  water-mark.  Crossing  this 
swamp  in  a  distance  of  about  a  half  mile,  the 
line  enters  upon  the  high  lauds  of  Bayou 
Boeuf  again.  Thence  the  line  passes  over 
said  high  land,  mostly  in  cultivation,  crossing 
Bayou  Ramos  at  a  distance  from  Lafourche 
of  22^  miles  nearly,  and  reaches  Berwick's 
Bay  at  a  distance  of  2(if  miles  from  Thibo- 
deau.\,  of  which,  say  5.V  miles,  is  through  level 
overflowed  swamp  land,  and  the  balance  on 
high,  level,  and  arable  alluvial  lands. 

On  this  route  there  will  be  required  several 
culverts  across  small  bayous  and  drains,  not 
involving  heavy  expenditure,  and  in  addition 
five  bridges,  viz.  :  two  across  Bayou  Tiger, 
which  IS  GO  feet  wide  and  8  feet  deep;  one 
across  the  draining  bayou  in  the  swamp  be- 
tween Bayou  rOurs  and  Bayou  Ba-uf,  which 
is  150  fe<;t  wida,  and  from  1  to  3  feet  deep; 
one  across  Bayou  Bouuf,  the  cross  section  of 
which  U  given  above;  and  one  across  Bayou 
Ramo.s  which  is  SGO  feet  wide  and  (i  feet  deep. 
The  country  traversed  on  this  route  is  all 
very  nearly  level,  no  portion  being  more  than 
15,  nor  less  than  2  feet  above   tide-water. 


Consequently  no  cuttlngo  will  be  required, 
nor  embankments,  except  in  the  swamp  por- 
tions, sufficient  to  elevate  the  road  above  the 
highest  crevasse  water,  and  in  other  portions 
to  secure  a  good  foundation. 

About  one  half  of  the  whole  length  of  the 
route  is  on  arable  land,  never  overflowed,  and 
the  other  half  on  land  subject  to  innuersion 
from  1  to  4  feet,  in  times  of  cxtreir.e  high  , 
water  of  the  Mississippi  river,  caused  by 
breaks  of  the  levee  in  the  parishes  of  Point 
Coupee  and  West  Baton  Rouge.  It  might  be 
supposed  that  an  embankment,  such  as  it  is 
proposed  to  make,  would  operate  as  a  dam, 
causing  injury  to  the  lands  above  it,  as  well 
as  to  the  work  itself.  Such  would  nut  be  the 
case,  because  the  great  area  over  which  this 
crevasse  water  extends,  and  the  level  surface 
of  the  country  in  all  directions,  mostly  a  dense 
forest,  gives  to  the  overflow  more  the  nature 
of  a  lake  than  that  of  freshet  inundation.  The 
culverts  and  bridges  proposed  on  the  route 
will  be  amply  sufficient  to  allow  the  water  to 
maintain  nearly  the  same  level  on  each  side 
of  the  embankments. 

I  am  in  possession  of  data  sufficient  to  esti- 
mate closely  on  every  portion  of  the  road 
between  Thibodcaux  and  Berwick's  Bay.  with 
the  exception  only  of  the  bridges.  The  time 
allowed  for  making  the  survey-  was  not  suffi- 
cient to  permit  me  to  bore  or  sound  the  bottom 
of  the  bayous  requiring  bridges,  and  conse- 
quently only  an  opinion  can  be  hazarded  as 
to  their  description  or  cost. 

Many  engineers  and  others  are  of  opinion, 
that  the  best  manner  of  building  railroads 
across  overfl'wed  swamps  similar  to  those  on 
this  line,  is  on  a  construction  of  trestle  work. 
I  conceive  that  a  more  substantial  and  cheaper 
road-bed  can  be  obtained  by  throwing  up  solid 
embankments  of  earth,  aud  I  have  estimated 
accordingly,  giving  them  such  a  height  in  the 
swamps  as  to  be  more  than  one  foot  above 
the  highest  crevassee  watermarks,  and  on 
the  other  land  so  high  as  to  secure  at  all  times 
a  solid  foundation. 

ESTIMATES, 

Cutting  trees  and  clearing  roadway,    $  8,600 

All  embankments  and  grading, 36,890 

Lumber  for  mud  sills  aud  cross  ties,  32,020 
Iron  rails,  CiS  lbs.  per  lineal  yard, 

spikes  and  chairs 112,750 

Labor  on  superstructure, 32,100 

Add  10  per  cent,  for  contingent  ex- 
penses and  engineer's  department,     22,236 

Total  (equal  to  ?9,144  per  mile),  .  .8244,596 

In  afldition  to  the  above,  there  must  be 
allowed  for  bridges,  culverts,  and  depots,  or 
warehouses,  a'sum  which  will  add  to  the  cost 
of  the  road  probably  not  exceeding  $1,200 
per  mile. 


RAILROADS    IN    LOUISIANA. 


543 


Tour  instructions  required  me  to  examine  \ 
nnother  route,  commencing  at  the  juuctiim  of 
Bavou  Sliaver  and  Baj-ou  Bcuuf,  and  billow- 
ing eastward  (in  the  south  side  of  Jiayou  Ba;uf, 
crossing  the  Bayou  Ciiene ;  thence  on  south 
side  of  Bayou  Bhick,  and  crossing  Bayou 
Crocodile;  tlienco  on  or  near  tlie  south  lioun- 
daries  of  townshii)  IG,  ranges  14  and  15,  to 
Bayou  Black  again;  thence  on  the  liigh  lands 
of  Bayou  Black  to  a  point  in  T.  17,  R.  16, 
and  then  cro-sing  over  to  Bayou  Black  aguin, 
near  the  eastern  junction  of  it  ami  Biiyou 
Chucahoula,  and  thence  up  on  tlie  liigh  lands 
of  Bavou  Black  toThibodeaux. 

This  last  described  route  is  certainly  worthy 
of  ciinsideratiDi)  and  examination,  by  rea>^on 
of  its  passage  through  a  district  of  country 
■which  might  afford  much  local  business  to  the 
road  ;  and  before  any  location  of  the  road  shall 
Lave  been  positively  determined  on,  it  ought 
to  be  surveyed  in  detail.  Time  was  not 
allowed  me  to  make  this  survey,  as  ordered  in 
your  instructions,  and  make  out  a  report 
thereon  in  season  to  be  submitted  to  you  pre- 
vious to  the  meeting  of  the  convention. 

The  distance  between  Thibodeaux  and  Ber 
wick's  Bay,  by  the  route  last  described,  would 
be  between  38  and  -iO  miles.  From  previous 
knowledge  of  some  portion  of  it,  and  a  recent 
examination,  without  instruments,  of  other 
portions,  I  am  of  opinion  that  the  route  (with 
the  exception  of  one  particular  locality  of  the 
extent  of  about  two  miles)  is  entirely  prac- 
ticable, but  would  cost  as  much  or  more  per 
mile  as  the  more  direct  route,  first  describee!, 
and  which  is  some  twelve  miles  less  in  dis 
tance. 

The  question  then  would  present  itself, 
•whether  the  additional  local  business  of  the 
longer  route  would  justify  the  outlay  (  f  its 
additional  first  cost  ol  construction,  and  also 
the  additional  charge  on  all  the  business  of  the 
road  from  and  beyond  Berwick's  Bay,  in  all 
futme  time.  Ou  the  longer  route  many  more 
curves  would  be  required  than  on  the  other, 
consequently  less  velocity  in  transit  couFd  be 
obtained  with  the  same  degree  of  safety. 
Those  only  who  are  practically  acquainted 
with  the  working  of  railroads,  will  give  due 
weight  to  this  comparison. 

Another  thing  to  be  considered,  and  one,  I 
think,  of  much  importance,  is,  that  the  longer 
route,  teriuinating  at  Bayou  Shaver,  would 
for  ever  preclude  the  proposition  of  crossing 
Berwick's  Bay  on  a  permanent  bridge  Most 
persons,  I  am  aware,  are  of  opinion  it  is  not 
practicable  to  do  so.  In  order  to  satisfy 
myself,  and  others  who  may  be  inclined  to  in- 
vestigate the  matter,  though  not  required  by 
your  instructions,  I  have  taken  a  cross  sectiuu 
of  the  bay,above  the  mouth  of  Bayou  Bccuf,  the 
result  of  which  is  shown  on  tlie  annexeil  sketch. 
This  proves  clearly  to  my  mind  that  if  the 
bottom  shall  be  found  sufficiently  firm,  a  per- 
manent bridge  can,  and  certainly  will,  be  con- 


structed across  the  bay,  sooner  or  later,  if  the 
road  shall  ever  have  any  considerable  extent 
or  business.  At  first,  it  may  })robably  be 
advisable  to  cross  Berwick's  Bay  by  means  of 
a  floating  bridge;  and  if  it  be  so  decided,  then 
the  road  should  be  so  located  near  the  b.iy  as 
is  represented  on  the  annexed  sketch  by  dotted 
lines,  in  order  to  avoid  a  mud-flat  ou  the 
eastern  shore  of  the  bay. 

Your  instructions  also  required  me  to  sur- 
vey the  mute  for  a  branch  from  the  main  road 
to  the  town  of  Houtna,  ii.  the  pari.^h  of  Terre- 
bonne. I  have  projected  on  the  sketch,  in  dot- 
ted lines,  two  ditferent  routes,  either  of  which 
may  be  selected.  The  shorte>t  follows  over 
cultivated  lands  on  B.iyou  Terrebonne,  lieing 
in  length  about  fifteen  miles,  and  the  other 
over  cultivated  lands,  mostly  on  Bayou  Black, 
having  a  lengtii  of  about  seventeen  miles.  The 
longest  route  would  afford  the  gr-atest  amount 
of  local  acc<imniodation,  and  that  being  the 
main  object  of  a  branch,  it  would,  most  prob- 
ably, be  preferable. 

The  annexed  sketch  represents  the  leading 
features  and  results  of  tlie  survey  I  have 
made  of  the  mute,  and  the  adjacent  country, 
but  does  not  by  any  means  represent  the  par- 
ticular details  obtained.  You  had  expressed 
a  de.-ire  to  have  something  tangible  to  pre- 
sent to  the  Convention  respecting  the  portion 
of  the  route  confided  to  ray  examination,  and 
[  have  com|)iied  with  your  request,  altluiugh 
the  limited  time  allowed  prevents  me  from 
doing  justice  to  either  the  work  or  myself. 
This  report,  and  accompanying  sketch,  may 
be  relied  ou  as  far  as  they  go  ;  but  had  more 
time  been  allowed,  both  might  and  ought  to 
have  been  given  much  more  in  det-iil.  My 
field  ni  tes  of  the  survey  describe  every  thing 
obsers'ed  on  the  route  necessary  to  a  correct 
uiiders'anding  in  the  premises,  and  shall  be 
Ciirefully  preserved,  subject  to  the  uses  of  any 
com|)any  when  organized. 

I  herewith,  also,  transfer  to  you  a  memo- 
randum-book,  in  which  the  landed  proprietors 
on  the  route  have  made  a  gratuitous  donation 
of  the  right  of  way  for  the  road.  Fhis  docu- 
ment was  willingly  signed  by  every  j)erson 
to  whom  I  ])iesented  it;  being  every  person 
owning  land  on  the  route  found  at  home,  with 
only  one  exception. 

To  conclude:  it  results  from  my  survey  and 
investigation,  that  a  route  for  that  portion  of 
the  proposed  New-Orleans  and  Opelousas 
Railroad,  lying  between  Thibodeaux  and  Ber- 
wick's Bay.  has  been  found  iiuicli  more  favor- 
able, either  as  regards  tlie  nature  of  the  ground 
intervening,  or  as  regards  its  approach  to  an 
air  line,  than  had  been  expected.  There  are 
no  formidable  obstacles  to  be  overcome,  and, 
in  my  opinion,  the  whole  woik  may  be  con- 
structed between  said  points,  in  the  most 
durable  and  permanent  manner,  including 
bridges,  culverts,  sta'ion-hnuse.«,  and  depots, 
sufficient  for  the  working  of  the  road,  at  a 


644 


RAILROADS    IN    LOUISIANA. 


cost  not  exceeding  two  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  thousand  dollars.— P/(e//>s'  S%trve>/. 

RAILROADS  IN  LOUISIANA.— Pro- 
posed RoLTE  OF  A  Road  to  Opelousas  and 
TiiXAs.* — Sir:  The  enthusiasm  that  prevails 
at  the  prcs.'nt  time  on  the  subject  of  railroads 
in  our  jlate,  and  the  favor  with  which  was 
received  a  suggestion  that  I  advanced  to  seve- 
ral influential  gentlemen  of  New  Orleans,  rel 
ative  to  a  new  line  of  direct  communication 
by  railroad  between  the  city  and  the  town  of 
"SVashington  in  the  parish  of  St.  Landry,  in- 
duce me  to  take  the  liberty  of  submitting  a 
rough  outline  of  the  proposed  route,  through 
you,  to  the  committee  which,  at  the  recent 
convention,  was  appointed  by  the  president 
"to  prepare  an  address,  setting  forth  all  Aicts 
and  stati>tics  they  can  gather  on  all  railroad 
projects  in  which  the  state  has  a  direct  and 
immediate  interest." 

As  it  appeared  to  be  generally  conceded, 
prior  to  the  assembling  of  our  convention,  that 
the  scheme  of  a  railroad  communication  be- 
tween New-Orleans  and  Jackson,  via  Baton 
Rouge,  had  good  prospects  of  success,  and 
that  the  line  of  its  route  would  be  along  the 
eastern  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  pa.ssing  within 
a  few  miles  of  a  point  opposite  the  town  of 
Donakhonville,  it  occurred  to  me,  some  time 
since,  that  a  very  advantageous  raodifii-ation 
might  be  made  in  the  plan  of  communication 
by  railroad  between  New-Orleans  and  Wash- 
ington advocated  by  Col.  Payne,  by  means  of 
which  these  two  important  public  enterprises 
might  be  made  to  lend  a  helping  hand  to  each 
other,  and  work  in  concert  towards  the  grand 
result  aimed  at  by  the  convention,  as  set  forth 
in  their  resolutions — 'the  equal  and  mutual 
advantage  of  city  and  countiy. 

Th(i  proposition  made  by  me,  accordingly, 
was  to  effect  a  connection  between  the  two 
contemplated  lines  through  a  branch  to  be 
constructed  from  the  Jackson  road  to  the 
Mississippi,  opposite  DonaldsonviUe,  and 
through  a  steam-ferry  capable  of  receivitig 
the  train  of  cars  from  the  Washington  road  at 
that  ))oiiit.  The  latter  road,  I  suggested, 
should  run  as  follows:  from  the  point  on  the 
Mississi[ipi  just  designated  opposite  Donald- 
son, ami  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Lafourche, 
down  that  bayou  tliree  miles,  thin  leaving 
the  bayou,  through  the  Grand  Bayou  Piei-re 
part  and  Grand  River  settlements  to  Grand 
river,  twenty-one  miles.  Grand  river  to  be 
crossed  by  means  of  a  bridge  ;  thence  south 
westwardly  to  Grand  Lake,  nine  miles;  across 
that  body  of  water,  as  across  the  Mississippi, 
by  a  steam-ferry  ;  thence  to  the  Techc,  three 
miles,  and  then  following  the  route  proposed 
by  Col.  Payne,  up  that  stream,  through  Frank- 


*  This  route  has  had  but  few  friendi,  and  has  at- 
tracted but  litile  attention,  and  yet  we  liavo  always 
boliuvcd  il3  merits  to  be  very  great. — EuiToii. 


lin,  New-Tberia,  SI.  Martinsville,  Vermilion- 
ville  and  Opelousas,  to  the  terminus  at  Wash- 
ington, seventy  miles, — a  distance,  all  told,  of 
103  miles  from  the  point  of  departure  on  the 
Mississippi. 

In  favor  of  the  adoption  of  this  line  over 
any  other  which  lias  yet  been  proposed,  and 
more  especially  over  tliat  proposed  by  Col. 
Payne,  many  considerations  of  great  weight 
may  be  offered.  As  my  design  is  only  to 
bring  the  attention  of  the  committee  on  the 
subject,  I  shall  content  myself  on  this  occa- 
sion with  the  briefest  statement  of  the  most 
prominent  among  them. 

1st.  By  the  route  suggested  by  me,  a  sav- 
ing of  seventy-eight  miles  of  road  would  be 
effected. 

2d.  Several  very  expensive  bridges  would 
be  disf)ensed  with. 

3d.  No  deep  swamps  or  trembling  prairies 
would  be  encountered. 

4th.  Upon  the  construction  of  only  twenty- 
one  miles  of  road  a  direct  communication 
could,  within  a  few  months,  be  established 
between  New  -  Orleans  and  the  Attakapas 
parishes,  rendering  immediately  available  a 
largely  productive  revenue. 

5th.  There  would  be  secured  to  the  Wash- 
ington road  the  strenuous  support  an  1  cooper- 
ation of  all  capitalists  already  enlisted  in 
building  up  the  Jackson  road. 

But,  however  cogent  and  unanswerable 
may  be  these  reasons,  they  will  still  be  held 
secondary  by  the  gentlemen  of  the  committee 
who  represent  New-Orleans,  to  any  addi- 
tional consideration,  which,  in  as  far  as  they 
are  concerned,  must  prove  conclusive.  The 
line  now  recommended,  through  its  connection 
with  the  Jackson  road,  may  be  regarded  as 
terminating  substantially  and  in  eft'ect  in  the 
city,  and  its  completion  would,  of  necessity, 
go  far  towards  enhaticing  the  prosperity'  of 
New  Orleans ;  whilst  it  nmst  be  manifest  that 
the  inevitable  result  of  the  success  of  Colonel 
Payne's  scheme  would  be  the  founding  at 
Algiers  of  a  dangerous  commercial  rival. 
Col.  Payne's  project  will  not,  therefore,  I  feel 
assured,  receive  any  encouragement  from  tlie 
moneyed  men  of  New-Orleans,  and  without 
their  support  the  country  is  entirely  incompe- 
tent to  undertake  it.  The  route  that  I  suggest 
harmonizes  all  interests,  and  should  meet 
with  equal  favor  on  all  hands. 

You  will  permit  me  a  few  additional  re- 
marks in  explanation. 

1st-  By  the  adoption  of  the  line  proposed 
by  me,  a  saving  of  sevcnt3'-eight  miles  in  the 
length  of  the  road — sixty  two  miles  east  and 
sixteen  west  of  the  ISIississippi — would  bo  ef- 
fected, as  already  stated.  Now,  accepting 
Col.  Payne's  data,  you  will  perceive  that  by 
this  means  alone  an  economy  of  $780,000  is 
realized. 

2d.  But  a  further  reduction  of  cost  would 
be  secured  by  the  avoidance  of  the  necessity 


RAILROADS   IN   LOUISIANA. 


645 


of  constructing  two  expensive  bridges,  •which  i  road  were  constructed  along  the  Bayou  Ter- 
wuuld  luive  to  be  erected  on  Colonel  Payne's  '  rebonne,  to  connect  with  the  main  trunk  of 


route  ;  one  over  the  Lafourche,  wliich  would 
scarcely  be  built  for  less  than  $10U,00o,  and 
another  over  the  Bayou  Bo?uf,  which  would 
call  for  the  outlay  of  nearly  §50,000. 

3d.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  it  is 
precisely   over   that  portion   of  this    Algiers 


road,  which  branch  must  involve  an  expendi- 
ture of  at  least  §200,000,  to  be  added  to  the 
stupendous  cost  of  the  work,  admitted  by 
Colonel  Payne's  report  to  reach  already  to 
§1,000,000. 
4th.  You  will  observe,  that  at  a  smaller 


route,  which  lies  between  New-Orleana  and  I  cost  than  would  be  required  for  the  erection 
the  Teche,  that  the  nature  of  the  country  uf  the  two  bridges  already  spoken  of.  over 
presents  the  most  formidable  obstacles  to  a  the  Lafourche  and  the  Bojuf,  and  other  bridges 
railway  communication.  I  do  not  hesitate  to  required  along  the  route,  by  the  construction 
assert,  from  my  own  personal  knowledge,  that   of  twcnty-oue  miles  of  road  from  the  Missis- 


the  swamps  of  this  region  will  present  almost 
insurmountable  difficulties  to  the  passage  of 
the  road,  in  the  direction  indicated  by  Mr. 
Payne,  and  must  increase  far  beyond  the 
amount  stated  by  him  [-§10,000]  the  average 
cost  per  mile. 

It  is  susceptible  of  demonstration,  that  by 
adopting  tlie  line  advocated  by  me,  these  sev- 
eral reductions  in  the  cost  of  the  road  could 
be  effected,  amounting  in  the  aggregate  to 
near  §1,000,000, — a  sura  in  itself  more  than 
sufficient  to  finish  the  other  road  its  entire 
length.  Are  there  any  counterbalancing  ad- 
vantages attending  the  selection  of  the  Algiers 
route  which  should  entitle  it  to  the  preference 
of  the  committee  ?  I  have  been  able  to  dis- 
cover none  which  could  stand  the  test  of  se- 
rious examination.  It  has  indeed  been  ar- 
gued, and  even  assumed,  that  the  support  of 
the  parishes  of  Lafourche  Interior  and  Terre- 
bonne would  be  gained  to  that  project  of  com- 
munication, and  a  good  deal  of  influence  has 
been  assigned  to  the  assistance  which  they 
would  furnish ;  but  it  seems  to  me  clear  that 
this  has  been  done  on  premises  unworthy  of 
confidence.  Lafourche  Interior  has  an  excellent 
channel  of  navigation  open  for  the  greater 
portion  of  the  year,  and  at  no  time  more  than 
partially  interrupted. 

To  imagine  that  for  the  exclusive  advantage 
of  a  dozen  planters  who  would  reside  on  the 
line  of  the  road,  as  it  traverses  that  parish, 
the  remainder  of  the  inhabitants  could  be  in- 
duced to  submit  to  the  system  of  taxation 
upon  which  so  much  stress  is  laid  by  some 
enthusiasts,  is  perfectly  visionary ;  nor  is  it 
any  less  visionary  to  imagine  that  any  consid- 
erable amount  of  Lafourche  sugar  would 
ever  take  this  road  to  market,  inasmuch  as  at 
that  season  when  our  crops  are  shipped  to  the 
city,  the  Lafourche  planters  have,  for  the 
larger  portion  of  the  time,  a  cheaper,  safer, 
and  more  convenient  communication  with 
New-Orleans  than  could  be  furnished  them 
by  artificial  outlets.  Terrebonne's  geographi- 
cal position  is  ditferent,  and  the  planters  of 
that  parish  unquestionably  rest  under  such 
inconveniences  as  might  lead  them  to  sustain 
Mr.  Payne's  projected  road.  But  it  should  be 
recollected  that  they  could  be  but  partially 
benefited,  unless,  as  suggested  by  a  delegate 
from  that  parish  to  the  convention,  a  branch 
VOL.  II. 


sippi  to  Grand  river,  there  could  be  opened 
within  a  year,  to  the  people  of  the  Attakapas, 
a  mode  of  cheap  and  easy  communication  with 
the  city — Avhich  could  not  fail  to  bring  in  at 
once  a  handsome  revenue,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  confidence  in  the  practicability  of  the 
undertaking.  If  you  will  refer  to  Col.  Payne's 
report,  the  committee  will  be  competent  to 
judge  approximately  of  the  amount  of  travel 
and  freight  available  as  a  source  of  profit. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  committee  should  not 
lose  sight  of  the  fact,  that  should  the  scheme 
of  Col.  Payne  be  adopted,  it  would  be  utterly 
impossible  to  derive  the  least  benefit  from 
the  road  until  after  its  completion  from  Al- 
giers to  the  Lafourche,  a  distance  of  sixty 
miles,  which,  as  I  have  stated,  could  not  be 
done  at  a  smaller  preliminary  cost  (not  in- 
cluding the  bridge)  than  §7oO,000. 

In  conclusion,  an  act  of  the  legislature  has 
authorized  the  incorporation  of  a  company  to 
run  a  railroad  from  the  Mississippi  to  Grand 
river,  and  the  state  has  liberally  donated  such 
lands  as  it  possessed  along  the  route  ;  the  dif- 
ferent property-holders  through  whose  posses- 
sions the  road  would  pass,  have  also  volun- 
teered the  gratuitous  cession  of  such  lands  as 
might  be  needed  for  the  use  of  the  road. 
An  act  has  been  signed  for  the  formation  of  a 
company  to  build  the  road ;  but  owing  to 
the  temporary  excitement  created  in  favor  of 
Col.  Payne's  project,  no  steps  have  been  re- 
cently taken  to  urge  this  scheme  before  the 
public. 

But  now  that  the  question  of  opening  a 
railway  communication  between  New-Orleans 
and  the  western  portion  of  Louisiana  has 
been  transferred  from  the  decision  of  popular 
assemblies  to  the  calmer  and  wiser  judgment 
of  a  select  committee  of  practical  men,  I 
have  thought,  as  one  of  those  who  are  inter- 
ested in  having  the  merits  of  the  route  via 
Donaldsonville  fairly  tested,  that  I  would 
draw  up  for  the  use  of  the  committee  a  brief 
and  incomplete  sketch  as  is  herein  presented 
to  them,  being  fully  prepared,  however,  when 
they  may  deem  it  advisable,  to  lay  before 
them  a  more  detailed  statement  of  my 
views. 

I  am  at  this  moment  engaged  in  making 
a  survey  of  the  route  adopted  by  the  incor- 
porated company  referred  to;  plaus  of  which 
35 


546 


RAILROADS   IN   LOUISIANA. 


survey,  and  of  others  representing  the  entire 
route  as  suggested,  will  be  forwarded  to  the 
committee,  should  they  feel  disposed  to  in- 
spect them. — {By  A.  J.  Powell.) 

RAILROADS   IN    LOUISIANA.— Peo- 

JECT  OF  A  R.^ILROAD  FROM  VlCKSBURG,  VIA 
MONTIOE  AND  ShREVEPOUT,  THROUGH  THE  IN- 
TERIOR OF  Texas,  submitted  by  the  Dele- 
gation OF  Northern  Louisiana.  Report. — 
This  road  has  been  projected  for  the  purpose 
of  developing  the  nortliern  part  of  the  state 
of  Louisiana,  and  the  northern,  eastern,  and 
middle  portions  of  Texas,  securing  their  trade 
to  the  city  of  New-Orleans,  and  to  add  another 
section  to  a  great  national  road.  It  will  pass 
through  a  tier  of  parishes  iu  this  state,  con 
taining  over  four  millions  of  acres  of  rich,  fer- 
tile land,  fully  equal  to  the  best  lands  in  the 
world  for  the  growth  of  cotton.  Tlie  whole  of 
this  land  is  arable,  with  the  exception  of  a 
comparatively  inconsiderable  portion  subject 
to  annual  inundation.  These  parishes  now 
produce  about  130,000  bags  of  cotton.  With- 
out the  aid  of  a  railroad  this  amount  is  not 
likely  to  be  increased.  Indeed,  nothing  but 
the  unsurpassed  fertility  of  the  soil  could  sus- 
tain their  present  population,  in  the  absence 
of  any  other  means  for  getting  their  produce 
to  maiket,  and  obtaining  their  supplies,  than 
ia  afforded  by  small  streams  of  water,  unna- 
vigable  for  many  months  in  the  year,  and 
which,  at  best,  meet  the  demands  of  a  very 
limited  portion  of  the  country  in  question. 
Take,  as  an  illustration  of  this  statement,  the 
pai'ish  of  Caddo,  which  is  more  favorably'  sit- 
uated for  navigation  than  any  other  of  the 
northern  parishes.  For  several  months  during 
the  year  just  closed  the  good  people  of  this 
parisli  have  been  six  weeks  from  New-Orleans 
"in  due  course  of  mail."  Flour  has  been  selling 
at  $12  per  bbl. ;  bacon,  16  cts. ;  sugar  and  cot- 
fee,  12  and  14  cts. ;  lard, 25  cts.,  and  other  family 
supplies  in  proportion.  Merchants  have  hauled 
their  goods  from  the  Mississippi,  iu  wagons, 
and  commenced  selling  them  about  the  time 
their  bills  for  the  purchase  of  them  began  to 
fall  due.  Other  goods,  purchased  for  the 
Shreveport  market,  have  been  met  at  New- 
Orleans,  shipped  up  the  Mississippi,  anil  opened 
at  various  points  on  that  river,  in  markets  un- 
suiteil  to  their  quality,  and  forced  srdes  made 
to  sustain,  if  possible,  tlie  credit  of  the  purcha- 
ser. The  whole  cotton  crop  of  the  parish  is  at 
this  time  under  slielter  at  the  gin  houses,  or 
locked  up  in  the  warehouses  at  Shreveport, 
waiting  a  rise  in  Red  River.  These  extrava- 
gant prices — tliese  ruinous  delays — this  unna- 
tural course  of  trade,  and  general  derangement 
of  business  calculations,  return  upon  us  with 
the  regularity  of  the  business  seasons,  and 
must  continue  to  recur  so  long  as  our  only  de- 
pendence is  upon  the  uncertain  navigation  of 
Red  River.  Even  witli  all  tliese  disadvanta- 
ges, the  fertility  of  the  soil  in  this  parish  has 


induced  its  rapid  settlement  Tlie  Indiana 
were  removed  so  late  as  1839,  and  the  same 
year  the  lands  were  offered  for  sale  by  the 
government.  The  parish  now  contains  six 
thousand  slaves.  Fifty  thousand  acres  of  land 
have  been  brought  into  cultivation ;  and  she 
will  send  to  market  this  year,  as  the  produce 
of  her  own  soil,  twelve  thousand  bags  of  cot- 
ton. Shreveport,  which  is  marked  out  by  its 
geographical  position  as  the  centre  of  trade, 
not  only  for  this  parish,  but  for  a  vast  extent 
of  country  to  the  west  of  it  in  Texas,  has  a 
population  of  twenty-five  hundred  inhabitants, 
and  is  the  secontl  place  in  the  state  in  point  of 
commercial  importance.  The  trade  between 
Shreveport  and  New-Orleans  already  amounts 
to  several  millions.  But  the  phxnters  of  Caddo 
parish,  and  the  enterprising  merchants  of 
Shreveport,  are  struggling  against  adverse  cir 
cumstauces,  under  the  weight  of  which  they 
must  finally  yield,  unless  some  scheme  is  de- 
vised for  their  relief.  There  are  191,000  acres 
of  uncultivated  land  in  this  parish,  lield  by 
private  citizens,  and  a  large  amount  still  un- 
sold by  the  government.  When  a  fair  pro- 
portion of  this  shall  have  been  brought  iuto 
cultivation,  Caddo  pari.sh  will  send  one  hun- 
dred thousand  bags  of  cotton  to  market.  The 
limits  of  this  report  do  not  permit  a  detailed 
statistical  statement  of  each  of  the  parishes 
through  which  the  road  is  projected  ;  and  we 
have  selected  Caddo,  because  it  is  about  an 
average  parish  in  size,  present  wealth,  and  pro- 
duction— and  because  more  favorably  .'■ituated 
than  most  of  the  other  parishes ;  the  ftxcts  in 
regard  to  it  demonstrate  the  absolute  neces- 
sity of  a  railroad  communication  with  tlie  Mis- 
sissippi to  its  continued  prosperity.  Oiher  pa- 
rishes, as  Bossier,  Claibourne,  aud  Bienville, 
equally  fertile  in  lands,  are  still  more  isolated 
in  position,  and  must  remain  almost  wholly 
undeveloped  and  worthless  to  the  state,  unless 
aided  by  railroad  communication.  This  road 
would  speedily  develop  this  whole  region  of 
country  ;  and  if  built,  it  is  a  very  moderate 
and  sober  calculation  to  say,  that  withm  six 
years  these  parishes  would  send  New-Orleans 
four  hundred  thousand  bags  of  cotton.  But 
the  fertility  of  the  soil,  and  the  trade  based 
upon  its  produce,  are  not  the  only  elements  of 
wealth  this  road  will  ilevelop.  Contiguous  to 
the  route  are  large  and  extensive  forests  of  val- 
uable pine  timber.  Upon  the  watercourses 
which  unite  to  form  the  D'Arbane,  and  tliose 
which  empty  into  the  Dugdemonia,  and  Black 
Lake  waters,  Ac,  are  gootl  water  privileges, 
which  may  be  used  to  propel  machinery.  This 
country  is  not.  therefore,  likely  to  remain  en- 
tirely rural,  but  extensive  manufactories  will 
spring  up  along  the  road,  and  add  another  ele- 
ment to  the  wealth  arxl  pros]H'rity  of  our  state. 
These  advantages,  so  feebly  set  forth,  might 
be  deemed  sufficient  to  engage  the  attention 
of  this  Convention,  and  secure  its  favorable  no 
ticc ;  but  the  project  looks  beyond  the  limits 


RAILROADS   IN"   LOUISIANA. 


547 


of  our  owu  state,  aud  proposes  to  penetrate 
the  heart  of  Texas  between  the  32cl  and  33d 
parallels  of  hititude,  to  open  up  the  vast  re- 
sources of  tliat  immense  country,  and  .secure 
to  ourselves  tlie  advantages  wliich  always  flow 
from  enlarged  views  and  a  liberal  policy. 
Here  are  thirty  organized  counties,  partially 
settled,  covering  as  many  thousand  square 
miles,  and  containing  not  far  from  twenty  mil- 
lions of  acres  of  land.  These  counties  produce 
at  present  about  fifty  thousand  bags  of  cotton. 
More  than  half  of  tins  is  grown  in  six  of  tliese 
counties,  most  conveniently  situated  to  the  nav- 
igation of  Red  River.  The  other  forty- ft)ur 
counties  are  engaged  chiefly  in  the  stock  busi- 
ness, and  exported  during  the  past  season  not 
far  from  fifty  thousand  head  of  beef  cattle, 
and  twenty  thousand  head  of  sheep.  This 
busmess  has  been  found  profit  ible,  and  is  rap- 
idly on  the  increase.  To  this  may  be  added 
for  peltries  S200,OOG,  and  -SoO.OOO  for  bees- 
wax. Some  of  these  counties  are  erecting 
mills,  and  alreaily  produce  considerable  quan- 
tities of  flour,  wliich,  however,  is  consumed  in 
the  country.  To  find  a  market,  tliis  flour  is 
hauled  two  and  three  hundred  miles  in  wag- 1 
ons.  Northern  Texas  is  one  of  the  best ! 
wheat  growing  countries  on  the  continent. 
The  average  crop  is  said  to  be  thirty  bushels 
per  acre  of  a  very  superior  quality.  And  it 
IS  worthy  of  remark,  that,  aided  by  the  con- 
struction of  the  contemplated  railroad,  this 
country  would  put  down  flour  in  New  Orleans 
one  month  earlier  than  it  is  possible  for  any 
part  of  the  country  to  do  from  which  she  now 
draws  her  supplies.  The  importations  of  goods, 
groceries,  and  family  supplies,  into  this  coun- 
try, may  be  determined  by  the  amount  of 
their  exports.  The  wants  of  this  people  are 
80  urgent,  that  their  purchases  have  no  other 
limit  than  their  ability  to  pay.  In  these  esti 
mates  we  have  confined  ourselves  to  those 
counties  in  Texas,  the  northern  boundary  of 
which  reaches  beyond  the  3'2d  degree  of  lat- 
itude, and  which  are  pretty  well  advanced  in 
settlement.  To  our  other  estimates  should 
be  added,  a  trade  carrietl  on  with  the  southern 
portion  of  the  Indian  nations,  which  now  finds 
a  channel  through  Red  River,  and  amounts  at 
present  to  about  §200,000,  and  is  susceptible 
of  a  large  increase.  If  we  look  to  the  extent 
of  this  country,  and  its  capabilities  of  future 
improvement,  we  shall  see  that  it  can  no  longer 
be  neglected,  unless  we  are  determined  to  lie 
down  in  idleness  and  poverty,  in  utter  disre- 
gard to  the  sources  of  wealth  which  the  bounty 
of  Providence  has  placed  within  our  reach. 
Probably  no  other  spot  upon  the  globe,  of  the 
same  extent,  contains  so  large  a  proportion  of 
rich  and  fertile  land  as  the  region  of  country 
of  which  we  are  now  speaking.  The  road 
will  scarcely  pass  over  a  section  of  land  that 
will  not  reward  the  labor  of  the  husbandman 
and  contribute  to  its  business  and  support. 
Who  can  calculate  the  future  of  this  country, 


and  tell  what  it  shall  be,  when  its  productive 
resources  shall  have  been  fully  developed  by 
a  judicious  system  of  railways  ?  We  have  not 
even  mentioned  all  the  known  sources  of 
wealth  which  it  contains.  In  some  of  the 
counties  are  extensive  quarries  of  limestone, 
mines  of  salt,  stone  coal,  and  iron  ore ;  and  not 
far  beyond  the  western  limit  of  the  country 
indicated,  are  mountains,  said  to  abound  in  the 
precious  metals,  silver,  gold,  and  platina.  Tiie 
natural  advantages  of  this  country  are  becom- 
ing more  generally  known ;  and  there  is,  in 
consequence,  an  immense  tide  of  emigration 
pouring  into  it  the  present  season;  and  not 
only  is  the  number  of  emigrants  very  much  in- 
creased, but  they  are  of  a  better  class,  and  take 
with  them  a  much  larger  amount  of  negro  pro- 
perty. So  that  the  population,  wealth,  pro- 
duce, and  trade  of  this  country  are  increasing 
in  an  arithmetical  ratio.  A  very  large  pro- 
portion of  the  cotton  grown  in  these  counties 
is  sent  to  this  city  at  au  average  cost  of  §4  per 
bag.  In  most  of  the  counties  the  co^t  of  trans- 
porting cotton  to  market  so  far  exceeds  the 
profits  of  planting  that  it  is  not  attempted 
a  id  should  the  present  low  prices  continue 
and  the  building  of  tliis  road  be  delayed  a  few 
years,  planting  will  be  abandoned,  and  the  ne- 
groes removed  near  the  Gulf  iu  western  Texas. 
These  people  receive  their  supplies  at  the 
same  heavy  cost  for  transportation,  and  this 
double  tax  necessarily  makes  them  veiy  small 
consumers. 

There  is  another  view  which  the  undersigned 
have  taken  of  this  route.  It  is  projected  on 
the  same  line  of  latitude  with  Charleston, 
Montgomery,  Vicksburg,  Mom-oe,  Shreveport, 
Marshall,  Dallas,  El  Paso,  and  San  Diego.  If 
ever  the  Atlantic  is  connected  with  the  Paci- 
fic by  railway,  it  must  be  upon  this  line.  No 
other  route  presents  so  few  obstacles,  or  com 
bines  so  many  advantages.  It  is  central  in 
geographical  position,  crosses  the  continent  at 
the  narrowest  point,  is  far  enough  south  to 
avoid  the  snows  and  frosts  of  winter,  and  far 
enough  north  to  strike  the  rivers  which  empty 
into  the  Gulf  at  practicable  crossings.  It  will 
best  accommodate  the  ditterent  parts  of  the 
country ;  and  to  it  cities  and  states,  north,  east, 
and  south,  must  all  come,  who  seek  to  connect 
themselves  with  the  trade  of  California. 
When  the  connection  shall  have  been  formed 
between  Jackson  and  Montgomery,  this  great 
central  road  will  be  connected  with  all  the 
principal  cities  in  the  United  States;  ami  like 
the  great  central  artery  of  the  human  body,  it 
will  infuse  life  and  vigor  into  every  one  of  its 
branches,  and  animate  with  health  the  remot- 
est members  of  this  great  confederated  body 
of  states.  The  section  of  this  route  which 
more  immediately  engages  the  attention  of 
the  undersigned,  is  deemed  entirely  practica- 
ble. Steps  have  been  taken  to  procure  a  sur- 
I  vey  of  the  route ;  but  as  this  has  not  been 
1  done,  we  are  happy  to  be  able  to  lay  before 


548 


BAILROADS   IN   LOUISIANA. 


the  convention  the  opinion  of  Professor  For- 
ehey,  given  in  the  correspondence  below. 

"  New-Oeleans,  Jan.  5,  1852. 
"  Dear  Sir  : 

"  You  are  informed  that  the  friends  of  in- 
ternal improvement  in  the  northern  part  of 
Louisiana,  have  projected  a  railroad  from 
Vicksburg  across  the  state,  by  way  of  Mon- 
roe and  Shreveport.  Tlie  information  wliich 
has  been  collected,  leads  the  friends  of  the 
road  to  believe  that  no  great  difficulties  pre- 
sent themselves  on  the  route,  and  that,  taking 
the  whole  line  together,  it  will  be  an  easy 
one.  You  are  also  aware  that,  by  orders  of 
the  government,  a  route  has  been  surveyed, 
quite  recently,  from  Lake  Providence  to  Ful- 
ton, and  it  is  understood  a  low  estimate  has 
been  made  of  the  cost  of  this  road.  I  believe 
you  once  surveyed  the  route  to  Alexandria 
a  little  lower  down  than  Monroe.  You  also 
have  intimate  |knowledge  of  this  whole  re- 
gion of  country. 

"  Will  you  be  good  enough  to  infonn  me 
■what  is  your  opinion  of  the  practicability  of 
the  proposed  route  ?  And,  if  it  will  not 
trouble  you  too  much,  furnish  a  rougli  esti- 
mate of  the  probable  cost  of  the  road  ? 

"Have  the  friends  of  this  enterprise  select- 
ed the  best  route  to  cross  the  state,  and  de- 
velop the  resources  of  the  northern  parishes? 
Or  is  there  any  better  or  more  practicable 
route  ? 

"  Your  early  attention  to  this  is  solicited, 
and  will  much  obHge  the  undersigned,  ;  nd 
many,  the  friends  cf  internal  improvement  in 
our  state.  Very  respectfully,  &c. 

"  C.  G.  Young." 

"Carrollton,  La.,  Jan.  6,  1852. 
"Dr.  C.  G.  Young: 

"  Dear  Sir, — Your  note  of  yesterday  is  at 
hand,  asking  my  opinion  in  regai'd  to  the 
practicability  of  constructing  a  railroad  from 
Shreveport,  on  tlie  Red  River,  to  Vicksburg, 
on  the  Mississippi,  via  Monroe  on  the  Oua- 
chita. 

"  The  questions  you  ask  I  shall  answer,  as 
I  suppose,  of  course,  they  were  intended 
purely  as  a  professional  matter,  witliout  en- 
tering into  questions  regarding  its  utility, 
which  are,  doubtless,  better  understood  by 
yourselves  than  I  could  present  tliem. 

"  I  answer  as  to  practicability,  that  there 
is  on  the  whole  route  nothing  approaching 
very  near  to  the  impracticable. 

"  Tiiis  line  would  be  180  miles  long,  and 
would  keep  within  ten  miles  of  the  same 
parallel,  namely,  latitude  thirty-two  degrees 
thirty  minutes,  all  the  way. 

"  Commencing  on  the  east  bank  of  Red 
River,  opposite  to  Shreveport,  the  best  route 
would  cross   the  Bayou   Bodcan,  below  the  ' 


lake,  two  or  three  miles,  and  pursue  a  line, 
nearly  direct,  to  Mindon  on  the  Dauchete : 
thence  deflecting  a  little  northward,  to  avoid 
the  broken  lands  about  the  head  waters  of 
the  Bhick  Lake  Bayou,  it  would  pursue  the 
summit  ridge  nearly  due  east,  between  the 
waters  of  the  D'Arbonne  on  the  north,  and 
the  Dugdemona  and  Castor  on  the  south; 
and  without  crossing  a  single  stream  large 
enough  to  hare  a  name,  in  75  miles,  would 
reach  the  Ouachita  river,  opposite  Monroe, 
in  precisely  the  same  latitude  with  Shreve- 
port. 

"  From  Monroe,  the  best  line  would  con- 
tinue eastward,  not  for  from  the  township 
line  of  T.  7,  8,  north,  crossing  the  Lafourche 
Bayou  and  Bceuf  River,  a  little  south  of  the 
extreme  south  corner  of  the  Bastrop  Grant, 
the  Bayou  Macon,  and  Joe's  Bayou,  in  the 
middle  of  T.  7,  and  thence  run  along  the 
bank  of  the  latter  to  the  nearest  bend  of  the 
Tensas  river:  along  the  bank  of  the  Tensas, 
and  across  its  bend,  the  line  would  cross  that 
river  at  or  near  the  north  line  of  T.  6.  and  the 
Roundaway  Bayou  at  Richmond,  north  of  the 
mouth  of  Walnut  Bayou  ;  and  thence  east- 
ward, the  line  would  reach  the  river  bank,  on 
the  Mississippi,  at  some  place  between 
Young's  Point  and  the  estate  of  General 
Dunlap — thence  it  would  keep  near  the  bank 
of  the  river  to  a  point  opposite  Vicksburg. 

'•The  greatest  difficulties  on  this  route  are 
not  in  the  construction  of  a  railway  track 
upon  firm  ground,  without  any  considerable 
excavation  or  embankment.  This  may  be 
done  at  the  minimum,  or  near  the  minimum 
cost  of  railway  construction.  The  abundance 
of  timber  on  the  way  at  nearly  every  25ortion 
of  the  line,  and  the  slight  grades  required, 
give  ample  assurance  of  tliis. 

"  The  true  difficulties  consist,  first,  in  the 
bridges  or  crossings  of  several  large  streams ; 
and,  second,  in  the  character  of  the  over- 
flowed region  to  bc^  crossed. 

"  1st.  Tliere  will  be  five  first  class  bridges 
to  be  constructed  on  the  route ;  and  if  built 
in  such  substantial  maimer  as  are  common 
on  similar  streams,  they  must  cost  a  sum 
equal  to  about  six  miles  of  road  each ;  and 
three  bridges  of  the  second  class,  equal  each 
to  two  miles  of  road,  which  may  be  esti- 
mated in  all  as  increasing  the  cost  of  the 
whole  road  above  the  minimum,  a  sum  not 
less  than  $350,000. 

"  The  next  difficulty  is  a  much  less  one 
as  to  increased  cost.  It  would  require  that 
the  road  sliould  be  built  on  tressel-work, 
through  the  Lafourche  swamp,  through  Bayou 
Macon  and  Tensas  swamps,  a  distance  which 
I  cannot  venture  to  name  without  an  actual 
survey. 

"  But  this  necessity  results  from  the  direc- 
tion of  the  route,  which  is  at  riglit  angles  to 
the  trend  of  the  alluvial  planes,  and  hence 
across   the   drainajre.      Continuous  embank- 


RAILROADS    IN    LOUISIANA. 


549 


ments  cannot  be  coastructed  without  nmui- 
fest  injury  to  the  drainage  of  the  country. 

"  Trcssel-work,  for  elevations  of  3  to  0  feet, 
would  increase  the  niiniinuui  cost  of  the 
road  about  20  pei"  cent,  per  mile,  for  the 
number  of  miles  so  constructed.  It  is  a 
vague  estinuit-j,  but  I  suppose  that  $50,000 
would  be  a  sufficient  sum  to  meet  this  con- 
tingency. 

"  According  to  this  estimate,  it  may  be  as- 
sumed m  general  terms  that 

180  miles  i-ailroad  track,  culverts, 

and  stations 81,800,000 

S  bridges,  first  and  second  class...  350,000 
20  miles  tressel-work,  «$:c, 50,000 


Total  probable  cost  of  the  road. ..  $2^00,000 

' '  I  nmst  beg,  my  dear  sir,  that  you  will 
take  these  as  crude  opinions,  based  upon  a 
very  good  knowledge  of  the  country,  true, 
but  without  any  surveys  upon  the  route  you 
designate ;  and  I  would  not  be  willing  to 
have  these  opinions  arrayed  against  any 
others  resulting  from  careful  surveys  in  the 
future,  made  by  myself  or  other  competent 
engineers. 

"  Very  faithfully  your  obedient  servant, 
"  Caleb  G.  Forshey, 

"  Civil  Engineer." 

The  government  of  the  United  States  is  in- 
terested in  a  most  du'ect  and  unmistakable 
manner  in  the  construction  of  this  road.  Its 
treaty  stipulations  with  Mexico,  and  its  obli- 
gations to  protect  its  own  citizens,  require 
a  line  of  military  posts  to  be  kept  up  on  the 
frontiers  of  Texas  and  Mexico.  Five  regi-  j 
ments  of  soldiers  are  now  stationed  upon  [ 
these  lines,  and  the  number  will  probably  be  I 
increased  tJiis  winter  to  eight.  The  trans- 
portation of  supplies  to  these  stations  will 
make  a  heavy  drain  upon  t)ie  treasury  of  the 
United  States,  and  render  indispensable  a 
considerable  increase  in  the  appropriations 
for  the  army.  From  data  furnished  the  un- 
dersigned from  reliable  sources,  they  have 
been  enabled  to  form  such  estimates  as  to 
place  it  beyond  doubt,  that  the  mere  freight 
and  transportation  of  supplies  to  these  sta- 
tions will  cost  t!ie  government  more  than  a 
million  of  dollars  annually.  We  are  aware 
that  this  statement  will  startle  persons  un- 
acquainted with  the  difficulties  of  the  country. 
But  the  estimate  is  below  the  actual  cost. 
The  Secretary  of  War  mentions  that  more 
than  forty  dollars  has  been  paid  on  the  trans- 
portation of  a  barrel  of  flour.  In  one  instance 
the  government  engaged  a  man  to  haul  sup- 
plies from  St.  Antonio  to  El  Paso,  at  §16  50, 
who  threw  up  the  contract  as  a  bad  bargain. 

There  are  other  ways  in  which  the  federal 
government  will  be  i)rofited.  With  the  fa- 
cilities which  the  road  would  aiibrd  for  con- 


centrating her  forces,  the  country  may  give 
its  citizens  a  far  more  efficient  protection 
with  a  reduced  number  of  soldiers.  Indeed, 
a  railroad  would  develop  a  populatitwi  which, 
in  a  few  years,  would  supersede  the  necessity 
of  keeping  up  these  stations  at  all.  This 
was  the  effect  in  our  own  state  of  opening 
the  navigation  of  Red  River.  More  than 
this,  the  same  population  would  i>ecome  con- 
sumers of  imported  goods,  paying  duty,  and 
thus  the  road  will  augment  the  revenue  of 
the  government,  at  the  same  time  tliat  it 
lessens  its  expenditures.  The  people  along 
this  road  are  alive  to  the  subject.  Enthusi- 
astic meetings  have  been  held  in  many  of 
the  parishes  in  northern  Louisiana,  and  the 
counties  mentioned  in  Texas,  in  all  of  which 
the  people  have  passed  resolutions  in  favor 
of  its  immediate  construction.  In  addition, 
large  conventions  have  been  held  in  Shreve- 
port,  Monroe,  Marshall,  and  Palestine,  in 
which  delegates  representing  quite  a  number 
of  parishes  and  counties  have  conferred,  and 
united  in  giving  expression  to  the  public  sen- 
timent. Such  is  the  state  of  feeling  upon 
the  subject,  that  private  citizens  have  ofiered 
to  donate  a  portion  of  their  land  to  secure  the 
building  of  the  road.  In  submitting  this  re- 
port, the  undersigned  would  conclude  it  by 
recommending  the  construction  of  this  road, 
as  important  to  a  numerous  people,  inhabit- 
ing a  large  and  extensive  region  of  country, 
prolific  in  sources  of  wealth,  situated  in 
northern  Louisiana,  in  middle,  western,  north- 
ern, and  eastern  Texas.  That  it  is  important 
to  the  city  of  New-Orleans,  as  opening  a 
channel  through  which  she  may  secure  to 
herself  almost  the  entire  trade  of  the  country 
in  question — a  trade  which  at  present  amounts 
to  several  millions,  and  which  is  susceptible 
of  an  indefinite  increase.  The  interest  which 
the  undersigned  feels  upon  this  subject  in- 
duces a  pause  here — to  observe  that  the  po- 
sition which  New-Orleans  now  occujiies,  in 
regard  to  this  trade,  is  one  of  peril.  Unless 
some  artificial  means  be  devised  to  facilitate 
and  cheapen  transportation  to  and  from  that 
portion  of  this  country  lying  west  of  Shreve- 
port,  its  entire  trade  will  soon  be  diverted 
into  other  channels. 

We  have  reason  to  believe  that  Texas  will 
look  with  favor  ujxjh  this  route.  It  has  al- 
ready been  mentioned  that  a  large  number  of 
her  most  populous  counties  have  held  meet- 
ings and  passed  resolutions  in  favor  of  it,  and 
instructed  their  representatives  accordingly. 
We  have  also  reason  to  believe  that  Texas 
will  not  permit  her  territory  to  be  penetrated 
by  a  railroad  on  the  east,  south  of  the  32d 
degree  of  latitude,  and  she  will  look  with  in- 
difference upon  any  project  that  does  not 
connect  her  by  a  direct  line  with  the  Missis- 
sippi river.  To  do  this,  the  road  must  cross 
Red  river  at  Shreveport,  for  there  is  no  other 
practicable  crossing  for  more  than  three  hun- 


550 


RAILROAD   CONNECTION   BET'WEEN   LOUISIANA    AND    TEXAS. 


dred  miles.  A  road  tbrough  the  extreme  | 
northern  portion  of  Texas,  to  Little  Rock  and 
Memphis,  might,  indeed,  cross  the  river  at 
Fulton.  This  road  has  already  been  spoken 
of.  It  is  an  important  route,  and  will,  no ' 
doubt,  ultimately  be  built,  but  it  can  never 
compete  for  the  transportation  of  cotton  with 
a  road  running  to  Vicksburg.  But  to  return. 
The  information  already  given  in  this  report, 
touching  the  nature  of  the  country  through 
which  it  shall  run,  shows  this  road  to  be  im- 
portant to  the  city  of  New-Orleans,  as  open- 
ing up  to  her  a  new  and  abundant  source, 
from  which  she  may  supply  herself  with 
beef,  mutton,  flour,  and  other  articles  of 
living,  of  a  superior  quality,  at  reduced  prices, 
whereby  she  may  greatly  cheapen  the  ex- 
penses of  living  of  her  citizens,  and  reduce 
the  price  of  fare  at  her  hotels  and  boarding 
houses,  which  will  operate  to  produce  a  rapid 
increase  of  her  population,  both  transient  and 
permanent.  This  road  is  important  to  the 
state  of  Louisiana,  because  it  will  procure 
tlie  settlement  of  four  millions  of  acres  of 
her  vacant  land,  and  add  within  a  few  years 
twenty  millions  to  the  amount  of  her  taxable 
property.  It  is  important  to  the  federal 
government,  because  it  will  save  her  half  a 
million  annually  in  the  cost  of  transporting 
supplies  to  her  soldiers  on  the  frontiers  of 
Texas  and  Mexico.  Finally,  this  road  is 
deemed  important  to  all  sections  of  the  coun- 
try, as  forming  a  part  of  that  great  central 
trunk  which  shall  belt  the  continent,  and 
with  which  all  other  roads  on  the  continent 
must  connect  to  perfect  the  system. 

C.  G.  Young, 
Chairman  of  the  Delegation  from  Northern 
Louisiana. 

RAILROAD  CONNECTION  BETWEEN 
LOUISIANA  AND  TEXAS.— Louisiana  and 
Texas   Railkoad  —  or   now   New-Orleans 

SHALL  FIND  SOURCKS    OF  ABUNDANT  WeALTII  IN 
THE  FUTURE  TO  ATONE  FOR  ALL  OF  HER  LoSSES.* 

— Whilst  the  people  of  Nev/-Orleans  have 


been  casting  about  for  a  j^lank  whereon  to 
save  themselves  in  the  general  shipwreck 
impending  over  the  city,  in  'the  contests  of 
more  enterprising  rivals  for  the  commerce 
of  the  west,  and  have  jirojected  two  great 
works  of  intci-nal  improvement  to  connect 
them  with  .Jackson,  Bliss.,  and  Opelousas,  it 
is  somewhat  surprising  that  a  railroad  more 
important,  if  any  thing,  than  either  in  its 
results,  and  equally  practicable,  connectiTig 
some  point  of  permanent  nav'ujation  on  Red 
River  iL'ith  the  waters  of  the  Trinity,  in  Tei-as^ 
has  been  almost  entirely  overlooked.  The 
first  suggestion  of  such  a  road,  as  an  inde- 
pendent proposition,  emanated  from  a  meet- 
ing of  the  citizens  of  Shreveport,  but  a  few 
days  ago,  (see  August  No.  Kev.)  and  it  is 
impossible  that  any  one  can  rise  from  a  can- 
did and  unprejudiced  consideration  of  the 
subject,  without  the  conviction  that  it  is  a 
work  in  which  the  people  of  this  city  and 
state  have  a  deep  and  abiding  interest. 

The  grounds  for  assuming  some  point  on 
Red  River  as  the  Louisiana  terminus,  rather 
than  Opelousas,  which  has  hitherto  been 
suggested,  are,  that  the  road  will  then  pass, 
in  its  whole  extent,  through  a  richer  and 
more  prolific  country,  will  bridge  the  rivers 
at  higher  and  less  difficult  points,  will  be 
less  in  distance  to  the  Trinity,  and  through 
more  thickly  settled  regions ;  and,  what  is 
of  more  importance,  ipill  be  protected  from 
the  competition  of  the  guJf  cities  of  Texas,  af- 
ter the  improvement  of  the  rivers  of  that 
state,  or  the  construction  of  any  railroads 
she  may  project  in  the  direction  of  her  sea 
coast. 

Whether  the  point  on  Red  River  be 
Shreveport,  Natchitoches,  or  Alexandria,  or 
still  lower  down,  is  unimportant  at  present^ 
and  must  depend  upon  the  degree  of  activi- 
ty evideneea  by  either  of  them,  or  upon 
future  improvements  in  the  navigation  of 
the  river.  From  any  of  those  points  cotton 
can  be  brought  to  New-Orleans  on  steam- 
boats the  greater  part  of  the  year,  should 


*  At  the  time  this  was  written,  it  was  understood 
that  tho  Opelousas  Railroad  would  seek  a  connection 
with  Texas  somewhere  on  the  parallel  of  31*^,  and  it 
was  so  declared  in  the  circular  for  tho  convention 
soon  after  held  at  Burlveville,  Texas.  We  regarded 
the  projection  unfortunate  from  the  nature  of  the 
country  to  he  passed,  and  thought  that  a  Texas  road 
should  be  entertained  as  a  separate  proposition,  run- 
ning on  the  parallel  of  ahout  32'^.  In  this  view  we 
visited  .Shreveport,  organized  a  mooting,  and  explain- 
ed tho  views  suljseciuently  emhodied  in  tliis  artii-Ie. 
Our  action  was  misconstrued  and  misrepresented  by 
some,  and  it  vma  said  we  were  opposed  to  the  Opelou- 
gas  road.  The  charge  was  groundless,  since  we  had 
previously  advocated  it,and  it  never  once  entered  into 
cur  head  that  a  road  from  Red  River  would  be  at  all 
antagonistic.  On  the  contrary,  Opelousas  could  be 
at  once  connected  with  it  by  a  short  road  of  fifty  or 
sixty  miles  to  Alexandria.  The  jui-tnoss  of  our  viinv.s 
has  since  been  sustained  )iy  the  action  of  the  Opelou- 
sas coin  jpany,  in  changing  tlieir  route  into  Texas  to 
a  much  more  northwardly  line,  and  they  will  with- 


out doubt  reach  Shreveport,  the  point  otour  depart- 
ure. How  advantageous  would  it  bo  to  begin  from 
Shreveport  to  build  west,  as  well  as  to  build  in  the 
same  direction  from  New-Orleans!  livery  mile  west 
of  Shreveport  will  bring  new  trade  to  us,  and  w© 
shall  thus  forestall  the  movcmenta  wliich  Galveston 
may  be  making  in  that  quarter.  Kventually,  we- 
have  little  doubt,  a  road  will  be  bailt  from  tho  Mis- 
sissippi immediately  south  of  Red  river,  where  it  is 
admitted  a  route  exists,  free  from  all  danger  of  over- 
flow, on  tho  shortest  lino  to  Texas.  This  road  will 
cross  tho  Mississippi  at  that  point,  and  connect  with 
the  Jackson  road  in  some  of  its  branches,  and  pro- 
duce and  tiavi^l  will  be  landed  in  the  heart  of  the  old 
Second  Miuiicipality.  Now.  however,  that  the  "■voted 
tax  "  makes  the  road  a  certainty,  we  are  prepared, 
and  so  ought  every  good  citizen  to  be,  to  unite  with 
the  present  company  heart  and  soul,  and,  without  on& 
single  jar,  press  with  them  a  road  to  Opelousas  and 
to  Te.xas  upon  any  route  whatever  which  may  \>ti 
decided  upon.    We  pledge  this  cordially. 


RAILROAD    CONNECTION    BETWEEN    LOUISIANA    AND    TEXAS. 


551 


the  supply  be  lai^ely  increased,  at  from  60 
to  75  coiils  per  bale — present  freights  being 
eoinewhut  liiglier. 

To  tlu-  terminus  selected  on  Red  River,  a 
branch  of  the  Opelousas  road,  on  its  com- 
pletion, would  be  constructed,  so  as  to  offer 
to  travel  and  freight  a  choice  of  routes  to 
New-Orleans,  to  be  determined  by  their 
relative  speed  and  cheapness. 

The  jn-ojeeted  road  ought,  for  obvious 
reasons,  to  be  kept  as  a  distinct  and  inde- 
pendent proposition  from  that  to  Opelousas, 
though  both  may  in  the  event  be  connect- 
ed. It  must  rest  entirely  upon  its  own  merits, 
and  is  capable  of  an  entirely  isolated  exist- 
ence. By  keeping  them  apart,  the  want  of 
success  in  either  will  by  no  means  jeopard 
the  other.  Tliey  may  both  be  begun  at  the 
same  moment,  and  proceed  pari  passu  to 
completion. 

Wiiilst  ])few-Orleaus  is  losing  lier  trade 
upon  so  many  points,  and  must  have  in  the 
future  little  reliance  upon  the  northwest,  it 
becomes  her,  if  possible,  to  open  new  chan- 
nels of  enterprise.  Texas  presents  a  virgin 
field,  which,  if  she  is  wise,  will  more  than 
compensate  for  all  her  losses.  Few  persons 
have  a  clear  conception  of  the  resources  of 
Texas,  and  the  important  position  she  is 
destined  to  attain  in  the  confederacy.  To 
secure  for  our  city  an  intimate  commercial 
relationship  with  her  would  be  a  master- 
stroke of  policy ;  but  unless  it  is  speedily 
done,  in  the  increase  of  the  facilities  of  in- 
tercourse, Texas  will  have  a  nearer  connec- 
tion with  New- York  than  with  Louisiana! 

The  area  of  Texas  is  about  •100,000  square 
miles,  a  territory  five  times  as  large  as  New- 
England,  and  as  large  as  all  the  other  south- 
ern states  put  together.  Her  immense  prai- 
ries, alluvial  bottoms  and  eanebrakes  fur- 
nish an  abundance  of  the  most  prolific  soil 
for  the  cultivation  of  every  southern  staple. 
Her  climate  is  superior  to  that  of  Louisiana 
or  jSIlssissippi,  and  her  forests  and  timbered 
lands  altogether  unrivalled.  Cotton  of  the 
finest  quality  is  an  abundant  product  in 
almost  every  part,  and  with  the  necessary 
labor  her  annual  yield  will  soon  exceed  that 
of  any  other  state.  In  the  level  regions, 
near  the  coast,  sugar  lands  exist  of  finest 
quality.  Tobacco,  equal  to  Cuban,  is  almost 
indigenous.  The  same  of  indigo.  Indian 
corn  in  great  profusion  is  gathered,  two 
crops  in  the  year.  Wheat,  superior  to  any 
in  the  world,  can  be  grown  Avithout  practi- 
cal limit,  and  with  proper  mills,  Texas  could 
supply  a  large  portion  of  the  demands  of 
our  market.  The  supply  of  cattle  is  alto- 
gether unlimited,  and  already  thousands  of 
head  constantly  stock  our  markets.  These 
are  but  the  leading  items.  There  is  silver 
ore  at  San  Saba,  gold  upon  the  Atoyac,  iron 
in  various  positions,  lead,  copper,  d'c.  A 
salt  lake  is  worked  near  the  Rio  Grande. 


Tliis  splendid  domain  has  hitherto  scarce- 
ly attracted  the  attention  of  our  people. 
During  the  independence  of  Texas,  so  much 
doubt  and  uncertainty  prevailed  in  regard 
to  the  permanency  of  her  government,  that 
immigration  and  public  wealth  were  not 
likely  to  thrive.  To  this  succeeded  war, 
and  the  golden  hues  of  the  California  bub- 
ble, now  dissipated,  da/.zled  all  eyes,  and 
reared  up  for  Texas  a  rival  which  at  once 
deprived  her  of  her  beaiity  and  attractive- 
ness. 

It  is  but  two  years  since  the  reaction  be- 
gan, and  already  the  most  brilliant  pros- 
pects are  opened.  Immigrants  of  the  best 
class,  from  all  of  the  southern  states,  with 
their  capital  and  slaves,  have  been  pouring 
in  a  constant  stream  into  the  state.  They 
have  entered  by  the  seaports,  or  overland 
in  great  caravans.  In  the  short  period  of 
twelve  months,  not  less  than  60,000  per- 
sons, about  half  of  whom  are  blacks,  have 
ascended  the  Red  river  from  New-Orleans, 
or  have  crossed  that  stream  at  the  numer- 
ous crossings  at  and  above  Alexandria.  "We 
may  suppose,  at  least,  20,000  to  have  enter- 
ed by  the  Gulf  ports,  which  would  give  an 
increase  of  33  1-3  per  cent,  to  the  popula- 
tion in  one  year.  The  tide  continues  to 
flow,  and  but  a  few  years  will  show  the 
state  foremost  in  all  the  south,  if  not  in  all 
the  Union.  Most  of  these  immigrants  have 
settled  in  the  vicinities  of  the  Sabine  and 
the  Trinity. 

This  is  the  domain  whose  trade  we  would 
attract  to  New-Orleans,  but  which,  by  our 
supineness,  we  shall  perhaps  for  ever  lose. 
New-Yoi'k  had  scarcely  a  brighter  or  more 
glorious  prospect  before  her  when  she  pro- 
jected her  great  canal  to  the  lakes.  Yet 
New-Orleans  will  talk  and  sleep  until  this 
prize,  too,  has  for  ever  escaped  her  grasp. 

The  country  between  the  Sabine  and  the 
Trinity  rivers,  which  is  the  seat  of  all  the 
recent  emigration,  will,  in  the  course  of  a 
few  years,  produce  300,000  bales  of  cotton, 
every  one  of  which  might  be  diverted  to 
New-Orleans  by  the  construction  of  this  Red 
River  Railroad,  but  every  one  of  which  will 
as  certainly  descend  the  rivers  to  the  Texas 
sea-ports  and  be  carried  off  to  New-York 
without  such  a  road.  Here  is  a  business  of 
§1,500,000  or  $2,000,000  profit  annually, 
which  it  is  in  the  power  of  New-07'lcans  to 
control,  if  she  had  but  the  enterprise  of  a 
Connecticut  clock  village.  In  addition  to 
this  there  will  be  100,000  barrels  of  flour, 
to  say  nothing  of  innumerable  other  pro- 
duets.  The  return  trade  will  be  equally  lai-ge. 

To  secure  this,  nothing  further  is  needed 
than  the  eonstruetion  of  a  railroad  IGO  to 
175  miles  in  length,  through  an  almost  level 
and  unobstructed  country,  and  which  will 
not  require  an  outlay  of  more  than  $2,000,- 
000. 


552 


RAILROAD    CONNECTION    BETWEEN    LOUISIANA    AND    TEXAS. 


Can  this  money  be  obtained  ?  The  prin- 
ciple of  taxing  contiguous  lands  is  not  ade- 
quate in  any  degree.  Individual  subscrip- 
tions cannot  be  relied  njjon  in  sufficient 
amounts,  such  is  our  deficiency  of  capital 
and  enterprise.  There  are  no  valuable  pub- 
lic lands  in  this  portion  of  Texas.  We  can 
conceive  of  but  one  plan  of  realizing  the 
ways  and  means. 

1.  A  subscription  to  the  stock  of  the  com- 
pany by  the  legislature  of  Louisiana  to  the 
extent  of  S.500,000. 

2.  A  subscription  on  the  part  of  the  cor- 
poration of  New-Orleans  for  $500,000. 

3.  A  subscription  on  the  part  of  the  leg- 
islature of  Texas  for  §500,000. 

4.  Subscriptions  by  individuals  in  Loui- 
siana and  Texas,  in  money  and  in  lands,  and 
also  by  the  states  of  Texas  and  Louisiana  in 
public  domain,  $500,000. 

L  A  subscription  by  Louisiana  will  re- 
quire a  new  constitution,  it  is  true ;  but  this 
our  necessities  loudly  demand,  and  the  peo- 
ple all  over  the  state  heartily  desire  it.  If 
Louisiana  would  not  see  herself  dwindle 
into  one  of  the  lowest  class  of  states,  she  will 
have  to  adopt  a  larger  and  more  liberal 
policy.  She  will  have  to  do  that,  in  fact, 
which  almost  every  other  state  is  now  do- 
ing, to  wit :  subscribe  liberally  to  great  pub- 
lic works  connecting  her  with  her  sister 
states.  The  wealth  to  result  will  far  more 
than  compensate.  Individual  subscriptions 
can  effect  nothing.  Half  a_million  to  the 
Texas  road,  lialf  a  million  to  the  Opelousas, 
and  the  same  amount  to  the  Jackson,  would 


be  but  a  beginning.  A  wise  policy  would 
induce  her  to  contribute  double  that  sum  in 
aid  of  the  A'arious  railroad  projections  in 
which  her  peojile  have  so  great  an  interest. 
Past  failures,  whilst  they  make  us  more  cau- 
tious, should  not  be  the  ground  for  present 
inaction.  Failures  are  incident  to  the  be- 
ginnings of  all  enterprises.  Our  sister  states 
have  not  been  discouraged.  Alabama  is 
granting  liberallj'  to  the  ftlobile  road.  Mis- 
sissippi proposes  large  subscriptions.  Geor- 
gia gave  .$3,500,000  to  her  roads  ;  Maryland 
"$5,000,000;  Tcnnsylvania  $4,500,000;  New- 
York  $4,000,000 ;  Massachusetts  $5,5(i0,000  ; 
Michigan  $6,000»000;  North  Carolina,  to 
one  road,  $2,000,000;  South  Carolina  $1,- 
000,000.  Wliy  then  should  Louisiana  fold 
up  her  arms  in  this  great  age  of  progress  ? 
Let  any  one  answer. 

II.  In  regard  to  New-Orleans,  we  liave  to 
make  the  same  remarks.  If  she  is  to  be  a 
great  commercial  mart,  nothing  but  rail- 
roads can  now  make  her  so.  She  will  have 
to  launch  out  millions.  Taxation  will  not 
effect  all  that  is  necessary.  The  city  credit 
must  be  restored  by  some  means,  and  the 
city  bonds  issued.  New-Orleans  is  not 
alone  interested  in  roads  terminating  at  her 
door.  She  must  be  liberal  to  all  around. 
This  is  the  policy  of  every  other  city.  Even 
the  smallest  have  expended  millions.  Take, 
in  proof,  the  following  table,  showing  the 
amount  of  railroad  subscriptions  by  cities — 
their  population  and  exports  and  imports 
in  1848,  to  and  from  foreign  countries — ex- 
clusive of  coin  and  bullion: 


NAMES  OF  CITIES. 


Popula- 
tion ill 
1K48. 


Am't  stock 
subscribed 
and  expend. 


Average 
amount 
per    head. 


Value  of 
produce 
e.vpotled. 


Value 

uf 
imports. 


Mobile  and  country 

Savannah  and  country 

Charleston  anJ  country... 
Richmond  and  Petersburg. 

Baltimore 

Philadelphia 

New- York 

Boston  and  vicinity 

New-Orleans 


18,800 

18,70(1 

H:!,(III0 

3(i,IMI(i 

130,(!(H' 

32.5.000 

45(1,(101) 

225,000 

122,000 


2.,>-(10,0(10 

155 

4,:ioo,ooo 

i:)0 

3,S(10,000 

98 

l-J.Oi  1(1.00(1 

92 

■,'.'). 000.000 

80 

■JS.OOO,()00 

65 

38,000,000 

IfiO 

5,0.!t>,  177  1 1,9-27,749      419.396 

l,sili.l<io!  3.070,415      217,114 

7.--':i-J.>.'iO    .s.()Sl,917    ],485.2!19 

6,712.100,  3,681,412      21.5,081 

8,484,738   7,129,782   5,343,643 

21,277.419   5,732,333|l2,147,.584 

61,947,075'53,3r)1, 1.57  94,52.5,141 

16.293;'230  13,419,699  28,047.707 

•2()..581()25  40,971,301'  0.3XI.429 


III.  Will  Texas  subscribe  any  thing,  or 
■will  she,  in  fact,  regard  the  road  at  all  with 
favor?  Wo  think  yes.  Though  the  inte- 
rests of  her  gulf  ports  may  be  regarded  as 
opposed,  the  feeling  of  the  planting  commu- 
nity will  be  in  favor  of  the  road.  It  will 
be  the  cheapest  and  best  mode  of  reaching 
the  lai-gest  market  with  the  greatest  ea])i- 
tal.  It  will  open  at  once  immense  regions 
to  po]iudation  and  wealth,  and  enhance 
greatly  the  value  of  her  lands.  It  will  fur- 
nish he  only  comnnmication  which  Texas  can 
ever  have  with  the  Atlaiitic  states,  except 
through  the  medium  of  the  Oulf  of  Mexico, 
ibilh  its  storms  and  its  detentiojis.  In  no 
other  Avay  can  she  connect  herself  with  the 
great  public  works  of  the  United  States.   In 


no  other  way  can  she  have  access  to  the  inf 
terior  markets  of  the  Union  in  the  event  0| 
war  and  the  blockade  of  the  gulf.  It  wil 
furnish  the  shortest  and  cheapest  line  of 
travel  to  AVashington  and  the  north.  These 
considerations  must  influence  the  Texas 
legislature.  Petty  local  influences  could  not 
bear  against  them.  Truth  must  ]irevai], 
and  the  charter  may  be  relied  uj)on.  In 
regard  to  sulscrijition,  llie  matter  is  some- 
what different.  Texas  lias  actually  no  mo- 
ney. IJy  scaling  her  debt,  it  is  thought  she 
can  save  rightly  $3,000,000  out  of  the  $10, 
000,000  appropriated  by  Congress.  Could 
slie  not  be  induced  to  exjiend  half  of  tin's  in 
promotion  of  railroads,  and  would  not  the 
Louisiana  road  have  an  equal  claim  with 


RAILROAD    ACROSS    TEHUANTEPEO. 


553 


nny  other  ?  Should  the  other  ])rojio.'^ition' 
prevail,  i.  r.,  to  pny  the  whole  delit,  iijion 
the  condition  its  nmount  is  expended  hy  the 
creditors  on  state  imiirovenionts,  would  not 
the  case  he  still  stronger  in  our  favor? 

IV.  Out  of  tiie  jiulilic  donuiin  of  Louisi- 
ana and  Texas,  n  large  donation  may  he 
safely  relied  upon,  and  there  is  no  douhl 
that  holders  of  Texas  lands  on  the  line  or 
route  of  tlie  road  would  take  lai'gc  stocks, 
payable  in  labor  or  in  lands.  These  lands, 
in  the  hands  of  the  company,  must  at  once 
bear  a  greatly  appreciated  value. 

Who  will  make  the  initial  movement  in 
this  matter?  Not  a  day  is  to  be  lost.  Here 
is  a  work  vastly  more  important  to  New- 
Orleans  than  the  road  to  Jackson  or  to  Ope- 
lousas,  or  across  Tehuautejiec,  important  as 
all  of  these  most  unquestionably  are.  It 
will  bring  its  immense  trade  we  cannot  fiave 
at  all  otherwise  ;  and  this  m.ay  be  said  with 
the  same  propriety  of  no  other  road.  Who 
will  move?  Will  the  people  of  Shreveport? 
No  ;  we  fear  they  are  not  yet  out  of  the 
leading  strings  of  the  "plank  road;"  and 
lieariug  the  grateful  tinkle  of  wagon  bells, 
tlioj^  are  timid  about  the  clatter  of  the  lo- 
comotive! Will  the  people  of  lied  Kiver, 
generally  ?  We  trust  so.  We  trust  their 
neighbors  of  Texas,  too,  will  advance  the 
move.  New-Orleans  cannot  be  the  last, 
unless  the  madness  has  certainly  come  upon 
her  Avith  which  tlie  inexorable  gods  ever 
inilict  their  victims.  Let  the  ball  once  be 
started,  and  it  shall  only  cease  to  roll  on 
the  shores  of  the  Pacific. 

Since  writing  the  above,  we  are  delighted 
to  receive  the  address  of  T.  J.  Chambers, 
candidate  for  governor  of  Texas,  in  which 
he  sustains  the  view  we  have  taken  that 
Texas  will  cooperate.  The  following  ex- 
tract will  be  read  by  every  one  of  our  citi- 
zens with  deep  interest : 

"  I  propose  that  the  first  great  route  shall 
be  marked  out  from  a  point  on  the  Rio  Grande, 
near  the  head  of  navigation,  and  opposite  to 
the  great  thoroughfares  and  highways  leading 
into  the  Mexican  states,  so  as  to  run  thence 
tlirough  the  city  of  San  Antonio,  by  Austin, 
tlie  capital  of  our  state,  and  across  all  our 
chief  rivers  at  or  near  the  head  of  navigation, 
to  the  Lmiisiana  line  7iear  Red  River,  where  it 
would  easihj  be  connected  loith  the  system  re- 
centhj  projected  in  that  state,  and  open  a  com- 
nncnication  with  the  city  of  New- Orleans ; 
while  it  would  give  the  whole  of  the  interior 
of  our  state  the  benefit  of  the  navigation  of  all 
our  rivers,  and  tlirough  them  an  easy  access 
to  any  part  of  our  coast.  To  this  great  track 
any  number  of  branches  might  be  attached, 
which  local  convenience  or  public  policy  might 
require ;  and  amongst  the  most  important  of 
these  would  be  that  already  projected  from 
San  Antonio  to  the  coast,  and  the  jiortions  of 
the  main  track  to  be  thus  completed  would  be 


those  passing  through  the  eastern  and  middle 
counties,  to  give  them  the  benefit  of  the  im- 
proved navigation  of  our  rivers. 

"  I  propose  that  the  other  main  track  shall 
descend  from  El  Paso  on  the  Rio  Grande,  by 
the  ciiy  of  Austin,  nearly  on  a  right  line  to 
Galveston  Ray,  with  which  private  enterprise 
would  connect  it  at  various  points.  This 
route,  prolonged  at  the  other  end  on  the  same 
right  line,  would  pass  by  Gila  to  San  Diego 
on  the  Pacific.  And  I  do  not  entertain  a  doubt 
that  this  is  th.-  shortest,  best,  and,  indeed,  the 
oidy  practicable  route  for  a  railroad  acioss  the 
continent  from  our  Atlantic  to  our  Pacific 
coast  in  California. 

"  Thus  Texas  holds  in  her  grasp,  not  only 
the  commerce  of  one  half  of  the  Mexican 
states,  and  in  a  great  extent,  the  destinies  of 
the  city  of  New  Orleans,  but  the  control  of 
the  vast  wealth  which  is  to  flow  from  Califor- 
nia and  tlie  Pacific  ocean  across  to  the  Atlan- 
tic. It  is  for  Texas  to  determine  wltether  or 
not  the  great  inovement  for  internal  improve- 
ments in  the  state  of  Louisiana,  and  the 
mighty  capital  ready  to  be  employed  to  open  a 
cominunieation  with  the  Pacific  ocean,  shall 
be  turned  to  her  own  advantage,  a7id  made  the 
foicndation  of  a  prosperity  unequalled  in  any 
other  country.  Intelligence  has  lately  reach- 
ed us  that  the  Tehuantepec  treaty  has  been 
rejected  by  Mexico,  and  it  is  for  us  to  convert 
its  failure  into  a  most  fortunate  occurrence  for 
Texas,  Louisiana,  aud  all  the  southern  states, 
by  promptly  adopting  and  vigorously  prose- 
cuting the  system  of  internal  improvements 
which  I  have  proposed.  The  two  great  rail- 
road routes  suggested  are  sufficiently  import- 
ant, in  a  national  and  military  point  of  view, 
to  command  the  cooperation  of  the  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States.  But  we  should 
make  the  first  vigorous  movement  ourselves, 
and  ive  shall  co7nmand  and  control  the  action 
and  cooperation  of  that  government  and  of 
the  state  of  Louisiana,  which  will  seek  to  avail 
themselves  of  the  benefits  of  our  enterprise,  by 
extendiiig  our  work  beyond  its  limits.  Rut  if 
we  measure  the  proposed  system  by  a  nar- 
rower scale,  it  will  be  found  that  the  coniple- 
tiou  of  any  portion  of  it  will  be  attended  with 
great  benefit,  and  that  one  part  maybe  added 
to  another  with  increasing  advantages,  until 
the  full  devclopmcut  of  the  whole  may  be 
achieved." 


RAILROAD  ACROSS  TEHUANTEPEO. 
— Sm: — Your  fiivors  of  the  fith  and  2'7th  of 
February,  and  2*7  th  of  March,  are  just  received 
by  the  Alabama.  After  my  report  of  the 
14th  January,  and  other  letters  from  Chevela, 
I  again  addressed  you  from  Boca  del  Monte, 
communicating  the  progress  of  the  survey  up 
to  that  j)eriod.  This  was  supposed  to  be  the 
latest  date  which  would  reach  Minatitlan  in 
time  for  the  Alabama's  third  trip.     Wo  were 


554 


RAILROAD    ACROSS    TEIIUANTEPEC. 


in  daily  expectation,  for  a  month  or  more,  and 
for  this  cause  I  wrote  no  further. 

I  have  now  to  state  that  the  survey  is  near- 
ly completed,  as  far  as  I  consider  necesj^ary 
for  present  purposes,  and  that  most  satisfac- 
tory results  have  been  obtained.  I  will  briefly 
communicate  the  results. 

Mr.  Temple's  survey  of  the  river  shows  that 
he  considers  it  navigable,  at  all  stages,  as  high 
as  Suchil,  fur  light  draught  steamers,  and  to 
Paso  Sarabia,  or  higher,  during  the  rainy  sea- 
eon.  He  has  been  on  the  Pacific  coast  for  a 
month ;  and,  though  he  has  not  yet  made  the 
soundings,  he  has  no  doubt  about  the  depth 
of  water,  and  considers  either  the  Ventosa  or 
Salina  Cruz  available  for  a  harbor,  the  latter 
preferable.  In  fact,  this  cuast  may  be  con- 
eidered  as  practicable  as  many  or  most  land- 
locked harbors  on  the  Atlantic ;  for  the  pre- 
vailing and  strong  winds  are  from  the  north 
and  off  the  shore,  against  which,  of  course,  the 
land  affords  protection ;  and  though  the  sur- 
face of  the  water  maj'  be  rough,  and  a  strong 
6urf  breaks  on  the  shore,  yet  nothing  like  a 
sea  is  raised,  and  steamers  or  vessels  can  lie 
in  perfect  safety.  The  southerly  or  south- 
easterly winds,  which  occur  in  certain  periods 
of  the  summer,  ai'e  little  more  than  sgicalls, 
and  not  at  all  dangerous.  I  do  not  think 
break-waters  absolutely  necessary,  but  event- 
ually some  arrangements  would  be  made  for 
landing  and  receiving  passengers  and  goods 
with  facility.  In  the  commencement  of  the 
enterprise,  good  surf-boats  are  all  that  would 
be  necessary.  I  think  there  can  be  7io  doubt 
about  the  entire  practicability  of  this  coast. 
I  will  now  speak  of  the  railroad  route. 

From  the  Ventosa  to  the  foot  of  the  moun- 
tains we  have  level  plains,  offering  a  choice  of 
routes,  plenty  of  stone  and  timber  at  hand,  of 
the  best  quality  for  the  structure.  The  cost 
of  this  portion  (about  thirty-five  miles)  will 
be  very  trifling.  The  ascent  of  the  mountains 
by  the  Masahua  Pass  has  now  been  surveyed, 
and  the  line  run  through  beyond  the  Sarabia. 
The  result  is  found  to  be,  that  a  grade  of 
forty  or  fifty  feet  per  mile  can  be  carried  up 
the  Pass,  and  that  the  difficulties  are  not 
greater  than  have  been  surmounted  on  roads 
iu  the  United  States  ;  thence  to  the  "  Lomas 
de  Xochiapa,"  say  fifteen  miles,  the  ground  is 
easy  or  moderately  broken.  Through  the 
"  Lomas  de  Xochiapa,"  say  ten  or  fifteen  miles, 
more  difficulties  again  occur,  but  they  are  not 
extraordinary ;  thence  ten  or  twelve  miles 
farther  to  the  Sarabia,  the  ground  is  perfectly 
easy.  Through  the  forest  country,  from  "  Paso 
de  la  Puerta"  to  the  Jaltepec,  and  thence 
through  to  "  Jesistepec,"  some  difficulties  will 
be  mot  with,  but  I  fancy  nothing  serious.  Tiie 
fiurvey  has,  actually  at  this  moment,  been  ex- 
tended from  the  foot  of  the  Masahua  Pass  to 
the  Sarabia,  and  thence  Mr.  Avery's  party  is 
extending  it  towards  "  Paso  de  la  Puerta"  and 
the  Jaltepec.    Mr.  Williams's  party  have  just 


gone  down  to  the  Jaltepec,  towards  Jesistepec 
All  this  will,  I  think,  be  completed  in  a  month, 
and  the  parties  nady  to  return  by  the  middle 
or  latter  part  of  May.  As  Mr  Avery  has  al- 
ready made  a  reconnoissance  from  ^linatitlan 
to  Jesistepec,  and  found  the  ground  to  ofi'er 
no  difficulties,  1  tio  not  consider  an  actual  sur- 
vey necessary  for  present  purposes,  as  the 
question  is  plain  and  the  ground  easy.  In  ad- 
dition, in  my  letter  from  ''Boca  del  Monte," 
I  stated  the  expediency,  in  the  first  instance, 
of  commencing  the  line  on  the  Jaltepec. 

Taking  the  whole  extent  of  the  road  into 
consideration,  the  ground  is  remarkably  easy, 
and  timber,  stone,  &c.,  are  at  hand  in  abun- 
dance ;  and  the  right  of  way  (so  serious  an 
item  in  the  United  States)  will  have  cost  little 
or  nothing.  No  estimate  can  be  made  at  pre- 
sent, but  I  think  I  am  safe  in  saying  that  the 
means  appropriated  by  the  committee  are 
ample.  In  relation  to  the  lands  connected 
with  the  grant,  I  think  it  safe  to  say,  a  finer 
tract  cannot  be  found  in  the  world. 

An  immense  number  of  invaluable  produc- 
tions (comprehending  all,  or  almost  all,  the 
valuable  productions  of  tropical  climates)  can 
be  raised  here  with  the  greatest  facility,  while 
the  forests  abound  with  natural  productions 
of  great  value.  Throw  iu  an  enterprising 
population  here,  and  the  Isthnms  would  be- 
come the  garden  spot  of  the  world. 

In  relation  to  opening  a  travelling  route,  I 
think  it  is  only  necessary  to  establish  steam- 
ers, connecting  with  the  two  coasts  a  small 
steamer,  or  steamers,  on  the  river,  and  the 
liorse  or  mule  transportation  across  would 
soon  be  supplied.  Passengers  can  be  got 
across  the  Isthmus  with  such  means  in  six  or 
seven  days  from  Minatitlau  to  the  Pacific. 
There  are  people  on  the  Isthmus  rtady  to 
establisii  the  land  communication  the  moment 
the  steamers  commence  running;  so  that  this 
part  of  the  business  will  give  the  company 
no  trouble.  In  conclusion,  there  can  be  no 
exaggeration  in  saying,  that  this  is  the  route, 
and  the  one  which  will  supersede  all  others ; 
and  leaving  out  of  consideration  the  value  of 
the  route,  the  value  of  the  lands,  and  the 
local  Wealth  to  be  produced,  would  almost 
pay  the  buikiing  of  the  railroad,  antl  be  an 
immense  contribution  to  the  commerce  of 
New  Orleans.  I  believe,  moreover,  that  no 
statement  or  estimate  you  have  seen  made  as 
yet  realizes  the  full  value  of  this  route  and 
grant;  it  can  scarcely  be  appreciated.  I 
would  say,  too,  that  the  people  on  the  Isth- 
mus are  all  frieiuily  to  the  utmost  degree  to 
the  enterprise,  and  that  large  subscrijitions  of 
stock  can  be  obtained  by  an  authorized  agent. 
I  should  mention  that  rich  beds  of  iron  ore 
exist  here,  and  that  indications  of  silver  are 
apparent. 

lleports  will  be  made  on  this  subject;  a 
geological  examination  has  been  made,  and 
such  researches  as  could  be  made,  with  our 


RAILROAD    COMl'KTITION. 


555 


means,  into  the  natural  productions  of  the 
Isthmus. 

I  would  mention  officially,  that  I  am  con- 
vinced that  Mr.  Trastour's  operations  on  the 
Pacific  have  been  carried  on  witli  great  zeal 
and  eiierj^y,  and  under  great  di.sadvanlages. 
Mr.  Temple  states  that  his  charts  are  excel- 
lent, and  perfectly  reliable.  I  feel  it  ii  duty 
to  state  this,  as  so  much  has  been  circulated 
to  his  disadvantage. 

I  think  the  surveying  parties  will  get 
through  their  work  by  the  end  of  this  month, 
and  will  be  ready  for  transportation  at  Mma- 
titlanby  the  15th  May. 

Of  the  funds  now  remaining  available  here, 
there  are  about  8'J.50O  still  in  Tehuantepec, 
$5,700  here,  and  $'3,000  still  remaining  in 
Vera  Cruz,  say-?  16  200  in  all,  which  will  be, 
I  think,  sufticient  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the 
parties,  and  I  should  think  two  thirds  or  three 


fourths  their  salaries. — I  am,  very  respectfully, 
your  obedient  servant, 

J.  G.  Barnard,  Bvt.  Major  U.  S.  A. 


RAILROAD   COMPETITION  — Its    Ix- 

FLVENCE    UPON    KeW-OrLKANS    TrAUE.  —  But 

what  is  it  to  New-Orleans,  whether  Nash- 
ville and  Louisvilh;  connect  themselves  by 
railroad  with  Charleston  ?  Much  in  every 
way,  but  in  the  way  to  which  she  is  perhaps 
most  sensible,  very  much.  In  1 849,  the  cars  of 
the  Western  and  Atlantic  Railroad  (Georgia), 
connecting  Chattanooga  with  Savannah  and 
with  Charleston,  commenced  active  operations 
on  the  basin  of  New-Orleans,  in  northeastern 
Alabama  and  southeastern  Tennessee.  Now 
the  extent  of  this  operation  on  the  cotton  re- 
ceipts of  New-Orleans  maybe  shadowed  out 
in  the  following  tabular  facts : 


EEOKIPTe    OF    COTTON    AT    TUE   SEVERAL    PORTS    FOR    1848,  1849  AND  1850. 


-RBCKIPTS  IN  BALKS, 


RECEIPTS  IN  PER  CENTAG8 


1848. 


OF  TOTAL  CROr 

1849. 

1350. 

1848. 

1840. 

1850. 

1,094,000 

197,000,. 

..50.7 

40.1 

38.1 

519,000 

851,000.. 

..18.6 

19.0 

16.8 

239,000 

200,000.. 

..   8.3 

8.8 

9.8 

891,000 

844,000.. 

..10.9 

14.S 

16.4 

458,000 

884,000 .  . 

..11.1 

16.8 

18.4 

28,000 

19,000.. 

..   0.5 

1.0 

0.6 

New-Orleans 1,191,000 

Mobile 436,000 

Other  Gulf  ports, 194,000 

Savannah 255,000 

Charleston 261,000 

Other  Atlantic  ports 1 1,000 

Total  crop 3,848,000        2,729,000       2,091,000       100.0       100.0       100.0 


New-Orleans  has  therefore  lost,  from  the 
date  of  the  opening  of  the  Chattanooga  Rail- 
road to  the  date  of  the  last  annual  return  of 
the  cotton  crop,  12.6  per  cent,  of  the  total  crop, 
while  Savannah  and  Charleston,  the  termini 
of  that  railroad,  have  gained  within  that  time 
12.8  per  cent,  of  the  total  crop.  It  is  unneces- 
sary to  add  another  word  to  this ;  the  figures 
are  a  very  legible  writing  on  the  wall.     But 

tj;^  For  a  great  many  minute  statistics  of  the  railroads  of  the  southern  and  -nestern  states,  embracing  all 
lb9  particulars  of  their  coustruclioB,  progress,  cost,  freight,  etc.)  see  the  volumes  of  Deliow's  Review,  ifc'iG-52, 


what  will  New-Orleans  lose  when  this  Chat- 
tanooga road  is  extended  into  nortlieastern 
Alabama,  and  into  the  heart  of  Tennessee  3 
Yet  both  extenfions  are  in  progress,  one  ap- 
proaching to  completion,  and  Charleston  sub- 
sidies pushing  it  forward  with  giant  strides ', 
Verily,  this  cloud  above  the  horizon  of  New- 
Orleans  is  black  and  boding. 


APPEXDIX. 


CHICAGO— Growing  Commerce  of.— We  sub- 
join a  table  of  tliL'  value  of  imports  aud  exports, 
from  1836  to  1843  inclusive: 


ARTICLES 


ToUl 
Iinpoii3 


ToUl 
Value 


Import? 

I,s30  $325,203  90 

lS-17 373,677  12 

]g'}8'  579,174  61 

]8,i9       631 1.980  26 

1841)  562.106  20 

lS4l"'       564,347  88 

184-2  "■ 664.347  88 

1843  971,849  75 

1844'"         1,686.4 l(i  00 

184.-,       2,'i4.3.445  73 

1846  2.0-27.15I)  00 

1847  .  2,641.852  52 

1848'....! 8,338,639  86 


Leather Mis. 

Exports       Lemons ^^xs. 

$1,000  04    Lime ^^^».\ 

11,()65  00    Liquors hhds  and  ps  I 

16.044  75'  Merchan.  and  suud..pkf;s' 
33,843  00  I        »  tons.] 


32,283 
11,384 

4,434 1 
64,817 

3,162 


228,635  74    Molasses 

348.862  24    jjalt     . 

6-59,305  20    Nails... 

682,211)  ?'i    Oil       . . 

785.504  23 
1.543.5 19  85 
l,s|:i,408  00 
2.296,209  00 
10,7U'J,333  40 


Orauf^es. 
Oakum.. 
Oats .... 
Oil  Cake. 


...bbl 

bush. 

kKS. 

bbls. 

.  .bxs.  and  bbls. 

ball's. 

bush. 

lbs. 


Pork  aud  Bacon hhds. 

i,  "       tcs 

CINCINNATI.— Imports,  1851-1852,  (for   Exports  I      a  "       bbls. 

see  Appendix  to  vol.  I.,)  for  the  years  ending  August    p^j,^  j^  ^^^^ ibs. 

31st.  Potatoes bbls, 

"        X„ul        ^'S  ^li^tiil '""^ 

valine     I  Pim'o  and  P'r bj,'3. 

I  Rye b"s'> 


4  25  137.202 
9  60  102,456 

5  00  22,170 
—  80  51,853 
90  00  264,580 


ARTICLES 


Total 
Imports 


Apples,  gr bbls.i 

Beef 

Beef .  tcs. 

Ba?','in3 pes. 

Barley 

Beans 

Butter bbls. 

Butter firk.  and  kgs 

Blooms ions.| 

Br.an,  &c sks. 

Candles bxs. 

Com bush 

Corn  Meal 

Cider bbls. 

Cheese cks. 

Cheese bxs. 

Cotton bales. 

Coffee sks. 

Codfish drums. 

Cooperage pes. 

Eg,'s bxs.  and  bbls, 

Flour bbls. 

Feathers 'I^^ 

Fish,  sund bbls 

Fish kgs.  and  kits. 

Fruit,  dried bush. 

Grease bbls.i 

aiass bxs 

Glassware pkgs. 

Hemp bdls.  and  bls.j 

Hides loose. 

Hides,  green lbs. 

Hay bales.! 

Herring bxs. 

Hogg head 

Hops bales. 

Iron  and  Stool pes. 

a  "     bdls. 

ti  "     tons. 

Lead,   pif?"- 

Lard bbls. 

i<    kgs. 


71,182l  SI  60  §106,844  j  Rosin,  &c bbls. 

1,609      9  OOi      14,481    Raisins bxs. 

14,885    Rope,  Twine,  &c 

142    Rice tcs- 

40,447    Sugar hhds. 

21,219       "      bbls. 

265,075        "      bxs. 

Seed,  llax bbls. 

"     grass. 

«     hemp. 

i;632 :  Salt sks 

196,136'    "     bbls. 


15  00! 
2  Ooi 

0  45' 

1  60' 
25  00, 

13,720    13  00     178,360 
4,0.36,  50  00    201,800 
131,0141  —  oOl     66,50' 

653!    2  00'       '  ' 
C53,788i  —  30 


1,145 

71! 

89,994 

14,137 

10,203: 


604,141 

63'-i,S0O 


8,640   —  40j 

874     3  00 

4()    12  00 

241,7.53     2  40 

12,776'  .50  00 

95.T32[  17  00  1,627,444 

431,  25  00       10,775 

135,118    —  GO      81,070 

10.5441     4  01      42,176 

511,042!     3  20  1,635,334 

6,716'  12  00      80.592 

20,076'     9  50    190,722 

1,075      2  00        2,150 


3,456    Shot k 

2,622 1  Tea I'l^ 

552  i  Tobacco hhdt^ 


24,877 

1,930 

44,004 

36,602 

18,331 

54,647 

54.905 

9,270 

.5,149 

460,210 


a  00 
15  00 
2  25 

4  40  r 

25  -)0 
2  40 

—  41 
2  50 

—  50 


49,754 
29,040 
99,000 
18,265 
467,517 
27,269 
1,5.57 
23,195 


bale 

"       bxs.  &k 

Tallow bbls. 

Wines bbls.  &  i  cks 

"      bkts.  &  bxs. 

Wheat bush. 

Wool bales 

Whiskey bbls 

Cotton  Varn pl^g*^- 

"  bbl 


93,132 

33,220 

04,189 

8,395 

4,54' 

l,f-43 

197,86S 

247,401 

10,338 

1,98 

22,.')01 

16,532,884 

i!0,739 

22,005 

1,425 

58,31 

14,184 

28,41 

3,203 

3,782 

39,224 

15,237 

2,259 

48,074 

10,819 

304 

91,312 

58,020 

1,688 

]2,S10 

11,469 

1.906 

23,060 

5.930 

4,482 

8,322 

377.0 

4,562 

272.788 

10,.-36] 

167,0021 


13  00  1,117,584 
29.889 

192.567 

232.540 

27,280 

22,116 

49,467 

1,237 

465.214 
43,714 

337,515 

991,973 
25.923 

543,570 
18.525 
29,158 
49,644 
56,834 
16,015 
94,550 

2,274,992 


—  60 
3  Ool 

28  00 
0  00 

12  00 
25  00 

—  Oi 
45  00 
22  00 
15  00 

—  6 
1 

24  00 

13  00 

—  50 
3  50 
2  00 
5  00 

25  00 
58  00 


14  001   213,318 

67.770 

144,2-22 
119,019 
456 
118,705 
87,030 
28,596 
320,250 


30  00 
3  00 

11  00 
1  50 
1  30 
1  50 

17  00 

25  00 


40  00    527,160 
9,984 
461,200 
88,950 
156,870 
83,220 
226,422 
228,100 
1,773,122 
16,2.54 
622,507 


4  00 

20  00 

15  00 

35  00 

10  00 

_  60 

50  00 

6  75 

1  50 

1  75 


Total  Value $24,715,331 

Note.— In  the  above,  we  have  not  included  Dry 
Goods,  Hardware.  Queousware,  and  sundry  miscel- 
laneous articles,  which,  with  those  mentioned,  come 
under  the  head  of  Merchandise.  It  would  be  utterly 
J  ,-, ,  I  impossible  to  make  an  estimate  of  these  articles. 
-  ao  2,.574  Coal  and  Lumber  are  also  omitted  —  no  correct 
quo  ii'.i  9  00  3  691.890  statement  of  the  amount  imported  being  obtainable, 
r59l'  60  00  95,460  In  the  above  calculation  we  have  given  as  nearly  as 
194'l07!  1  4-.  291,160  po.ssible  the  correct  average  value,  and  we  believe 
5ro78  3  75'  202,720  the  aggregate  is  below  rather  than  above  the  actual 
10.111  24  00,  242,(ii;4 
.54,733  3  12  171,0-10 
30,047   21  00   7aG>087 


amount.  The  value  of  the  total  imports  at  this  port 
is  not  loss  than  forty  niilions.— Editor  of  Cinciunuti 
P.  C. 


Al'PKNDIX, 


557 


COTTON  STATISTICS. 

Tho  followiiii;  tnblo  has  been  arrnnjccd  imd  pub- 
lished by  \V.  P.  VVrighl,  Esq.,  Cotton  Brolicr,  New- 
York: 

I"*  O  •»■  X  -^  >fl  l~  c» 
T  tC  0>S  —  O  «  OC 
t-^cn_.-^o  OS  'i'  ^^t. 
IJ^— T—T  i-'-r  —  c'«r 
23  53  -n"  C'l  oi  -ra  -^  — 


<^-t*  o5^c^  *';'''t  ^  ^'^ 
•nni-^-jo  ni  -'  -j;  co" 

S  C-t  H         -TO         — ■ 
I-  «  i-l         C«  C-5 


I-  O  '^  <-*  TO  o  :0  2 


CO  O  to  C:^  »0  (M  QC  c* 
1.-0  CO  (^  'S*  (?<  •«  «-•  L-^ 

c:5  n  ic^  c^  to  :o 


::-; 


(^  ta  CO  i^  G^<  i-  •-'  O     I    -c 


c  to  :m      c^  -«t« 


CD  ~»  -r  n  lo  irt  --  ( 
a;  >o  -T  :i  CO  '^  :o  ; 


l-C^-i 


;  CC  CC  -r  OD  r^  r-l 


CO  CO 


Ci  uC  ^T  O  '-O  'O  CC  t 

ti^  "^  o  o^M-  I-  cj ; 

CO  l^Ci^CC  CO  0^<3S  I 

c^^^  L-f  51  t-T  cf  i 

CO  lO  X  ■V  CNI  ao  rl  c 
O  ^  -^         CO  CO 


f  OJ 


5;  »h  -^  -^  -^  ^ 
-.^  -.^-T  o  1-  CO  c»^  ri^ 

eo^oToo  -r  no  o 'o  cT 

r-  ^  00  y;  C^  1^  rl  C( 

COiO  »—         CO-rH 


:  :  2  5^ 


c» 

o  o  o  :m 

70 

51CV  :o  ao 

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3i  ;c  Ci  00 

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1-  XI  1/^  ;= 

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cc  c;  cf— 1 

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==. 

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00  —  00  ■* 

tS.T  —  ^ 

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•         «  l~  X  3  O  O         <=  CO  10 
o        c^  -^^  1.-3  X  t~    I   i-l  o '-"^ 


C5 1^  w  CO  c*  O       -r  O  • 

■^  rH -1         O  CD     I    -V  C4  ( 


—  -*  I-  1-  CO  o 

c  00  =:  •*  ^  00 
■<j^ira^>o  t-  to  =5^ 


c  o  in  a?  c;  o 

00  T  r-  U^  »-<  O 

■<r  o  to  tr  CO  c©^ 
inui  ffic^" 


C  LO  o 

o  ^  o 
t-  o  c« 


o»  r  ojiracsoo 

f-"  to  -^  to  to  C5 
to  CI  '■^^  ^'^ 
toof-H      cr^:^ 

fHi-l  CI  « 


2g:g  I  Si 


O  {^  CO  to  — <  CO 

Oi  a  t^  Oi^^  *n 

CO  I—  C^  LO  o  o 


C:  O  o  I 
c»  —  15  I 
tO-5^X_  I 

"oco" 


00  O  r-lj—  l~  to 

in  -H  tC  -H  l.'O  -V 
I-  CO  ■«"  CO  to -^ 


li?i 


:  to 
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;<1  _ 


c  = 


:jic- 


COJIMERCE  OF  THE  WOULD. 


COUNTRIES 


Imijorts 


Exports 


Great  Britain 

Franco 

United  States 

Hamburg 

Netherlands 

Belgium 

Russia 

New  South  Wales 

Austria 

Brazils 

Spain • 

Sardinia 

Oenmark 

Cuba 

Canada 

Kgypt 

Sweden 

Portugal 

Java 

Mauritius 

Ceylon , 

Greece , 

Cape  of  Good  Hope 

Papal  Stales 

Bavaria 

Tan  Diemen's  Land 


£100 
45 


X70,iiOii.()|!0 
50,0(111,01)0 
40,0(10,(100 
20,(100,000 
]H,000,000 
15,000.000 
14,0(10,000 

l,&oo,ooo 

6,000,000 
5,500,000 
5,000,000 
6,500,000 
3,500,000 
5,000,000 
3,000,000 
2,0011,000 
2.500,000 
1,600,000 
5,000,000 
1,200,000 
1,.500,000 
800,000 
.500,000 
1,200,000 
1,200,000 
500,000 


Total £321,750,000  X287,900,000 


,000,000 
,000,0001 

,ooo,ooo| 

,000,0001 
,000,0001 
000,000 
,,000,000; 
,500,000 
,800.000 
,600,000 
1,000,000 
1,000,000 
l,.500,000 
.,700,000 
,000,000 
1.500,0001 
i,300,000 
!,.500,000 
!,000,000[ 
.200,000 
,200,000, 
i,0n0,000| 
,100,000, 
.500,000! 
850,000, 
600,000' 


Grand  Total. 


£615,050,000 


MARINE  OF  THE  WORLD. 

The  following  authentic  and  highly  interesting 
tables  are  from  the  Belfast  (Ireland)  Mercantile  Jour- 
nal: 

NUMBER     OP    VESSELS     AND     TONNAGE     BELONGING 
TO    THE    FOLLOWI>G    COUNTRIES  I 


COUNTRIES 


Tons 


Great  Britain 

France 

Norway 

Russia , 

Greece 

NaplfcS 

Hamburg 

Belgium 

Cape  of  Good  Uopp. . . . 

United  States ... 

Netherlands 

Austria 

Denmark  and  Duchies. 

Papal  Stale.? 

Canada 

Ceylon , 

Mauritius 

Tuscany 

Prussia 


4,144,lli 
59i,344 
337,056 

l50,roni 

100,000, 

82,053 

22,770 

4,080 

3,-035,451 

396,924 

178,000| 

108,978 

133,402! 

68,553 

30,828 

12,020! 

27,-598 

133,658 


34,090 
13,079 

3,064 
750 

4,000 

280 
161 
34 

1793 

4,710 
1,520 
683 
609 
125 
773 
977 


Total 10,118.841! 


THE  SHIPPI.NG  AND  TONNAGE  ENTERED  INWARDS 
AND  CLEARED  OUTWARDS  FROM  THE  FOLLOW 
1N6    COUNTRIES  : 

, Entered ,     , Cleared , 

Countries  Tons         Vessels  Tons  Vessels 

Great  Britain...  6,113,695    31,249    5,906,978    29,011 
France 1,887,291    15,264    1,43(),085     13,8"- 


Netherlands....  1,099,771 

Hamburg 730,.59S 

Canada 628,399 

Spain 579,475 

India 406,479 

Prussia 813,096 

United  Slates..  4,328,639 

Russia 1,323,080 

Norway 77i',885 

Sardinia 700,000 


6S59    1,136864 
4,094       729.180 


1 699  63(5,407 

5,206  470,973 

868  522.056 

4,690  823,450       .,,_, 

21,643  4,3iTl,0'i2    21,805 

6,401  1,177,994      6,197 

7.9i)9  800,706      8,160 

6,000  700,000      6,000 


7,017 
4,114 
1,732 
4,622 
1,128 
4,635 


558 


ArPENDIX. 


. Entered ,  / Cleared > 

Countries                  Tons         Vessels             Tons  Vetefls 

Austria 547,228        —          562,722  — 

Sweden 540.902      6,707       562,394  6,347 

Belgium 356.367      2.424        340,638  2,368 

Kjo-pt 409.158      2,019  432,696  1,707 

China 109,155         531        163,717  528 

OlhfrCountiies  1,927,505    15,915  1,965,867  17,163 

Totol 23,333,620  139,638  22,738,801  136,402 

LIBRARIES  IX  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

FROM    PROF.   JEWETT's   WORK. 

No.  of  vols. 

9,505  Public  School  Libraries 1,552,332 

227  Academies  and  Professional  .Schools..  320,909 

142  Students'  Libraries  (in  Colleges,  &c.).  254,639 

126  College           "        586,912 

126  Social             «        (Popular) 611,334 

.39  State              "        288.937 

34  Stientiflc  and  Hietorical  Societies 138,901 

10,199  Aggregate 3,753,964 

The  number  of  Libraries,  each  less  than 

1,000  volumes 271 

Volume.s  in  these  Libraries 95,980 

Number  of  Libraries  containing  each  1,000 

volumes  and  upwards 423 

Volumes  in  these  Libraries 9,105,652 

Average  size 4,977 

The  number  of  volumes  publi.shed  from  July, 
1850,  to  July,  1851  in  the  United  States,  has  been  esti- 
mated by  the  publi.-iher  of  the  "  Book  Trade"  to  have 
been  1,298.  embracing  213,049  pages,  and  forming 
1,176  distinct  works.  The  following  is  a  popular  clas- 
sification.— J\rurton^s  Literary  Oazette. 

Novels  and  Tales 249 

Juveniles , 52 

Gift  Books 32 

Poetry,  Hymns,  &c 80 

Music  Hooks 43 

Theology  and  Religion 170 

History  and  Travels 121 

Biography 96 

Political 16 

Commercial 12 

Science 50 

Natural  History 8 

Metaphysics 5 

Mathematics IJ 

Classical ^ 

Dictionary  and  Languages 13 

School  Books 50 

Orations 3 

Essays H 

Law 43 

Medicine 47 

Agriculture 20 

Practical  Meelianics 18 

Fine  Arts 6 

Architecture ^ 

Manners  and  Morals 18 

Social  Economy 15 

Miscellaneous 48 

POPULAR  VOTE  OV    THE    UNITED    STATES 
SINCE  1828.— To  note  how  nearly  etiual  gn^at  par- 
ties will  ho  divided,  we  furnish  the  following  statis- 
tics from  the  Iferald  : 
Tears  nemocrallc  Whig        Abolition  Siafng 

1828* 650,943       51 1,475        —  — 

1832* 687,602        .583.297        —  — 

1836* 76.5,068        737,526        —  — 

1837 81 9,2113       927.21 3        —  — 

ia38 956.019     1,066,712        —  — 

1839 1,011,108       972,347        —  — 


Wl.ig 

Abolition  Scat'Dg 

1,128,276 

7,072 

— 

1,125,339 

— 

21,059 

1,033,828 

27,301 

l.%484 

983,433 

£6,374 

26,881 

1.318,022 

62,169 

— 

1.113.846 

62,194 

1,929 

1.132,788 

79.979 

6,305 

1,261,376 

78,557 

— 

l.:i60,7.52  291.342 

— 

1.231,368 

76,578 

6,0Vi 

1,265.240 

99,035 

1,035 

l,2ir9,233 

78,143 

3,096 

Presideutial  elections. 


Tears  Democratic 

1840* 1,274,197 

1841 1,048,592 

1842 1,133,938 

1843.  1.073.157 

1844* 1,372,809 

1845 1,161,074 

1846 1,165,432 

1847 1,234,409 

1848* 1,219,962 

1849 1,223,371 

1850 1,298,636 

1851 1,397,757 


POPILATION— GrovvTu     of     in     Western 

States. 

18-10  1841  1S42  lf44  1860'Ii) 

Wis 30,945  37,133  49.524  52.379  305,191 

Iowa....  43,112  51,834  09,478  90,000  192,214 

111 476,183  584917  692,653  764,809  851,470 

Ind 6!-6,86r.  754,232  822.598  868,175  988,416 

Mich....  212,267  248,331  284,395  308,437  397,654 

Total..  1,449,373  1,676,447  1,918,648  2,083,800  2,735,945 
PRODUCTIONS  OF  THE  WORLD. 

GRAIN. 

Quarters 

Great  Britain 60,000,000 

Austria 26,000,000 

France 62.000,000 

United  States 118,000,000 

Russia 52.0110,000 

Canada 19,000,000 

Spain 12.000,000 

Other  countries 45,500,000 

Total 395,500,000 

COALS. 

Tons 

Great  Britain 38,000,000 

United  States 4,400,000 

France 22.0ii0,000 

Belgium 4,500,000 

New  South  Wales 45,000 

Total 08,945,000 

I'RECIOUS    MtTALS. 

United  States—California 14,500,000 

Brazil 7,0(0,000 

Russia 3,3.50,000 

Great  Britain  (Silver) 50,000 

Australia — 

Asia 1,400,000 

Total £6,300,000 

IRON. 

Tons 

GreatBritain 1,850,000 

United  States — 

rrance     600,000 

Belgium 2311,0110 

Rusj^ia 150,000 

Austria — 

Other  countries .55.800 

Sweden 157,000 

Total lbs.    3,042,800 

SILK. 

Austrian  Italy 7,000,000 

Sardinia 2,500,000 

Papal  States 800,001) 

Two  Sicilies 1,200,000 

Tuscany 260,000 

P  russia 620,000 

Palonica 166,000 

China — 

Total 12,517,000 


PROVISION  TRADE  OF  TIIK  UNITED  STATES, 


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RAILWAY  SYSTEM  OF  THE  WOU[,D-1852. 


C.i 


Groat  Britain  and  Ireland. 

United  Sliitcs 

Germany 

France  

Belgium 

Russia 

Italy 

Spain 


Total . 


.000 

i.34j> 

,818 
532 
200 
170 
47 


25,398 


X250,OCO,000 
(;6,M)0.0()() 
()r,,7.'i(i,000 
•10,000.000 

'.),:'0fi.000 
3,1)011,1100 
3,000,000 


448,7o(l,000 


The  above  tab'es  refer  to  the  latest  date  on  hand, 
ill  OLtober,  1851,  says  the  Be/fast  Examine'. 


ST.  I,0D1S— COMMERCE  OF,  1851. 

Statement  of  Domestic  Produce  and  Jilaniif.ictures 
shipped  f mm  the  port  of  St.  Louis  destined  to  JVezo- 
Orlenns,  JVutchez,  Vickshurg,  Memphis,  JVashville, 
Mi/ls^  Point,  Helena,  and  other  places  on  the  inte- 
rinr  waters  of  the  United  States,  in  the  year  ciidino- 
30th  June,  1851. 

Flour 648,520  bbls 

"     2,156  sacks 

Wheat 112.600    <■• 

Oats -!lfl,624    " 

Barley 17,487    " 

Pork 1081)hd3 

"     5.012  tcs 

"     122,943  bbls 

Lard 14,290  tcs 

'•     47.450  bbls 

"     19,730  kgs 

"     412  tons 

Beef suites 

"     4,538  bbls 

Bacon 24,432  csks 

I      "       6,986tcs 

I  Hemp 57,ieo  bales 

i  Lead 472,438  pigs 

"     78,6001b.br? 

;  Tobacco 9,210  hhds 

" 5,011  bxs 

,  Refined  Sugars 21,892  hbis 

Sugars 21,405  hhds 

j       "      ll,548bb]s 

I  Molasses 40,510    " 

Whiskey 29,916    " 

Hides 38.490 

!  Nails 38,776  kgs 

i  Glass 6.418  bxs 

j  Salt 16,753  bbia 

i  Cotton  yarn 6,180  bgs 

i  Wrought  Iron  Manufactures 15,345  tons 

j  Castings  30,840    " 


POPULATION  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES— -pased 
upon  the  increase  of  population  from  1840  to  1850  in 
the  following  cities.  IMr.  Scott,  of  New-York,  in 
Huiit''s  Merchant  Magazine,  makes  a  table  showing 

TIME    OF   DUPLICATION    OF   A.MERICAN    CITIES. 


MilwauUie 3 

Chicago 31 

St.  Louis 4 

I  Manchester,  N.  H  . .  4 

{  Sandu.sky  City 5i 

I  Columbus,  O 6 

;  Cleveland 6 

I  Toledo 6 

I  Cinciimati 6 

Marietta 7 


Years 

IndiannpoHs 1^ 

Pittsburg 8 

Newark,  N.  J 8 

Oswego 8 

Dayton 8 

New-Albany 8 

Buffiilo 8i 

Nashville %^ 

Detroit 9 

Zanesville 9 


SCO 


Al'PENDIX. 


rwrs. 

Lrmisvillc 95., 

Worctsi.T i|i  I 

BIadi-M)ii 0; 

Syracuse lo" 

Sprini^lield 10 

l-all  Hivir II) 

Uartlord Hi 

Keading 11 J 

New-Vurk Vi 

Boston   12 

■\Va.stiinirlon 12 

RocIiesiiT 12 

ChilliiMllie 12 

Pliiladc;l|,liia l-'J 

Savannah 12J 

Portland 12; 

Providence 12i 

I>ynn 12i 

New-Haven 13 

Columbia,  S.  C 13 

Baltimort! 13j 

VVheelini? KH 

LowoU 14 

Mobile U 

New-London 14 


If^OO 


Bangor 14 

Richmond 14  J 

Troy 14i 

\VilmiDi,'ton,  Uel....   15 

Lancaster,  Fa Ift-J 

Paterson 16 

Bath,  Mo 16 

Albany Ifii 

York,  Pa 20 

Utica 24 

New-Bedford 20 

Loekport 27 

i>chenectady 28 

Newburyporl 28 

Norfolk 30 

Petersburg,  Va 32 

New-Orleans 34 

Charleston,  S.C 35 

Portsmouth 40 

Salem 42 

Newport,  R.  1 05 

Natchez Sj 

PoughUecpsie 90 

Hudson 100 

Carlisle .;J80 

GROWTH  Of  TOWNS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 
Pop.  (It  J'op    in 

Years 
New-York,  with  suburbs,  had 

an  average   duplication   of 

less  than  lo  years,  say Hj 

Albany  doubled  once  in 15 

New-Orleans 12 

Washington 13 

Baltimore 21 

Philadelphia,  and  suburbs. .  .20 

Boston,  and  suburbs 23 

Providence 23 

Richmond 24 

Worcester 18 

Lancaster 40 

Charleston 45 

Salem 50 

Alexandria 50 

Cinoinna'.i CJ- 

Pittsburg 9 

St.  Louis 9 J 

The  above  cities,  together 17 

All  but  the  four  western 20 

The  four  western 8 

The  four  largest  eastern 151 

NEWSPAPERS,  MAGAZINES,  &c.,  PUBLISHED 
IN  U.  S — The  statistics  of  the  newspaper  press  form 
an  interesting  feature  in  the  returns  of  the  7lh  cen- 
sus. It  appears  that  the  whole  number  of  newspaper.- 
and  periodicals  in  the  United  States,  on  the  Ist  June, 
1850,  amounted  to  2,800.  Of  these  2,494  were  fully 
returned,  234  had  all  the  facts  excepting  circulation 
given,  and  72  are  estimated  for  California,  the  terri- 
tories, and  those  that  may  have  been  omitted  by  the 
Assistant  Marshal. 

Prom  calculations  made  on  the  statistics  returned, 
and  ehlimates  where  Diey  imve  been  omitted,  it  ap- 
pears that  the  aggregate  circulation  of  those  2,800 
papers  and  periodicals  is  about  5,()00,t)00,  and  that 
the  entire  number  of  copies  printed  annually  in  the 
United  States  amounts  to  422,000,000.  The  follow- 
ing table  will  show  the  number  of  daily,  weekly, 
monthly,  and  other  is  ues,  with  the  average  circula- 
tion ot  each  elahs: 

No.  of  copies 
No.      Circulation,  printed  an'ly 


03,000 

050,000 

5,.349 

51,000 

8,000 

]25,t'00 

3,210 

40,000 

20,614 

170,000 

73,000 

450,000 

38,000 

212,000 

7,614 

41,.500 

5,537 

27,500 

2,411 

16,000 

4,292 

12.500 

18,713 

43,000 

9,457 

10,000 

4,198 

8,800 

750 

125.00!' 

1,565 

83,000 

2,000 

80,000 

273,391 

2,1.54,300 

201,076 

1,741,300 

12,313 

413,000 

201,000 

1,482,000 

n.-iilies 

....    350 

750,000 

23.),000,000 

'J'ri-weeklii'S 

....    150 

75,000 

11,700,000 

8emi-weeklie,s 

....     125 

80,000 

8,320,000 

Weeklies 

....2,000 

2,875,000 

149,500,000 

Senii-nionthlii's.. .. 

. . . .      50 

300  000 

7,300,000 

Monlhlics 

....    109 

900,000 

10,800,000 

Quarterlies. 

....      25 

20,000 

80,000 

2,800    5,000,000    422,700,000 
424  papers  arc  is.=;ued  in  Ihe  New-England  stales, 

876  in  the  middle  stalei*,  716  in  the  southern  stales, 

and  784  in  the  western  states. 
The  average  circulation  of  papers  in  the  United 

States,  1,785. 


There  is  o.ie  publication  for  every  7,101  free  inhab- 
itants in  the  United  States  and  territories. 

STATISTICS  OF  NEW-YORK,— Impouts  into 
THK  PORT  OF  New-Yokk,  1851  ANn  1852. 

Jan.  I   tu  Aug.  31. 
18.12.  Ifi.'il. 

Brandy,  i  pipes 10,843  10,716 

"        A  casks  and  bbls 25,449  24.660 

Coal,  tons 40,451  37,745 

Cochineal,  ceroons 1,107  1,521 

Cocoa,  bags 4,725  7,719 

Coffee,  pkgs 445,989  392,210 

Cotton,  bales 3!)",8o6  313,890 

Duck,  bales 300  570 

"      pieces 11,913  0,953 

Earthenware,  pkgs 25,004  28,119 

Figs,  drums,  &c 14,314  50,024 

Gin,  pipes .3,102  3,255 

Hemp,  bales 47,003  42,563 

"       tons 268  774 

Hides,  bales 1,009  919 

'•      No 773,104  806,333 

Iron— bar,  tons 26,090  37,952 

"       pig,  tons 46,390  38,598 

"        sheet,  &c,,  bdls 372,910  479,429 

Indigo,  cases 1,258  1,614 

"        ceroons 881  656 

Lead,pigs 208,743  328,264 

Molasses,  hhds 03,264  76,263 

"        tierces 4,916  6,086 

"        bbls 31,940  36,633 

Olive  Oil,  casks 747  1,336 

"         boxes  and  bskts 36,820  19,997 

Pepper,  bags 23,414  2,884 

Pimento,  bags 10,950  6,027 

Rags,  bales 26,869  24,689 

Raisins,  casks 1.894  8,938 

'•        bxs  and  frail.s 105,711  148,738 

"        drums —  900 

Rice,tiorces 28,910  28,859 

Rum,  puncheons '. ..  1,183  996 

Salt,  bushels 1.315.407  1,246,579 

Saltpetre,  bags 28,021  13,244 

ru;,'ar,  hhds 157,886  133,082 

tierces 3,380  1,448 

"       bbls 34,627  31,379 

"       boxes 163,157  108,(»38 

"       bags 59,890  141,277 

Spelter,  plates 54,493  82,618 

Tin— Banca,  &c.,  .slabs 25,393  13,266 

''       Plates,  boxes 2i6,152  230,3(>2 

Tobacco,  hhds 10,603  9,454 

'•        bales  and  ceroons 24,550  J 5,434 

Wines,  butts  and  pipes 1,064  963 

'•      hhds  and  ■  pipes 13,631  11,767 

"      i  casks 28,884  37,323 

'^      bbls 6,607  7,118 

"      boxes 44,172  53,760 

Woo!,bales 11,757  37,163 

E.MIGRATION  INTO  MASSACHUSETTS,  1851.— 
The  Superintendent  of  Alien  Passengers  for  the 
port  of  Boston,  J.  B.  Munroe,  has  presented  a  state- 
ment of  the  foreign  emigration,  by  which  we  find 
that  the  whole  number  arrived   by  water  in  1850 

was 30,075 

The  whole  number  arrived  by  land  in  1850. . .   10,786 

Total  in  1850  40,861 

In  1851,  the  number  by  water  was 28,319 

In  1851,  the  nnnd'er  by  land  was 16,6.54 

Total  in  1851 45,973 

Being  an  increase  of  1851  over  18.50,  by 

land,  of 5.868 

and  a  decrease,  by  water,  of 756 

Leaving  a  total  increase  of 5,112 

Native  AND  Foreign  Popitlation  op  Ma.ssachu- 
SKTTs. — The  population  of  Massachusetts,  inl850,  ac- 
cording to  the  state  census,  was  994,605.  Of  this  num- 
ber 200,890  were  foreigners,  about  one  lialf  of  whom 
belonged  to  Boston  and  to  towns  within  ten  miles  of 
that  city.  The  rapid  increase  of  foreigners  within 
the  last  ten  years,  and  the  continual  inllux  to  this 
country  from  foreign  shores,  have  created  fears  in 
many  minds  for  the  result  of  its  influence  upon  the 
country  and  its  instilulions.  and  have  ;Uao  been  made 
the  Bubject  of  legislntion. 


i 


DE  BOW'S  REVIEW 

VOLS.  I   TO   XIII. 

ArONTHLY  INDUSTEIAL  AND  LITERARY  JOURNAL. 
Illustrated  with  Steel  Engravings. 

COMMERCE AGRICULTURE MANUFACTURES INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENTS SLAVERY  AND 

SLAVE  PRODUCTS AMERICAN  AND  FOREIGN  STATISTICS. 

|]ubUsl)clr  illontljlg  in  tlje  (Eitjj  of  ^£tD-(fi)rlcans. 
Terms  $5  Per  Annum,  in  advance. — Complete  sets,  13  vols.,  may  be  had  at  the  office. 

Advocating  the  interests  of  the  South  and  West,  the  Review  will  not  be  unmindful  of  the 
great  interests  of  Trade,  Commerce  and  Agriculture  throughout  the  world — Commerce  in 
its  various  and  multiform  relations — in  its  History,  its  Laws,  and  its  Statistics;  Commercial 
Commodities;  Regulations  of  Trade,  interstate  and  international;  Treaties;  Foreign  and 
Domestic  ;  Tarifl's,  Excises  and  Posts;  Marine  Relations;  Enterprises  of  Commerce,  in  Ship- 
ping, Canals,  Rail-roads  and  Steam  Navigation,  etc. ;  ^lercantile  Systems,  Codes,  Laws  and 
Decisions,  ancient  as  well  as  Modern ;  Banking,  Insurance,  Exchange,  Partnership,  Factor- 
age, Guaranty,  Brokerage,  Bankruptcy,  Wreck,  Salvage,  Freights,  Privateering,  Marque 
and  Reprisal,  Piracy,  Quarantine  and  Custom-House  Regulations,  etc.,  etc.;  Commercial 
Literature  and  Biograprv. 

The  Review  is  rapidly  growing  in  circulation,  and  Avill  exhibit  many  great  improvements 
in  the  coming  5'ear,  in  size,  matter  and  appearance.     The  following  are  its  leading  divisions: 

I.  Literature. — Criticisms,  notices  of  late  books,  schools,  colleges,  education,  essays, 
poetry,  sketches  of  fact  and  lancy,  summaries  of  foreign  and  domestic  news,  movements 
at  home  and  abroad,  etc. 

T  r.  Commerce. — Its  histoiy^  laws  and  statistics,  commodities,  shipping,  navigation,  treaties, 
tiirids,  exports  and  imports,  trade  of  tlie  South  and  West,  home  and  foreign  trade. 

III.  Agriculture. — Discussions  upon  cotton,  rice,  sugar,  tobacco,  hemp,  Indian  corn, 
wiieat,  farming  and  planting  interests,  statistics,  slavery  and  slave  laws,  &c. 

IV.  Manufactures. — Progress  of  Manufactures  in  the  South  and  West,  and  in  the  Union. 

V.  Internal  Improvements. — Canals,  rail-roads,  plank-roads,  general  inter-communica- 
tion South  and  West — in  the  Union  and  abroad. 

Yl.  Statistics. — Complete  tables  upon  all  the  above  lieads — of  population,  resources, 
wealth,  mortality,  blacks  and  whites,  tl*c 

VII.  Biography  of  Practical  Citizens,  with  steel  jwrtraits. 

VIII.  Advertisements  of  Plantations,  Southern  schools,  colleges,  watering  places,  fac- 
tories, mercantile  and  professional  cards,  agricultural  machinery,  etc. 

New-Oui.kans  Chamher  of  Commerce,  May  14th,  1846. 
Be  it  Resolved,  That  this  Chamber  highly  approves  of  the  Commercial  Review,  a  periodical  established  in 
this  city,  by  J.  D.  B.De  Bov/,  Esq.,  and  recommends  it  to  the  patronace  of  the  commercial  community. 
Charles  Brigcs,  Secretary.  SAMUEL  .1.  PETERS,  President 

Charleston  Metsca.ntile  Library  SociF.Tr,  Feb.,  1847. 
In  exercise  of  the  power  given  them  by  the  Constitution,  the  Board  have  unanimously  elected,  as  Honorary 
Members,  Freeman  Hunt  and  J.  D.  B.  De  Bov/,  Esqrs.  These  gentlemen  are  entitled  to  wide  and  honorable 
distinction.  The  Ibrmer  in  originating  the  I\Terchants'  Magazine  ;  the  latter,  one  of  our  own  citizens, 
in  the  laudable  spirit  which  prompted  the  establishment  of  the  Commercial  Review  of  the  South  and  West, 
and  the  masterly  pen  which  he  has  wielded  in  elucidation  of  lhe  comniercialinterests  of  the  South,  have  richly 
earned  our  most  grateful  acknowledgments.  A.  O.  ANDREWS,  President. 

Charleston  Chamber  ok  Commerce,  Oct.  2G,  1846. 
On  motion  of  Col.  .Tames  Gadsden,  Resolved,  tliat  the  Commercial  Review,  edited  in  New-Orleans  by  our 
fellow-citizen,  .T.  D.  B.  De  Bow,  Esq.,  is  a  work  well  calculati'd  to  exercise  a  most  favorable  influence  on 
lhe  commercial  interests  of  the  t'outh  and  Wert. 

Resolved,  That  the  zeal  and  talent  with  which  it  has  been  commenced,  and  the  able  articles  which  have 
appeared  in  its  page.s,  (as  foreshadowing  on  the  future  the  promises  of  the  past,)  strongly  recommend  the  Review 
to  the  patronage  of  the  Southern  community,  and  that  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Charleston  feel  gratified  at 
the  opportunity  of  presenting  to  the  public  this  testimony  in  its  favor.  W.  B.  HERIOT,  Secretary. 

Cincinnati  Mercantile  Library  Society,  Jan  ,  1849. 
Resolved,  As  the  sense  of  the  Mercantile  Library  Association  of  Cincinnati,  that  De  Bow's  Commercial 
Review  of  the  South  and  West  supplies  an  important  desideratum  in  the  mercantile  literature  of  this  great 
i-estern  valley;  that  the  comprehensive  views  and  practical  attainments  of  Professor  De  Bow  are  special 
cualifications  "for  conducting  such  a  periodical,  and  that  this  Association  very  cordially  recommend  the  Com- 
mercial Review  to  general  favor,  and  t!ie  special  patronage  ol'our  mercantile  cnnimunity. 


I 


BEPARTHENTS  OF  THE  REVIEW. 


The  diAereut  departments  of  the  Review  will  be 
kept  up  faithfully  from  month  to  month,  so  as  to 
preserve,  in  a  convenient  form  for  study  or  for  refer- 
ence, everylhin?  that  particularly  appertains  to  them, 
or  that  may  be  of  value  to  the  country. 

Commercial  Department. — Its  statistics  are  full  ami 
complete  upon  every  crop  or  community — the  trade  of 
every  city  and  state  of  the  Union,  andof  forei?n  coun- 
tries'. Here  are  included  Treaties  and  Tariffs,  Ship- 
ping and  Steam  Navigaliun,  Mercantile  Laws  and 
Decisions,  Finances  and  Banking,  Commercial  Liter- 
ature and  Biography.  To  Merchants  and  Bankers  in 
particular  these  statistics  are  invaluable. 

Agricultural  Department. — Every  staple  product  of 
the  Southern  and  Western  Country,  under  this  head, 
receives  its  appropriate  placp,  and  everytliin^'  tending 
to  iheir  advancement  is'carefully  embodied  and  pre- 
snnted.  The  pens  of  practical  planter.'*  are  employed, 
who  contribute  their  own  e.xperience  for  tlie  benefit  of 
their  fellovY-s.  Tlie  a^jricultural  information  i.s  ihu.-; 
specially  adapted  to  our  own  localities,  an  advantage 
not  possessed  by  works  published  abroad,  which  we 
have  been  hitherto  supporting.  Practical  and  scien- 
tific papers  upon  asricullureare  included  from  the  best 
authorities  in  our  country  and  in  Europe.  The  cotton 
planter  finds  the  most  interesting  monthly  summaries 
■if  information  relating  to  the  plant— tAe  estimates  of 
crops,  the  mode  of  cultivation,  extent  of  consumption, 
circumstances  influencing  prices,  comparative  tables 
of  production  and  consumption,  diseases  affecting  the 
growth,  etc.  The  Sugah  Planter  finds  a  chronicle  of 
;dl  the  latest  improvements  at  home  and  abroad,  des- 
criptions of  machinery,  modes  of  culture,  productions 
of  other  countries,  demand  and  sujijily,  competition, 
etc  .;  tke'latcstand  best  experience  of  planters  undman- 
ufacturers.  etc.  ;  reprints  of  leading  foreign  works  on 
tugar,  zrilk  engravings.  The  IIe.->ip  and  Tobacco 
p rower,  the  Farmer  and  the  Horticulturist,  and,  in 
fact,  every  agricultural  interest,  find  equal  .sources jof 
information. 

Manufacturing  Department. — Already  cotton  mills 
are  multiplying  on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio,  in  Tennessee 
and  Kentucky,  throughout  Virginia,  Carolina, Georgia 
and  Alabama.  In  a  few  years  more  they  will  extend 
throuffh  every  part  of  the  South  and  the  West.  In 
the  infancy  of  our  efforts  we  shall  need  the  light  of 
experience  from  abroad,  and  from  each  other.  We 
must  know  what  our  neighbors  are  doing  a^^  well  as 
ourselve.f,  and  their  succe,<s.  There  is  no  other  work 
in  the  Union  ilevotcd  in  such  a  degree  to  the  manufac- 
turing interest — none  which  has  contained  in  the  past 
such  an  immense  amount  of  manufacturing  informa- 
tion, and  no  work  shall  excel  it  in  thi.s  respect  in  the 
future. 

Internal  Improvements. — The  South  and  the  West 
have  entered  upon  a  great  era  of  progress  in  Kail- 
EoaDs.  Our  necessities  demand  much,  nnd  we  have 
thousands  of  miles  in  contemplation  or  in  )irogress. 
Our  people  require  information,  collected  from  the 
experience  of  others.  They  must  have  all  the  facts 
ami  figures  to  aid  their  action.  This  has  been  our 
favorite  field  of  labor,  and  will  be.     We  entered  the 


vineyard  among  the  very  first,  and  have  never  deserted 
it.  The  reports  and  results  of  every  road  are  chroni- 
cled; the  eost  of  construction  ;  the  amount  of  travel, 
freights,  passage  and  profits — the  extent  of  lines  in 
this  country  or  abroad,  etc.  ;  proceedings  of  rail-road 
conventions  throughout  the  South  and  VVcst ;  resolu- 
tions, etc.  Every  railroad  stockholder,  or  officer,  or 
l)ersou  seeking  investment  or  benefits  in  roads,  will 
iind  the  Review  of  very  great  advantage. 

Miscellaneous. — Under  this  head  will  be  includeil 
statistics  of  population,  and  of  health  and  diseases, 
public  wealth  and  progress;  relative  condition  of 
whites  and  blacks;  condition  and  operations  of  Sla- 
VEiiy  AT  THE  South  ;  slave  laws  nnd  statistics  of  the 
South  and  of  other  countries :  management  and  ame- 
lioration of  slavery;  origin,  history,  and  defences  0} 
slavery  and  slave  i?istitutions ;  standard  treatises  upon 
slavery  from  all  the  hii'liest  authorities.  In  this  de- 
partment the  South  w  ill  be  fairly  presented  and  vin- 
dicated before  the  world,  and  her  interests  maintain- 
ed and  protected.  A  hirge  volume  might  already  bo 
made  up  from  the  extremely  valuable  papers,  like 
those  of  Hammond,  Harper,  Dew,  and  many  other.? 
which  have  appeared  in  the  Review.  This  informa- 
tion is  valuable  to  the  planters  in  too  many  ways  to  bo 
enumerated  :  and  to  the  citizens  of  the  free  states 
honestly  seeking  information,  the  value  will  be  even 
higher. 

Literary  Department. — Under  this  head,  will  be  in- 
cluded Sketches  of  Fact  and  Fancy,  Original  Poetry, 
Critical  and  Historical  Essays,  Reviews  and  Notices 
of  Late  Books,  Literary  Movements  at  Homo  and 
Abroad,  papers  upon  Eilucation  and  Southern  Schools 
and  Colleges,  Incidents  and  Notes  of  Travel,  etc.  Able 
pens  will  at  all  times  be  elicited,  and  no  effort  will  be 
spared  to  give  to  this  department  of  the  Review  as 
much  of  the  character  of  the  light  Miscellany  as  will 
secure  it  a  place  in  the  parlor  as  well  as  upon  the 
shelves  of  the  librarj'. 

Biographies,  Portraits,  Kngravings,  Maps,  etc. — 

The  object  here  is  to  select  from  all  of  the  states, 
men  who  have  been,  or  arc  active  in  promoting  the 
progress  of  enterprise  and  industry  ,and  thus  advancing 
their  fellows.  Handsome  steel  engravings  will  accom- 
jjany  these.  Occ.isioiial  views  of  cities  will  be  fur- 
nished, wood-cuts  and  charts  representing  machinery- 
improvements,  elc. 

Advertising  Department. — This  will  furnish  an  im- 
portant part  lowaids  the  completion  of  the  work.  A 
few  pages  at  the  end  will  be  included,  or  a  chart  fold- 
ed in. 

Brief  cards  and  announcements  will  be  inserted — 
illustrated,  where  necessary,  with  wood-cuts.  Thus 
the  planters  throughout  the  country  may  be  informed 
of  the  names  and  place?  of  business  of  the  merchants: 
the  merchants  may  know  of  the  professional  men  in  the 
interior:  and  those  desirous  of  investing  in  estates 
may  find  a  record  of  those  in  the  market.  We  design 
entrusting  this  department,  which  may  be  made  very 
valuable,  to  the  ntanagement  of  a  special  person.  The 
terms  will  be  moderate  to  advertisers  ;  and,  now  that 
we  have  over  five  thousand  subscribers  throughout  the 
southern  and  middle  states,  of  the  best  classes,  the 
Review  is  the  very  best  medium  for  them. 


f 


iXOTICES  OF  THE  PRESS. 


De  Bow's  Rcviete. — This  Review  is  an  able  one. 
We  anticipate  and  realize  invaluable  inrorniation  from 
its  pages,  as  to  the  progress  and  industry  of  the  flour- 
ishing districts  of  which  it  is  the  herald  and  organ. — 
Simmond's  Colonial  Marrazine,  London. 

De  Bout's  Kevieio.—  We  need  hardly  say  that  we  are 
charmed  with  this  Review,  when  we  ;idd  that  we  ri^ad 
t  through  at  a  heat. —  Skinner's  Farmer's  Library, 
\eto-York. 

De  Bow's  Commercial  Revieui  contains  much  valu- 
able matter  of  Commercial  and  Hfisccllaneous  charac- 
ter. Success  to  our  namesake.  The  paper  in  it  which 
interests  us  the  most,  is  that  entitled  "  CoM.'ttERCE 
AND  Agriculture  Subjects  of  University  Instruc- 
tion," from  the  pen  of  the  accomplished  editor  of  the 
Review,  in  which  he  submits  the  plan  of  a  Professor- 
ship of  Public  Kconomy,  Conimcrce,  and  Statistics  for 
our  Colleges  and  Universities.  Tke  plan  has  our  hearty 
approval,  and  will,  we  trust,  ere  lone  be  adopted  by 
some  of  our  higher  institutions.  The  article  On 
"Chablkston  and  its  Resources,"  we  shall  endea- 
vor to  find  room  for  in  a  future  number  of  the  Maga- 
zine.— Hunt's  Merchants'  Magazine. 

De  Bow's  Review  is  one  of  the  most  useful  of  the 
monthly  publications,  accumulating  at  such  periods  a 
large  aud  valuable  body  of  statistics  and  opinions, 
such  as  we  rarely  find  in  any  other  form  of  publica- 
tion. The  editor  is  a  person  of  rare  industry  and  en- 
thusiasm. His  work  is  particularly  important  to  tlic 
commercial  community  of  theSouth. —  Southern  Quar- 
terly Review,  Charleston. 

De  Bow's  Review. — Wo  are  exceedingly  pleased  to 
hear  of  the  success  of  this  work,  so  important  to  the 
South,  and  so  creditable  to  its  literary  enterprise.  It 
conies  to  us  monthly,  freighted  with  the  most  valuable 
aud  reliable  information,  in  relation  to  the  sources  of 
that  section  of  the  country,  and  ought  not  to  be  missed 
from  any  northern  library. — Democratic  Review,  N.  Y. 

De  Bow's  Review. — It  gives'  us  great  pleasure  to 
Ktate,  that  J.  D.  B.  De  Bow,  editor  of  the  Commercial 
Review,  has  been  selected  to  fill  the  chair  of  Com- 
merce and  Statistics  in  the  r.ew  University.  Mr.  I), 
has,  in  the  columns  of  his  popular  and  widely  circu- 
lated journal,  shown  himself  to  be  familiar  with  the 
commerce  and  statistics  of  the  South  and  West,  and 
also  a  zealous  advocate  for  disseminating  widely  accu- 
rate information  upon  these  important  heads.  We 
want  more  educated  merchants,  a  more  intimate 
knowledge  of  the  history  of  commerce,  and  of  the  prin- 
ciples and  theory  of  political  economy,  trade  and 
manufactures. — Bankers'  Magazine,  Boston. 

De  Bow's  Review. — Suppose  one  should  desire  to 
keep  himself  advised  of  the  state  of  our  domestic  and 
foreign  trade,  and  also  of  the  commerce  of  all  nations, 
where  else  would  he  find  this  information  in  a  form 
so  convenient,  sntisfactery  aud  cheap,  as  in  Hunt's 
Magazine.  Should  he  desire  to  combine  with  com- 
mercial information  a  knowledge  of  the  great  interests 
of  the  South,  her  agriculture,  manufactures,  and  in- 
ternal improvements,  where  else  could  he  find  so 
much  information  in.  so  small  a  compass,  and  at  so 
cheap  a  rate,  as  in  De  Bow's  Review  1 — IVeslern  Jour- 
nal, St.  Louis. 

De  Bow's  Review. — Thi.s  Review,  now  in  its  sixth 
year,  has  not  as  yet  received  the  attention  which  it 
deserves  at  the  North.  I',  is  amply  supported,  we  learn, 
at  the  South  ;  and  for  this  reason,  as  an  accredited 
organ  of  the  commercial  interests  of  that  great  region 
of  our  oountry,  should  find  ils  readers  in  all  circles. 
Wo  should  be  more  anxious  to  learn  wliat  views  are 
taken  of  our  great  producing  interests,  and  of  the 
natural  questions  which  a:ritaie  the  country  at  head- 
quarters.— Literary  World,  NetD-Yt.rk. 

De  Bow's  Review. — The  statistics  arc  collected  with 
great  care  and  industry  ;   aiid  the  work  prcsiint.s  more 


useful  information  in  relation  to  the  great  staples  iA 
the  South,  than  can  be  found  in  any  other  periodical. 
As  these  staples  form  the  basis  of  a  great  part  of  all 
our  lending  commercial  transactions,  the  above  work 
i.s  an  indispensable  part  of  every  business  man's  libra- 
ry .—/in  iZ-/Joarf  Journal,  JV.  Y. 

De  Bow's  Review. — We  are  persuaded  that  no  morfc 
useful  publication  than  this  emanates  from  the  Ameri- 
can press.  Its  range  of  topics  is,  indeed,  a  wide  one, 
but  It  is  always  filled  with  valuable  statistical  papers, 
and  its  literary  department  is  highly  interesting.  Mr. 
Do  Bow  is  well  known  as  a  scholar  and  a  writer.  A 
recent  address  delivered  by  him  before  an  agricultu- 
ral society,  has  pleased  us  so  much,  that  we  could 
find  it  in  our  heart  to  quarrel  for  not  contributing 
more  frequently  in  pro;>ria  persona  to  the  pages  of 
his  magazine. —  Southern  Literary  Messenger,  Rich- 
mond, y. 

De  Bojc's  Review. — The  work  is  printed  in  a  stjie 
creditable  to  the  press,  and  its  contents  are  such  as  to 
render  it  a  valuable  adjunct  to  the  similar  work  de- 
voted to  the  commerce  of  tlie  United  States,  published 
by  Hunt,  of  New-York.  &c. — Boston  Daily  Adv. 

Dt  Bow's  Review. — This  periodical  perlbrnis  for  the 
South  and  West  the  same  otfice  wliich  the  Jlerchants' 
Magazine  performs  for  this  part  of  the  country.  We 
learn  that  its  circulation  is  rapidly  increasing.  The 
present  number  contains  many  valuable  articles,  among 
which  is  one  by  the  Editor,  on  the  "  Progre.=;s  of  the 
<-ireat  West."  full  of  interesting  statistical  iiifoNnation 
and  speculations.  It  is  to  the  credit  of  the  mercantile 
class  that  works  of  this  kind  find  eocouragemciit 
among  them. — If.  Y.  Evening  Post. 

De  Bore's  Review. — We  rejoice  that  so  good  a  work 
has  been  established  at  New-Orleans,  and  apparently 
well  established.  It  can  hardly  fail  to  secure  patrons 
in  every  part  of  the  country. — iV.  Y.  Tribune. 

De  Bow's  Rcviete. — This  is  the  title  of  a  monthly 
journal  of  trade,  commerce,  commercial  policy,  agri- 
culture, manufactures,  internal  improvements,  and 
general  literature,  publislied  at  New-Orleans  by  J.  D. 
B.  Do  Bow,  and  is  well  worih  the  attention  of  ihf 
merchant  and  the  statesman.  It  is  second  to  no  oilier 
work  of  the  kind  in  this  or  any  other  country,  and 
must  soon  become  authority  for  everything  relating  to 
matters  of  which  it  treats.  We  notice  among  its  con- 
tributors some  of  the  most  distinguished  writersin  the 
Union. — N.  Y.  Herald. 

De  Bow's  Review  has  been  upon  our  table  for 
several  days.  This  work  is  well  worthy  of  atten- 
tion, not  only  in  the  section  of  country  in  which  it 
is  published,  but  at  the  North,  as  it  contains  a  great 
amount  of  very  valuable  information  which  cannot 
be  found  elsewhere.  It  is  properly  the  complement 
of  Hunt's  Magazine,  and  in  connection  with  tha*- 
work,  forms  a  complete  record  of  mercantile  aud 
commercial  facts.  We  commend  it  to  the  notice  of 
our  readers,  aud  to  the  favor  of  .all  who  are  inter- 
ested in  the  commerce  of  the  South. — iV  Y.  Courier 
and  Enquirer. 

Dc  Bow's  Review. — It  abounds,  as  usual,  'with  able 
.articles  on  the  commercial,  social  and  political  ques- 
tions of  the  South  and  West,  and  in  statistical  in- 
formation. It  is  a  work  that  ought  to  be  cherished 
with  liberality  b3'  the  southern  people,  and  it  ought 
to  be  consulted  by  all  statesmen,  who  aspire  to  the 
distinction  of  nationality. — Southctn  Press,  Wash- 
ington. 

De  Boii^s  Review. — It  is  conducted  by  a  man  of 
rare  ciipacities  aud  qualifications  for  such  a,  work, 
as  its  pages  abundantly  attest.  In  addition  to  tho 
editor,  it  has  anions'  its  contributors  .some  of  th« 
ablest  and  most  distinguished  writers  of  the  ScMth 
and  AVest. — Washington  Vnu>» 


f 


DE    BOW'S    REVIEW. 


"The  uiulersigncil,  Slembeis  of  Conjie.fs,  take  j^ietit  plcasiiro  in  rpcoinmendiiig  to  their 
felloivcitizeiis  1>e  Bow's  Revikw,  a  work  whicli  lias  been  edited  and  published  in  New-Orleans 
for  the  last  six  ^cars,  by  J.  D.  I?.  De  Bow,  and  which  embraces  in  a  monthly  series  of  numbers, 
the  most  complete  and  reliable  facts  and  statistics  relative  to  the  progress  and  development  of 
all  the  great  branches  of  industry  in  the  country,  whether  in  Commerce,  JgricuUure,  Munu 
factures,  or  Internal  Improvements ;  as  also  the  growth  and  progress  of  Population  and  Im- 
provement ;  the  question  of  Slavery  in  all  its  bearings,  social  and  political.  Slave  Products,  ffc. 
The  13  published  volumes  of  this  work  constitute  an  invaluable  library  of  Soutlicrn  and 
Western  Statistics,  and  have  already  become  a  standard  authority. "■ 


Waskington.  J).    C. 


R.  M.  T.  Hunter, 

±  n, 

Va. 

:  VV.  R.  W.  Cobb, 

Ala. 

James  M.  Mason, 

" 

'  T.  S.  Cliugnian, 

N.   C. 

S.  Houston, 

Texas. 

J.  Thompson, 

Miss. 

Thos.  J.  Rusk, 

Texas. 

Wm.  J.  AUton, 

Ala. 

R.  Barnwell, 

S.  C. 

W.  P.  Gentry, 

Tcnn. 

A.  P.  Butler, 

" 

Isaac  E.  Morse, 

La. 

I'icrre  Souir, 

La. 

Jas.  A.  Sudden, 

«. 

S.  N.  Downs, 

Thos.  lI.Averelt, 

Jefierson  Davis, 

Miss. 

J.  A.  Woodwanl, 

S.  C. 

llcnry  S.  Foote, 

•' 

VV.  F.  Colcock, 

" 

Geo.  E.  Badger, 

N.  C. 

Samp.  V\'.  Harris, 

Ala. 

W.  P.  Mangum, 

'• 

S.  \V.  Inge, 

•' 

VV.  C.  Dawson, 

Ga. 

A.  (}.  Brown, 

Miss. 

W.  K.  Sebastien, 

Ark. 

R.  H.  Stanton, 

Ky. 

D.  L.  Ynlec, 

Florida. 

Kmile   !-a  Sere, 

La. 

\V.  M.  Guinn, 

California. 

Panlns  Powell, 

.1.  VV.  Jackson. 

J.  E.  Holmes, 

VV.  McWillie, 
;  VV.  S.  Keutlierslon, 
I  V.  E.  Howard, 
I  Dan.  Wallace, 
I  T.  P.  Stanton, 
;  R.  K.  Meade, 

Andrew  Ewing, 
I  James  E.  Orr, 
j  J.  'I'hnmpson, 
I  J.  G.  Harris, 

M.  J.  Wellborn. 

J.  P.  Caldwell, 


ra. 

Geo. 
S.C. 
Miss. 

Texas. 

s.  c. 

Tenn. 

ya. 

Tenn. 
S.  C. 
Mies . 

Ala. 

Geo. 
IS.C. 


^f  29     6 


This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


TS^wTOWtft^^" 


N0Vl719ry 

Jg.     MAR     9  1970 


w 


Id 


ITF^D  tD-URC 


JUL 


24l97(f 


H 


REC'D  LD-Ulflr 

JAN  1  01973 


Form  L9-Series  444 


umi   J^-'    1'^^ 


CD 


'tr 


NOV  1  0  1978 


C  2  71978 


ID-HRL 


4AN  2 


7  1991 


uSl-LI  NOV  07  i994 
OATE  SEIMT 


DimmmTm^^!^ 


UC  SOUTHERN  "^'^'°'^|,,|,  imiii^^^ 

AA    001072  623  0 


3  1158  00404  3385 


UNIVERSITY  of  CALIFOPm/ 

AT 

.     o  ANGELES 

UBRARY 


